Essay on my country India: An a Glance for class 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12. Find paragraphs, long and short essays on ‘India’ especially written for school and college students.
Essay on India
Essay Contents:
- Essay on the Geographical Structure of India
- Essay on the Geographical Features of the Country
- Essay on the Climate of India
- Essay on Indian Agriculture
- Essay on the Geographical Diversity of India
- Essay on the Physical Diversity of India
- Essay on the Cultural Diversity of India
- Essay on the Soils of India
- Essay on the Grasslands of India
- Essay on the Natural Resources of India
- Essay on the Allied Activities of the Country
- Essay on Industrialisation in India
- Essay on the Infrastructure of the Country
- Essay on the Per Capita Income of India
- Essay on the Demography of India
- Essay on the Work Force in India
- Essay on the Unemployment and Poverty in India
- Essay on the Pre-Dominance of the Rural Sector
Essay # 1. Geographical Structure of India:
The geographical region of the country is broadly grouped into three well-defined regions i.e:
(i) The Himalayas
(ii) The Indo-Grangetic Plains and
(iii) The ancient peninsular shield.
The Himalayan mountain belt to the north and the nagalushai mountains in the east are regions of mountain building movement. In a series of mountain building movements commencing about seven crore years ago, the sediments and the -basements of rocks in various configurations rose to great heights.
The Indo-Gangetic plains are a great alluvial tract that separates the Himalayas from the peninsula to the south. The peninsula is a region of relative stability and rare seismic disturbances. Highly metamorphosed rocks of the earliest periods occur over more than half of its area the rest being covered by the coal bearing Gondwana formations and later sediments and lava flows belonging to the Deccan trap formation.
Essay # 2. Geographical Features of the Country:
The main land comprises four well-defined regions, namely, the great mountain zone, plains of the Ganga and the Indus, the desert region and the southern peninsula. The Himalayas comprise three almost parallel ranges interspersed with large plateau and valleys some of which like the Kashmir and Kulu Valleys are fertile, extensive and of great science beauty.
Some of the highest peaks in the world are found in these ranges. The mountain wall extends over a distance of about 2.4 thousand kms with a varying depth of 240 to 320 Km. In the east between India and Burma and India and Bangladesh the hill ranges are much lower. The Garo, Khasi, Jaintia and Naga hills running almost east-west join the Chain of the mizo and Arakan hills running north-south.
Plains of the Ganga and the Indus, about 2.4 thousand Kms long and the basins of three distinct river systems, the Indus, the Ganga and the Brahmaputra, form 240 to 320 Kms broad. They are one of the world’s greatest stretches of flat alluvium and also one of the most densely populated areas on earth.
The desert region can be divided into two parts—the great desert and the little desert. The great desert extends from the edge of the Rann of Kuchchh beyond the Luni River between Jaisalmer and Jodhpur up to the northern wastes.
The peninsular plateau is marked off from the plains of the Ganga and the Indus by a mass of mountain and hill ranges varying from 460 to 1220 meters in height. Prominent among these are the Aravalli, Vindhya, Satpura, Maikala and Ajanta.
The peninsula is flanked on one side by the Eastern Ghats, where the average elevation is about 610 metres and on the other by the Western Ghats. The Southern point of the plateau is formed by the Nilgiri hills where the Eastern Ghats and Western Ghats meet.
Essay # 3. Climate of India:
The climate of India may be broadly described as tropical monsoon type.
There are four seasons in India:
(i) Winter season (January – February)
(ii) Hot weather season, summer (March – May)
(iii) Rainy reason, Southwestern monsoon period (June – September) and
(iv) Post-monsoon period in the Southern peninsula (October – December).
In India, rainfall is erratic and ill distributed. Cherrapunji gets 11, 419 mm of annual rainfall the highest in the country. In contrast, Rajasthan, Kachchh and the high Ladakh plateau of Kashmir extending westward to Gilgit are regions of low precipitation. They have a yearly rainfall of between 100 mm and 500 mm.
The change in environmental situation is reported to have positive effect on the climatic conditions of the country. Due to these, the average rainfall of the Cherrapunji is declining whereas, the state Rajasthan experiencing floods.
Essay # 4. Indian Agriculture:
The agricultural sector contributes nearly 8 per cent of the national Income, provides livelihood to about two-third of the population, supplies the bulk of wage goods required by the non-agricultural sector and raw materials for a large section of industry. It also provides a substantial portion of the Country’s exports, Transport. Marketing, Processing and other aspects of agricultural production and utilization have also a strong bearing on the national economy.
In India the net area available for crop agriculture is about 165 million hectares, accounted for about 50 per cent to the total geographical area of the country. The percentage of net area shown to total area is stood at 46.6 per cent in 1993-94.
The distribution of farmers according to land holdings shows that about 13 per cent of the land is hold away by 58 per cent Marginal Farmers, 16 per cent of land by 18 per cent small farmers, 22 per cent of land by 14 per cent of Semi-medium farmers, 29 per cent of land by 8 per cent medium farmers and the remaining 20 per cent of land by only 2 per cent large farmers.
The fragmentation of holding upon inheritance among the successors as also the distribution of acquired surplus land among the weaker lots of farming community, increases the number of marginal and small land holdings in the country. This smallholding causes low per-capita productivity and existence of poverty among marginal and small farmers.
Water is indispensable to agricultural production. The important source of water in our country is rainfall; nearly two- third of agricultural land is in rain fed areas. The remaining one-third of the area is prone to vagaries of monsoon like, droughts, and floods. In India 35 per cent of the net cropped area was irrigated by artificial irrigation sources like canals, wells, tube-wells, tanks and other sources.
After 50 years of planned economic development the country failed to attain substantial level of irrigation facilities. Needless to add that, if higher production growth targets in agriculture are to be attained then increasing the use of available irrigation potential and extension of the facility over larger cropped land would have to be attended to with due urgency. It is noteworthy that the share of our country to total irrigated land in the world has stood at 19.4 per cent.
The farmers of India generally use wooden or Iron ploughs for the cultivation of land. The use of power tillers and tractors is less. In the country about 12 Lakh tractors are in operation. The share of the country to world tractors in use was 4.6 per cent according 1995.
The consumption of chemical fertilizer is an essential input for agricultural development. It is observed that Indian farmer uses 14 million tonnes chemical fertilizers on 1995-96 as against 131 million tonnes in the world level use. The percentage share of fertilizers used in India to World is about 10.7 per cent.
The important crops grown in India are, Rice (Paddy), Wheat, Cereals, Potatoes, Groundnuts, Rapeseeds, Coffee, Sugarcane, Tea, Jute and Cotton etc. It is also observed that more than 50 per cent of the Jutes produced in World produced in India.
Essay # 5. Geographical Diversity of India:
India is the seventh largest country in the world. The country is well marked from the rest of Asia by mountains and the sea, which gives the country a distinct geographical entity. Lying entirely in the northern hemisphere, the mainland extends measures 3,214 km from north to south between extreme latitudes and about 2,933 km from east to west between extreme longitudes. It has a land frontier of about 15,200 km.
