An Integrated Approach Towards a Model Village: Case Study from Belagavi District

The prevalent trend of migration of people from villages to urban areas in the quest for better quality of life and facilities like good education, healthcare, internet and entertainment as well as better employment opportunities, have been a great concern of Government of India(GoI) and respective State Governments. Various schemes in the past, targeted to improve the quality of life in villages in term of shelter, food, health through Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), Mukya Mantri Awas Yojana (MMAY), Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas (PURA), Rurban Mission (RM) and several other programs. However, the implementations of different concepts are far from reality, because of the lack of experts working in rural sector to develop and implement schemes in a more emphasized way. One of the major reasons is the non - involvement of the beneficiaries for whom the plans / schemes have been formulated. As India is a vast country having different geo-climatic conditions and culture, one solution may not fit for all. If the model villages are developed in each district of country by providing basic minimum facilities of village road connectivity with a pucca road and public transport, piped water supply and sanitation, electricity and street lighting and drains, solid and liquid waste management, upgrading school infrastructure, aanganvadi kendras, pucca houses, electronic delivery of citizen centric services, and LPG gas connections, fully equipped mobile health units, dispensaries, agro-processing, storage and warehousing, skill development training for masons, carpentry, welding, driving, painting, etc. linked to economic activities, livelihood generation activities like dairy, poultry, biogas, and other attributes as per the provisions listed in 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act., then definitely migration of the people from villages would automatically stop. In this paper, a concept of Model Village in Belagavi District of Karnataka is presented by integrating the PURA and RM approach. It is envisaged that the proposed model will catalyse the overall regional growth, which would benefit both rural and urban areas of Belagavi district and surrounding districts as well, by strengthening rural areas and disburdening urban areas leading to a balanced regional development in Karnataka state.