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ing in education, technical skills develop- farm output. In addition, land reforms lead
ment through on-the-job training, health to efficient and optimum use of land,
care, etc. enabling large scale production.
2. Development of Productive Resources : 5. Lessening Poverty : Poverty is one of the
Productive resources help in generating main causes of rural underdevelopment.
employment opportunities. In rural areas, Poverty is not a problem in itself; in fact, it
the main occupation is agriculture that gives rise to many other interrelated prob-
usually suffers from low productivity, lack of lems like unemployment, inferior human
infrastructure and disguised unemployment. capital, underdevelopment and backward-
Thus, rural development must aim at ness, inequalities, etc. An important step
development of alternative sources of that should be taken in order to tackle t
occupation. Development of productive poverty is to develop income-earning assets.
resources reduces excess burden on the Such assets would generate income, raise
agricultural sector, thereby, increasing living standards and make rural people self-
productivity and income of the rural people. sufficient.
3. Development of Rural Infrastructure : Given that 72 percent of India’s population
Infrastructure development is a very crucial is rural, the government of India is aware
issue at the micro level. It provides a sup- that no amount of economic development is
port system to all the production activities in possible without giving adequate attention
the economy, the absence of which makes to the rural masses. This task is accom-
economic growth and social development plished by the Ministry of Rural Develop-
impossible. Development of rural infrastruc- ment which introduced various schemes for
ture includes development of bank, credit the welfare of the rural people. Some of
societies, electricity, means of transport, these schemes are Accelerated Rural Water
means of irrigation, development of mar- Supply Programme, Rural Sanitation
kets, facilities for agricultural research, etc. Programme, Watershed Develop-ment
4. Land Reforms : Land reforms along with Programme and the National Food for Worl
technical reforms must be initiated in the Programme. In order to uplift the rural
rural areas. These enable the use of modern masses, the government has also increased
techniques and methods, thereby, increasing credit flow to the farmers, increased invest-
the productivity and aggregate volume of ment in irrigation, rural healthcare, educa-
tion, etc. The plight of the farmers due to
vagaries of rainfall, crop failure, etc. has led
the government to provide risk coverage to
farmers.
INDUSTRY
India’s major industries are steel plants, cement,
paper, rubber, textiles, fertilizers, etc.
As a part of introducing economic reforms, the
government of India introduced the New
Industrial Policy in 1991. The main objective of
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