SERICUL TURE AND THE PROCESS OF CHANGE - Institute for ...

elationships. Nevertheless, each factor has a variable impact in different
areas of life. It would be worth looking into some of the vital aspects of
rural change to see the type of changes taking place in rural India, with
various factors in operation.
Aspects of Change: The rural changes that have been taktng
place in the last few decades have their impact on different social
institutions. These are reflected in the standard of living, shaking of
stratificational rigidity, social status and interactional networks
Moreover, such changes also reflect a mutual bearing at the individual as
well as at the societal levels. However, the nature of changes is varied as
they are related to various factors.
Independent India has envisaged an advanced, prosperous,
democratic, egalitarian and just society as implied in its proclamation of
a 'socialist pattern of development'. However, the Government of India
(1974) had recognised, in its Draft Fifth Five Year Plan, the existence of
poverty as being incompatible with this vision (Madan 1983: 300). As a
result, eradication of poverty became a prime target of all rural-oriented
programmes. There was a realisation about the inter-link of
unemployment, poverty and inequality. There was also a belief that any
success in solving one would imply some success in solving the other.
The aspiration to economic improvement is common among the people
and the studies on different Indian villages have recognised this factor
(Ishwaran 1970a: 14). For example, Elder's study of Rajpur village
shows that change cannot become effective unless people perceive it to
be economically acceptable. This is evident from the cases of decreasing
jajmani relationships with a corresponding increase in the alternative
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