Environmental science Journal Impact Factor

Research Article

Correlates of Rural Development: A Case of Sadar Block in Pratapgarh District of Uttar Pradesh, India

Ashutosh Mishra*

Senior Research Fellow, Geography Department, University of Allahabad, India

Submission: April 04, 2018; Published: April 26, 2018

*Corresponding author: Senior Research Fellow, Geography Department, University of Allahabad, India, Tel: +91-9415866666; Email: ashutoshkmisra@gmail.com

How to cite this article: Ashutosh M. Correlates of Rural Development: A Case of Sadar Block in Pratapgarh District of Uttar Pradesh, India. Int J Environ Sci Nat Res. 2018; 10(3): 555788. DOI: 10.19080/IJESNR.2018.10.555788

Abstract

India is the second most populous country in the world and majority of its population lives in rural areas. Rural development has been India's prime concern ever since time of independence, and several strategies and plans were implemented from time to time to achieve a better level of development. However, neither top-down, nor bottom-up strategies of development could bring the desired change. Present paper attempts to identify some correlates of rural development and tries to know why desired level and pattern of development could not be achieved even after seven decades of planning process.For its analysis, the study takes case of 'Sadar' development block of Pratapgarh district of Uttar Pradesh. The analysis of 10 select variables reveals that there is a vast disparity in level of development in thestudy area. However, the study notes that the lack of basic education, health and credit facilities is the cause behind this disparity and poor level of development. In view of the findings the study suggests that'local resource oriented development strategy' should be adopted to ensure the holistic development of the rural areas.

Keywords: Regional development; Development disparity; Plan period; Development block; z-Score; Regression; Local resource oriented development strategy

Introduction

Balanced regional development is essential for the harmonious development of any region. But the goal of balanced and sustainable development could be achieved only when the development disparities, emanating from different physical, socio- economic and political factors, are reduced to a minimum level. In India, the problem of regional disparity has been very daunting since last many decades. That's why reduction in regional inequalities has always been one of the basic themes in Indian development planning since its inception. Disparities in the development have been a theme of great academic interest among the geographers, economists, sociologists, demographers and the planners of the world. In India, a large number of studies had been carried out to measure the regional disparities at different scales of spatial units namely states, National Sample Survey Regions, districts and talukas also the great scholars whose names are worth mentioning for their contributions in concept development and delineation of regional disparities [1-16].

India is the country of villages with its 70 percent population living in rural areas. During the plan periods, there have been shifting strategies for rural development. The First Five Year Plan (1951-56) adopted the community development strategy for growth of the rural areas. However, it was felt that growth of agricultural sector is equally important and as a result, the theme of co-operative farming remained the central during the Second Plan (1956-61). But even after serious efforts, no significant improvement could be noticed, and to meet the challenge, the Panchayati Raj System was re-strengthened during the Third Plan (1961-66). The Fourth Plan (1969-74) focused on the development of backward regions while the rural poverty eradication became the theme of Fifth Five Year Plan (197479). However, the need to strengthen the socio-economic base for ensuring faster development of rural areas, was greatly felt. And, therefore, the 'Integrated Rural Development Programme' was launched during the Sixth Plan (1980-85). Going a step ahead, the skill development schemes got introduced during the Seventh Five Year Plan (1985-90) to enhance the employment opportunities and to strengthen the economic base of the rural population. Strengthening the rural infrastructure to enhance the quality of life was the thrust of the Eight Plan period (1992-97). Ninth Plan (1997- 2002) kept its focus on the people's participation in the planning process. Enhancing rural connectivity, access to basic services and improving the quality of life were the objectives of the Tenth Five Year Plan (20022007). Eleventh Plan (2007-2012) was aimed towards faster and more inclusive growth with the view of securing livelihood of rural poor, while reducing regional imbalance and strengthening human capital of the rural areas was the focus of Twelfth Five Year Plan (2012-17).

Apart from their broad objectives and huge budget allocations, these five-year plans have miserably failed to achieve the rural development goals due to poor implementation and monitoring mechanism. The focus of the present paper is, however, not to discuss the causes of institutional failure of these plans, rather it attempts to identify the causal factors responsible for rural development disparity in India. And for analyzing it at micro (village) level, the study takes the case of 'Sadar 'development block of Pratapgarh district of Uttar Pradesh state of India.

