Rural Development in British Period in India

Development of rural area is not a one day task; rural development signifies a complex and long term process involving fundamental transformation of rural society both at social and economic levels. This study has been made to characterize the Indian villages in British period. It narrates how the establishment of British rule altered the basic land relationships in the villages which were governed by traditional customs and usage. It logically interprets how the British tampered with the basic stability of the villages through the introduction of the concept of mortgage, sale and transferability of land. It also focused some schemes that have been introduced by British in rural development in India. The study concluded that the basic infrastructure was also ignored by the British. That does not mean that no efforts were taken in this direction. But all these efforts were taken by Indian directly and indirectly. The implement of such programmes were effective in limited areas.