Concept of Rural Development (RD)-

Concept of Rural Development (RD)-

It is not only the development of farm and allied sector, but various other aspects including the development of welfare services and institutions, and all the segments of society i.e. peasants, landless labourers, tenants, small and marginal farmers, village artisans and other persons living in the rural areas. It is not just economic betterment but also social transformation with particular emphasis on educational facilities to bridge the rural-urban divide. As the Fifth Five Year Plan points out “Rural development should include agricultural development in its widest sense so as to embrace, besides crop production, all its allied activities. The integrated development should encompass both spatial functional integration of all relevant programmes bearing on increased agricultural production and reduction of unemployment and underemployment among small farmers and agricultural labourers.”¹

As a process rural development is the engagement of individuals, communities and nations in pursuit of their cherished goals over time. As a phenomenon, it is the end result of interactions between various physical, technological, economic, social, cultural, and institutional factors. As a strategy, it is designed to improve the social-economic well being of a specific group of people-the rural poor. As a discipline, it is multi disciplinary, representing an intersection of agriculture, social, behavioral, engineering and management sciences.²

Rural development seeks to alleviate poverty, commercialization of farming, mass utilization of resources, food security, creating opportunities, infrastructural development of rural community and modernization of overall society. There can be no national development of India without rural development. Alleviation of poverty Measures of income growth Education Farming & allied matters Main activities of RD Technical & Human skills development Housing & infrastructure Health & social welfare Mobilization of local capital Asset building Employment

Fig. 1.1: Major Activities of Rural Development

But today’s concept of rural development is fundamentally different from that used in earlier times. This concept of ‘Rural Development’ has been changed significantly during last four or five decades through a number of narratives and forms which shows different priorities and choices, on a range of topics, as noted: state/market; farm/off-farm; high/low potential areas; growth/stability; expenditure on investment/ consumption; etc.

Firstly it emerged as a narrow concept of ‘Community Development’ which appears to be originated from Cambridge. After that the concept has been manifested in sequential phases in rural development practice, occurring as a series of overlapping transitions.

In early 80s, the World Bank defined it as “...a strategy designed to improve the economic and social life of a specific group of people---the rural poor.”

The themes of rural development can be described in decade wise as follows:

Table 1.3 : Evolving themes of Rural Development
1950s	Modernization, Dual economy , Backward agriculture, Community Development, Lazy peasants
1960s	Technological advancement, Farm Mechanization, Agricultural extension, Rational peasants, Increased role of agriculture, Start of ‘Green Revolution’, Transformation Approach
1970s	Integrated Rural Development, State Agricultural Policies, State-led Credit, Induced innovation, Rural growth linkages, Urban bias, Redistribution with growth, Concern on “Basic Needs”, Continuation of ‘Green Revolution’
1980s	Free markets, Rise of NGOs, Rapid rural appraisal, Farming Systems Research, Food security and famine analysis, participation of women in development, ‘Right Prices for Agricultural Products’, Structural adjustments, Poverty Alleviation, Retreat of state, Rural Development as a process not a product
1990s	Micro credit, Rural safety nets, Environment and sustainability, Poverty reduction, Actor oriented RD, Participatory rural appraisal, Stake holder analysis, Concern on gender inequality
2000s	Sustainable livelihoods, Good governance, Decentralization of duties, Sector-Wide Approaches, Social protection, Poverty Eradication, Critique of participation