Identification of Indicators of a Model Village: Q Sort Approach

Villages are one of the earliest and important settlements in India. According to 2011 census of India, 68.84 per cent of Indians live in 640, 867 different villages. For India to become a developed country, village development should be at the heart of all the developmental activities. The present study was formulated keeping the village development in mind how to monitor and evaluate the same. Accordingly, the objective was formulated to identify the indicators of a model village. The research was purposively conducted with the scientists and research scholars of Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi. Twenty scientists and twenty-six research scholars were randomly selected for this purpose. The collected data were tabulated, analyzed and interpreted using appropriate statistical tools. The result of Q sort indicated that education was perceived as the most important indicator. Finally, forty-one indicators were selected for factor analysis having a median score of more than equal to five. It revealed thirteen factors indicating the village development as, basic needs, innovativeness, media access, employment access, local institutions, sustainable resource use, selfmobilized institutions, social wellbeing and succor, food security institutions, improved input supply, inclusive development, government institutions related to safety and mail and cultural institutions.