18. India needs Smart Villages, not Smart Cities

          In intellectual Landscape, our topic seems to derived from contemporary debate of development which is most opinionated but ambiguous, unclear and seems  near irresolvable. Policymakers are trying hard  to find out most effective, economical and way easy to implement the policies. People are desperate to see progress in state’s effort for development and role of other stakeholders is under scanner of public. In policy making, set goal is value orientation of popular will. But policy makers cannot neglect one sector or the other by arguing that the particular model of development is priority at the expense of other. At least when governance and development are interdependent and complete whole. Development cannot be segregated and compartmentalized. It is value driven process of which targets can be smart villages or smart cities or both.

           India need smart villages as its 68 % population is living in rural areas but this fact does not indicate towards the less importance of urban development which is, in recent, rapid and uncontrolled phenomenon. Urban and rural patterns are integral part of our nation’s landscape. Both ways of life are struggling and demanding for improvement, quality enhancement and betterment desperately. On one side poverty, unemployment and lack of other earning opportunities , lack of sanitation and unhygienic living conditions, lack of health , education and other infrastructure . While on the side, Cities are marred by proliferating slums and related urban crisis. The model of paranoid optimist can suggest one either smart village or smart city. Recently ,government of India adopted the Saansad adarsh Gram Yojana and smart city model as complementary to each other.

          Prior policy of government was to provide the all amenities to rural people through centrally sponsored plans like Bharat Nirman which incorporate  Rural water supply, Electrification under Rajiv Gandhi Gram Vidyudtikaran Yojana,rural Roads,Rural housing, Rural telephone connectivity. Apart from this Integrated watershed development programme, MNREGA, National rural Livelihood mission, National Rural heath mission, JSY, ICDS, SSA,and many more.

            The government failed to integrate schemes and plans for holistic development of rural areas ,atleast at implementation part if not at policy level.In cities,one fourth population is living in slums.No more facts are needed to support the poverty stricken,underprivileged,crisis ridden urban life in spite of so much compartmentalized schemes for urban households like Indira Awas Yojana, national shahari swarozgar yojana , Anganwadi and many more.

              Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (Parliamentarian’s Model Village Scheme) mandates each Parliamentarian is mandated to adopt three rural villages and ensure that these villages are transformed into ‘Smart Villages’ by 2019. Rural Development Ministry presents a holistic vision of development in which model villages are connected to the internet and where all households have access to clean water, sanitation and low-carbon energy. Furthermore, model villages will be backed up by the provision of basic amenities that are often only available in urban areas, and a social security system. First, these model villages have no follow up example.  The detailed guidelines for implementation are needed. Since this is particularistic model for each smart village. When we compare it with existing Growth centres and growth pole model of regional development and anticipated centrifugal positive effects, we see most of the industrial growth centres are in naxalite affected areas like Jamshedpur,  Bhilai , Durgapur, Secundrabad etc. Increased regional imbalances and inequalities can be resultant of such a development model.