Life In Rural India

Abstract : In India,69% Population Lives in Villages ,Where the main occupation of the villagers is Agriculture.Agriculture contribute 28.6% of the total GDP.Problem arises to the villagers when there is less rain fall or delay in mansoon occur.At that time what maximum farmer do,they just wait for the rain as there is no other occupation .Well there are increasing number of Farmers who have tube well connection which helps in tackling these problem,but these number are very less and not sufficient at all. Second mejor point is ,most of the farmer takes crops once a year ,rest of the year whole agriculture land remain unused and also man power or human skill remain unutilised.Government had made many policies to refine the condition but do they really working .I Dont think so ,because its clear from the evidence that after 65 year of indepence ,Still the base of our country i.e Villages and rural people are looking for the betterment. Improper Implementation of Government Policies : Health Problem in Rural India:
India is drawing the worlds attention, not only because of its population explosion but also because of its prevailing as well as emerging health profile and profound political, economic and social transformations. After 54 years of independence, a number of urban and growth-orientated developmental programs having been implemented, nearly 716 million rural people (69% of the total population), half of which are below the poverty line (BPL) continue to fight a hopeless and constantly losing battle for survival and health. The policies implemented so far, which concentrate only on growth of economy not on equity and equality, have widened the gap between urban and rural and haves and have-nots. Nearly 70% of all deaths, and 92% of deaths from communicable diseases, occurred among the poorest 20% of the population. However, some progress has been made since independence in the health status of the population; this is reflected in the improvement in some health indicators. Under the cumulative impact of various measures and a host of national programs for livelihood, nutrition and shelter, life expectancy rose from 33 years at Independence and at 2012 its 63 years. But still there is large number of people in Rural India suffering from the lack of adequate healthcare facilities a)Child Mortality Rate : The `Child Mortality Estimates Report 2012` released by Unicef in New

York has said that in 2011, around 50 per cent of global under-five deaths occurred in just five countries of India, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Pakistan and China.

Incidentally, India`s toll is higher than the deaths in Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo and Pakistan put together. According to a UN agency, India tops the list of countries with the highest number of 15.55 lakh under five years of age deaths in 2011.
b)Malnutrition In Children : In 2011, more children under the age of five died in India than anywhere else in the world. Thats 1.7 million children over 4,650 child deaths a day according to a new report by the United Nations Childrens Fund. Even on a per-capita basis, India does poorly. The study estimates that for every 1,000 children born in India, 61 are unlikely to make it to their fifth birthday.

The report showed the main causes of child deaths worldwide are pneumonia, responsible for 18% of deaths, followed by diarrhea (11% of deaths).

India stands out for the prevalence of diarrhea as a killer of infants. Diarrhea was responsible for 13% of child deaths in India in 2010 the second-highest rate after Afghanistan and this is special caused in rural part of India. 3) Lack of hygiene in Food : According to the National Family Health Survey III 46% of our children are underweight because their mothers are also largely undernourished, 19% wasted or too thin for height and 38% have stunted growth. Around 79% of those under the age of three are anaemic.All these only raise the risk of developing fatal diseases and infection. However hunger finds no mention in the national health policy. There is lot of focus on childhood diseases like diarrhea and polio. 3)Unavailability of the Basics: a)Drinking Water Problem: Despite an estimated total of Rs. 1,105 billion spent on providing safe drinking water since the First Five Year Plan was launched in 1951,lack of safe and secure drinking water continues to be a major hurdle and a national economic burden. Around 37.7 million Indians are affected by waterborne diseases annually, 1.5 million children are estimated to die of diarrhoea alone and 73 million working days are lost due to waterborne disease each year. The resulting economic burden is estimated at $600 million a year.1. While traditional diseases such as diarrhoea continue to take a heavy toll, 66 million Indians are at risk due to excess fluoride2 and 10 million due to excess arsenic in groundwater. In all, 1,95,813 habitations in the country are affected by poor water quality. It is clear that the large investments have not yielded comparable improvements in health and other socio-economic indicators. India has the largest rural drinking water supply program in the world serving about 1.6 million habitations spread over 15 diverse ecological regions and 742 million people. The provision of clean drinking water has been given priority in the Constitution of India, with Article 47 conferring the duty of providing clean drinking water and improving public health standards, to the State. According to the National Water Policy for ensuring sustainability of the systems, steps were initiated in 1999 to institutionalize community participation in the implementation of rural drinking water supply schemes through the sector reforms project which is expected to bring a paradigm shift from Government oriented supply driven approach to People oriented demand responsive approach. In 2010, a Central Pollution Control Board countrywide survey found 66 per cent of samples had unacceptable organic values, while 44 per cent had coliform. Chemical contamination through over-exploitation of groundwater, resulting in excessive iron, nitrates, arsenic and fluoride is equally widespread. Arsenic contamination is now grim reality in, ironically, almost the entire Gangetic belt notwithstanding its ample rivers while fluoride contaminated drinkingwater similarly affects 20 States. Reports say that there are high fluoride-levels in drinkingwater in villages with a prevalence of deformed children from Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Assam and Uttar Pradesh. The problems of chemical contamination are thus prevalent in India with 1, 95,813 habitations in the country are affected by poor water quality (Water aid background paper, 2008). Fig 2 and 3 indicate the crisis that exits in safe drinking water supply in terms of quality. It is surprising to note that states like Bihar and Haryana do not show any problem related to chemical contamination.

