Abstract
Objective: To determine how educational qualification acts as a major factor for the rural masses in understanding and to be able to comprehend the messages and information provided by the Government through various media vehicles while seeking assistances for government schemes and grants to alleviate poverty. Methodology: A descriptive, cross sectional study design, collecting relevant quantitative and qualitative data from the respondents was conducted. A data on retrospective histories and experiences of poverty was captured to link how being literate is important to understand information through media vehicles. Setting: Rural communities of Khasi tribal people in three Blocks of East Khasi Hills District, Meghalaya ie,. Mawsynram, Pynursla and Mawryngkneng. Results: Poverty in communication is one of the root causes of economic poverty. One of the major causes of poverty is people not being aware of government schemes and grants. People do not watch, listen or read certain exhibits of the media because they do not understand the language. Conclusion: The rural masses failed to understand that illiteracy is actually a barrier between them and government’s information. They are not able to comprehend the content of such messages nor are they able to follow up to .attain these facilities.
Highlights
IntroductionRural poverty which has a high concentration among the self-employment in agriculture is reported at 63.6% in the State
While Shillong, which is the capital city of Meghalaya is considered to be an educational hub, the National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD), reported that the literacy rate of Meghalaya is the second lowest among the North Eastern States with 62.60% (Summary Report, NIRD-NERC, n.d.) as compared to Mizoram with the third highest literacy rate of 88.80% in the country.During 2004-05, as many as 7.90 million persons live below poverty line in the North Eastern Region as against 280 million in India (HDR, 2003, UNDP) and the report shows that high poverty ratios are found in Meghalaya with 18.5%
There are numerous reasons for poor performance of agriculture in the North Eastern Region and one of the prominent reasons is the serious problem of inaccessibility which leaves the people unconnected with many schemes and grants provided by the Government (Summary Report, NIRD-NERC, n.d.)
Summary
Rural poverty which has a high concentration among the self-employment in agriculture is reported at 63.6% in the State When it comes to reduction of poverty during the years 1973-74 and 1999-2000, it was highest in both Meghalaya and Mizoram (30.85%) as against all India level of 28.78%. A high percentage of the poor people in the villages who concentrates on self-employed through agriculture exhibit poor performance in agriculture and adding to this list is Meghalaya which is listed in six out of the eight North Eastern States who reports to have contributed to agriculture very minutely. There are numerous reasons for poor performance of agriculture in the North Eastern Region and one of the prominent reasons is the serious problem of inaccessibility which leaves the people unconnected with many schemes and grants provided by the Government (Summary Report, NIRD-NERC, n.d.)
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