The Idea

Today, India is one of the fastest growing economies. It claims to have the largest mass of English speaking manpower that comes at good price and an average income, and our Gross Domestic Products are growing with their contribution.

In saying all these we forget the fact that what we call “growth” pertains to our urban population alone, while the majority of population residing in rural areas remains utterly neglected.

For centuries, India’s villages have contributed to the growth and sustenance of the economy. Agricultural produce, spices, handlooms and handicrafts constituted the major trade items in rural economy.

Even after years of independence, villages have contributed enormously to India's overall development and the growth of our economy; yet the villagers are the most neglected devoid even of the basic needs of life, let alone the other areas of development. This has led to the migration from rural areas to urban areas and the increase in urban slums.

There is an urgent need to facilitate the development of model villages in each State of our country… As we all know, villagers make up a large chunk of the total population of India.

Gandhiji said the "soul of India" is its villages…

In a village community, a mass of people settle permanently in a definite geographical territory and develop a sense of community sentiment along with socio-economic and cultural relations, which mark them off from other communities.

In the past, villagers usually engaged themselves in primary activities such as farming, fishing or weaving.  These primary activities are still the focus of rural life. These primary activities provide basic goods and services for the inhabitants and for the people in surrounding areas. In this way, some villages function as specific activity centers.

Agriculture remains the predominant form of rural activity in most parts of the world. Most villages in developed countries are no longer oriented towards primary activities. Scale of operations, cultural changes, globalization and other factors have encouraged the residents to seek other occupations, or in some cases, to migrate.

The number of villages in India is very large. If just a few of the migrants from villages support their own villages, our country can be transformed into a wonderful world. It is time for us to give back…