Know the India that still lives in its villages: Editorial analysis and vocabulary words

Oct 5, 2023 - 08:50

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Know the India that still lives in its villages: Editorial analysis and vocabulary words

Article title: Know the India that still lives in its villages

Editorial published in Indian express dated 02nd October 2023

The article discusses the state of rural India in 2023, based on the available data. It highlights the following key points:

· Rural India is still home to a majority of the country's population. Based on the available projections, my guesstimate is that at least six in every ten Indians continue to live in rural areas.

· The number of large villages has increased. Between 2011 and 2020, the number of large villages in India increased from 597,608 to 648,548.

· The rural population has increased. The Mission Antyodaya data puts India's rural population at 1.03 billion. In 2011, India's rural population was 833 million. This suggests that the rural population increased by 197 million in the decade starting 2011.

· The share of the rural population living in large villages has increased. In 2011, barely 9 percent of India's rural population lived in villages with a population of over 10,000. This has now increased to 16 percent.

· Rural India is not just about agriculture. According to the Annual Survey of Industries, factories located in rural India account for nearly half the total manufacturing output. But these factories employ a minuscule proportion of India's rural workforce. The reality is that nearly 60 percent of rural male workers are self-employed in farm and non-farm activity and 27 percent as casual labourers.

The article also discusses the various policies that have been formulated to support rural livelihoods. It argues that these initiatives are piecemeal and often treat the symptom rather than the cause. In contrast, Ambedkar and Gandhi attempted to work out a holistic plan for rural India. The article concludes by calling for an intellectual debate over development strategies cutting across ideologies and for political parties to propose well-rounded plans for rural India.

Analysis

The article provides a valuable overview of the state of rural India in 2023. It highlights the key challenges that rural India faces, such as the increasing number of large villages, the growing rural population, and the lack of employment opportunities in non-agricultural sectors.

The article also makes a valid point about the need for a holistic plan for rural India. The various policies that have been implemented to support rural livelihoods have been piecemeal and have not had a significant impact. There is a need for a more comprehensive approach that addresses the root causes of rural poverty and underdevelopment.

The article also rightly calls for an intellectual debate over development strategies cutting across ideologies. The current discourse on rural development is often polarized, with different ideologies vying for dominance. This has prevented a meaningful discussion on the best way to address the challenges facing rural India.