The country lies between 8°4′ and 37°6′ north of the Equator and is surrounded by the Bay of Bengal in the east, the Arabian Sea in the west, and the Indian Ocean to the south. The total length of the coastline of the mainland, Lakshadweep group of islands, and Andaman and Nicobar group of islands is 7,516.5 km.
In the east lies the Bangladesh. In the northwest, Afghanistan and Pakistan border India. The Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Straits separate India from Sri Lanka. The Andaman and Nicobar Island in the Bay of Bengal and Lakshadweep in the Arabian Sea are parts of the territory of India. There are as many as 200 islands in Andaman alone, extending for 350 km. There are 19 islands in the Nicobar group.
The Lakshadweep is a group of islands in the Arabian Sea. They are formed on a coral deposit off the Kerala coast. The southern most of this lies just to the north of the Maldives Island which is an independent territory.
The Mountains:
The Indian subcontinent is a southern region of Asia situated on the Indian Plate and projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean. Exact definitions of the Indian subcontinent differ but it usually includes the core lands of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. The region is also called South Asia. This region is characterised by great diversity in its physical features.
Physically, the massive country is divided into four relatively well defined regions—the Himalayan Mountains, the Gangetic river plains, the southern (Deccan) plateau, and the islands of Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar. The Himalayas in the far north include some of the highest peaks in the world. The highest mountain in the Indian Himalayas is Kanchenjunga (8,586 m) which is located in Sikkim on the border with Nepal.
To the south of the main Himalayan lays the Lesser Himalaya, rising to 3,600-4,600 m, and represented by the Pir Panjal in Kashmir and Dhauladhar in Himachal Pradesh. Further south, flanking the Indo-Gangetic Plain, are the Siwaliks which rise to 900-1,500 m.
The northern plains of India stretch from Assam in the east to the Punjab in the west (a distance of 2,400 km), and extends to south to terminate in the saline swamplands of the Rann of Kachchh (Kutch), in the state of Gujarat. Some of the largest rivers in India including the Ganga (Ganges), Ghaghara, Brahmaputra, and the Yamuna flow across this region. The delta area of these rivers is located at the head of the Bay of Bengal, partly in the Indian state of west Bengal but mostly in Bangladesh.
The plains are remarkably homogenous topographically. The agriculturally productive alluvial silts and clays of the Ganga-Brahmaputra delta in north-eastern India, for example, contrast strongly with the comparatively sterile sands of the Thar Desert which is located at the western extremity of the Indian part of the plains in the state of Rajasthan.
India has a rich variety of wetland habitats. The total area of wetlands (excluding rivers) in India is 18.4% of the country, 70% of which comprises areas under paddy cultivation. A total of 1,193 wetlands, covering an area of about 3,904,543 ha, were recorded in a preliminary inventory coordinated by the Department of Science and Technology, of which 572 were natural.
Two sites —Chilika Lake (Odisha) and Keoladeo National Park (Bharatpur)—have been designated under the Convention of Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Convention) as being especially significant waterfowl habitats.
The country’s wetlands are generally differentiated by region into eight categories- the reservoirs of the Deccan Plateau in the south, together with the lagoons and the other wetlands of the southern west coast, the vast saline expanses of Rajasthan, Gujarat, and the Gulf of Kachchh, freshwater lakes and reservoirs from Gujarat eastwards through Rajasthan (Keoladeo Ghana National park) and Madhya Pradesh, the delta wetlands and lagoons of India’s east coast (Chilika Lake), the freshwater marshes of the Gangetic plain, the floodplain of the Brahmaputra, the marshes and swamps in the hills of northeast India and the Himalayan foothills, the lakes and rivers of the montane region of Kashmir and Ladakh, and the mangroves and other wetlands of the island arcs of the Andaman and Nicobar.
Forests:
India possesses a great diversity of its natural ecosystems. The panorama of Indian forests ranges from evergreen tropical rain forests in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the Western Ghats and the northeastern states, to dry alpine scrub high in the Himalayas to the north. Between the two extremes, the country has semi-evergreen rain forests, deciduous monsoon forests, thorn forests, subtropical pine forests in the lower montane zone, and temperate montane forests.
The main areas of tropical forest are found in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the Western Ghats, which fringe the Arabian Sea coastline of peninsular India, and the greater Assam region in the northeast. Small remnants of rain forest are found in Odisha state. Semi evergreen rain forest is more extensive than the evergreen formation partly because evergreen forests tend to degrade to semi-evergreen with human interference. There are substantial differences in both the flora and fauna between the three major rain forest regions.
The Western Ghats Monsoon forests occur both on the western (coastal) margins of the ghats and on the eastern side where there is less rainfall. These forests contain several tree species of great commercial significance (e.g. Indian rosewood Dalbergia latifolia, Malabar Kino Pterocarpus marsupium, teak, and Terminalia crenulata), but they have now been cleared from many areas. In the rain forests there is an enormous number of tree species.
The tropical vegetation of northeast India (which includes the states of Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, and Meghalaya as well as the plain regions of Arunachal Pradesh) typically occurs at elevations up to 900 m. It embraces evergreen and semi-evergreen rain forests, moist deciduous monsoon forests, riparian forests, swamps, and grasslands. Evergreen rain forests are found in the Assam Valley, the foothills of the eastern Himalayas, and the lower parts of the Naga Hills, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Manipur where the rainfall exceeds 2,300 mm per annum.
The Andaman and Nicobar islands have tropical evergreen rain forests and tropical semi-evergreen rainforests as well as tropical monsoon moist monsoon forests. The tropical evergreen rain forest is only slightly less grand in stature and rich in species than on the mainland.
The nearshore coastal waters of India are extremely rich fishing grounds. The total commercial marine catch for India has stabilised over the last ten years at between 1.4 and 1.6 million tonnes. Coral reefs occur along only a few sections of the mainland, principally the Gulf of Kutch, off the southern mainland coast, and around a number of islands opposite Sri Lanka. This general absence is due largely to the presence of major river systems and the sedimentary regime on the continental shelf.
Elsewhere, corals are also found in Andaman and Nicobar, and Lakshadweep Island groups although their diversity is reported to be lower than in southeast India.
Indian coral reefs have a wide range of resources which are of commercial value. Exploitation of corals, coral debris, and coral sands is widespread on the Gulf of Mannar and Gulf of Kutch reefs, while ornamental shells, chanks, and pearl oysters are the basis of an important reef industry in the south of India. Commercial exploitation of aquarium fishes from Indian coral reefs has gained importance only recently and as yet no organised effort has been made to exploit these resources. Reef fisheries are generally at the subsistence level and yields are unrecorded.
Other notable marine areas are seagrass beds, which although not directly exploited are valuable as habitats for commercially harvested species, particularly prawns, and mangrove stands. In the Gulf of Mannar, the green tiger prawn Penaeus semisulcatus is extensively harvested for the export market.
