“India lives in her villages”
these words were said by Mahatma Gandhi. Yes, Majority of the Indian population
lives in rural areas hence to attain sustainable economic prosperity it is
necessary to focus on the development of rural areas. Every state must develop programmes
towards upliftment of the rural economy but one state has already started focusing
on rural upliftment and that state is Andhra Pradesh. Under the
leadership of Shri Nara Chandrababu Naidu the government of Andhra Pradesh has
brought the revolutionary scheme called “Smart Village”.
Smart village is a village
adoption scheme which enables responsible citizens or simply partners to adopt
a village of their choice and develop that village in collaboration with gram
panchayat committee. Quite an innovative scheme isn’t it? It involves citizens
and making it a social responsibility. This scheme has achieved wide scale
recognition and many NRIS, film personalities, industrialists, corporate houses
and even bureaucrats have evinced interest to participate in this scheme.
The “20 non negotiable” entities is
the backbone of this scheme which serves as a framework for ensuring an all
round development of the village. These entities comprise of providing basic
necessities like health, education, sanitation, skill development and agricultural
productivity and partners must ensure a 100% performance in delivering these
entities. I am going to discuss some of these in the coming paragraphs. This scheme
comes with a unique grading system which enables a constant monitoring of the
progress of developmental activities.
Agriculture is the backbone of
rural economy. Through this scheme partners can involve agriculture scientists to
educate various low cost techniques to improve farm productivity. The farmer
can be made aware of various alternative irrigation systems without living
under the mercy of rainfall or canal irrigation. Poultry and dairy farming can
be strengthened which creates an agro based economy thus bringing prosperity to
the village
Rural Health is the most
neglected sector. Many villages have no access to basic health facilities and rural
people have to travel to nearby towns hence there is a need to strengthen the
health system in villages. Through this scheme, PHCS can be revamped by involving
best qualified doctors to mentor them, providing latest medical equipment and
training the personnel accordingly. The partners can sponsor rural health camps
and immunization drives to combat the spread of various diseases in the
village. Training rural health workers will help in dealing the problem of
malnutrition and child mortality.
Education is an important factor
in eradication of illiteracy. Partners can give a helping hand in developing
the education system through the use of digital class rooms with internet
connectivity and training the teachers to use these aids. School dropouts can
be efficiently tackled by creating awareness programmes on importance of
education and even adult literacy programmes can also be conducted to eradicate
illiteracy. Establishing Skill development centres to train rural
youth helps to create an efficient workforce and promising an illustrious careers
to these youth.
Finally, our country has been
experiencing a skewed development where major urban areas are booming with
mass migrations of rural people which is
a dangerous trend leading to overcrowding which puts a pressure on resources. The
only way to stop this trend is to develop rural areas. “Smart village” one of
the instrument to rural empowerment. This scheme is not a mere sign of publicity
but a mission to progress of rural areas.
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