Life in a Village

Problems in villages

Some people wrongly believe that village life is heavenly in nature as compared to the infernal life in big cities and towns. There are numerous problems in villages.

Lack of hospitals, schools, etc.

The villages lack big hospitals, high-class schools, and colleges, libraries, means of entertainment like cinema, art galleries, big markets, etc. As such, education, medical facilities, and recreational facilities are missing or only negligible in rural areas.

Quacks, etc.

No doubt, in villages there are doctors, but they are often quacks, and they are ill-equipped with no or inadequate and outdated medical and surgical facilities. There may be primary schools in villages, but the teachers hardly visit such schools. Particularly this is the case with government schools.

Lack of Necessary Items

In villages, there are only a few shops where all kinds of necessary items cannot be had. For instance, all kinds of cloth, kitchenware or furniture are not available in villages. Even all kinds of fast food may not be had in villages.

Lack of communication and employment opportunities

In many villages, telephone service is available. But most people in villages are poor and they cannot afford to have a telephone set, just as all of them cannot afford to maintain a car or even a scooter. Moreover, they cannot make much use of a telephone, as they do not have much of a business in a village. Employment facilities in the villages are almost nil or equal to nil, except in the agricultural sector which cannot absorb much and all kinds of skilled and unskilled forces.

In the village, there are hardly any offices, factories, hotels, shops, institutions, etc. where one can find a job.

It is for this reason that stress is laid on the villages having some sort of cottage and small-scale industry and self-employment facilities as in the field of dairying, poultry, fish breeding, bee-keeping, manufacturing handicrafts, and agricultural tools, etc.

Exploitation – corruption, Law and order problems, drinking, gambling, etc.

Unfortunately, India is a land where even a positive factor is made to change into a negative one by its people. For example, the Panchayati system is, undoubtedly, a highly appreciable system which ensures democracy at the grassroots. But it is most damnable that undesirable elements have entered even this system.

There are also certain other kinds of problems in the villages, as given below:

1. The pure drinking water problem.
2. The law and order problem.
3. Lack of municipal and cleanliness facilities.
4. Frequent electric breakdowns.
5. Lack of certain facilities, e.g. medical facility, educational facility, entertainment facility, etc. These have already been mentioned.
6. Villagers often have some evil habits such as idleness, drinking, smoking, drug-taking, litigation, gambling, quarrelling over water for irrigation purposes, etc.

It should be noted that some of the problems are exaggerated. For instance, robberies, burglaries, forgeries, pickpocketing, etc. take place even in towns. Even in towns some people drink too much alcohol, smoke excessively, take drugs and quarrel over trifles. Corruption also exists as much in town as in villages.

The villages have an edge over cities in the sense that the villagers being limited in number and knowing each other well, can interact and cooperate and work for mutual benefit

Merits

Some people wrongly believe that a village is a virtual hell on earth. Far from it, there are certain merits which the villages enjoy over the towns and cities.

The following points may be studied in this context:

1. In the villages there is no or very little pollution, as they are surrounded by lush green trees and crops which send pure oxygen in the atmosphere, absorbing the excessive carbon dioxide gas.
2. As there are very few vehicles in the village, the air is free from petrol or diesel fumes which are very nauseating and irritating.
3. Fresh green vegetables and pure milk can be had only in villages, as one can grow one’s vegetables and keep a cow or a buffalo. One can also keep some hens for eggs and some beehives to get honey.
4. The atmosphere in the village is free from the sick hurry and strain of the towns. So, one can lead a life of peace and tranquility there.
5. The life of the villagers is often carefree and natural.

Hence, they often live longer than the urban dwellers.

6. Nowadays private hospitals in towns and cities have their ambulance vans. Even civil hospitals in towns have such ambulances.

So, just by contacting the authorities of these hospitals and nursing homes on phone, one can get an ambulance van at one’s door even in a village within a short period of time in case of an emergency. For ordinary illnesses, one does not have to go to the hospital daily or regularly. For scarce visits to the hospitals, it may not be an uphill task to arrange a vehicle or means of transport. In common cases, even a self-maintained bicycle or a trolley can serve the purpose. Now often tempos also ply between towns and villages.

7. Similarly, students can easily arrange to visit towns daily to pursue their studies.
8. Law and order situation in villages is now not as bad as it was previously. As for robberies, acts of terrorism, etc., the villagers should have their defence committees equipped with arms and all village members should co-operate with one another in an emergency and give up all kinds of discrimination based on caste, creed, or religion.
9. If women are given more power and provided better education, they can change the villages into real heavens. They can bring to an end the evils for drinking, smoking, drug-taking, immorality, etc.