Five species of marine turtle occur in Indian waters- Green turtle (Chelonia mydas), Loggerhead Caretta caretta, Olive Ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea), Hawksbill Eretmochelys imbricate, and Leatherback Dermochelys coriacea. Most of the marine turtle populations found in the Indian region are in decline. The principal reason for the decrease in numbers is deliberate human predation. Turtles are netted and speared along the entire Indian coast. In southeast India, the annual catch is estimated at 4,000-5,000 animals, with C. mydas accounting for about 70% of the harvest. In the Gulf of Mannar, turtles are still reasonably common near seagrass beds where shrimp trawlers operate.
Essay # 6. Physical Diversity of India:
The Himalayas and the associated mountains arcs the subcontinent on the northwest-southeast direction for about 2,400 km between the gorges of the Indus and the Tsango-Brahmaputra. This mountain range separates the Indo-Gangetic Plain from the Tibetan Plateau. The section between the Indus and the Sutlej and the Kali rivers is termed as Kumaon Himalayas.
The other two sections between the Kali and the Tista and between the latter river and the Dihangare is described as the Nepal and the Assam Himalayas. Kanchenjunga (8,598 m) is the highest mountain peak in India. The Greater Himalayas which have an average altitude of 6,000 m have within them almost all the prominent peaks such the Everest (8,848 m), Kanchenjunga (8,598 m) Nanga Parbat (8,126 m), Nanda Devi (7,817 m), and Namcha Parbat (7,756 m).
The Indus-Ganga-Brahmaputra Plain:
The great plain of India is formed by the Indus, Ganga, and the Brahmaputra rivers. The plain extends for 3,200 km between the mouths of the Ganga and the Indus, all along the foot of the mountain rim, with a width varying from 150 to 300 km. The longitudinal extent from the banks of the Ravi and the Sutlej to the Ganga delta alone is of 2,400km. The plain is narrowest in Assam and broadens towards the west. It is 160 km wide near the Rajmahal Hills and 280 km near Allahabad. The plains are alluvial in nature.
Rising from the alluvial plains of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, south of the Yamuna Ganga line, the great Indian plateau extends towards the south to encompass the whole of the peninsula. With a general elevation of 600-900m, the plateau makes an irregular triangle with its concave base lying between Delhi ridge and Rajmahal hills and the apex formed by Kanya Kumari.
The Shillong Plateau, a highly dissected tract interspersed with forest, descends in a deep slope towards the Surma valley. The northern outliers are represented by the Mikir and the Rengma hills.
The Western Ghats, also known as the Sahyadri Hills, are well known for its rich flora and fauna. It is considered as one of the 25 most biodiverse hotspots in the world. The Western Ghats extend from the Satpura Range in the north, go south past Goa, through Karnataka and into Kerala and Tamil Nadu and end at Kanyakumari embracing the Indian Ocean.
The major hill range starting from the north is called Sahyadri in northern Maharashtra and Sahya Parvatam in Kerala. The Biligiri ranges southeast of Mysore in Karnataka, meet the Shevaroys (Servarayan range) and Tirumala range farther east, linking the Western Ghats to the Eastern Ghats. In the south the range is known as the Nilagiri Malai in Tamil Nadu.
The northern portion of the narrow coastal plain between the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea is known as the Konkan Coast or simply Konkan, the central portion is called Kanara, and the southern portion is called Malabar region or the Malabar Coast. The foothill region east of the Ghats in Maharashtra is known as Desh, while the eastern foothill of central Karnataka state is known as Malanadu. The Biligirirangan Hills lies at the confluence of the Western and Eastern Ghats.
The Eastern Ghats, also called the Purva Ghat or Mahendra Parvata are a discontinuous range of mountains along India’s eastern coast. The Eastern Ghats run from West Bengal state in the north, through Odisha and Andhra Pradesh to Tamil Nadu in the south, passing some parts of Karnataka. They are eroded and cut through by the four major rivers of peninsular India, known as the Godavari, Mahanadi, Krishna, and Kaveri.
The mountain ranges run parallel to the Bay of Bengal. The Deccan Plateau lies to the west of the range, between the Eastern Ghats and Western Ghats. The coastal plains, including the Coromandel Coast region, lie between the Eastern Ghats and the Bay of Bengal. The Eastern Ghats are not as high as the Western Ghats.
The Eastern Ghats form a discontinuous crest on the eastern periphery of the plateau. They are represented by an irregular line of hills, such as the Nallamalais, Velikondas, Palkondas, and the Pachaimalais. These hills are often referred to as the northern hills in the northern sector, Cuddapah ranges in the middle, and the Tamil Nadu hills in the south.
The Coastal Plains and the Islands:
The plateau is flanked by coastal plains of varied width extending from Kutch to Odisha. There are striking differences between the eastern and the western coastal plains; with notable exception of Gujarat, the west coast has narrow alluvial margin interspersed by hilly terrain. It has indentation except in the south where the beautiful lagoons introduce an element of diversity.
The eastern coast on the other hand has a wide plain with well-developed deltas of the major rivers. The climatic transition between the southwest monsoon regime of the north and the northeast monsoon regime of the south has given rise to interesting differences in the alluvial features in the two different stretches of the east coastal plain.
India has seven major rivers (Indus, Brahmaputra, Narmada, Tapi, Godavari, Krishna, and Mahanadi). These rivers along with their numerous tributaries make up the river system of lndia. Most of the rivers pour their waters into the Bay of Bengal.
The rivers may be classified as follows:
a. The Himalayan
b. The Deccan
c. The Coastal
d. The rivers of the inland drainage basin.
a. The Himalayan Rivers:
The Himalayan Rivers are generally snow-fed and flow throughout the year. During the monsoon months (June to September), the Himalayas receive very heavy rainfall and the rivers carry the maximum amount of water, causing frequent floods. Three major rivers that originate from the Himalaya are Ganga, Brahmaputra, and Indus, along with the five smaller rivers- Beas, Jhelum, Sutlej, Ravi, and Chenab.
b. The Deccan Rivers:
The Deccan Rivers are generally rain-fed and, therefore, fluctuate greatly in volume. A very large number of them are non-perennial. Godavari, Krishna, Cauvery, Mahanadi, Narmada, Tapti, Indravati, Tungabhadra, and Bhima are the main Deccan Rivers.
c. The Coastal Rivers:
The coastal rivers, especially on the west coast, are short and have limited catchment areas. Most of these are non-perennial as well. The rivers on the inland drainage basin are few and ephemeral.
d. The Rivers of the Inland Drainage Basin:
The rivers of the inland drainage basin drain towards individual basins or salt lakes like the Sambhar or are lost in the sands, having no outlet to the sea.
Essay # 7. Cultural Diversity of India:
The National list of communities brought out by Archaeological Survey of India elucidates that there are 2,205 different communities living in India. Indian population is polygenetic and is an amazing amalgamation of various races and cultures.
