Assessment of Rural Development made under the Model Village Scheme: A Study of Jammu District

Abstract

The present study intends to assess the rural development made under the Model Village Scheme by understanding an empirical research inquiry conducted in the Jammu district of Jammu and Kashmir. This Scheme intended to transform the backward rural villages into “Model Villages” by providing them with all the basic facilities and infrastructure. The present study was mainly Descriptive Survey Research. In the Jammu district, eight villages were identified in eight different cd blocks by the Department of Panchayati Raj and Rural Development to develop as Model villages. All eight villages were selected for the present study.

For the present study, three different categories of respondents were included. These were Household Respondents, Sarpanches, and Block Development Officers. The household respondents were selected from the identified Model villages on the basis of the proportion of the population in each village.

The data for the present study were collected by using both primary and secondary sources. The primary data was collected by using three data collection tools viz. structured interview schedule, structured interview, and observation method. The Secondary data related to the present study was collected from Divisional Commissioner offices of selected districts, Block development offices of selected blocks, and Panchayats of the selected villages. Population Data was collected from the Census of India 2011. The other secondary data had been collected in the form of published works by various organizations such as Books, Journals, Articles, Periodicals, Magazines, Newspapers, and both National and International reports published by the Government of India collected through the libraries and websites also.

The impact of the Model Village Scheme in Rural Development had been analysed mainly through the perception and experiences of respondents. The data gathered were then classified.

The present study tried to see whether the identified villages were really developed as “Model Villages” or not. The study found that the implementation of the model village scheme in selected villages of Jammu District resulted in certain positive outcomes such as the provision of basic infrastructural facilities, development of physical infrastructure, and thereby minimisation of the rural-urban divide. As a result, an improvement was brought in the living conditions of the villagers. But the scheme failed to sustain the fruits that it had created due to a lack of maintenance, lack of awareness among villagers, lack of people participation, lack of interest in implementing agencies, lack of funds, high rate of corruption, and local politics. Most of the assets that were created under the scheme became non-functional or in ruinous condition. Moreover, the centralised nature of the scheme also did not give enough flexibility to villages to customise their developmental priorities. As a result, the model villages no longer remain, models, for other villages to emulate. From the present study, it was found that the model village scheme had not resulted in holistic rural development as the scheme focussed on only one aspect of rural development i.e., infrastructural development.

It doesn’t mean that the scheme is a failure. The scheme had achieved most of its physical measurable targets. The model village scheme is successful as long as the creation of physical infrastructure is concerned. Regular maintenance of assets would make the scheme more effective.