I don’t know who coined the idea of ‘back to the village,’but whosoever advised the administration in this matter must be a realadministrator. In almost entire subcontinent, more than seventy percentpopulation live and earn their livelihood in a rural area—the countryside. Andmost of them are directly or indirectly engaged with agriculture and the alliedsectors. Maybe in the present economic order, they do not contribute tocurrency, but survival and sustenance of humanity are guaranteed through every activityof the rural population. A few decades earlier for most of the people, foodclothing and shelter were produced in villages. Now the scenario has altogetherchanged. The materialism has overtaken our economy, and prosperity is no moreassessed through the quantity of food grown and contentment of populace.Contemporary economies are driven by Gold, dollars, and foreign exchangereserves.
Anyways, growing food is a compulsion now and materialism apassion! Under these compellingcircumstances, anyone floating an idea to bring the administration at thedoorstep of rural people is a noble mission. The unfortunate part of our systemof governance is that after the departure of British, we adopted theadministrative policy the British had tailor-made to suppress, subjugate, andfleece the people of the subcontinent. The British bureaucratic system was soimposing that any voice for accountability was brushed aside as challenge tothe state. The instruments of governance were sharp and ruthless giving messagethat only ‘Raj’ had the right to orderand implement it come what may. And for last more than seven decades, there isno change in administrative hierarchy anywhere in the region except we havedecorated the adopted system with democratic rights as envisaged in theconstitution. Excluding the concept of panchayat raj rest our governanceflourishes and flows down from the top. Thus most vital aspects of political,social, economic, and environmental activities in rural areas get neglected.And the engine of the real growth and economy [villages] remain underutilized.
A saner voice and rational act of listening to the ruralpeople through the idea of ‘back tovillage’ can be acknowledged as aprelude to an act of constructive administrative reforms. However, theintentions and the motives of the implementing authorities will determine thesuccess of this idea and its longtime fallouts. Mere sloganeering andpropaganda of getting the administration to villages will serve no purpose.Administration at the highest level has to draw a comprehensive plan forvillage centric administrative format. The organizational tables cannot beturned overnight to change the centuries-old system, but continuous and sincereefforts will bear fruits. And a more significant part of the population[therural people] will feel a sense of possession vis a vis the governance.
The present week-long efforts when prominent and energeticrepresentatives of the government were seen rubbing shoulders with the ruralpeople can be a positive step towards change though it has to be a routine andconsistent schedule of the government. Instead of involving all the segments ofthe administration in ‘back to village’ program government must strengthen itsexisting frontline agency, the Rural Development Department and make it moreaccountable. The feedback collected by the officers through present visits tovillages can prove a vital data bank for devising the future strategy ofwidening the administrative net into the rural areas.
While appreciating the efforts of the administration, itwon’t be out of place to mention that by proper planning the program could havebeen more interactive and inclusive and much more can be achieved for bettercomprehensive governance. To earn the confidence and goodwill of villagepeople, some specific areas can be identified and explored for improved ruraladministration. The thematic administrative interaction and intervention inrural areas can prove more effective. With a lack of awareness and a lower percentageof education, the executive actions in villages have to be more practical anddemonstrative. In rural communities, the traditional saying ‘ seeing isbelieving’ holds good and is more effective. At present most of the villagessuffer from lack of sanitation. Any effort to improve the village sanitationwill be the best way to earn village peoples trust and make them believe thatadministration is here to resolve their essential issues. Likewise, in phasedmanner health and education sectors can be strengthened to get the villagesinto the fold of real and justified administration and make them fountainheadof government. In reality, the real ‘back to village’ concept has to beimplemented beyond the circuit houses and confinements of canopied officialgatherings. The epicenter of the program has to be the mind and heart of ruralpeople who will, in turn, become more participatory and the concept of thefocused village administration will pull out the remains of feudal mentalityotherwise abolished some seven decades earlier. If envisaged and implementedrightly the ‘back to village’ perception will inevitably change the concept ofgovernance.