The people of lndia are believed to be composed of 6 main racial stock:
1. Negrito
2. Proto—Australoids or Austrics
3. Mongoloids
4. Mediterranean or Dravidian
5. Western Brachycephals
6. Nordic Aryans
1. Negroids:
The Negroids or the Brachycephalic (broad headed) from Africa were the earliest people to have come to India. They have survived in their original habitat in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The Jarawas, Onges, Sentinelese, and the Great Andamanese are some of the examples. Some hill tribes like Irulas, Kodars, Paniyans, and Kurumbas are found in some patches in southern part of mainland India.
2. Pro-Australoids or Austrics:
These groups were the next to come to India after the Negritos. They are people with wavy hair lavishly distributed all over their brown bodies, long headed with low foreheads and prominent eye ridges, noses with low and broad roots, thick jaws, large palates and teeth, and small chins. The Austrics of India represent a race of medium height, dark complexion with long heads, and rather flat noses but otherwise of regular features.
The Austrics laid the foundation of the Indian civilisation. They cultivated rice and vegetables and made sugar from sugarcane. Now these people are found in some parts of India, Myanmar, and the islands of South East Asia. Their languages have survived in the central and eastern India.
3. Mongoloids:
These people are found in the northeastern part of India in the states of Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, and Tripura. They are also found in northern parts of West Bengal, Sikkim, and Ladakh. Generally, they are people with yellow complexion, oblique eyes, high cheekbones, sparse hair, and medium height.
4. Dravidians:
These are the people of south India. They have been believed to come before the Aryans. They have different sub-groups like the Paleo-Mediterranean, the true Mediterranean, and the Oriental Mediterranean. They appear to be people of the same stock as the peoples of Asia Minor and Crete and pre-Hellenic Aegean’s of Greece. They are reputed to have built up the city civilisation of the Indus valley, whose remains have been found at Mohenjodaro and Harappa and other Indus cities.
5. Western Bracycephals:
These include the Alpinoids, Dinarics, and Armenoids. The Parsis and Kodavas also fall in this category. They are the broad headed people living mainly on the western side of the country such as the Ganga Valley and the delta, parts of Kashmir, Kathiawar, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka.
6. Nordics or the Indo-Aryans:
This group were the last one to immigrate to India. They came to India somewhere between 2000 and 1500 B.C. They are now mainly found in the northern and central part of India.
Essay # 8. Soils of India:
It is broadly divided into five groups:
1. Alluvial Soils:
Such soils include deltaic alluvium, calcareous alluvium, coastal alluvial soils and coastal sands, formed by transportation in streams and rivers and are deposited in flood plains or along coastal belts; generally deep soils.
Geologically it is of two types:
(a) Khadar or newar alluvium which is sandy, light coloured and less kankary.
(b) Bhangar or older alluvium, more clayey, dark and full of kankar.
2. Black Soils:
The typical soil derived from deccan trap is called regur or black cotton soils; the sedentary soil derived from granite and gneiss mostly, clayey in nature, practically uniform throughout profile, parent rocks are generally hornblendic type, rich in lime and magnesia and limesoda-type feldspar, varying quantities of gypsum deposited in the layer, layers in 45% of the black soils. It is highly argillaceous, very fine grained and dark and contains a high proportion of Ca and Mg-carbonates.
It is rich in lime, magnesia and alumina, moderate potash and poor in P2O5, N and O.M. rich in montmorillonite and beidelitic group of clay minerals, high CEC40- 60 me/100 g of soil. Occurrence Maharashtra, west M.P., parts of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and some parts of T.N.
3. Red Soils:
Redsoil in T.N. occupy the largest area. Occurrence vast areas of T.N., Karnataka, Goa, Daman and Diu, South East Maharashtra, East Andhra, M.P., Orissa and Chhotanagpur, Santhal Parganas, Mirzapur, Jhansi, Hamirpur. Such soils formed from ancient crystalline and metamorphic rocks, colour due to wide diffusion of iron rather than to a high content, poor in N, P2, O5 and humus, potash; Some red soils are of lateritic origin and of a quite different nature, rich in kaolinitic type of minerals.
Light soils, silica-sesquioxide ratio is 2.0, Soils generally shallow and low is soluble salts. pH of soil 7.0-7.5, the soils under lift irrigation are commonly called garden lands and hungry and thirsty, opposite of black soils in almost all physical and chemical properties.
In the light and frequent rains of south west monsoon, red soils permit sowing being done earlier than other soils hence called early soils. The black soils are not much benefited by light showers in the early season due to its lower permeability. Thus such black soils are moistened sufficiently in the later period of season-called ‘late soil’. Aeration and warming up of soil are hampered in heavy soils.
4. Laterite Soils:
Occurrence:
Hills of Karnataka, Kerala, M.P. Eastern ghat of Orissa, Maharashtra, W.B., T.N., and Assam; poor in lime and magnesia and N, occasionally P2O5 but K2O deficient, occasionally higher humus.
Formed under heavy rainfall and high temp alternating. The heavy rains leach the salts and left it a porous matrix with a characteristics vesicular structure, facilitating easy drainage. Mixture of hydrated oxides of Al and Fe with small amount of manganese oxide, titania and others are present.
5. Desert Soils:
Occurrence:
West Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, lying between Indus river and Aravali range. The desert sand is composed of quartz but feldspar and hornblende grains also occur with a fair proportion of calcareous grains.
Essay # 9. Grasslands of India:
These grasslands are maintained in various seral (successional) stages by a variety of biotic factors. The grasslands of India are not of primary origin. These have originated secondarily in many areas due to destruction of natural forests by biotic interference, particularly due to excessive grazing and land clearing for agriculture.
According to the dryness of the area, the Indian grasslands may be categorized into three types:
1. Xerophilous Grasslands:
These are found in semi-desert areas of north and west India.
2. Mesophilous Grasslands:
These are found in areas of Uttar Pradesh having moist deciduous forests.
3. Hygrophilous Grasslands:
These are found in wet regions of India.
Classification of Indian Grasslands:
Whyte et al. (1954) classified the Indian grasslands on the basis of dominant grass species into eight major grass associations.
(i) Sehima-Dichanthium Association:
These grasslands develop on black soil. They are found in some areas of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, south western Uttar Pradesh, Tamilnadu and Karnataka. Dominant grass species in the grasslands are Sehima sulcatum, S. nervosum, Dichanthium annulatum, Chrysopogon montanus and Themeda qua drivalvia.
(ii) Dichanthium-Cenchrus Association:
These grasslands develop on sandy- loam soils. They are found in Plains of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan, Saurashtra, eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, eastern Madhya Pradesh, coastal Maharashtra and Tamilnadu. Dominant species in these grasslands are Dichanthium annulatum and Cenchrus ciliaris.
(iii) Phragmitis-Saccharum Association:
These grasslands develop in marshy areas. They are found in terai regions of northern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and West Bengal, Sundarban region of Bengal, Tamilnadu, and Kaveri delta. Dominant species in these grasslands are Phragmitis karka, Saccharum spontaneum, Imeerata cylindrica and Bothriochlo pertusa.
