INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY ROORKEE
Approaches of Rural Development
Introduction
• Rural development is a high-priority concern in both developed and
developing countries.
• Poverty, unemployment, inequality, inadequate healthcare, education, and
poor physical infrastructure are the major concerns.
• Inadequate development in rural areas can disrupt the nation’s food security
and lead to the destruction of natural resources.
• To address many issues, several approaches to rural development are
followed.
• They are based on different ideologies like the Gandhian ideology, voluntary
effort, self-help, cooperation, village self-reliance (gram swaraj), etc.
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The paternalistic approach
• This approach had been adopted in many rural development efforts in the early
decades of the 20th century.
• The tenet of centralized policies is that State intervention alone is able to correct
market weaknesses and make it possible to advance toward development.
• The Community Development Programmes (CDP) have accelerated rural
development keeping in mind this approach.
• The modus operandi of this approach is to induct a government functionary in
the village who would act as a “guide, philosopher and friend” of the villagers
required to familiarize them with modern and scientific ideas about agriculture
and rural development.
• The CDP aimed at the holistic development of rural areas with the help of this
approach to rural development.
• This paternalistic development approach hinders the capacity for autonomous
action and initiative of both rural populations and local government levels.
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The Technocratic approach
• It aims to increase the output of agriculture with the use of technology.
• It often ignores concern for institutional, distributional, or environmental side
effects.
• The period of the 1960s and 1970s was the phase when the technocratic
approach had been used for promoting the Green Revolution in India.
• This approach, however, focused predominantly on improving agricultural
productivity but may fail to improve food security and reduce poverty.
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The Radical/Activist Approach
• The radical/activist approach relies on the redistribution of wealth and income
via land reform.
• The main objective behind this approach is to challenge the existing rural social
order directly.
• The radical approach aims to bring social change and the redistribution of power
and influence, through which the most disadvantaged members of the society
stand to gain (Griffin 1973).
• The understanding is that unequal power relationships, based upon differential
access to assets, are the root cause of poverty.
• Sometimes, the proponents of this approach are motivated by socialist ideals
(Lee & Chaudhri 1983).
• This approach was based on the experience of the first two decades of China.
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The populist approach
• It has become more prominent in recent times because of the emphasis on the
Panchayati Raj and the programmes of poverty alleviation.
• In this approach, the role of the government is to ensure local autonomy.
• In this approach, it is presumed that rural people are vitally interested in change
and can transform their lives if they get an opportunity to do so because the rural
community is the best judge of their needs.
• In this approach proposed pattern of development activities is designed from the
bottom-up.
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Broad Front Approach
• This approach envisaged attacking the rural problems on all major fronts
simultaneously so as to bring about the desired changes in the living conditions
of rural people.
• Following this approach, CDP was launched in 1952.
• The CDP aimed at the holistic development of rural areas, such as the
development of agricultural and allied activities, development of cottage and
small-scale industries, promotion of cooperatives, provision of education, health
and sanitation, supply of safe drinking water and creation of economic
infrastructure by way of roads, electricity, irrigation, communication, etc.
• The CDP is designed to improve the quality of life of the whole rural community
with the active participation of the people.
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Sectoral Approach
• This approach was based on Leibenstein’s critical minimum effort thesis, which
calls for concerted efforts to push the growth rates in specific sectors of the
economy.
• To put the agricultural economy on the path to rapid and sustainable
development by making critical minimum efforts to help raise production and
productivity in the agricultural sector, a major engine of economic development.
• Besides the agricultural sector, allied to agriculture, like animal husbandry, has
an important role in supplementing the incomes of the rural people and
improving their health and nutritional conditions.
• Following this approach, various programme was initiated viz. Intensive
Agricultural District Programme (IADP), Intensive Agricultural Area
Programme (IAAP) and Intensive Cattle Development Programme (ICDP).
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Area Approach
• Policymakers, at the advent of the Fourth Five Year Plan, realized that earlier
approaches to rural development resulted in increasing regional imbalances.
• It was realized that no single approach was suitable for areas with different
socio-economic and physical characteristics in different parts of the country.
• It was thought that the Area-specific approach could reduce inter-regional
disparities in growth and development, by promoting all-around development of
economically and socially backward areas.
• Hence, the Government adopted this approach in the Fifth Five-Year Plan, which
envisaged adopting specific approaches to the development of backward areas
such as hilly areas, desert areas, drought-prone areas, etc.
• A few programmes launched keeping in mind this approach are: Hill Area
Development Programme (HADP), Tribal Area Development Programme
(TADP), Drought-Prone Area Programme (DPAP), Desert Development
Programme (DDP) and Integrated Watershed Development Programme (IWDP).
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Target Group Approach
• It was realized that though area approach programmes have facilitated the
development of specific areas, a certain section of society i.e. economically
vulnerable groups, small farmer and landless labourer are not benefited as
desired.
• So it was realized to formulate certain target-specific programmes to alleviate
poverty and generate employment among the weaker sections.
• Keeping this in mind Small Farmers Development Agency, Marginal Farmers
and Agricultural Labourers Development Agency, Minimum Needs Programme,
National Rural Employment Programme, Rural Landless Employment
Guarantee Programme, National Social Assistance Programme and other related
programs were initiated.
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Integrated Approach
• After the Fifth Five Year Plan it was felt to adopt an integrated approach to
address twin problems of growing poverty and mounting unemployment in rural
areas.
• It was revealed that an increase in the rate of growth of an economy alone could
not facilitate the fruits of development to “trickle down” to the poor who are at
the lower rung of the socio-economic ladder.
