Introduction
As per the 2019 consensus from World Bank the rural population of India accounts to be around 895 million which stands to be ~65% of country’s population1. Furthermore, this marks a growth of growth to 4% from 20112. The Indian government during the past decades have brought about several schemes and initiatives aimed for the upliftment of rural areas and bridging its gap from the adjoining urban areas. However, the significant facts associated with the rural areas in the country is that these are not the stand-alone settlements but are a part of cluster settlements, which lay in close proximity to each other and depends relatively upon each other for their needs, activities and amenities.
Cluster is defined as a set of geographically contiguous villages. On practical grounds the villages of the clusters are the units that follow an administrative convergence of Gram Panchayats and stands within a single block/tehsil for administrative convenience3. Centre for Policy Research has estimated that these clusters on account of their locational, competitive advantages have massive potential for growth and could be exemplified as economic drivers of the country. The policy makers anticipated the formation of such 61224 clusters which once developed would be referred to as ‘Rurban’4. Working on this perception the Government of India launched Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission (SPMRM) on 21st February 2016, under Ministry of Rural Development with an aim to develop 300 rural growth clusters across the country in a time-bound manner.
The National Rurban Mission through SPMRM visions towards the creation of clusters of ‘Rurban Villages’ by incorporating basic and essential urban facilities but without compromising or extinguishing the essence of the rural community life. This shall be done with special emphasis on equity and inclusiveness5. The details of the Provision of Urban Amenities in Rural Areas (PURA) and pilot evaluation of the rural areas were considered in the 12th five-year plan6. Subsequently, over the last five years, about 300 Rurban Clusters have been developed across the country which not only include states but also union territories to stimulate local economic development by developing skilled and trained local entrepreneurs, enhance basic amenities, infrastructure and livelihood by investing 21 indicative parameters of development under Framework of Implementation (FOI)7. These 21 parameters are (a) sanitation (b) piped water supply (c) solid & liquid waste management (d) village street lights & electrification (e) access to village streets with drains (f) inter village roads connectivity (g) public transport (h) LPG gas connection (i) health (j) education (k) digital literacy (l) citizen services center (m) environment conservation & management (n) housing (o) sports infrastructure (p) social infrastructure (q) social welfare (r) skill development linked to economic activities in cluster (s) agri-services, processing and allied activities (t) MSME strengthening, employment generation & SHG formation (u) tourism promotion.
Taken together, the broader outcomes envisioned of the Mission are5 –
a. Bridging the rural-urban divide-on account of: civic amenities, economic, technological and those related to facilities and services.
b. Stimulating local economic development with emphasis on reduction of poverty and
unemployment in rural areas
c. Attracting investment in rural areas with private sector partnerships
A systematic and scientific approach was employed for defining the clusters. This was based upon the spatial characteristics of the demographic, social and economic profile of the area. A detailed report called as Integrated Cluster Action Plan (ICAPs) were prepared delineating the cluster as planning areas and covering (1) strategy for the cluster integrating the vision for each Gram Panchayat in the cluster (2) The desired components for the cluster (3) The resources to be converged under various schemes (4) The Critical Gap Funding (CGF) required for the cluster.
These ICAPs provide critical guidance on key aspects envisaged for a given cluster including the developmental aspirations, interventions, schemes being converged, implementation strategy, and expected impact7. Under the Phase I of the mission, a total of 10 clusters in Uttar Pradesh (UP) were identified as RURBAN clusters and approved for financial investments.
Table1: Clusters in UP are divided into 3 categories, namely: Category A, Category B, and Category C.
| Category | Cluster |
| A | Juggaur Chitehara Patehara Kalan |
| B | Bansgaon Mau Mustakil Dasna Dehat Barokhar Kasahai |
| C | Silana Rudhahu Mustakil |
The current study was performed to study the role of Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission (SPMRM) in the Educational Sector for the enhancement of basic education in rural areas of UP.
Evaluation methodology of Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission (SPMRM)
With considered margin of error of survey ( , sample proportion (p) and z-score for number of standard deviations from mean, at 5%, 0.5 and 1.96 (95% CI) respectively, we calculated the survey sample size using the formula:
The team randomly approached to individual households, from which one person was requested to answer the survey questions. Survey was done in presence of RURBAN nodal officers’ representatives and the Gram Pradhan so as to ensure availability and maximum participation from the village community. Questions asked were part of the 21 parameters listed out in the RURBAN guidelines which are grouped into the three major categories of basic amenities, social & digital amenities, and economic activities.
Fig.1. Team members from the Centre of Science and Society (Rural Technology & Development) University of Allahabad for the survey of Bharokhar Cluster.
Results and Discussion:
Assessment of Basic Details of the Rural Population:
In the district Prayagraj, Cluster Barokhar comprise of 12 villages. We surveyed the population with approximate representation of both male and female with 56.20% and 43.80% respectively (Fig. 2a). The population was categorized in three age gaps. Fig 2b represents that the major age group survey was 26-45 years with 54.71% population. The rest two groups <25 years and >45 years were represented by ~17.18% and 28.10% respectively. The survey teams have tried to cover a broader population groups with equal representation on account of gender and age groups.
