Growing Rural Urban Disparity in Bihar

Contents Preface. Foreword. Acknowledgement. Introduction. 1. Bihar in a country perspective. 2. Economic development and poverty. 3. Demography. 4. Education. 5. Health. 6. Quality of life. 7. Agriculture and rural development. 8. Employment and work participation. 9. Development programmes and the poor. 10. Analysis based on primary data. 11. Policy implications and suggestions. References. Index. Determining the disparities between rural and urban areas is apparently more difficult than it appears since it is possible to redefine what is urban and what is rural. Governments in Asia use different definitions for urban areas and do not define rural areas treating them as the undefined residual. An area is designated as urban when it crosses a certain population limit (for example 5 000 inhabitants) or when its population density reaches to a certain level (for example 1 000 per square kilometre). Small changes in criteria can have a considerable impact on the urbanization level of a country. Rather than defining rural and urban in geographical or demographic terms it is desirable to look at the character of the rural and urban society and its economy. Economists define an area as urban when the economy is characterized by non extractive occupations for example industry commerce that benefit particularly from a high population density and the accompanying infrastructure. Sociologically urban may typify wider but less personal and social relations and a lifestyle characterized by individualism anonymity and a segmentation of life. However improved transport and the relative reduction in transport costs have made it easier to commute between an urban area and its surrounding rural areas or to temporarily migrate from rural to urban areas. Resultantly an increasing number of people find temporary or permanent urban employment in the urban areas while living or at least being registered to live in a rural area. 220 pp.