Importance of Village Welfare

India is said to be a country of villages. Majority of our people live in villages. Hence, village welfare is very important for the progress of our country.

Formerly, village life was very happy. People had very few wants and these wants they could meet in their own villages. They got their food from their own fields. The other needs were looked after by the land owners. They made roads, set up schools and dispensaries and arranged for the religious and cultural entertainment of the villagers carpenters, weavers, and smiths lived in the villages and served both the rich the poor. So, the villages were self-sufficient and the people there lived a contended and happy life.

But, with the progress of industry, towns began to grow up. The lure of town life drew away the landlords and other rich men from the villages. Carpenters, smiths, weavers lost their customers and they had to come over to towns for a living. The result was that the villages were left neglected and their economy ruined.

Realizing that there can be no question of improving the country without improving the villages, the concept of village welfare has been taken up in right earnest.

• People are being lured back to villages.
• Trained persons with knowledge of improved methods of cultivation and cottage industry are now posted in villages to train the villagers in agriculture production, and setting up cottage industries for self-employment.
• New roads and bridges are being constructed.
• Dispensaries and health centers have been opened to look after rural health.
• Bank loans on easy terms are now available to the farmers, weavers and traders to start business.
• Electricity has made its presence felt in the rural areas.
• Shallow tube-wells for irrigation systems are now scattered all over villages; fertilizers are also within easy reach of the farmers.

There is every hope that further improvements in village life will take place in near future, resulting in prosperity of the country.