Technology in today’s world has become imperative in all areas

whether they are healthcare, medical, education, transportation, tourism,

industry, business, management, administration, banking, or rural
development. Rural development in India is extremely vital for the
development of the country, this point has been acknowledged to a great
extent, the reason being that over 70% of the population of India resides
in rural areas, and therefore, the rural development would effectively
lead to the development of the country. Technology has played a
necessary role in the development of rural areas. Technology's major
function in rural development is to provide individuals with information
of any kind, the reason being, they need information because it is
indispensable for development. For example, information and
communication technology can help farmers in rural areas to become
aware of new resources and techniques of farming that lead to more
production and thus more income. The Department of Information
Technology (DoIT) has been established in January 2004 to make
certain the process of promoting the expansion of technology for the
growth of the nation. Technology has always been productive for rural
development in India.

Benefits of Application of Technology in Rural Areas

There are several benefits of the application of technology in rural areas:
The socio-economically backward sections of the society such as
landless labor, migrant labor, and slum dwellers are helped and
benefitted.
The productivity gets increased; whether it is agricultural productivity or
the productivity of labor or production in any other area, there is an
overall enhancement in production without displacing labor.
The development of technologies generates more employment
opportunities for individuals in rural areas.
It facilitates reasonable allocation and social equality.
It stimulates people towards self-help and self-reliance.
It eliminates the hard work and toil of the people and contributes to the
improvement of the quality of life of the individuals.

Role of Information and Communication Technology in Rural

Development
ICT is regarded as the most important and valuable aspect of all
human beings and the societies in which they live. The aspects that
signify the role of ICT in rural development have been stated as follows:
 Roads and Communication – There has been a great
amount of work done towards the development of roads and
communication facilities in rural areas; in some of the areas,
roads are still in an underdeveloped state which needs to be
improved, therefore, the application of technology should be
upon the improvement of village roads, transport, and
communications systems. Also, For promoting rural
development, it is necessary to make use of computers and
other forms of technology. Internet is regarded as the most
significant, through which individuals can generate
awareness and develop knowledge in terms of all areas and
subjects. Mobile connectivity is regarded as one of the
aspects that are used to bring about transformation in rural
India. It has proved to be advantageous to a major extent in
several aspects within rural communities.
 Education – Education is regarded as the major instrument
that leads to the growth and development of individuals
effectively. Within the education system in rural areas,
besides the development of schools, educational institutes,
and other training centers, there has been the utilization of
computer technology, literacy campaigns that focus upon the
significance of technology, and also this has resulted in
improvement in attendance and reduction of drop-outs
 Employment Opportunities – In rural areas, individuals are
residing in conditions of poverty and backwardness. To
alleviate their conditions of poverty, they aspire to obtain
employment opportunities. Through the use of technology,
 individuals are generating awareness in terms of employment
opportunities
 Development of Agriculture – Agriculture, and farming
practices are regarded to be of utmost significance within
rural communities. The rural individuals are primarily
engaged in these areas, to sustain their livelihoods better.
There have been developments taking place in the
agricultural sector and farming practices. Agricultural
laborers and farmers are making use of modern and
innovative technologies with the main goal of augmenting
productivity.
 Energy – Development of practical application of renewable
sources such as solar, wind, and water power, the
introduction of smokeless stoves is some of the sources of
energy that have been introduced in rural areas as a result of
technology.
 Water minor irrigation – The development of technology
has facilitated effective water management systems within
the rural areas; storage and conservation of water, repair, and
maintenance of water supply systems have been part of
effective water management as a result of the development of
technology.
 Rural Housing – This is an area that needs to be focused
upon and improved; the strategies and the areas of
application are required to be developed regarding the
construction of rural housing. Designing, constructing, and
fabricating affordable houses in rural areas with locally
available material and labor.
 Health Care and Well-being – The rural individuals are
usually not aware and literate. In rural communities, there has
been the establishment of health care and medical centers.
There has been the implementation of technologies and
modern and innovative techniques and methods in these
centers.
The Government of India (GOI) is confronting these challenges.
 IN 2016 India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi introduced a new
national policy to double farmers’ incomes by 2022. It targeted
poverty reduction, food security, and climate change, which is
hurting agriculture with rising temperatures, increasingly frequent
floods and droughts, and a greater incidence of pests and diseases.
 The Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare launched a
national scheme called Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana
(PMKSY) to irrigate every Indian farm and improve water-use
efficiency.
 In April 2016, Modi launched eNAM (National Agriculture
Market), an online platform for farmers that integrates agricultural
markets online, allowing farmers and traders alike to view all
Agriculture Produce Market Committee-related information and
services, commodity arrivals and prices, and buy and sell trade
offers, thus helping farmers bid for the best prices across markets.
 To facilitate communications, Digital India is implementing plans
to connect 2.5 million Gram Panchayats (local governments) with
high-speed internet by 2018, with hundreds of thousands already
internet-enabled. Through its Digital India program, GOI is
working to transform the country's rural economy and create
skilled jobs in rural areas. For the estimated 156 million Indian
rural households, most living in poverty according to
India’s National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO), there is a
need for investment in transportation, power, and internet access to
create more employment for women and youth in rural areas.
 GOI has also mandated that all mobiles phones must support at
least one of 22 Indian languages, other than English and Hindi,
beginning July 2017. With only 27% of villages having banking
services within 5 kilometers, the government is licensing new
banks and using mobile phone payment technology to an
 increasing extent. Mobile coverage is high—over 1 billion of
India’s population of 1.4 billion are connected.
 Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme,
(MGNREGS), the largest in the world, guarantees up to 100 days
of rural employment for those in need of employment at Rs100
(US$1.5)/day. Using DBTs to pay beneficiaries

Highlights of the Union Budget 2022 that concern rural India

Agriculture

The Union Finance Minister, in her speech, also talked about

introducing the large-scale use of technology in agriculture. “Use of
drones will be promoted for crop assessment, digitization of land
records, spraying of insecticides, and nutrients.

Ensuring quality education in rural areas

The Union Finance Minister acknowledged that due to the COVID19

pandemic-induced closure of schools, children, particularly in the rural
areas, and those from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, and other
weaker sections, have lost almost two years of formal education. For this
purpose, the ‘one class-one TV channel’ program of PM eVIDYA will
be expanded from 12 to 200 television channels. 

Banking services at post-offices

In her speech, Sitharaman announced that the post offices in the country
will now be brought under the coverage of core banking. This should
help rural citizens who prefer using the services of the post office. 

“In 2022, 100 percent of 1.5 lakh post offices will come on the core
banking system enabling financial inclusion and access to accounts
through 11 net banking, mobile banking, ATMs, and also provide online
transfer of funds between post office accounts and bank accounts. This
will promote financial inclusion and will be a big boost for farmers.
Budget 2022 focuses on financial inclusion

All villages to have optical fibers by 2025

the government seeks to lay optical fibers in every village across the
country by 2025.