Importance of Village Studies in India: Rural Development and Social Insight
Importance of Village Studies
Q. গাওঁ অধ্যয়নৰ তাৎপৰ্যৰ ওপৰত এটা চমু টোকা প্ৰস্তুত কৰক
Importance of Village Studies
Village studies have an importance of their own. They have generally enriched knowledge of Indian society and, in particular, of rural India. They have given considerable impetus to the development of rural society. After independence, Indian planners realised that no real progress could be made unless Indian villages were properly studied.
Scholars began to pay greater attention to the study of villages. Village studies:
- a. help in the planning of rural reconstruction;
- b. provide useful data to other disciplines;
- c. provide useful knowledge about Indian social reality.
1. Village Studies Help in the Planning of Rural Reconstruction
According to M.N. Srinivas, village studies provide detailed information on various aspects of rural life. These studies either discuss the overall nature of village communities or focus on certain specific aspects of rural life. The Planning Commission gave maximum attention to solving the social problems of rural India with the help of village studies. From village studies, various aspects of rural life are obtained, for example, the extent of sub-division and fragmentation of holdings, the nature of rural indebtedness, the status of landless labourers, etc. They help in the planning of rural reconstruction.
2. Village Studies Provide Useful Data to Other Disciplines
Sociologists and social anthropologists conduct various village studies to collect data on its many aspects, its problems, etc. The data collected are more accurate, reliable and unbiased. Therefore, they are highly useful for other social scientists. They have been taken up by economists, political scientists and others. Village studies also provide historians with considerable information on rural social life.
3. Village Studies Provide Useful Knowledge about Indian Social Reality
The importance of village studies is such that sometimes their value may extend beyond national boundaries. However, it is true that the understanding of various aspects of social reality is greatly influenced by Indo-logical literature. Village studies have acquired sociological and socio-anthropological significance.
Significance of Village Studies
Through his field experience, Srinivas made the following observations:
- Sociologists and anthropologists mainly depend on other social scientists because they rely on data that emphasise microscopic detail in intensive studies.
- He distinguished between anthropologists on the one hand and social workers and government officials on the other. Government officials are biased, and their observations are not free from many errors. They rely on incorrect superficial government records.
The book India's Villages (1955), edited by M.N. Srinivas, contains 17 village studies conducted by anthropologists from India, Britain and the United States of America. Contributors include M.N. Srinivas, David Mandelbaum, Eric J. Miller, Kathleen Gough, McKim Marriott, S.C. Dube and others.