1. RURAL URBAN DICHOTOMY
THE MAIN REASONS FOR RURAL-URBAN
Basically, Rural-urban dichotomy is inadequate for understanding
and tackling problems such as poverty, malnutrition, education,
healthcare, environmental management, and overall development.
It emphasizes on the intermediate settlement that exists between
the rural and urban areas, where the functions overlap and where
there is coexistence via shared geography,culture, economy, and
2. history. Policy makers to adopt a more nuanced approach that
recognizes the interactions and interdependencies between
different types of settlements for promoting sustainable
ECONOMICALLY
Lack of formal credit institutions in rural areas makes it difficult to
invest in capital formation like gross capital formation , gross fixed
capital formation and change in stock.
Lack of industrialisation.
High seasonal and disguised unemployment because they are
educated but not suitable for job and work.
3. Failing APMC regime and among the most significant issues is the
issue of monopoly of APMC that has deprived farmers from better
customers, and consumers from original suppliers..
Concentration of capital in cities.
Occupational mobility is higher in urban areas.
Booming startup culture in urban areas.
SOCIAL REASONS
Rural Indian society tends to be more patriarchal than urban
setup.
4. Caste discrimination more rampant in rural areas.
Girls’ education upto a limited extent in rural areas.
Urban areas tend to modernise on lines with western culture
more frequently.
Liberal values are promoted in urban settings compared to rural
areas.
HISTORICAL REASONS
5. Old cities were establishments of kings, ministers and nobles in
medieval times and residences of rich traders, aristocrats and
British officers in modern time
Urban areas were nodal points of trading and big marketplaces
NEED TO REDUCE RURAL-URBAN DICHOTOMY
Reducing this dichotomy will result in a ‘rural-urban continuum’ which
means the less and almost negligible difference between rural and urban
6. areas. An example is Kerala which has had a high level of this continuum
for many years.
It would lead to infrastructural development in rural areas.
Physical infrastructure will get a boost by integrating rural areas
with value supply chains and freight corridors. The Sagarmala
project, National Waterways project and Golden Quadrilateral
have the potential to bring regions into the mainstream.
For financial infrastructure, digital banking needs to be pushed
in rural areas, along with penetration of POS and ATMs at the
grassroots level.
7. There are 3 crore houses required in rural areas and 1.2 crore
houses required in urban areas. Schemes like PM Aawas Yojana
and Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (ARHC) have given a
push in this regard.
India’s expenditure on healthcare is just 2.1% of GDP (2021-22
Union Budget). To improve this in both rural and urban areas,
PM Jan Arogya Yojana, National Rural/Urban Health Mission,
and Rashtriya Bal Swasth Karyakram is underway.
Literacy rate in urban areas is 87.7% while that of rural areas is
73.5%. To fill this gap, education is promoted through Mid-Day
8. Meal Scheme, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and PM Schools for Rising
India (PM-SHRI).
It will result in economic freedom of the rural population from
the evil of informal credit and debt trap. For this RBI has
unveiled the Payments Vision 2025 which would lead to better
financial inclusion and participation. Centre has also announced
a bank recapitalisation scheme by infusing Rs. 15000 Crore in
weak PSUs.
It will result in a reduction of social evils like caste discrimination
and dowry etc.
9. It will lead to a rise in political awareness among the population.
Challenges in achieving rural-urban continuum
Lack of infrastructure and investment in rural regions.
Unwillingness of political leaders to bring about a social change
Failure in policy implementation at the rural level
Low number of dedicated schemes to achieve the continuum
Migration of rural population in cities makes the development of
villages more challenging
10. WAY FORWARD
Achieving the rural-urban continuum must be one of the key
points in policy-making, given the Amritkaal, the 17 SDGs and
the global climate crisis. Striving for this continuum will result in
multifaceted growth and fulfilment of multidimensional goals.
We must look forward to the German model – where villages are
designated sub-sectors of production and services and trained
for that, which results in internal as well as external consumption
and acts as a capital expenditure multiplier.
