Constitutional sanction behind rural administration in India: A story behind the evolution from Raj to Swaraj

Rural Development in India has a long and evolutionary history. During Vedic period, the village was the basic unit of administration. There are various principles, approaches, strategies, philosophies, policies, programmes, experiments and methodologies that need to be studied and analyzed to understand Rural Development. India is a land of villages. The majority of Indian people live in rural areas. There have been various experiments in the pre and post independence period to develop the rural sector. A wide spectrum of rural development programmes has been undertaken to alleviate rural poverty and ensure improved quality of life for the people below poverty line. In the initial phase of planned development, the concentration was on agriculture and industry. After the 1980s the Ministry of Rural Development placed importance on health, education, drinking water, housing and roads so that the quality of life in rural areas is improved and the fruit of economic reforms are shared by all sections of the society. The goal of rural development is the enrichment of the quality of human life in rural areas. Accordingly, the main thrust of rural development is to improve the living standards by providing food, shelter, clothing, employment, sanitation and education. The efforts were given to increase productivity in rural areas and reduce poverty. The paper tries to reveal the journey of rural administration in India. It also focused on the problem faced by the government from time to time and at last the after the 73rd amendment scenario of rural administration in India.