(iv) Cymbopogon Type:
These grasslands develop on low hills. They are found in Eastern Ghats, Vidhyas, Satpura, Aravali and Chota Nagpur. Dominant species in the grasslands is Cymbopogon.
(v) Arundinella Type:
These grasslands develop on high hills. They are found in Western Ghats, Nilgiris and lower Himalayas from Assam to Kashmir. Dominant species in the grasslands are Arundinella nepalensis, A. setosa and Themeda anthera.
(vi) Bothriochloa Type:
These grasslands develop on paddy tracts in areas of heavy rainfall in Lonavala tract of Maharashtra. Dominant species in the grasslands is Bothriochloa odorata.
(vii) Deyeuxia-Arundinella Association:
These grasslands develop in temperate areas of upper Himalayas between 2100-3500 m altitudes. Dominant species in the grasslands are Deyeuxia, Arundinella, Brachypodium, Bromus and Festuca.
(viii) Deschampsia-Deyeuxia Association:
These grasslands develop in temperate to alpine regions having thin soil cover over rocky substratum. They are found in Kashmir and in Himalayas above 2600 m altitude. Dominant species in the grasslands are Deyeuxia, Deschampsia, Poa, Stipa, Glycera and Festuca.
Essay # 10. Natural Resources of India:
Natural resources are those valuable material found in nature. India is a repository of a large variety of natural resources.
In terms of area, India ranks seventh in the world. It accounts for 2.42% of total area of the world. Land utilisation figures are available for about 92.9% of the total geographical area. Out of a total land area of 304.2 million hectares, about 170.0 million hectares is under cultivation. Food grains have preponderance in gross cropped areas as compared to non-food grains.
According to Agricultural Census, the area operated by large holdings (10 hectares and above) has declined and area operated under marginal holdings (less than one hectare) has increased. This indicates that land is being fragmented.
India’s forest cover is 23.07 % of the geographical area. Of this, 8.35 million hectare is very dense forest, 31.90 million hectare is moderately dense forest, and the rest 28.84 million hectare is open forest.
The per capita forest in India (0.5 hectare) is much less than that in the world (1.9 hectares). According to the National Policy on Forests (1988), one-third (33%) of the country’s area should be covered by forests in order to maintain ecological balance.
1. Iron-Ore:
India possesses high quality iron-ore in abundance. The total reserves of iron- ore in the country are about 14.630 million tonnes of haematite and 10,619 million tonnes of magnetite. Haematite iron is mainly found in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Goa, and Karnataka. The major deposits of magnetite iron is available at the western coast of Karnataka. Some deposits of iron ore are also found in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh.
Coal is the largest available mineral resource. India ranks third in the world after China and USA in the realm of coal production. The main centres of coal in India are the West Bengal-Bihar region, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, and Andhra Pradesh. Bulk of the coal production comes from Bengal-Jharkhand coalfields.
Bauxite is a main source of metal like aluminium. The areas of bauxite deposits in India are- Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Goa, Gujarat, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh. Major reserves are concentrated in the Fast Coast bauxite deposits of Odisha, and Andhra Pradesh.
4. Mica:
Mica is a heat resisting mineral which is also a bad conductor of electricity. It is used in electrical equipments as an insulator. India stands first in sheet mica production and contributes 60% of mica trade in the world. The important mica bearing pegmatite occurs in Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar, and Rajasthan.
Oil is being explored in India at many places of Assam and Gujarat. Digboi, Liadarpur, Naharkatia, Kasimpur, Palliaria, Rudrapur, Shivsagar, Mourn (all in Assam), and Hay of Khambhat, Ankaleshwar, and Kalol (all in Gujarat) are the important places of oil exploration in India. The exploration of oil reserves is still on the way in other parts of the country.
India possesses only a limited gold reserve. There are only three main gold mine regions—Kolar Goldfield, Kolar district and Hutti Goldfield in Raichur district (both in Karnataka), and Ramgiri Goldfield in Anantpur district (Andhra Pradesh).
As per UNEC, the total reserves of diamond is estimated at around 4,582 thousand carats which are mostly available in Panna (Madhya Pradesh), Rammallakota of Kurnur district of Andhra Pradesh, and also in the basin of the Krishna river.
The new kimberlite fields have been discovered in Raipur and Pastar districts of Chhattisgarh, Nuapada, and Bargarh districts of Odisha, Narayanpet-Maddur Krishna areas of Andhra Pradesh, and Raichur- Gulbarga districts of Karnataka.
Limestone is available almost in all the states of the country and every state contributes in its production. Andhra Pradesh is the leading state followed by Rajasthan, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Tamil Nadu.
Manganese is used in the production of steel and other iron compounds. The total resources of manganese ore in the country ate placed at 379 million tonnes. Its maximum deposit is found in Karnataka. Besides Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Goa also possess relatively large deposits of manganese. Some deposits are also found in Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and West Bengal.
10. Copper:
As per United Nations Framework Classification (UNFC), the total resources of copper ore are placed at 1.39 billion tonnes with a metal content of 11,418 thousand tonnes. Important copper producing areas are Singhbum (Bihar), Balaghat (Madhya Pradesh), Jhunjhunu, and Alwar (Rajasthan), Khammam (Andhra Pradesh), Chitradurga and Hasan districts of Karnataka, and Sikkim.
11. Barytes:
It is a colourless or white mineral which consists of barium sulphate. Barium metal is obtained from barytes. Barytes is available in Mangampet of Cuddapah district of Andhra Pradesh.
12. Chromite:
It is a mineral of brown black shade with which chromium and its other compounds are prepared. Chromite deposits of economic significance occur in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Manipur, Odisha, and Tamil Nadu. The largest share (about 96%) of the total geographical resource is accounted by Cuttack district in Odisha.
It is mostly a colourless mineral (sometimes white or pink) which is the main source of calcium magnesium carbonate. Magnesium and its compounds are obtained from dolomite. As per UNFC, the reserves of all types of dolomite are estimated at 7.533 million tonnes which are mostly found in Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, and Maharashtra.
It is a shining mineral which contains calcium fluoride. Fluorine and its compounds are obtained from fluorspar. This mineral is mainly available in Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan.
Gypsum is a colourless or white mineral which contains calcium sulphate. It is used in the production of cement and plaster of Paris. Most of its deposits are found in Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Gujarat.
Essay # 11. Allied Activities of the Country:
Allied activities assume crucial importance in the rural economy is more than one aspect. They play a very important role in bringing about a balance in the production system and utilization of resources, in smoothening the income flows between seasons in ensuring participation of people with no or inadequate land resources in productive activities and bringing about a balance in nutritive value of firm products.
The land as a basis of production system is either not available for number of people or is available in very adequate quantity Therefore, crop husbandry cannot be looked upon as a source of self-employment and income for a substantial proportion of the population in the rural areas. For these sections of people i.e.; landless labourers and Marginal farmers, allied activities can provide a source of gainful self-employment.
The allied activities such as dairy, sheep and goat husbandry, piggery, poultry and fishery etc. have a very important role to play in stabilising the rural economy of the rural people.
