This famous observation made by Mahatma Gandhi many years ago, still holds true. The rural population comprises the core of Indian society and also represents the real India. Therefore, it is our responsibility to build a system that delivers basic social infrastructure to the rural people in an effective manner.

In order to ensure that the fruits of India’s progress are shared by all sections of the society, the government has identified several elements of social and economic infrastructure, critical to the quality of life in rural areas. Well, before we discuss in detail about the services and facilities being planned and provided by the government, it’s important to know what constitutes the rural sector in India.

What is rural sector or which place can be defined as rural area?

The "rural sector" means any place as per the "latest census (External website that opens in a new window)" which meets the following criteria,

• A population of less than 5,000
• Density of population less than 400 per sq km and
• More than "25 per cent of the male working population" is engaged in agricultural pursuits.

What the government is doing for the rural sector?

The government has started many programmes aimed at improving the standard of living in villages or rural areas. To build rural infrastructure, the government launched a time-bound programme called the Bharat Nirman (External website that opens in a new window) in 2005. Under the Bharat Nirman, action is proposed in the areas of Water Supply, Housing, Telecommunication and Information Technology, Roads, Electrification and Irrigation.

This section of the National Portal is designed to give detailed information to the rural population of India. Information on the various services, facilities and opportunities available, and how to benefit from welfare schemes is given. A list of online services is also available.

Be it applying for loans, or knowing how to protect crops, or how to find the nearest hospital for health check-up and how to find the nearest school for children; information about schemes for the promotion of rural industry; provision of basic infrastructure facilities in rural areas e.g. schools, health facilities, roads, drinking water, electrification; government assistance to individual families and Self Help Groups (SHG) living below poverty line, every small and big detail can be found here.

Information of interest has been classified under the following heads:-