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Rural Development NCERT Textbook With Solutions Book PDF Free Download
Chapter 6: Rural Development
Agriculture is the major source of livelihood in the rural sector. Mahatma Gandhi once said that the real progress of India did not mean simply the growth and expansion of industrial urban
centers but mainly the development of the villages.
This idea of village development being at the center of the overall development of the nation is
relevant even today.
Why is this so? Why should we attach such significance to rural development when we see around us fast-growing cities with large industries and modern information technology hubs?
It is because more than two-thirds of India’s population depends on agriculture which is yet to become productive enough to provide for them; one-third of rural India still lives in abject poverty. That is the reason why we have to see a developed rural India if our nation has to realize real progress. What, then, does rural development imply?
6.2 What Is Rural Development?
Rural development is a comprehensive term. It essentially focuses on action for the development of areas that are lagging behind in the overall development of the village economy.
Some of the areas which are challenging and need fresh initiatives for development in rural India include
• Development of human resources including – literacy, more specifically, female literacy, education, and skill development – health, addressing both sanitation and public health
• Land reforms
• Development of the productive resources of each locality
• Infrastructure development like electricity, irrigation, credit, marketing, transport facilities
including the construction of village roads and feeder roads to nearby highways, facilities for agriculture research and extension, and information dissemination
• Special measures for alleviation of poverty and bringing about significant improvement in the living conditions of the weaker sections of the population emphasizing access to productive employment opportunities
All this means that people engaged in farm and non-farm activities in rural areas have to be provided with various means that help them increase their productivity.
They also need to be given opportunities to diversify into various non-farm productive activities such as food processing.
Enabling them better and more affordable access to healthcare, sanitation facilities at workplaces and homes and education for all would also need to be given top priority for rapid rural development.
It was observed in an earlier chapter that although the share of the agriculture sector’s contribution to GDP was on a decline, the population dependent on this sector did not show any significant change.
Further, after the initiation of reforms, the growth rate of the agriculture sector decelerated to about 3 percent per annum from 1991-2012, which was lower than the earlier years.
Scholars identify the decline in public investment since 1991 as the major reason for this. They also argue that inadequate infrastructure, lack of alternate employment opportunities in the industry or service sector, increasing casualization of employment, etc., further impede rural development.
| Author | NCERT |
| Language | English |
| No. of Pages | 17 |
| PDF Size | 0.5 MB |
| Category | Economics |
| Source/Credits | ncert.nic.in |
NCERT Solutions Class 11 Economics Chapter 6 Rural Development
1. What do you mean by rural development? Bring out the key issues in rural development.
Rural development focuses on the social and economic development of rural areas. These programs help in accelerating the growth and development of the rural areas which ultimately helps in the development of the country. The key issues that need to get highlighted are:
1. The focus should be on creating human resources or in other words human capital by providing support in education, vocational skills, and good health care facilities and job training.
2. Alternative sources of employment should be generated so as to address the issue of unemployment or disguised unemployment, the development of alternative sources will reduce the burden on agriculture.
3. Infrastructure development is very essential as it supports the other growth initiatives. This development can include the creation of banks, transport, electricity, and means of irrigation
4. Land reforms should be undertaken with the help of modern techniques which increase the overall production.
5. Poverty removal should be one of the focus points of rural development. It gives rise to many associated issues like unemployment, poor quality of human capital, social inequality, etc.
2. Discuss the importance of credit in rural development.
Credit plays an important role in rural development. Farmers in rural areas have lower incomes and accordingly lower savings. Therefore, it results in less productivity. Banks also prefer paying loans to farmers having good earnings. Those farmers that are small or marginal take loans from moneylenders and fall into a trap. Credit infusion is very much essential for the agricultural sector in order to usher in rural development. The importance of credit can be shown below:
1. It helps modernize farming by getting access to the latest tools through credit
2. There exists a long time between sowing and harvesting. It is known as the gestation period. In this period farmers need financial support for meeting requirements of farming like seeds,
3. It helps farmers from poverty and provides funds for sustenance
4. Agriculture is dependent primarily on weather and season. During a bad season, there is a possibility of crop failure, which is detrimental to farmers. In that case, credit, and crop insurance helps recover the cost.
3. Explain the role of micro-credit in meeting credit requirements of the poor.
Credit offered to poor through the SHGs (Self Help Groups) and non-governmental organisations is known as microfinance organizations and they offer micro-credit.
The SHGs play a significant role in meeting credit requirements of the poor and also encourage savings among the rural people. Money is pooled from the individual accounts of many farmers to finance the requirements of members.
Finance done from SHGs reduce cost of transaction for borrowers and lenders. The National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (NABARD) provides loan/credit at reduced rates. This type of finance is becoming the preferred choice for small farmers due to ease of credit and faster disbursal.
NCERT Class 11 Economics Textbook Chapter 6 Rural Development With Answer PDF Free Download