Although Indian society in general is witnessing enormous changes after Independence, my focus here is on the changing aspects of Indian villages. “India lives in her villages,” said Mahatma Gandhi. As per the 2011 Census, nearly 70 per cent of the population still live in rural areas and therefore, the primacy of rural India remains. Let’s take a look at the changes witnessed in the past two to three decades. Sociologists fondly call change as the unchangeable law of nature, stressing its inevitability. With the aim of ensuring political democracy and economic justice, the government, after Independence, laid emphasis on poverty alleviation, rural development and industrialisation through democratic planning. But the change envisaged was never intended to be through force or coercion.
As Jawaharlal Nehru wrote in the magazine Foreign Affairs in April 1963, “We believe that any change should come about through our own volition, as a result of our own experience ... it should not be foisted on us through any kind of force.” This resulted in massive transformation albeit slowly during initial decades. But the change in the Indian society and culture in the recent decades are rapid and diverse primarily because of the structural adjustment policies that India adopted in the 90s following the ‘Hindu Rate of Growth’. Rapid advancement in science and communication technology too contributed to the change.
I hail from a remote village of Odisha. When I was in school, we studied using lantern lights; the bicycle was considered an important household asset and a motor bike was a luxury. The bullock cart was the primary transporter of goods in the late 80s and early 90s, although tractors gradually did step in. The villagers had to walk long distances to avail the bus service to the city. The inland letter was the medium of communication between me and my brother who was studying in a faraway city. For our entertainment, the All India Radio which had restricted sessions in a day was the only source. I remember how inquisitively we used to listen to the midnight programme through Vividh Bharati channel on the eve of New Year. The 24-hour FM entertainment programmes came much later. However, it had a positive side.
As the sources for entertainment were restricted to Akash- vani, we passed time amongst our fellow villagers playing cards and chit-chatting. Physical interaction led to the development of a healthy bond among villagers. The change that has been observed in my village is largely due to development in infrastructure like roads, electricity, communication technology and so on. Pucca roads were introduced through flagship programmes like PMGSY. The road connectivity led to bus services to nearby cities. Then came the wireless phone and WLL in the early 2000s. From faraway Delhi where I was studying then, I used to call home a day prior to our village telephone booth and my parents would wait there the next day at a pre-decided time to talk to me. Privacy was getting compromised as dozens used to gather near the booth. Electricity was still a distant dream.
Consequently, through the national electrification programmes my village got electrified and subsequently mobile telephony arrived. As per TRAI data, by the end of June, there were 1,210.84 million telephone subscribers in India (1,186.84 million wireless) taking the overall teledensity to 93.98. Rural telephone subscription during the period is 509.88 million (506.18 million wireless). The total rural teledensity is 57.73. With pucca roads, and bus connectivity coupled with mobile telephony, rural business has also seen easy growth. The petty village businessman places an order on telephone and the goods arrive at his shop in the evening through the bus service available now. With electricity, cable TV and DTH service have now reached my village; villagers, like their city counterparts, moved on from All India Radio to the daily soap operas.
As per TRAI sources, since its introduction in 2003, the DTH service has a subscriber base of over 65 million, besides the viewership of Doordarshan. But this has drastically reduced the physical contact among our villagers. I don’t see much chit-chatting now. No more playing cards in groups. Villagers now prefer to watch TV at home and follow soap operas than spending time with the community. The sense of belonging has seen a drastic fall. The village tradition has undergone change due to contact with the other parts of our wider civilisation. Joint families are eroding as youngsters prefer to work and settle in cities. Villages, cities and countries are becoming closer.
The travel time between distinct geographical localities has drastically reduced, devaluing the concept of territory altogether, which globalisation stalwarts call ‘deterritorialisation’. But though we are in the same space, we are not necessarily in the same local. Although my village is yet to see wired internet connectivity— another game changer in the technology sphere—with the advent of smart mobile phones, the village youngsters are now active users of WhatsApp and Facebook. The total number of internet subscribers in the country was 431.21 million by the end of June. The story of my village is almost similar to villages across the country. Development has brought in both good and bad changes. The matter that worries me is that the traditional village culture and institutions are fast disappearing, so much so that one feels alienated in his own village. We have to find out ways to sustain the varieties of ‘little traditions’ that constitute a major part of our Indian cultural system. Change is irreversible and unstoppable but good change is needed.
(Views expressed are personal)
PRADEEP KUMAR JENA has a PhD from JNU and is serving in the Indian Defence Accounts Service ( IDAS)
Email: pradeepjnu@gmail.com