A TEXTBOOK OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT BY T.K. DESAI [HARDCOVER]

Rural Development in India is an important segment of economic development. Although, thousands of crores of rupees have been spent on rural development during the last 57 years, the problem is as grave as it was. Yet, the importance of this subject has enhanced. Rural India is real India. Over Seventy-six per cent of the total population of India lives in villages. Rrual India still contributes about half of the national income. Agriculture is the basic occupation which sustains the rural areas. Rural development is not simply an economic proposition; it has social, psychological and cultural dimensions as well. It is a multi-dimensional as well as multi-directional concept. To be precise, rural development is a programme designed to improve the socio-economic living conditions o the rural poor. It aims also at raising their cultural level and reorienting their rich traditions. It seeks to achieve increase rural production and productivity, greater socio-economic equity and a higher standard of living for the rural poor. It is partly ameliorative and partly development-oriented. Development is interlinked with motivation, innovation and the active participation of the beneficiaries, inter alia, this calls for organisation and management. Rural development rcognises the importance of improved food supplies and nutrition, as well as the importance of such basic services as health, housing, education and expanded communications, which will go a long way in enhancing the productivity of the rural poor. Moreover, it aims at providing gainful employment, so that the rural people too may contribute their mite to the national product.