Rural India and National Rurban Mission

After India gained its independence, despite of surplus welfare policies and schemes that targeted at the upliftment of rural areas, a polarized development was witnessed. The past record of development initiatives in terms of plans and policies had clearly indicated weak attempts to curb the rural-urban disparity. Not only were the policies short-sighted but their implementation were lacking on ground level as well. Even in the current scenario, there is a dominant variation in the degree of development across India, and simultaneous existence of developed urban sub-regions. Concentration of essential physical and social infrastructure remains in the urban areas and hence their development outweighs that of the rural areas. The inefficiency of rural areas to provide for basic infrastructure, economic opportunities and modern amenities has forced the rural population in migrating to the urban areas. This imbalance has led to weaker agricultural productions and has increased infrastructure pressure on urban areas. Urban areas are continuing to attract investments and resources, primarily in terms of housing. The government's inability to meet the rural infrastructure deficit is the primary reason for out migration and creation of informal and unauthorized settlements. Owing to low levels of education, medical and other essential facilities, the rural areas are increasingly becoming dependent on their urban counterparts. Not only is there a need for efficient rural amenities, there is also a need for additional income generating provisions to make the rural areas self-dependent. In this context, the Government of India under the National Rurban Mission aspires to stimulate local economic development and enhance basic services in rural areas to create well planned Rurban clusters.