Rural and Tribal Development in India: A Review of Challenges and Remedies

Development is referred to a process of continuous progress. It is a process of transformation that involves the whole society-its economic, social, political and physical structure-as well as value system and way of life of people. In this affair rural development keeps an important position because majority of Indian population reside in rural areas. Rural development is a process which leads to a continuous rise in the capacity of rural people to control their environment accompanied by a wider distribution of benefits resulting from such control. P.R Bose says, ” Rural development thus means development of rural areas in such a way that social, economic and technological components of rural life change in a desired direction and within framework of national goals and objectives without prejudice to the development of the urban area of the country.” Right from the inception of the five year plans the tribal development has been a subject of only avoidance and it has been undermined in various development schemes. It has been left to a mere subsistence level. The foremost policies which were adopted by the British rulers were to isolate the tribals from the general masses and separate the tribal areas from the purview of normal administrations. Now this paper will analyze the various dimensions of rural and tribal welfare in India premised on the case study of Waje village in Raighad district of Maharashtra.