1. Challenges to Sustainable Rural Development:
Casteism, Factional Politics, Natural Calamities (Droughts and
Floods), Utilisation of Water, Fertilisers and Pesticides
PROF. MELISSA REMEDIOS
2. Introduction
• Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting
human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural
systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on
which the economy and society depend.
• Rural development aims at the quality of life that is the key factor of
sustainable growth in the effectiveness of the agricultural production.
• To achieve enhanced production and productivity in the rural areas
there must be a spatial balance in the social and economic
development.
3. Challenges to sustainable Rural Development:
• In the global context some major challenges to sustainable development are eradicating
the extent of poverty,promoting sustainable consumption and production, managing the
planet’s natural resource base for the benefit ofthe all sections of society.
• There are some serious challenges in context to particularly India are-defining indicator,
financing sustainable development goals (SDGs), monitoring and ownership, measuring
progress etc.
• A number of measures are initiated by the Government of India for maintaining
sustainable development like-agenda 30, SDGs and MDGs, NITI AAYOG, schemes like -
make in India, digital India, Jan dhan Yojana, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan etc. But sustainable
development requires everyone’s effort to involve in achieving for a historic change in
the global level to deliver inclusive growth, climate change and reduction of the risk of
climate change.
4. Casteism:
• Rural India remains a caste-based society. It explores why caste continues to play such an
important role and what the effects are. It argues that trade and agricultural productivity suffer,
as well as the functioning of democracy.
• Anthropologists and sociologists have long emphasised the notion of a ‘dominant’ caste to
understand village life in India.
• M N Srinivas first defined the term ‘dominant caste’ to refer to the caste in the village which is
numerically strong and also wields the greatest economic and political power (Srinivas 1987).
Louis Dumont later insisted that dominance arises solely from economic power rather than
factors such as numerical strength, and that this power flows exclusively from control of land
(Dumont 1970).The traditional village economy revolved around a hereditary caste hierarchy that
prescribed individuals´ occupations.
• Upper castes were the landowners, middle-ranked (backward) castes the farmers and artisans,
and the lowest-ranked (scheduled) castes the labourers who performed menial tasks.
5. Factional Politics:
• A political faction is a group of individuals that share a common political purpose but differs in some respect to the
rest of the entity.
• A faction within a group or political party may include fragmented sub-factions, "parties within a party," which may
be referred to as power blocs, or voting blocs.
• India lives in villages and rural India is full of socialsolidarity. The Indian villages are known as well-knit social units.
People living in villages irrespective of their caste and vocation contribute to the unity of the village through
peaceful co-existence and mutual support. They take pride in the image of their village. Of late unity of the village
has been threatened by factionalism. Peace of the village has been affected by various small groups called factions.
Ruralites no longer look forward to the leadership of a single individual called the headman of village. The
headman is no longer the centre of power and authority in the village. Factional leaders are enjoying dominating
positions and the headman is relegated to the background.
• Eventually the pattern of leadership has changed in the villages. There is growing dissention among factions.
Competition for power among factions has led to intolerance, intrigues and violence. Peace of the villages is fast
deteriorating. This changing scenario has been a matter of deep concern for the social thinkers and much
deliberation is being made in this direction by the sociologists.
• A faction is a small group formed on the basis of political ideology, caste power, clash of personality in order to
serve political, social and economic interests of a small minority. Sociologists are of the view that factionalism
raises its ugly head in the rural communities on account of natural rivalry and conflict or clash of personality.
6. Natural Calamities (Droughts and Floods):
• Though floods and droughts are both triggered by natural meteorological causes, their impact is
determined to a large extent by human factors — unpreparedness, ignorance and neglect, apart
from improper design and poor execution of the hydrological projects.
• While floods are confined to restricted areas based on the distribution of the major river
systems, droughts are only on account of rainfall failures following late onset or early withdrawal
or both of the monsoons. The paper describes the main features of the annual and seasonal
rainfall distribution over India and discusses their implications in the occurrence of floods and
droughts. References are made to storm surges in coastal areas as well as flash floods due to dam
failures.
• Droughts unlike floods are slow-acting but a sure distress sapping the lives, property and
economy of the population. Though floods and droughts are both triggered by natural
meteorological causes, their impact is determined to a large extent by human factors —
unpreparedness, ignorance and neglect, apart from improper design and poor execution of the
hydrological projects. Examples are cited to illustrate the above points and measures proposed
for the mitigation of these natural hazards are indicated in specific instances.
7. Utilisation of Water:
• Water is essential for human civilisation, living organisms, and natural
habitat.
• It is used for drinking, cleaning, agriculture, transportation, industry,
recreation, and animal husbandry, producing electricity for domestic,
industrial and commercial use.
• Water resources are used for agricultural, industrial, domestic,
recreational, and environmental activities.
• Majority of the uses require fresh water. However, about 97 percent
of water found on the earth is salt water and only three percent is
fresh water.
8. Fertilisers and Pesticides:
• The term pesticide covers a wide range of compounds including
insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, rodenticides, molluscicides,
nematicides, plant growth regulators and others. Among these,
organochlorine (OC) insecticides, used successfully in controlling a
number of diseases, such as malaria and typhus, were banned or
restricted after the 1960s in most of the technologically advanced
countries.
• Pesticides can contaminate soil, water, turf, and other vegetation. In
addition to killing insects or weeds, pesticides can be toxic to a host of
other organisms including birds, fish, beneficial insects, and non-
target plants.
9. Proper usages of resources in Indian states:
• Land resources constitute the most important natural wealth of a
country. Hence the proper utilization of land resources is a matter of
utmost concern to the people of a country.
• The area of land surface that is potentially available for agricultural
use declines from year to year. The burning of forest removes
particularly the entire nitrogen supply for vegetation
• The downwards sliding, falling, flowing of soil, rock, debris. This may
occur due to fall, slides, flows and man induced.
• The effective ussages of wild life conservations, forest minerals, land
and water usage rights of tribal people are some of the issues that
need to be kept in mind while we talk about preservation and
conservations of our resources.
10. Conclusion:
• To conclude, it can be said that sustainable development brings out
stability in the requirements of the environment.
• It makes the resources available for use for the future generations.
• Sustainable development is an amazing way to conserve the
resources provided by nature
• Exploring the relationship between the environment and
development has proved to be a complex, but rewarding, enterprise.
Sustainable development, if it is not to be devoid of analytical
content, means more than seeking a compromise between the
natural environment and the pursuit of economic growth.
