The population influx to cities is mainly because of the opportunities that people get there. As a result, the government has initiated the mega project ‘My Village, My Town’ to provide civic amenities to all villages of the country. This will ultimately work to uplift the living condition of the people in rural areas at the same time alleviate some of the pressure from the metro cities and support decentralisation.
As per a report published in this daily, the government has undertaken a new pilot project to ensure all civic amenities in all the villages for reducing human pressure from the already-crowded capital. The pilot project, in the initial stage, will facelift 15 villages in six divisions of the country as model ones. This is laudable in the sense that this will inevitably support decentralisation, something that is needed urgently for sustainable development of the country.
Extending urban services to rural areas sustainably, it has to
be done via integrated rural planning that will provide
efficient use of land, water, and natural resources
When we think about extending urban services to rural areas sustainably, it has to be done via integrated rural planning that will provide efficient use of land, water, and natural resources for the rural settlements and growth centres, while ensuring provisions for various kinds of infrastructure, services, and facilities.
On the other hand, the original nature of the villages is changing with modernisation of the people’s life-style. A present day a village has lost most of its earlier characteristics. It is in between a village and a town. So, it can be expected that the shift towards providing civic amenities won’t be that much difficult.
Above all, the authorities concerned should consider the time and resources needed for the pilot project to be successful. Also, once the mega project is started it must be finished within time and budget for efficiency. In a nutshell, it can be said that the country's rural population will derive benefits from this people-centric programme.