India is the top of the world having one-sixth of the livestock population – less than one fifth of cattle, half of the buffaloes, and over one- fifth of goats and sheep’s. Despite of its international importance, it contributes only 20 per cent of the gross value of output from agriculture. Whereas this is more than 50 per cent in advanced countries of the world.
Essay # 12. Industrialization in India:
Industrialization has a major role to play in the economic development of the under developed countries. The gap in per-capita incomes between the developed and underdeveloped countries is largely reflected in the separate in the structure of their economies; the former are largely industrial economies, while in the latter production is confined predominantly to agriculture.
India is a country of rural dominant economy depends mostly on agriculture, small and rural industries, small business and retail trade for her development.
In order to attain rural industrialization the adoption of labour-intensive technology in labour abundant areas and capital-intensive technology in labour-scarce economies only attacks the peripheral problem in rural economies. Creation of employment opportunities in urban sector by developing large-scale industrial base seems to have failed to attract the rural masses in the country.
It is therefore, felt necessary to create such opportunity in the rural sector. Moreover, creation of job opportunities does not need as much investment in this rural industrial sector as in the large-scale sector. As against this background, the planners and policy makers have been laid more emphasis on the development of small and rural industries.
It is observed that, the share of small industries in the entire factory sector in terms of number of units has been high annual 90 per cent but in employment, it accounts for around 35 per cent on the other hand it accounts for about a fourth in gross output and one-fifth of the value added in the entire factory sector.
The traditional village industries also exist in India. One of the special characteristics of the traditional village industries is that they cannot provide fulltime employment to workers, but instead can provide only subsidiary or part-time employment opportunities to agricultural labourers and artisans.
Among traditional village industries, handicrafts possess the highest labour productivity; besides, handicrafts make a significant contribution to earning foreign exchange for the country. Under these circumstances, active encouragement of handicrafts is required in priority basis.
It is also evident that, labourers and artisans living below the poverty line, while modern small industries can provide a good source of living largely carry on traditional village and small industries.
Hence, if with an expansion of employment, the number of persons living below the poverty line has also to be reduced, and then a rapid and much larger expansion of the modern small sector will have to be planned. However, the important sectors of the rural industries are, Khadi Cloth, Handlooms, Sericulture, Handicrafts, Coir industry, Small-scale industries, Power looms and Village industries.
Essay # 13. Infrastructure of the Country:
The prosperity of a country depends directly upon the development of agriculture and industry. Agricultural development however, requires power, credit, transport facilities on the other hand industrial development requires, Machinery, Equipment Technically sound manpower, Appropriate Management, Energy, Banking facilities, Transport services and Communication facilities etc.
All these facilities and services constitute collectively the infrastructure of an economy and the development and expansion of these facilities are an essential condition for attaining agricultural and industrial development in a country.
However Infrastructure facilities often referred to as economic and social overheads like:
(i) Energy
(ii) Transport
(iii) Communications
(iv) Banking, Finance and Insurance
(v) Science and Technology and
(vi) Social overheads.
(1) Energy:
Energy is an essential input of all productive economic activity. The main source of energy in rural areas are Fuel wood, Agricultural wastes, Animal dung as the traditional and non-commercial energies, coal, electricity, oil and gas are the non-traditional commercial energy available in the rural areas of the country. Taking the economic condition of the rural areas, the rural people mostly depend upon the traditional and non-commercial energy sources to meet their demands.
In the course of time, these sources are declining rapidly. As against this background, the planners and policy makers laid more emphasis on the production of fuel woods through the adoption of social forestry in the rural areas of the country. In the context of rural electrification, about 86 per cent of the total villages in India are electrified.
The states like Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Punjab, Tamilnadu and Tripura attained cent per cent in connection with rural electrification. The states like Meghalaya, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Orissa are lagging behind the national percentage.
(2) Transport:
India is essentially an agrarian and rural based country, and roads constitute a critical element in the transportation. Road construction and maintenance generate sizeable employment opportunities. This also helps the rural people to a great extent for transportation of goods and human resources.
The rural road network now connects about 70 per cent of the villages in India. But the percentage of villages connected with all-weather roads has stood at only 48 per cent. This requires special attention by planners and policy maker while preparing programmes for rural development.
(3) Communications:
The Communication system comprises posts, Telegraphs, Tele communication system, Broadcasting, Television and Information services. The postal network has been expanded throughout the country and in recent years, with special emphasis on the rural, hilly and tribal areas. In India there are 16 post offices serving one lakh population.
The coverage of postal network is more in smaller arid underdeveloped states like Mizoram, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Manipur. Whereas the network is comparatively low in other developed and bigger states. The growth of Telecommunications is directly related to and woven with the growth of technologies in other sectors like the electronics, satellite communication, broadcasting network etc.
It is to note here that there are 1.36 lakh rural post offices in India. The rural population per post office is reported to be about 5.7 thousand and area served by a post office was 21.5 square kilometers. There are about 17 thousand Telephone Exchanges served in rural areas of the country. Besides, there are 1.86 lakh public telephones exist in rural India on 1996.
(4) Credit Institutions:
The credit requirement of the rural economic sectors generally met by two sources, i.e.; Non-Institutional and institutional. The non-institutional credit agencies comprise money lenders, indigenous bankers, landlords, traders and commissioning agents, friends and relatives etc. They play an important role in dispensing credit in rural areas. About 40 per cent of the total rural credit requirement is met by non- institutional sources.
The Institutional Credit, at present is provided by agencies like, co-operative banks, commercial banks and Regional Rural banks. National Bank for Agriculture & Rural Development (NABARD) is the apex institution for these institutional agencies. Besides, over the years an integrated structure of financial institutions has been evolved for providing term finance and other assistance to industrial sector.
They comprise of IDBI, IFCI, ICICI, and SIDBI etc. The investment institutions comprise UTI, LIC, GIC also indirectly contribute towards the rural credit needs. Besides, there is also a network of state level institutions the SFCs and SIDCs. In India their exists the State Bank of India its Associated Banks (7) and 19 Nationalized banks bringing the total public sector bank to 27.
They are directed to advance credit up to 40 per cent of the total bank credit to the priority sector. The priority sector in India comprises of agriculture, Small-scale Industry, Transport operators, retail trade and small business, professional and self-employed, housing loan to weaker sections and education. It is also evident that within the priority sector, agriculture continued to account for the maximum share of advances at about 18 per cent.
However, there are 35.3 thousand rural branches accounted for about 58 per cent of the total bank branch network. The population per bank branch is stood at 11 thousand. Despite of importance on opening of rural braches, the rural people are inadequately served with commercial banks. The population per bank branch should reduce in such a way that the rural people will feel comfortable.
The total priority sector advance was stood at Rs 99,507 crores on 1998. This is about 33.5 per cent of the total bank credit. The volume of priority sector advance is increasing but the percentage share to the total bank credit declining steadily.
