Rural and Urban Community
India is a country of villages. Even today most of the population lives in villages. Village is called a place where people live for a long period of time, to fulfill their necessities of life. Here the primary relationships between people take place. Their culture is less influenced by the metropolitan cities. They are also less developed from a technical point of view. On the other hand city refers to a place where secondary relations between people take place. These are greatly developed from the point of view of technical communication and transport. The culture here is influenced by the culture of different places.
Sociologists studied both urban and rural communities and realized that the study of Indian society is not possible without the study of rural communities. The study of Indian villages began in the 18th century when the British rulers began to survey the landownership status of the villagers. Marx and Baden Powell tried to understand Indian villages as a ‘closed’ and separate system. Charles Metkel has also written, describing Indian villages as one and irreversible, that “the rural community is a small republic which is self-dependent and free from any external influence. Communities remain unchanging, self-dependent and peaceful.” In fact, this is not true. In the true sense, the villages have neither been isolated nor self-dependent and their sensitivity to any change is questionable. Indian rural life has been related to the outside world or rather it has been influenced by the outside world. Mendelbaum clarified his views that the village is no longer a ‘closed society’ but a social unit whose scope is wide. Rural community will be mentioned in the context of urban community. First of all it is necessary to know what is a rural community
, Rural community is made up of two words – rural and community. What is community? This has been discussed in detail in Chapter 5. Therefore, what is a village, what is its nature will be considered.
Meaning of Village
Some scholars have tried to define village on the basis of total population and density of population. Generally, the place where 3000 or less people reside is called village. But there are some villages in India whose population is more than 5000. There are some villages which not only depend on agriculture but also earn their livelihood through other industries and other occupations.
N Srivastava has written while expressing his view, “A rural area is one where people are engaged in agricultural industry, that is, they do the primary production of goods with the help of nature.”
Landis said that the word ‘rural’ must have three things – (i) direct dependence on nature, (ii) limited size and (iii) close and primary relations. Bertrand has discussed two grounds for ‘rural’ – (i) income or subsistence by agriculture and (ii) low density population area. ,
In fact, there is no definite boundary line which separates the village from the city. In relation to this, McIver has written while clarifying his views that “There is no such clear boundary line of division between town and village, on the basis of which it can be told where the village ends and from where the city begins.” The words rural and urban do not only explain the geographical location but also the types of community life. There is less division of labor and most of the people are associated with agriculture and simple industries.
Rural Community
Sociologists have expressed their views regarding rural communities.
According to Merill and Elridge, “Rural community consists of institutions and individuals who are organized around a small center and participate in common-natural interests”.
According to Sanderson, “a rural community consists of the social interaction of the people of the local area and their institutions in which they live in huts and pukas or villages scattered around the fields and which are the center of their normal activities.
According to Sims, “There is an increasing tendency among sociologists to place the rural community in such large areas in which all or most of the major human interests are fulfilled.
It is clear from the views of the above scholars that the rural community is closer to the nature from the point of view of the environment. It has less artificiality. From an economic point of view, they mainly depend on agriculture and general industry. There is less division of labor here. Rural communities are small in size and have low population density. Intimacy, closeness, primary relationship, informality and similarity are found between them. Culturally, the rural community would be religious, tradition-oriented and orthodox.
Characteristics of Rural Community
All the characteristics of a village are found in a rural community. A brief description of them is presented
Primary relation – There are primary relations between people in a rural community. Because of population work, each person knows each other personally. There is a close, direct and face-to-face relationship between them. There is a lack of formality and formality among them. They all cooperate in each other’s sorrows and happiness.
Small size – The size of the rural community is small. That is, there is no excess of population in them. Most of the villages in India whose population is less than one thousand. Being directly dependent on nature, the community base is small. Due to this feature, Smith described rural community and small community as synonyms of each other. Similarly, Robert Redfield defined the rural community as ‘Little Community’. Whenever there is an increase in the population of the village, it gets divided into two parts. That is, it is divided into two small villages.
Low Population Density – The size of the rural community is not small, but the density of population is also low in them. That is to say, the proportion of population per square mile in villages is less than in cities. Due to low population density, the problems of dense settlement or slum settlements do not arise in rural communities. In other words, it can be said that the rural community remains isolated from child crime, crime, gambling, alcoholism, various types of diseases and other mental frustrations.
Agriculture is the main occupation and nature based living – Agriculture is the main occupation of the people of rural community. Most of the population of today’s Indian rural community is directly dependent on agriculture. it means
It is not that the people here do not do other business at all. There are many castes in the villages who earn their livelihood through cottage industry or handicrafts. For example, making mats, ropes, cloth, pottery and jaggery etc. Still, these people consider agriculture business important for themselves. Rural community is closer to nature in terms of food and behavior. Even today, he is dependent on nature for agricultural works. Rural communities enjoy the seasons and the natural scenery. They have direct contact with plants and animals and birds. All in all, they are born, grow and die in the lap of nature.
Lack of division of labor and specialization – There is less division of labor in the rural community. They have knowledge of almost all the work related to their life. For example, a farmer knows which crop will be grown in which season, what kind of seed, what kind of fertilizer and what other things are needed for it. If his animal is sick, he also takes care of them. They also know closely about the safety of grains. Due to having general knowledge of almost all the tasks related to their life, they are not able to acquire specific knowledge in anything. It is meant to say that the people in the rural community are not specially trained in any work, as a result of which there is still a lack of specialization in them.
