Essay on the conditions of village society in India

Village Society in India:

We have said it more than once that India is a country of villages. Its economy very much depends on the villages in the economic structure of the country, they occupy are important place in the political as well as administrative set up or the land. In this context the following facts will have to be taken into account.

1) Most of the people live in villages.

2) Village of the cultural and economic foundation of this country.

3) It is the usage that contributes the major portion of national income.

4) They are the foundation of industrial growth of the country.

5) They are also important from the point of internal and foreign trade.

6) Important for better Government.

Let us take all these factors one by one, and study them a bit in detail.

1) Most of the people live in villages:

Over 80% of the people of India live in the villages. There are about 6 lakhs villages while the towns and cities do not go beyond 3000 so only 18% of the total population of the country live in urban areas. If any project owned at improvement of the economic and social status of the country is to be taken up, it has to be directed towards villages and based on the life of the villages.

2) Villages are the cultural and economic foundation of this country:

It is the villages that from the basis of the cultural and economic life of the country. Real Indian society still loves in the villages. Indian culture is still preserved there. The real value of the Indian life can be seen only in the villages. Through the study of these villages, the real conditions of the country’s life can be seen only in the villages.

Through the study of these villages the real conditions of the country’s life can be known apart from it they are the economic base of the country. Agriculture which is the basis of Indian economy is practiced largely in the village. About 70% of the Indian population still depends on the agriculture. Indian society has therefore to take into account this fact of it wants to go ahead.

3) It is the villages that contribute the major portion of national income:

Indian village still contribute about 51% of the national income. Most of it is secured from agriculture. If the rural sector is taxed greater income shall be available.

Apart from it, the government revenue i.e, rent in the from of land revenue, irrigation takes, stamp fee, registration fee, etc. is earned from the villages. Thus it is the village society that contributed largely to the national income.

4) They are the foundation of industrial growth of the country:

The village is, in fact, the unit that forms the basic feature of the Indian life. If a man is able to see the lie in village, he can know what the country is. It the villages and the Rural Society improve the country improve. As already stated the village community is the basis of the Indian life.

This village life adds to the internal prosperity of the country. We have just now seen that it is the Rural Society that gives the majority of the national income and provides a majority of national resources. If it is improved the whole of the Indian society shall improve.

5) They are also important from the point of internal and foreign trade:

It is the Rural Society or the village society that produces what is actually sent not only to the foreign countries but to the cities and towns within the country. The cottage industries which produce a lot of handloom cloth and other produces handloom are to be found in the villages. Through them it is possible to earn a good deal of wealth. India exports a lot of sugar to the foreign countries.

The sugar is produced from the cane which grown in the villages. Then the villages produce Khandsaire tuggory and other indigenous products which are responsible for meeting the needs of the people of the villages as well as of towns. Apart from the sugar-cane, tea, cotton, tobacco one seeds etc. are also produced in the villages and they are important for internal as well as for foreign trade in the country.

If the villages of this country improve the country is bound to grow economically. As a result of growth of this country and growth of rural economy the country shall become economically more prosperous. These villages of India are more important from the point of view of internal and foreign trade.

6) Important for Better Government:

If democracy is to succeed in the country, people of the villages have to be educated properly. The education should not be confined to Rs.3 but involves political and social education. It is so because most is the people in the country love in villages. If India has to have an efficient government and good administrative set up the people of the villages have to be properly trained and educated.

With the expansion of education many of the sons of the villages have competed successfully at the examination meant for the administrative service. They know the real spirit of the country. If these young boys and girls from the villages are trained properly and educated on modern lines they shall be able to take up jobs in various aspects of life. In that event they shall not be able to do things in a better manner for the good government and the administrative of the country.

Classification of Rural Society in India:

This country as we have already seen is divided into two types of society’s rural as well as urban society. Rural Society presents a clear picture of what India is but it should be kept in mind that Rural Society and its traditions are not uniform throughout the country. Rural Society of this country differs from place to place, according to geographical conditions and traditions of the states. This fact has remained so throughout the history of this country. Even in purnas and holy books we find that the description of the villages has divergent feature.

In different areas and provinces there are different types of villages and so Rural Society differs from place to place. In certain provinces there are villages where most of the people take to cattle breeding or poultry farming. On the other hand there are certain states, where in villages people mostly take to agriculture with the growth of science and technology, the face of the Indian villages has also changed.

Villages that are near tot his towns and cities and centers of learning and industry are different from the villages that are far away from the towns and centers of industry, learning etc, all these factors prove that there are different types of rural societies. Different sociologists and social thinkers have defined and classified the Rural Society into different classes. Given below are the classification of Rural Society as given by various sociologists and social thinkers. Indian village society or the Rural Society has been classified by various sociologist and social thinkers as given below:

A) Classification of Indian society or village society according to Meitzen:

1) Nucleated village society.

2) Scattered village society or scattered villages.

1) Nucleated village society:

In this type of Rural Society there are villages that have a dense population in them. The farmers or the inhabitants of villages love nearer to one another. They lead more or less a common life. Since people in these villages sense as nucleolus for creation of other hamlets or other villages they are called nucleated villages.

2) Scattered village society:

Rural Society which has the villages that are scattered and have spare population, is known as scattered village society. In these villages, the families live away from one another. If fact, the families live away from one another in fact, the families of the farmers hive in the villages at distance from one another, so that they are not thick and closed to one another.

B) Classification of Indian Society according to Peake:

1) Migratory agricultural villager migratory Rural Society.

2) Semi-permanent villages or semi-permanent Rural Society.

3) Permanent agricultural villages or permanent agricultural Rural Society.

C) Classification of Indian society according to Sorokin’s, Zimmerman and Gulpin:

These three social thinkers here made attempts to classify the Indian Rural Society on the basis of density of population and sparseness of population, separate place of habitation, ownership of man etc. According to these social thinkers the village or the Rural Society may be classified under the following heads:-

1) Rural Society in which there is joint ownership or proprietorship of the land.

2) Rural Society or villages where farmers have jointed common title deed.

3) The Rural Society or the village where is individual ownership of the people on the land.

D) Classification of Rural Society in India according to Dr.S.C.Dubey:

Mr. Dubey has made a comprehensive study of Rural Society in India. He has come across various types of considerations on the basis of which Rural Society may be classified as given below:-

1) Classification of the villages or the Rural Society according to size of population area and land etc.

2) Classification of the village or Rural Society according to caste and rural elements.

3) Classification of village or Rural Society on the basis of ownership of land.

4) Classification of village or Rural Society on the basis of authority and the privileges.

5) Classification of village or Rural Society on the basis of local traditions.