Rural Transformation in the Post Liberalization Period in Gujarat by Niti Mehta

Author:Niti Mehta
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Springer Singapore, Singapore

Concluding Remarks

Analysis and discussion so far indicate that for smoothening the rural transformation process and urban growth requires concerted focus of policy, that can be summarized here. Rural employment structure is changing and is manifested in the growth of the villages into towns, in addition to the in-situ population growth, and migration. It also appears that the rural and urban are no longer disjointed entities. Urbanisation in the state is the result of diffused growth of smaller towns, emergence of towns along the transport/industrial corridors as well as in the metropolitan peripheries. Smaller towns are growing faster than larger towns and the activity base of smaller towns is also undergoing rapid change, that often functions as pull forces for rural migrants and commuters. Nearly a third of the rural population in the state is on the threshold of acquiring urban character.

Recognition of the statutory status of a census town or urban village involves complex decisions at the village level. The mapping of the development schemes of the government over urban/rural areas is a crucial factor in the reluctance of villages to acquire urban status. Further complexity is lent by the often casual and imperfect implementation of crucial regulations that ushers in indiscriminate changes in land use. Increase in the number of census towns indicates underestimation of the urban areas and population. Increase in the rural administered urban areas indicate that even villages acquiring urban characteristics are not declared as urban. The reluctance to give statutory status to the CTs is a reflection of the state’s policy. This is also indicated by the regression analysis, as pre-existing large villages show negative relation with emergence of census towns. Results of the regression analysis also indicate that the emergence of towns depends on the level of urbanization in a region, growth rate of urban population, besides the non-agricultural male workforce. Proximity to larger urban settlement influences growth of small towns and plays a positive role in the provision of physical infrastructure, particularly road networks and accessibility to market and service centers.

With the relaxation of census urban definition, it is indicated that urbanisation levels in the state could be much higher, as a large number of villages are undergoing rapid structural changes seen through the lens of workforce and population criteria. Nearly a third of the rural population is on the threshold of acquiring urban nature. This has a bearing on the provision of equal standards of public goods and services to all settlements. Growth of rural administered urban areas leads to under provision and neglect of basic amenities available for healthy, productive and sustainable urban living.

It is apparent that issue of villages undergoing structural transformation should require focus of development. Such villages occurring in dispersed locations or in the vicinity of larger cities, demand urban facilities (paved roads, drainage, piped water, educational, health amenities etc.). Peripheral villages or those along transportation axes also face the issue of agricultural land being acquired for urban uses. That the increase in the urban characteristics in rural

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.