Figure 2- : Percentage of affected habitations chemical contamination wise (as per ARWSP Norms) Source: http://www.ddws.nic.in/
b) 3)Natural Disaster: Flood The monsoons play a critical role in determining whether the harvest will be bountiful, average or poor in any given year. Excess rainfall leads to the overflowing of rivers, streams and lakes. This extra water fills low-lying fields and creates a flood situation. Floods destroy not only lives and property but also the entire crop production work carried out in the summer. Certain crops cannot bear excess water and they die leaving the farmer with a burden of debt. The National Commission on Floods has assessed the flood prone area in India to be around 12 per cent of the total area. Government has made policies to tackle the problem at the time of drought but are they really being implemented.

Flood Damages in India 1953-1994

Average Item Area affected (in Million hectares) Population affected (in millions) Cropped Area affected (In Million Hectares) Damage to Houses (in millions) Number of Cattle Lost Number of Human Lives lost Damage to houses, crops and public utilities (in Rs. Crores) (1953-1994) 7.56 32.0 3.53 1.17 96,713 1504 982.1 Maximum 17.5 (1978) 70.45 (1978) 10.15 (1988) 3.51 (1978) 6,18,248 (1979) 11,316 (1977) 4630.3 (1988)

A huge number of people dead every year ,In rural India crops are affected which makes the life of farmer worsen. Drought Drought is said to have occurred when the principal monsoon fails or is deficient. It leads to crop failure due to insufficient irrigation, shortage of drinking water as well as undue hardship to the rural and urban community. There is no provision for declaration of drought by Government of India. Drought is declared for each State or part of the State by the State

Governments. The important steps followed in India to control and manage drought are as follows: This year,the rains during the 4-month-long monsoon season (June to September) accounting for more than 80% of Indias annual rainfall are crucial for the agricultural economy. In April, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted that the monsoon season would see normal or above-average rainfall. On 2 August, however, it confessed that more than half of India has received deficient or scanty rains, and that the monsoon rainfall for the entire country is likely to be 19.7% lower than normal. In India Drought disasters from 1980 - 2008
Overview

No of events: No of people killed: Average people killed per year: No of people affected: Average people affected per year: Ecomomic Damage (US$ X 1,000): Ecomomic Damage per year (US$ X 1,000): Affected people

410 558,565 19,261

1,551,455,112 53,498,452

76,949,488

2,653,431

Disaster India India ndia China P Rep China P Rep India China P Rep China P Iran Kenya

Date 2002 1987 1982 1994 2002 2000 1988 2003 1999 1999

Affected 300,000,000 300,000,000 100,000,000 82,000,000 60,000,000 50,000,000 49,000,000 48,000,000 37,000,000 23,000,000

Plant Protection One of the most significant pest management schemes run by the government is the Integrated Pest Management Scheme (IPM)- External website that opens in a new window. This scheme aims at the best mix of all known pest control measures to keep the pest population below the economic threshold level or ETL. The scheme is 100 per cent centrally sponsored. The Central Government also runs a scheme to monitor and control the locust population. The government has set up the National Plant Protection Training Institute(External website that opens in a new window) in Hyderabad to impart training in plant protection methods. This institute specializes in human resource development in plant protection technology by organizing long and short duration training courses on different aspects of plant protection. It also imparts training to foreign nationals sponsored through bilateral programmes with various agencies. More information on plant protection is available through pest management and plant protection schemes(External website that opens in a new window) of the Government. Crop Insurance Crop production depends on the vagaries of weather and prevention of attacks from pests. As the weather is extremely hard to predict even for top professionals and pests can attack anytime, it helps to have some crop insurance. This insurance protects you from most eventualities like floods, droughts, crop diseases and attacks by pests. An All-Risk Comprehensive Crop Insurance Scheme (CCIS) for major crops was introduced in 1985, coinciding with the introduction of the Seventh-Five-Year Plan. The National Agricultural Insurance Scheme(External website that opens in a new window) or NAIS subsequently replaced it in 1999-2000. The NAIS was originally managed by the General Insurance Company(External website that opens in a new window). Later on, a new body called the Agriculture Insurance Company of India(External website that opens in a new window) was formed to implement this scheme. The National Agricultural Insurance Scheme is also known as the Rashtriya Krishi Bima. It is a comprehensive scheme that provides insurance coverage and financial support to farmers in the event of failure of any of the notified crops as a result of natural calamities, pests and diseases. The scheme also encourages farmers to adopt progressive farming practices, high value inputs and modern technology. NAIS extends to all States and Union Territories. Other than the NAIS Scheme, the Agriculture Insurance Company of India is also involved in creating and executing other insurance schemes related to agriculture and allied subjects. Some such schemes are the Varsha Bima(External website that opens in a new window), Sukha Suraksha Kavach(External website that opens in a new window) and Coffee Insurance(External website that opens in a new window).