Abstract
The key purpose of this research is to examine the level of attainment of rural development in the two districts—Burdwan and Murshidabad. The reasons for selecting these two districts stems from the fact that majority of the population of these two districts dwell in rural areas. The concept of rural development is comprehensive. It includes economic development of rural people through the development of productive sectors and employment associated with rural infrastructural development as well human development. Therefore, rural development includes in its domain all the aspects of human development of the rural people. The present Central as well as State Governments have undertaken different policies and plans to bring about positive changes amidst the rural people. In most cases, however, the policies and plans fail to achieve the desired level of changes in the rural areas (Desai, 1991). Although in fewer isolated cases, some success has been achieved, but overall development remains to be reached. This research, based mainly on secondary data aims to investigate the scale of progress in the two districts —Burdwan and Murshidabad of West Bengal, India, in the areas embracing social correlates of rural poverty, basic infrastructure facilities, standard of living and quality of life. The data are analysed with the help of statistical and cartographical analysis.
Highlights
According to the World Bank, “rural development is a strategy designed to improve the economic and social life of a specific group of people— the rural poor” (Desai, 1991: p.1.1).The first Prime Minister of India understood the necessity of removing poverty from rural India and from the first five year plan, the government emphasised on the development of sectors related to rural India — agriculture, rural employment, rural infrastructure, rural housing, financial sector, etc. (Desai, 1991) alongside a long list of policies and programmes evolved during the 69 years of independence
The first Prime Minister of India understood the necessity of removing poverty from rural India and from the first five year plan, the government emphasised on the development of sectors related to rural India — agriculture, rural employment, rural infrastructure, rural housing, financial sector, etc. (Desai, 1991) alongside a long list of policies and programmes evolved during the 69 years of independence
Even the conditions of people living below poverty line (BPL) did not change considerably
Summary
According to the World Bank, “rural development is a strategy designed to improve the economic and social life of a specific group of people— the rural poor” (Desai, 1991: p.1.1). (Desai, 1991) alongside a long list of policies and programmes evolved during the 69 years of independence Despite all these policies and programmes, the situation remains deplorable except for some recent infrastructural developments. It remains paramount to examine the status of the rural areas in the districts of West Bengal in terms of economic and social indicators: evaluating the implementation of the government schemes and programmes of both the central and the state, probing the actual problems of backwardness and failure or success of the schemes and programmes of the governments, and assessing the role of the Panchayats in this regard to assess a true developmental approach for all the districts that could be perhaps replicated in other districts of the country. Combining all the indicators of development, composite scores are calculated in order to compare the levels of rural development between the two districts of Burdwan and Murshidabad
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
