Rural Empowerment in India through “Gramoday se Bharat Uday”

India is a rural economy. It is said that that agriculture is the driving force behind India’s economy. But the Indian agrarian sector (the primary sector) is not completely utilised. The rural farmers do not have access to the required resources to grow their crops. Hence, the government has launched a few initiatives to support farmers and rural households.

      The Initiative     

“Gramoday Se Bharat Uday” initiative was launched on 14 April 2016 by our Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi. The campaign was launched on the 125th birth anniversary of Babasaheb Ambedkar at  Mhow, Madhya Pradesh, which is his birthplace.

The initiative is based on the principles of Babasaheb Ambedkar, who struggled for the rights of Dalits in the country and fought against caste-based discrimination. The Prime addressed the nation and said that the Abhiyan would shift the attention of the government and focus on the development work to be done in the rural areas.  The Prime Minister mentioned various development initiatives being undertaken by the Central government to empower the rural areas of our country. He said 18,000 unelectrified villages are being electrified with a 1000-day deadline. The development done by the government can also be tracked using the Garv app, which is made by the government.

                                       (Abhiyan poster. Courtesy: inkhabar.com)

The initiative was launched to promote and strengthen the Panchayati Raj in the villages of India, and also to ensure social harmony in villages. Over 65 % of the population that lives in India is rural. People that live in rural areas do not have access to amenities and facilities such as hospitals, transport, etc. The initiative plans to change this, by giving priority to the rural areas in development. It also plans to change the dilapidated condition of Village and Taluk Panchayats across India.

Rural Development

The people that live in the cities have access to a lot of amenities at their disposal. In India, there is a huge disparity between the development in the villages and the cities. The villages are yet to have access to modern facilities. The government has, for long, ignored the functionalities of the Panchayati Raj. People used to leave the villages and head to the cities due to the lack of employment opportunities in rural areas.

                    Also, Indian farmers usually live in rural areas. Most of the times, these rural farmers do not have access to proper agricultural facilities, such as crop seed, fertilizer, manure, etc. Moreover, many of these rural areas are ravaged by droughts or floods yearly. Therefore, these farmers do not have proper crop yield every year. This has led to a steep increase in farmer suicides in India. To alleviate this issue, the Central government has decided to work with the Panchayats of various villages across the country to give the farmers access to various agricultural products, such as fertilizers and manures, with the help of “Krishi Kendras” set up across the country.

(The Indian Farmer. Courtesy: downtoearth.org.in)

The Prime Minister discussed on increasing farmer’s income. This could be done by increasing crop yield. The farmers in rural areas do not have access to agricultural products. Some farmers cannot afford these products. Hence the government has decided to educate the farmers on the safe usage of various pesticides, fertilizers and manure to increase the crop yield. The government also gives out various loans to the farmers. The government has subsidised the price of the crop seeds and fertilizers at Krishi Kendra. The government also waivers any loan taken by the farmers, during a natural calamity such as floods and droughts, which destroy the crop. This will reduce the loan burden on the farmers.

Job Opportunities for the Rural Youth

The initiative also aims at increasing job opportunities in the rural areas of the country. Many youths from rural areas move to bigger cities in search of employment opportunities. The villages, being underdeveloped and lacking technology, do not have proper employment. According to the government, less than half of the population in rural areas are employed. Also, due to the massive influx of rural people to the urban areas, the population of various cities and urban centres of the country has swelled to such an extent that the current infrastructure of the city cannot support the ever-increasing population. Due to overpopulation in the urban areas, there is also a widespread problem of traffic, sanitation and yearly flooding in the urban areas. This has also led to to a wide gap between the rich and the poor people in the urban areas.

The government aims to alleviate this large gap between the cities and the rural areas by focusing on the development of rural areas. The government plans to increase the employment opportunities in the rural areas, by carrying out infrastructure projects and luring the big companies to the rural areas. This will result in a decentralised development, wherein the gap in development between the Urban and the rural areas is small. If the villages are properly developed, then India can definitely achieve greater heights.