The book Dynamics of Rural Economy: Growth Perspective unfolds the turning points in the life of villagers and villages of today in India. It suggests the current drivers of rural economic growth and its effective coordinationof its peripheral growth in 90s, the present growth in first decade of the new millennium and the future prospects.
During the 90s, the impact of globalization, exposure to media explosion, and many corporations and NGOs taking interest in rural development made villagers demanding and asking for transparency and accountability for their low economic growth. And it was through hard way that they learnt that the key is their own participation and motivation as well as demanding transparency and accountability of actions of all contact agents. Rural people realized that the quality of life will come through their own efforts and participation, and so will be the economic gains. This realization and change of attitude is a significant driver for growth of rural economy. The discontents, demands, aspirations and motivation of ruralists further drive the rural economy.
To make rural economy grow, the focus is on economic prosperity, environmental sustainability, and social equity. It is a grand vision, but we can implement it, and achieve it through Public-Private-NGO-People model in rural revival and revitalization to give it new life and energy. The aim should be to increase the overall scale of resources that flow into rural India, to find ways of increasing the scale of locally-generated resources from within rural areas, and to be much more strategic about the nature of investments in rural areas. The challenge today, however, lies as much in sustaining this momentum as ensuring an inclusive pattern of growth through initiatives to integrate the rural economy with the national economy.
The book has targeted academic and practitioners audience. It will interest government departments; academic and research institutions; civil society organizations and advocacy groups; relevant private enterprises in the context of multi-stakeholder partnership; professional associations and other development stakeholders. It has suitable reference material for concepts and methodology for a wide cross-section of readers, particularly those concerned with the growth of rural economy.
Uma Narula is Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA. Presently, she is the Director/Communication Consultant (Research & Training) with Communication Networks (CNET), New Delhi, India. She regularly conducts social and development research on national and international issues and provides communication training to corporate and academic groups. She is a visiting faculty to a number of Communication and Management Institutes in India and abroad.
Dr. Narula is a profilic writer and has authored many books which include Mass Communication: Theory and Practice; Development Communication: Theory and Practice; New Perspectives: Mass Communication Technologies; Communication Perspectives: Cultural Diffusion, Dynamics and Challenges; Indian Women Across Generations; Business Communication Practices: Modern Trends; Indian Economy: Visions, Reality, Challenges; Handbook of Communication Models, Perspectives, Strategies; Dynamics of Mass Communications: Theory and Practice; and Communication Models.
She has co-authored three books: Development as Communication; Culture, Politics and Research Programs; and New Communication Technologies in Developing Countries. Besides, she has a number of research publications and articles to her credit. She has also been associated with a number of national and international research projects, teaching and training since 1958.