Importance of religion – The importance of religion is more in the rural community. People’s behavior is guided by religious rules. People like religious things and conduct. The more a person follows these rules, the more respected he becomes. Religion is an important instrument of social control in the rural community. No member soon dares to disobey religious rules and conduct. Heaven-hell, sin-virtue, dharma-adharma, good-evil spirit regulates and directs the behavior of a person, the spirit of birth and rebirth makes a person religious. Religious superstition also affects the thoughts and conscience of the people.
Importance of tradition and custom
Tradition and spirit prevail. The people here are unable to easily disregard the traditional beliefs, customs and customs in the village. That is to say that their whole life is bound by customs and customs. It is prevalent in rural society even after suffering the ill-effects of child marriage, death-banquet, absence of widow remarriage, untouchability, dowry system. Their studies are regular and guided by traditions, that is, the work of social control is done by them.
Simple living – The life of the people of the rural community is simple, their control is simple. They stay away from external glare and artificiality. Agriculture is their main occupation and economic condition is also not good. Due to the dependence on the cultivar nature, it is certainly difficult to estimate their yield. They also lead a simple life in terms of food and clothing. It can be said about them that due to lack, they are bound to lead a simple and simple life.
Illiteracy and fatalism (literacy and fatalism) – Even today the outbreak of illiteracy and fatalism is clearly visible in the rural community. After independence, many avenues were adopted for education, but even today the number of uneducated people in villages is high. Being uneducated, they take their every weakness and compulsion as the writing of their fate and get satisfaction. Do not even try to understand and rate them. The birth of more children, their death, less yield and various types of diseases are also considered as the result of their fate and do not even try to avoid and recover from them. Especially in the Indian rural community, people have a strong belief that no matter how hard a person tries, he will get the same result as written in his destiny. Therefore, they continue to bear all their sufferings, atrocities and exploitation.
Lack of mobility – Lack of mobility is found in the rural community. There are many reasons for that. Due to agriculture being the main occupation in the villages, people get tied up in the field. They cannot go to other places. Secondly, they are indifferent to change. Therefore, they do not like any kind of change in their life. Home weakness also acts as a hindrance in mobility among rural people. The caste system has a special impact in the Indian rural community. Even today the social status of the people, occupation, marriage and living is affected by caste rules only. Once a person is born in a particular caste, he remains a member of that caste for the rest of his life. Once a person has attained the situation, no one even tries to change it. As a result, there is a lack of local and social mobility in the rural community.
Homogenity – There is homogeneity among people in a rural community. That is to say, everyone’s lifestyle is the same. There is uniformity in their social, economic, political and cultural life. they speak the same language
Celebrate religion, business, customs, ideals, ethics and festivals. This similarity and equality develops in them a strong community spirit which is evident in the dominance feature of the rural community.
Importance of public opinion – Public opinion has more importance in the rural community. Due to the small size of the community, a medium is not required for the formation of public opinion. People form public opinion through direct contact with each other, then it is difficult to ignore it. The person who disobeys it. His social prestige is destroyed. Behind public opinion lies the concept of ‘Pancha Parmeshwar’. Public opinion is an effective instrument of social control in the rural community. A person has to bow before public opinion. That is to say, the importance of collective ideas is more in the rural community.
Joint family system – The joint family system is especially known in India. Many generations of people live together in this type of family. Their food, residence, community is the specialty. In this type of family, there are mother-in-laws of many generations. The ‘Karta’ is the head of the house, which is usually the oldest property of the family and the worship is normal. The ‘Karta’ was the head of the house – all the work of the family is done by his orders. Life of all the members in a joint family
is protected and protected. Even today, due to agriculture being the main occupation in the village, the utility of joint family system remains.
Jajmani system – Jajmani system is a wonderful feature of the Indian rural community. A unique relationship is found between different castes through this practice. One caste provides facilities to another caste through their service (Dhobi, Barber, Potter, Teli, Mali, Brahmin etc.) They are called ‘Kamin’ and those who take service of the caste are called ‘Jajman’. The jajman does not give money to the kamen in return for service. The price of his service is given by the jajman according to his personality. In return for service, they get food grains, clothes, money etc. Here the cost of the service of the kamin keeps on increasing and decreasing according to the personality of the jajman. The relation of jajman and kameen goes on book-by-book. For many generations, a kamin family continues to provide service from generation to generation to the same jajman. In this way there is a mutual relationship between different castes.
Gram Panchayat – Gram Panchayat has been a very ancient feature of the Indian rural community. As a unit of self-government, the village panchayat has a special significance here. In rural areas, the Gram Panchayat functions as the sole institution of governance, power and security. During the British rule, there was a dissolution of the village panchayats, but after independence, efforts were made to convert the autonomous government into action in India. As a result, village panchayats were reorganized in different provinces. The main function of the Gram Panchayat is to plan and implement for the progress of the village.
Low status of women – The status of women in the Indian rural community is low. There is a lack of education among women. The practice of banning girl child marriage, child marriage, purdah system and widow remarriage is still prevalent in the village. Women are considered as slaves. Giving birth to children from a young age and taking up the responsibilities of the family, their personality becomes frustrated. In the absence of education, neither they are aware of their rights nor are they trained for any particular work. The joint family system also plays a major role in degrading the status of women. Due to the custom of purdah, she spends her whole life inside the boundary wall of the house. All these conditions are responsible for their low status.