The educational qualification and the source of livelihood of the cluster population was further studied (Fig 3c,d). In order to study the educational qualification the population was subdivided into groups namely, Illiterate, functional literate, Primary, Secondary, Higher Secondary and College/University level. A major portion of the population represented by around 42.12 % was illiterate followed by other classes with a marginal population ranging from about 7.69-15.02%. Hence, the literacy rate of the cluster was evaluated to be around 50.19%. The livelihood section of the survey was based primarily on the employment of the village population. The prime mode of livelihood was Farming adopted by about 42.84% population. This was followed by agriculture laborers with 22.26% and labourers outside agriculture with 17.48%; the three groups constituted the main worker group with 82.57% .The other minor groups included people engaged in Animal Husbandry (2.84%), jobs in government (0.84%) or private sector (2.98%) and self-employment (6.35%), constituting about 13.00% of marginal workers (Fig 3). Taken together, it is important to mention that the population was equally assessed based on gender and age categories. The results further indicated that that Barokhar cluster is primarily an agriculture dependent area.
Enhancement of basic education under Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission (SPMRM):
Education stands to be one of the major pillar of Social Infrastructure Plan under SPMRM. Understanding the necessity of this component, a convergence fund of about Rs.7.17 Cr and Critical Gap fund of about Rs.5.13Cr has been sanctioned under this head8.The Mission aims to establish and upgrade the basic infrastructure in schools equipped with Computers and Computer aided learning materials, construction of Library/e-Library, Smart Classrooms facilitated with Solar powers and Anganwadi development9. The mission further aims towards the training programs of the teachers and also study and exploration tours for the students. There stands a balanced approach for the development of both human resource and infrastructure development. Furthermore, special emphasis has been laid on improvising the educational setup with new and innovative tools.
The survey team studied the % of School going children with particular emphasis to their level of education. We also highlighted the infrastructure developed under the Rurban Mission. The population was also asked to rate the improvement the SPMRM has brought in the field of education.
It was observed that about 70.81% children in the cluster attended the school at various level. The majority of student with 63.24% were found to attend the primary level education, 22.84% to the secondary level, Senior Secondary with around 12.56% and others (University/College) comprise of about 1.4%. The types of School attended were further classified into Government and private and it was observed that about 73% school going population opted for government school with remaining 27 % population opted for either private or other formats (Fig 4).
The development of the infrastructure facilities were assessed in terms of smart classrooms equipped with computers and aided with solar power facility. The e-libraries and the Anganwadi centres were also visited. It was observed that most of the villages have been allocated with a good number of schools. Some of the schools have a well-equipped and functional smart class facilities, however, some villages were still in the process of upgradation. The significant outcome of these efforts would bring the educational environment in close vicinity of the rural children. Upon the completion of the development process, the children will get the schools in the radii of 1-5kms which is indeed an easily approachable distance. Moreover, these facilities will also help children of rural background share an equal stage with their urban counterparts.
Fig.5 and 6 reveals the development made under the SPMRM in the rural areas of Uttar Pradesh. It is also highly evident from the images that the smart classes, solar computer laboratories, e-libraries are in fully functional mode. The spacious and airy classrooms shall further help in the basic growth and development of rural children. This is further facilitated with the mid-day meal and the toilets build in the school campuses. The dinning-halls are specially designed for the mid meals. The government has also taken cognizance of the growth and development of early growers. This is evident in the development and modernization of Anganwadi kendras. Fig. 7 represent an Aganwadi Kendra at Dasna Dehat of Ghaziabad Cluster of Uttar Pradesh.
The team also assessed the level of improvement in the quality of infrastructure education as per the perspective of the rural population. ~50% population agreed that the SPMRM had brought about certain improvements in both the points, however ~30% population emphasized that much more could be done to further facilitate the village population under the education sector.
Conclusion:
In the past decade, there have been a number of welfare schemes and activities aimed at uplifting the rural areas and reducing the rural-urban divide. SPMRM could be designated as a dedicated efforts for improving ‘ease of living’ and ‘ease of doing business’ in rural areas that is now classified as Rurban villages. Close to Rs.28,000 crore investment has been approved and works worth greater than Rs. 9,000 crore have already been completed. The approach has translated into bridging gap in the availability of basic amenities, infrastructure and livelihood opportunities in rural areas. Further, in the wake of concerted policy directives and availability of institutional machinery, government and non-government, there lies a significant opportunity to turn these areas into growth centers and fuel transformative development in rural India. Also the developments in the basic education sectors will further enlighten other sectors like skill development rural entrepreneurships and livelihood.
Acknowledgements:
We acknowledge the support of Ministry of Rural development and Department for Science and Technology, Government of India.
References:
- World Bank – Rural Population of India
- World Bank – Rural Population (% of Total)
- https://rurban.gov.in/index.php/Public_home/rurban_cluster.
- CPR paper reference – CPR-Future Town discourse
- Consultation Paper on Rurban 2.0
- The evaluation was conducted by National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD) and technical support from Asian Development Bank for restructured scheme http://www.nrcddp.org/file_upload/PURA.pdf.
- Shyama Prasad Mukherji Rurban Mission Proof of Concept (POC)
- DPR Report of Uttar Pradesh
- ICAP report of Uttar Pradesh