This situation arised due to ongoing economic reforms as well as banking sector reforms. Out of total priority sector advance, about 35.1 per cent credit was advanced to agricultural sector, 43.7 per cent to small-scale industries, and remaining 21.2 per cent to other priority sector.
The second important source of institutional finance is Regional Rural Banks. These banks were introduced to cater into the credit needs of the rural people. They were started functioning since 1976 in India.
There are 196 Regional Rural Banks in India according to 1996. Over the period of twenty years they covered about 427 districts of the country, with the branch network of about 14.5 thousand. The total deposits mobilised by the RRBs was stood at Rs 14,188 crores ad the total loans and advances reached at Rs 7505 crores.
The last important source of institutional credit in the rural areas is co-operatives. Co-operatives, in our country treated as important instrument of rural development. At the primary level there are, Primary Agricultural Credit Societies, Farmers Service Societies, Primary Co-operative Banks, Primary non- agricultural credit societies and Primary Land Development Banks operating to serve rural people/areas of the country.
At the secondary or middle level there are, Central Co-operative Banks and Central Land Development Banks act as a link between primary co-operatives and higher co-operatives operated/instituted at the State level. These are State Cooperative Banks and State Land Development Banks.
It is revealed from the available data that, there are, 4.10 lakh cooperative societies serving rural population of the country. The total membership of these societies is stood at 1978 lakh during the year 1995-96. Furthermore, the co-operative network is highest in Maharashtra, where there exist about 20 thousand Primary Agricultural Credit Societies. Whereas, only 35 PACs are functioning in Sikkim.
National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) is the apex institution for these Institutional Credit Agencies. It provides finance and re-finance facilities to the institutional credit agencies operating at rural areas of the country.
The important purposes for which NABARD advance finance/re-finance facilities are, Minor irrigation, Land Development, farm mechanism, plantation, Horticulture, Poultry, Sheep/Goat/Piggery, Fisheries, Dairy development, Forestry, Storage & Market yards, IRDP and other non-farm sector. According to 1995-96 about 1149 such schemes were sanctioned with the total disbursement of Rs 3922 crores.
(5) Science & Technology:
The application of Science and Technology to agriculture, industry, transports and for all other economic and non-economic activities has become essential for rapid economic development.
The council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), The Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) are helping the economic sectors for adoption of improved technologies for the production. In the mean-time, Technology missions have been introduced to bring about significant improvements in the fields of drinking water, immunisation, oilseeds, literacy, telecommunications, and dairy.
The core inputs of the technology mission are people’s participation and application of Science and Technology for the development in the areas referred to above. The said missions engaged in the rectification of old technologies and adoption of new one in more scientific manner. Some of the missions able to attain tremendous success.
(6) Social Overheads:
The Social overheads comprises of health, hygiene and education etc. The constitution of India lays down that “the state shall regard the raising of level of nutrition and the standard of living of its people and the improvement of public health as among its primary duties.” To give effect to this directive, health has been given due priority. Public Health is primarily the responsibility of the State Governments.
The Central Government, however, guides, sponsors and supports major schemes for improving the health of the people. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Co-ordinates the work of the State Governments. The Central Council of Health advises the ministry on policies and programmes in all their aspects.
The latest information indicates that nearly 56 per cent of hospitals accounting for 30 per cent of beds were under the ownership of private or voluntary organisations while 44 per cent of hospitals with about 70 per cent beds were under government run facilities and were looked after by the local bodies.
Thus, the hospitals run by government were fewer in number and much-too overcrowded in terms of beds. It is evident that, only one-third of the number of hospitals with only 20 per cent of the number of beds in the country is located in rural areas.
These lower proportions of government managed public health facilities and locations in rural areas speaks about the scarce attention given to the provision of public health facilities for the masses, resulting in its lop-sided availability for the poor as against the urban affluent classes of population in the country.
In the opinion of those concerned among the medical profession, what needs urgent attention is expansion of facilities providing simple and cheap but effective preventive health care rather than the prevalent emphasis on sophisticated, personalised, expensive and urban-based medical services.
Human Resource Development is an integral part of the programmes aiming at improving the quality of life, and extension of educational facilities is an essential effort in that direction. The working group on education has recognised education as a crucial input in the process of human resource development.
Economic and social development plans of the country have invariably stressed that for the improvement of the quality of life of every individual there has to be an investment in man. The government is therefore, keen that education should find its right place in national planning and the investments in education should find its right place in national planning and the investments in education should reflect its pivotal role.
The realisation of this basic purpose, education systems and programmes are expected to be redirected towards a set of goals and tasks among which, the most important are:
(i) To guarantee equality of opportunity for all in education to improve their quality of life and to participate in the tasks of promoting the general well-being of the society,
(ii) To afford all young people and adults irrespective of age, the means for self-fulfillment within the frame-work of a harmonious development which reflects the needs of the community.
(iii) To provide for a continuous process of life long education for their physical, intellectual and cultural development and for inculcating capabilities to cope with and influence social changes
(iv) To establish dynamic and beneficial links between education, employment and development with due regard for the economic and social aims of community and
(v) To promote the values of national integration, secularism, democratic way of life and dignity of labour.
It is evident that, Education is a key input in breaking the vicious circle of poverty and low productivity. The literacy rate in the country according to 1991 Census was just above half of the population i.e.; 52.1 per cent while the male literacy was 64.1 per cent and the female literacy was 39.3 per cent.
The rate of literacy in rural and urban areas was 45 per cent and 73 per cent respectively in the same period. A number of steps were taken to increase the level of literacy but the goal is not achieved till date. Greater attention needs to be paid to this sector.
Essay # 14. Per Capita Income:
India is rich in natural resources and manpower. These resources however not been exploited fully and are capable of greater utilisation. The Per capita Gross National Product for India was estimated at US $ 380. This is about 71 times less than the per capita GNP of industrialised countries and 13 times less than the world average.
However, the per capita Net National Products/Income stood at Rs 9578 in the year 1995-96. It is also evident that the NNP is ill distributed among the states of the country. The slow growth rate of GNP and NNP and faster rate of growth of population results India as a poor country. The situation in rural areas is worse in our country.
The contribution of rural sector is about one-third of the gross domestic product. The growth rates during Eighth Plan shows that the Economy achieved a total growth rate of about 6.8 per cent.
The sectorial growth rate shows that, agriculture and allied activities was 4 per cent, mining & quarrying 3.5 per cent, manufacturing 9.2 per cent, electricity & water supply 7.4 per cent, construction 5.2 per cent, transport 9 per cent, communication 14.9 per cent and other services 5.6 per cent. The percentage share of agriculture & allied sector to GDP was 27 per cent on 1996-97.
Essay # 15. Demography of India:
In terms of population, India is the second largest country in the world next only to China. It accounts for 15.6 per cent of the world population. According to 1991 census, the population of India is 846 million.
Uttar Pradesh is the most populous state of India and the population of Haryana is the smallest among the major states. The distribution of male and female population was stood at 52 per cent and 48 per cent respectively. The ratio of females per 1000 male is 929 in 1991 census.
