RURAL DEVELOPMENT
By J.C. Kumarappa
Now that the political turmoil consequent on the British leaving India is dying down, the governments are thinking in terms of Rural Development once again. Therefore, it is necessary for us to consider the lines on which this work could be done. In the main there are three ways in which this programme may be approached:
1. The villages may be looked upon as possible sources of raw materials for supplying the mills situated in the towns.
2. The rural population may be regarded as the main consumers (or markets) for the goods produced in towns.
3. The village may be looked upon as an entity in itself, affording complete facilities for the development of the individuals dwelling in the village.
1. Village as Source of Raw Materials: When the village is looked upon as a producer of raw material for the town and city, the whole economic order is shaped to suit the needs of the town dwellers. The villagers are too often exploited and do not enjoy all the fruits of their labour. The fields are utilized for growing crops which are not directly connected with the needs of the villagers. The regulation of crop growing is effected by the price mechanism in which money plays the leading role. Under the pretext of placing more purchasing power in the hands of the villager, the town makes the villager do what the town wants even though it may ultimately prove to be inimical to his own interests. Raw material crops, such as long-staple cotton, thick rind sugarcane and tobacco drive out food crops and the people are left to face starvation in spite of having more purchasing power in their hands, though it may only be in the form of inflated currency tokens.
Under this system of Rural Development the villages cannot flourish. Their interests are secondary to the requirements of mills and town dwellers. Unfortunately, the present-day economic order encourages people to proceed on these lines.
2. Village as Market: Parallel to the aforementioned type of Rural Development, attempts are being made to convert the villagers into consumers of the manufactures from towns. Here again the price mechanism is allowed free play and the villagers are driven to buy town made goods as being cheaper. Apart from our own city industrialists, foreign manufacturers are also interested in making our enormous population into an insatiable market for their products. Articles such as polished rice, mill-ground flour, tea, coffee, sugar, preserved foods, Vanaspati, canvas shoes, mill cloth etc. are being dumped on the villagers against their own interests. In this way again the villagers are being deprived of the opportunity of employing themselves in various industries and in the processing of food. Thus their field of work is restricted and the pressure on land is increased.
In the above two patterns of Rural Development, the needs of the villagers are not the deciding factors, much less the consideration of opportunities for the development of the citizen’s personality.
3. Personality-Centred Village: Let us now consider whether the material interests of towns and cities are more important than the interests of the villager himself. If they are not, the first two methods of Rural Development will have to yield place to a system that will be centred not on the production and distribution of material goods alone but on making the villager into a worthy citizen of a Democratic State. We look upon work as a medium of education, though, of course, in the process the individual will also be producing articles for his own consumption. The villager is and must remain an entity in himself. To this end the whole social, economic and political structure will have to be adapted to enable the citizen to develop himself from childhood to old age. The village economy ought to be a training ground in the various phases of human development.
Social: The needs of society in the form of water-supply, communications, health and hygiene, disposal of waste, satisfactory housing, etc. will have to be looked after by the people themselves. Education of the children through a craft, to train them in the art of living, in logical method and good conduct, with a moral background, will also be a duty falling on the people.
Economic: The people will have to organise themselves in such a way as to enable them to produce all their requirements in food, clothing and shelter. For this purpose, the land available may have to be apportioned according to the needs of a balanced diet, taking into consideration the quality of land and availability of water. They should raise cereals, pulses, oil-seeds, fruits and vegetables and dairy products to supply, as far as possible, the whole needs of the village; and where there is a surplus that surplus could be exchanged with neighbouring localities for articles which they require.
The processing of this agricultural produce will provide a considerable amount of occupation to persons who are not required on the land. Pottery, tanning, oil pressing, gur making, spinning and weaving, carpentry and metal work will not only provide for people’s requirements but also provide outlets for a fuller expression of their emotional personality and artistic skills. Fairs and festivities should also be organised to enable them not only to market their goods but also produce a culture based on village life.
Political: The regulation of all these aspects of life will have to done on a democratic basis by the organisation of village panchayats, which will not only control the social and economic life but also mete out justice and, to some extent, raise the funds necessary for the administration and execution of an overall plan for all the activities of the village or locality.
Conclusion: Unless we take to this third order of Rural Development with our interests centred on the villagers, it will be futile for us to hope to be able to solve our problems in a democracy, as the people will not be sufficiently educated to bear this heavy responsibility. While plans are being prepared for the future, it is necessary for us to bear these different aspects of Rural Development in mind, so that the plans made now will bear fruit according to our requirements, in due time, without creating further complications not only in our country but also in our relations with other peoples of the world. Our pattern of Rural Development, therefore, will in the main be based on self-sufficiency. So long as every member of the community ultimately aims at this, there should be no shortage of goods, especially of primary necessities, and there should be no commerce and trade in such articles if we wish to establish peace among nations.
Such a scheme of Rural Development will not be a patch-work project made by government officials according to the whims of the various departments, but being based on self-help and local contributions in labour and in kind it will be an ideal training ground in the art of living which is an end in itself.
(Source: “Swaraj for the Masses,” 1948)