Dr. Banarsi Lal
kvkreasi@gmail.com
The emerging concept of smart villages refers to rural areas and communities which build on their existing strengths and assets as well as on developing new opportunities.Smart village can be an effective strategy for creating a strong,sustainable and self-reliant rural economy.This concept matches with the Atmanirbhar Campaign and Vocal for Local.India is a rural dominated country and villages are said to be the heart of this nation.There are more than 600000 villages in India and. According to 2011 Census, the population of rural areas comprised of 68.84 per cent.About 600 million people of India live in villages and atleast half of them are below 25 years of age. Migration of the people from rural areas to urban areas causes some burden on the urban areas. If the vision of the founders of this nation is to be respected and implemented, then we all need to have the responsibility to make our villages smart, which means self-sufficient, efficient, healthy and educated villagers. To make the villages smart means to make the country self-reliant, stronger and secured. Some of the ways to make villages smart include offering basic facilities, education, employment generation activities, technology etc. The concept of the smart village is not constructed on the image of a city or a very developed village of some states or nations. It is not an adopted smartness, but an avenue to show the inherent smartness of the villages. India lives in its villages. Villages are the food basket of the nation. Village Panchayats are the centres of grass root democracy. However, the holistic development of rural India is still under tremendous pressure owing to the declining farm output, increasing trend of distressed migration, absence of basic amenities and emerging problems of environmental pollution and conflicts. Generally the people in urban areas think that rural people lack ambition and entrepreneurship. The villagers have all the potential of development socially, scientifically, economically and environmentally. If we understand the eco-system of the Indian villages, truly there are all the opportunities and avenues to make our villages and our country a sustainably developing nation. A smart village feels that its citizens know it’s available resources, applicable services, various schemes and programmes etc. It knows what it needs and when it needs. Focused areas of the smart village initiatives are improved resource-use efficiency, empowered local self governance, access to assured basic amenities and responsible individual and community behaviour to build a vibrant rural society. In a smart village major thrust is given on the technology as a means for development, enabling education and agricultural entrepreneurial opportunities, improving health and social welfare, enhancing democratic engagement and overall enhancement of rural village dwellers. The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has proved its potential in various sectors of development in some of the rural areas. In a smart village concept, the use of the information and telecommunication is surely a major priority area. The ratio of school dropouts at school or college level is quite high amongst the rural youth which negatively impacts the education policy and targets of the Indian government. There is lack of availability of vocational avenues in rural areas which further adversely affects the aspirations of the rural youths. Such youths with little education, lack of vocational skills and pass through utter poverty and they think to migrate to the nearest urban cities or large cities for employment.
In smart villages,traditional and new networks and services are enhanced using digital technologies,innovations and the better use of knowledge to benefit inhabitants and businesses. For the development of smart village, a cluster approach should be followed. Each district can be divided into clusters of 10 to 15 villages according to the specific number of population. There is need to design the blue print to develop infrastructure like roads, buildings, bridges, canals, ponds, sewages, schools, colleges, hospitals etc. as per need based on local resources available or in the district or within the state. The smart village concept is needed for a sustainable and a secured future of the villages. It is about understanding the villages towards the growth model which is inclusive. It’s about achieving a higher goal without compromising the roots and the sense of belongingness of the masses. The concept of smart village is contemporary and very reliable today as there is a limit of the growth of cities which is leading to creation of urban jungles, where the population ratio and its related issues per km of land is way above the expected targets. A smart village should be interactive and multi-functional and provisions must be there for active participation of people in various developmental activities. A smart village is one which will automatically link local production with local procurement and local and outside distribution. A smart village will also have the power, knowledge, healthcare, technology, entrepreneurship and quicker connectivity in terms of information acquiring and dissipation. A smart village will not only bring internet connection to the rural areas, but also provides support to sustainable agricultural practices. The Indian economy is highly dependent on the agricultural sector. A huge population essentially translates into a need to address the growing food demands each year. The Indian villagers and the villages where they are residing are dependent on agricultural activities. Aiming for a smart village in India requires us to observe the agricultural activities happening in the villages. Strengthening village economy should be the priority for a smart village. It is important to turn farming economically viable not only because a large proportion of the population is engaged in agriculture, directly as well as indirectly, but also to provide financial support for setting up rural infrastructure. The former President of India Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam had a serious belief about the importance of providing urban amenities in the rural areas. Facilities like educational institutions, colleges, hospitals, along with agri-based industries in the villages can create opportunities within rural areas, thereby drastically reducing the migration to urban centres. Every cluster of village at the block or tehsil level should be encouraged to follow the principles of ensuring local production, local procurement and local and outside distribution.
Most of the epidemics and ill health in India is mainly due to communicable diseases caused by oral faecal routes. Open defecation along with contaminated water are still the major challenges in our villages. A smart village must have this aim to eliminate the above mentioned problems. Innovative approaches to improve water supply and sanitation must be tested well and introduced in the villages. Skills and knowledge are essential driving forces of economic growth and social development of any country. They have become even more important given the increasing pace of globalization, and technological change that is taking place in the world. Smart villages should take best opportunities to showcase the area and region specific skills and wisdom to the world.
Solar powered street lights have all the required means today to lighten up the villagers in terms of the sense of security. Solar LED street lighting will provide a high quality, sustainable lighting solution for people in remote areas who don’t have access to the conventional electricity grid. It will help in increasing the level of safety on roads and streets and allowing for more economic and social activity. Unorganized growth model has seen in the forms of mammoth heaps of waste in many cities. This form of growth that generates more waste than efficient consumption of resources must not be replicated in our villages. Sustainable waste management, conversion of rural waste into rural wealth can help our villages to become free from unwanted waste that is left uncollected. This will make the working conditions much better and will definitely help in improving the life expectancy of the locals. Climate change directly or indirectly affects the culture, productivity, disease outbreak and many other socio-economic problems. Practical steps must be taken up today for the rural people to adapt their livelihood activities to secure and dependable food supplies. Every practical adaptation option to improve food security and resilience must be properly scrutinized and efforts should be made to promote the better ones with priority. Conservation of biodiversity and renewable exploitation of the biodiversity can help in sustaining the economic, health and welfare of the villages. Creation of employment opportunities for youths in villages is the major requirement priority for a smart village programme and policy. Migration to cities should not be an advice; rather making the village self-sufficient and serviceable can attract the villagers to remain productive in their own homes and villages. Every villager should be educated to rediscover his strengths and opportunities available in his village.Social,economic and environmental challenges need to be addressed with smart solutions.We need to develop the smart villages that can provide welfare to the rural folks.
The writer is: Dr. Banarsi Lal,Chief Scientist & Head of KVK Reasi ,Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology-Jammu(SKUAST-J).
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