TY  - BOOK
AU  - Jodhka,Surinder S.
TI  - A handbook of rural India
SN  - 9789352871988
U1  - 307.14120954 
PY  - 2018///
CY  - Hyderabad
PB  - Orient BlackSwa
KW  - Rural development
KW  - India
KW  - Government policy
KW  - Rural conditions
N1  - "Essays from Economic and political weekly"--Cover; Includes bibliographical references
N2  - Rural' and 'urban' are the foremost categories through which the dynamics of social life have been visualised and engaged with in modern and contemporary times. The idea of the 'rural' or the 'village' has been of particular significance in India. Despite its having had a long and diverse history of urban settlements, British colonisers represented India to the world as a land of 'village republics'. This representation was so influential that even the nationalist leaders accepted it uncritically.

Gandhi advocated 'a return to the village' as the only genuine way to gaining swaraj, or self-rule. Nehru and Ambedkar too saw the village as the site of India's traditional life; however, to them it was also a signifier of India's economic backwardness and social ills. These notions have shaped social science scholarship, popular politics and public policy. For example, development planning was designed to make rural life compatible with modernity and encourage its population to move towards the 'city' through a steady process of urbanisation.

The idea of such a demographic transition continues to be a core element of state policy and an important indicator of positive social change and economic growth
ER  -