The Study Area: A Brief Profile

SadarBlock of Pratapgarh district lies in between 25°48' and26° North latitudes and 81°52' and 82°3' East longitudes in the middle of west Ganga plain. The geographical area of the block is 193 square kilometers out of which 61 percent land is cultivable, but only 67 percent land of this cultivable area is irrigated and the rest of the land is highly dependent on monsoonal rain for survival of its crops. Administratively Sadar block is one of the 17 development blocks of Pratapgarh district of Uttar Pradesh. Total population of the block is 200641, constituted by 51 percent males and 49 percent females. Sex ratio of Sadar block is 967 and the total literacy rate is 75 percent with a notable difference of 22 percent in male to female literacy rate. There are three towns (Bela Pratapgarh, Pratapgarh City and Katra Mediniganj) and 135 villages in Sadar block, and only 7 percent population lives in urban area.

Means and Methods

The study is mainly based on the Census 2011 data. The demographic details and the availability of basic infrastructural facilities were obtained from census of India. There were altogether 10 variables that were chosen to measure the pattern of development disparity at village level. The variables that have been identified to measure the development in the study area are as under:

X1: Primary Schools

X2: Middle School

X3: Secondary School

X4: Senior Secondary School

X5: Arts and Science Degree College

X6: Community/Primary Health Centre

X7: Primary Health Sub Centre

X8: Family Welfare Centre

X9: Post Office

X10: Commercial Bank

The data for these variables for 135 villages of Sadar Block of Pratapgarh was standardized using z-score technique to get a composite development index of all the development variables. Multivariate correlation analysis has been done to see the correlation among different development variables. Further t-test has been used to test the significance of correlation on .05 and .01 significance level. The stepwise regression analysis was also performed to see the variance of different parameters with the level of development.

Results

Figure 1 shows the level ofdevelopment ofvillages in the Sadar block of Pratapgarh district. Based on the development score, the villages may be put into five groups: (a). Under developed (score below 0); (b). Poorly developed (0-4.9); (c). Moderately developed (5-9.9), (d). Comparatively developed (10-14.9) and Better developed (15 and above). As many as 90 villages are in the category of under developed; 28 are poorly developed; 12 are moderately developed, 4 villages namely Ranjitpur Chilbila, Sakrauli, Kohda, and Nariya are in the category of comparatively developed and only one village- Pratapgarh is better developed. It is noteworthy here that the Figure 1 does not fully support the common thesis that the villages lying in close vicinity of towns, or along the roads, are better in development. It is evident that while the villages surrounding Pratapgarh city and Katra Mediniganj towns and situated in between Bela-Pratapgarh and Katra Mediniganj- Pratapgarh City are better in development while most of the villages lying around Bela-Pratapgarh Urban Agglomeration are under-developed.

Table 1 displays the correlation between different development parameters. The insignificant correlation values are meaningless and do not convey any notable association. However, all the significant correlations are positive and it clearly shows that infrastructural variables may boost the development potential of the companion variable. This is very important for policy perspectives that judicious installation of services and infrastructural facilities in the rural countryside can make the development process healthy and faster.

Table 2 shows the stepwise-regression results of select development parameters. The model results clearly demonstrate that the basic education is the crux of rural development and middle school (X₂) alone explains 40 percent variance of the model. The second most important variable for rural development is banking and credit facility (X₁₀) and with addition to the basic education service, it explains more than 60 percent variance of development. The next notable variable is availability of health service. Undoubtedly the primary health sub-centre (X₇) assures the reach of medical facility in the rural areas, and with basic education and banking services; it explains 71 percent variance of development.

The regression result shows that high order services like Community/ Primary Health Centre (X₆), Family Welfare Centre (X₈), Post Office (X₉), Arts and Science Degree College (X₅), Senior Secondary School (X₄) and Secondary School (X₃) also have their role in rural development process however, they come only after the primary requirements of basic education, health and credit facilities are fulfilled.

Conclusion

The analysis reveals that there is a vast range of regional disparity within the study area and most of the villages are underdeveloped and are in deplorable condition. Out of 135, there are only 5 villages which are comparatively better in development level. The results show that most of the villages lack basic services like primary education, health and credit facilities. It is quite strange that having completed 12 five-year plans and many other rural development initiatives, even the basic services are missing in the rural India. As the results indicate that development could easily be achieved with fulfilling its basic needs, however, it could not be addressed due to unthoughtful focus on market oriented top-down development strategy for the rural areas. But, the holistic development of the rural India will only be a dream till 'Local Resource Oriented Development Strategy' will not be adopted.