Rural-urban Interaction
Rural-urban interaction is an important aspect of urbanisation. It is expected that urbanisation and urban growth would have their impact on rural areas and activities in rural areas would have their effect on the nearby towns and cities. Social science literature has often exaggerated contrasts and dichotomies of rural and urban social organisations and ways of life.
The dichotomous perspective further neglects the existence of continuous interdependent, complimentary and overlapping relationships of rural and urban sectors which are reflected through mutual exchange systems of goods and services. The ruralites are dependent on the urbanites for their banking and credit needs, for the purchase of agricultural equipment and other supplies, for marketing of farm products and even for commercial recreation.
Some of the rural-urban interactions are as follows –
The urban sector is dependent on the rural sector: The urban sector depends on food supply, cheap labour, and for vast market of its manufactured goods from the rural sector. The urban professionals like doctors, lawyers, etc., draw a large number of their patients or clients from rural masses because hospitals and courts are concentrated in the urban centres.
Affects rural-urban relationships in migration: Most rural migrants who move to urban areas are young males who are lacking unskilled and semi-skilled occupations. Even those ruralities who receive higher education prefer to settle in cities. This migration from rural to urban areas exerts pressure on urban public services and creates problems of social disorganisation.
Translocatory migration: Migration from rural to urban areas is of different types. One is to settle down permanently in the urban area of one’s choice.
Circulatory migration: Migrants hang on to their rural base and migrate repeatedly and for varying durations, either to the same urban area or to different ones.
Step-migration: Migrate in graded steps from a smaller to a later settlement
The pattern of migration: It depends upon the ‘pull’ factors at the urban and ‘push’ factors at the rural end. Thus, migration of agricultural labourers from Bihar to Punjab during the harvest season is of this type. Then there is migration which is caused by rural poverty and urban opportunity of getting work. Migration of young children as well as of adults from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar to other states for the lure of a job is of this ‘pull’ type.
Contrasting environmental subcultures: Natural environment of the ruralites is different from artificial environment of the urbanites. Rural work is determined by seasons and weather while urban work is carried out indoors in predictable conditions. Both sectors, therefore, develop somewhat distinctive subcultures of their own which further shape their social institutions and personalities.
Modernisation: As part of modernisation programme, the Government of India has introduced several schemes and plans in the last five decades in the form of Five Year Plans, social legislation, agrarian reforms, abolition of untouchability, population control, and distributive justice, etc.
Urban bias: It also acts as a source of conflict between rural and urban sectors. Inequalities in income and better opportunities for occupational mobility and for raising living standards create biases among the villagers for the city people. Though the government has laid emphasis on agricultural development, rural reconstruction and poverty alleviation programmes, in practice, the villagers’ lot has not improved much. The rural people also feel strongly about the diversion of rural funds to urban infrastructure of education, health, housing and transport facilities, etc. Some people describe the urban bias as a state of mind, yet the fact is that it creates stresses and conflicts.
Researchers study adjustments which villages have to make due changes in towns and cities. However, changes taking place in the rural areas produce their impact on the urban centres. It has also been found a lack of meaningful and intimate interaction between people in the towns and those of the villages and has pointed out social, political and economic differences dividing urban and rural communities in India. A town and a city, by and large, act as service centres for their surrounding village community and a large village also performs central-place functions for the city as well as surrounding smaller villages.
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Society in India - Ram Ahuja (pp. 347-350) ~ Link
Rural-Urban interaction ~ Link
Rural-urban interactions - a guide to the literature Cecilia Tacoli ~ Link
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