Thinking About Rural Development

Since the independence of India, much is being done in the name of Rural/ Tribal development to bring these millions of people in the mainstream of the advanced and modern cultural groups. Irrigation facilities were created for development of agriculture in 3^rd and 4^th five year plans and also completed by the government Development represents an increase in the capacities of the society to organize for its own objectives and to carry out its programmes more effectively. India is a country with 80% population living in the villages. It is therefore, important to develop the villages then only the country can be considered as developed country in the international arena. Tribal are integral part of Indian villages therefore, village development model is being suggested here for integrated tribal development. The 5th schedule of the constitution was paternalistic while the 6th schedule granted autonomy to the tribal. Therefore, the 5th schedule should be replaced by the 6th schedule in Jharkhand. Presently Jharkhand falls under 5^th schedule.  Considering all the above the author suggests a village level integrated rural development model should be considered for implementing the rural/tribal development plan as most of the strategies failed due to lack of integrated approach. This paper is to suggest a methodology for tribal development through integrated village development model proposed by the author.

 The word “Development “implies orderly movement of an organism or a social system from a lower level of functioning to a higher level of functioning and integration.

Anthropologists generally considered development as a state of society providing for the security and necessities of its members, adopting itself continuously with the changing conception of good life. Development represents an increase in the capacities of the society to organize for its own objectives and to carry out its programmes more effectively. The essential element here is the organization.

India is a country with approximately 80% population living in the villages. It is therefore, important to develop the villages then only the country can be considered as developed country in the international arena. Tribal are integral part of Indian villages therefore, village development model is being suggested here for integrated tribal development.

 A village is a rural setup and defined as, “ A parcel of land which as a rule is partly built over but mostly cultivated and waste with a definite position and area, the boundaries of which were defined either at the time of cadastral survey or at the time of revenue survey. It may contain no houses at all or on the other hand, several hamlets (or total) each bearing a different name.

A village may be small, medium or of larger size with multi-ethnic population.

A village may be having –

• Variegated occupation though primarily dependent on agriculture as in the case of Central Indian villages.
• One dominant community with one predominant occupation like fishing as in case of coastal villages
• Predominantly or primarily inhabited by a Scheduled tribe as in the case of Jharkhand. (Census of India).¹

This paper is to suggest a methodology for tribal development through integrated village development model proposed by the author.