The Density of population is 267 persons per square kilometer. According to 1991 census 74.3 per cent of the total population live in rural areas and the remaining 25.7 per cent in urban areas of the country. It is thus observed that, India is predominated by rural population.
The rural populations generally live in about 576 thousand villages of the country. The distribution of scheduled caste and Scheduled Tribe population is India in 16.5 per cent and 8.1 per cent respectively to the total population.
Essay # 16. Work Force in India:
Out of the total population, workers constitute about 37.5 per cent. The distribution of work force is 79.2 per cent and 20.8 per cent respectively, for rural and urban areas in the country. Among the total male workers 75.1 per cent were employed in rural areas and the remaining 24.9 per cent were in the urban areas. Among the female workers, the rural workers accounted for about 89.2 per cent and urban workers at 10.8 per cent.
Obviously, the percentage of total workers in the rural areas among the total workers in the country is 79.2 per cent while the percentage of population living in the rural areas is 74.3 per cent. Sex-wise, 75.1 per cent of the male workers and 89.2 per cent of the female workers in the country have been enumerated in rural areas whereas 73.81 per cent of the male population and 74.8 per cent of the female population lived in rural areas.
The distribution of work force in rural areas of the country shows that, there are 35.8 per cent main workers and 4.3 per cent marginal workers. The distribution of rural main workers shows that 48.2 per cent are cultivators, 32.2 per cent are agricultural labourers, 2.2 per cent workers employed in household industries and the remaining 17.4 per cent workers in rural areas reported to be engaged in other activities in rural economy, more particularly in service sectors.
Essay # 17. Unemployment and Poverty in India:
The planning commission has prepared estimates of unemployment by applying the rates of unemployment as obtained from NSS data to the projected population. The backlog of unemployment for planning process in the beginning of Eighth plan (1990-95) was 28 million.
The new entrants to the labour force during the plant period was estimated to be 37 million, bringing the total to about 65 million. It was also estimated that the new entrants to the labour force during the Ninth plan (1997-2002) would be about 41 million. This volume of unemployment would be about 106 millions during the Ninth Plan period.
The people of India generally employed in organized sector and unorganized sector. The organized sector is the hub of the Indian economy and so it tends to loom large in public imagination. However, it accounts for only about 13 per cent of our total labour force.
On the other hand, the unorganized sector accounts for the remaining 87 per cent covering a large part of agricultural workers, and those engaged in small and cottage industry, trade, professional services etc. The entire unorganized segment falls within the private sector.
Poverty:
Poverty can be defined as a social phenomenon in which a section of the society is enables to fulfil even its basic necessities of life. When a substantial segment of a society is said to be plagued with mass poverty.
The countries of the Third World exhibit invariably the existence of mass poverty, although pockets of poverty exist even in the developed countries of Europe and America. Poverty in economic literature is of two types, i.e; the absolute and the relative.
In the absolute standard, the minimum physical quantities of cereals pulses, milk, butter etc. are determined for subsistence level and then the price quotations convert into monetary terms the physical quantities. Aggregating all the quantities included, a figure expressing per capita consumer expenditure is determined.
The population whose level of income is below the figure is considered to be below poverty line. According to the relative standard, income distribution of the population in different fractile groups is estimated and a comparison of the standard of living of the top 5 to 10 per cent with the bottom 5 to 10 per cent of the population reflects the relative standardards of poverty. In India the incidence of poverty is commonly determined by adopting the absolute standards methods.
In India, about 35.9 per cent of the total population reported to be live below poverty line in 1993, 1994. The incidence of rural and urban population living below poverty line is 37.3 per cent and 32.4 per cent respectively, in India. The percentage of population below poverty line in Bihar is highest in the country at 54.6 per cent and least in Punjab at 11.8 per cent in the year under observation.
It is also observed that Bihar stood first with 58.2 per cent and Goa the last with 5.3 per cent of the rural population live below poverty line. In Madhya Pradesh about 48.3 per cent of the urban population live below the poverty line, which is highest in the country. Taking the high incidence of poverty in India into consideration it is required more positive steps to eradicate poverty at a faster rate.
Essay # 18. Pre-Dominance of the Rural Sector:
1. In India, about Three-Fourth of its population live in rural areas.
2. The distribution of work force in the country indicates that about 79.2 per cent of the total workers depend on rural economic activities for their livelihood.
3. The concentration of un-employment and under employment is high in rural areas. The traditional economic sectors in the rural areas failed to provide ad-equate and appropriate employment opportunities to the increasing rural masses. This is perhaps due to rapid growth of population and changing attitude of employment.
4. The poverty in rural areas is deep seated with 49.7 per cent of the total population live below poverty line in Orissa and 37.3 per cent at all-India level. This is the major constraint for development.
5. Agricultural sector provide livelihood to about two-third of the total population and three-fourth of the rural population. Most of the small and marginal farmers live in rural areas of the country. The Agricultural labourers and non-agricultural labourers are also belonging to the countryside. The productivity of the sector and the living standard of the people attached to the sector is remaining under developed. Special attention is needed for the development of the important economic sector.
6. Allied activities to agriculture comprises of animal husbandry, poultry, fishery and forestry etc. These activities play very important role in rural economy. It is also evident that, the economic weaker sections, particularly, small and marginal farmers, agricultural and non-agricultural labourers are availing alternative employment opportunities during lean agriculture seasons. Besides, a considerable percentage or rural people depend on this sector for their livelihood. Despite of its importance in the economy the sector is remain underdeveloped. This sector requires more attention for its development.
7. The Small – Scale Industries, village, cottage and other artisan based industries play a prominent role in the rural economy. Despite of its importance, the sector and the artisans in particular remain neglected. This is perhaps due to application of traditional and years old Techniques of Production, lack of awareness, education and above all inadequate attention in economic planning, implementation etc. As an important economic sector, it requires more attention.
8. The rural areas of the country is also lacking adequate infrastructure. The promotion of the infrastructural facilities is the essential condition for the attainment of economic development as well as rural development in the country.
9. Institutional credit regarded as one of the important input for transformation of the rural economic activities from traditional to modern. It is observed that the rural area of the country is inadequately served with the credit institutions.
10. The social overheads comprises of Health, Nutrition, Education etc. are also not developed up to the required level after 50 years of planned economic development in the country. The situation in rural areas is reported to be precarious.
As against this background, the Socio-economic upliftment in the rural areas needs greater attention.
The planners, policy makers have given utmost attention for the attainment of Economic development through rural development. Greater emphasis has been given for the rural development during different plan periods. Beginning from the First Five Year Plan (1950-51) priority has been given for the rural development.
A number of rural development programmes/schemes has also been initiated in this respect. Despite of Multi-dimensional plans for rural development the desired goal has not been achieved till date.
As against this background, a humble attempt is made to highlight important rural development programmes/schemes, initiated/introduced/implemented in our country, since First Plan period to the end of Eighth Plan Period (1992-97). A little attempt was also made to highlights the plan approaches and strategies for rural development in India.