• Following this approach, the Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP)
was launched in 1978. The IRDP was a multi-level, multi-sector, multi-section
programme, covering mutually supporting projects and activities concerned with
different sections of rural communities.
• The major focus of this approach is on providing income-generating assets and
self-employment opportunities to the rural poor, helping them rise above the
poverty line and improve the quality of their lives.
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STRATEGIES OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT
• The World Bank adopted a few important components in its strategy for rural
development, which include both agricultural and non-agricultural activities.
These components are the following:
• 1. Resumption of agricultural growth: Due to liberalization and open market
policy, the manufacturing and service sectors witnessed huge growth in the
1990s. As a result, the agricultural sector was neglected.
• The World Bank stressed policy changes, which included private land
ownership, promoting agro-based product processing, agricultural marketing,
and, most importantly, technological changes in agriculture.
• The intention was to stimulate the agricultural-based economy and generate non-
agricultural employment for the unemployed rural youths.
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• 2. Expanding non-agricultural rural development
– The World Bank later focused on rural development strategy, linking it directly to the
life of the rural population.
– Education, health infrastructure, rural financial services, including microcredit, non-
agricultural economic activities, and rural administration were given greater
emphasis.
• 3. Greater emphasis on poverty alleviation
– The World Bank’s strategy is more focused on poverty reduction efforts.
• More emphasis on community development
– Farm support services, rural infrastructure, irrigation, micro-credits and natural
resource programmes should be planned well with the help of local participation.
– These experiences paved the way for making more economically rational reforms in
the rural sector to ensure more benefits to the rural community.
– Transparency and local participation are important for the success of strategies.
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Classification of Rural Development Strategy
• Technology gap strategy: During the 1950s, a dominant opinion emerged that
the main cause of the underdevelopment of rural areas was the application of
low levels of technology in agriculture and allied activities. Therefore, attempts
were made to fill the technology gap between developed and underdeveloped
areas by transfer of technology.
• Resources-gap strategy: A resources-gap strategy came to be emphasized
during the 60s. It was felt that rural areas suffered from inadequate resources, so
it was needed to fill this resource gap by providing aid and capital loans.
• Organizational-gap strategy The main argument of this strategy is that the
technology and resources are very much needed, but they cannot bring
development without a sound organizational setup. In the 1970s, it was realized
that no desired impact was made on problems like rural poverty, unemployment,
and under-employment and social justice or equitable distribution of
development benefits because of the lack of a sound organizational setup.
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• Interdependence Strategy: This strategy is a balanced approach pursuing a
balance between the agriculture and industry sectors.
• It is important to improve agriculture by taking a judicious development
strategy that provides the right relationship between agriculture and industry in
the process of development.
• This strategy of interdependence is necessary for increasing productivity and
profit from agricultural produce.
• The allied sectors such as transportation, warehouse, and food processing are
some of the agriculture-dependent industries that provide ample opportunities for
the rural sector to grow.
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Strategy based on collectivization of resources
• Collectivization of rural assets is given utmost importance.
• The productivity of land is achieved because a small piece of land can be
consolidated so that large-scale cultivation can bring about economies of scale in
agricultural production.
• Large scale cultivation is possible by the use of modern technology in the form
of tractors, irrigation, and harvester.
• By adopting this strategy, the Soviet Union, China, and the East European
countries enhanced their agricultural produce.
• In India, cooperative farming, group farming, Farmer Producers Organization,
etc.
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Strategy based on Regulated Capitalist Perspectives
• The strategy based on regulated capitalist perspectives envisions a
coexistence of a capitalist and peasant sector that gets some support and
protection from the state.
• In this strategy, it was believed that the objective of large-scale development
would be taken care of by the capitalist sector while the peasant sector
would address the problem of unemployment till the time the non-
agricultural sectors started growing at a rapid pace.
• This strategy has been criticized as rural inequalities are ignored in this
strategy.
• There must be a fine balance between both capitalist interests and the
peasant sector.
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Strategy based on peasant agrarian perspectives
• The peasant agrarian perspective strategy argues for redistribution of
land and overhaul of land relations.
• It envisages strong support for small peasant units to take care of the twin
objectives of growth and employment.
• It appears important for saving peasants from leaving agriculture.
• The ownership of agricultural land is important for a peasant to continue
his motivation in agriculture for a long time.
• The vibrant agricultural sector will have strong impulses for the creation
of nonagricultural opportunities, but to harness such impulses, the state is
expected to perform important functions.
• The state can play an important role in promoting and strengthening non-
agricultural economic activities in rural areas to ease the pressure of
surplus labour on agriculture and to facilitate the creation of decent
livelihood options.
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Unregulated free-market perspectives
• The free-market or the capitalist strategy presumes that rich landowners would
play a role in the rapid increase in agricultural output by taking advantage of the
economies of scale.
• It suggests that the state should not intervene in the expansion of the capitalist
sector, and there should be no ceiling on ownership.
• Inequality and distributive justice are considered non-issues.
• The state has a role with respect to providing infrastructure to accommodate the
maximum support to every participant in the rural economy.
• The free-market-oriented capitalist strategy is increasing. Not only in India but
also it can be witnessed in other developing countries where maximum
agriculture-based product corporatization is increasing. However, corporates are
not allowed to directly enter agriculture activities.
• However, the role of the state becomes important to safeguard the rights and
choices of the peasant sector.
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• The core concerns of a rural development strategy are as follows:
– Agricultural research, extension, rural education and training programmes
for farmers as a part of institution-building activities.
– Infrastructure building activity in the fields of irrigation, transport,
communication, and health.
– Improvement in marketing facilities for the distribution of agricultural
inputs.
– Policies related to land tenure, agricultural output prices and taxation of
agricultural incomes.
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