Introduction:
An English poet had once said that god made the villages and man made the towns. The general meaning of this statement is that village life is a life in peace and happiness unlike the life in a town. It is true that villages are free from a number of problems that are seen in towns. For example, pollution is a serious problem in towns -pollution caused by factories, automobiles and so on. Secondly, over crowdedness is another major problem in the towns and cities today. A related problem is the housing problem. These are problems which have not yet invaded the villages. From this point of view, living in villages some to be much more enjoyable then living in towns. But this may not always be true as the present conditions of some of the villages of Assam would show.
Some problems in the villages of Assam:
A major problem in most of the villages of Assam is the problem of safe drinking water. In Assam there are 23, 405 villages as per 1971 census, out of which 21,715 have been identified as problem villages so far as safe drinking water is concerned. As a result, they have been affected by water borne diseases. Secondly, many of the villages still lack the modern amenities like electricity. Thirdly, lack of proper educational infrastructures is a problem in most villages. Statistical evidence shows that the school drop-out data’s in villages is much higher than in towns. Fourthly, unemployment has now become a problem in villages. With the increases of population in villages, families now find it difficult to depend entirely on their cultivation for their living. While land resources are limited, this problem has become more acute today.
Steps towards development of village life:
(a) Safe drinking water: Since the 5th Five year plan considerable emphasis has been laid on providing drinking water to the rural communities. Schemes have been launched to provide piped water in these villages. In the subsequent Plans