Rural and Urban Issues in Planning

Rural and urban areas present distinct but interconnected challenges that require strategic planning to ensure sustainable development, economic growth, and social equity. These issues vary based on geographical, socio-economic, and infrastructural conditions.

Rural Planning Issues

1. Infrastructure Deficiencies: Limited access to roads, public transportation, electricity, water supply, and sanitation facilities.
2. Agricultural Sustainability: Decreasing soil fertility, climate change impacts, water scarcity, and market access for farm produce.
3. Migration and Depopulation: Young populations migrating to urban centers for education and employment, leading to an aging rural population.
4. Limited Healthcare and Education Facilities: Inadequate medical and educational institutions result in lower quality of life.
5. Economic Stagnation: Lack of industries, poor connectivity, and insufficient government support for rural enterprises.
6. Land Use Conflicts: Unregulated expansion of agriculture and deforestation affecting biodiversity and ecosystem balance.

Urban Planning Issues

1. Traffic Congestion and Transportation Deficiencies: Poor public transit, inadequate pedestrian infrastructure, and excessive reliance on private vehicles.
2. Housing Shortages and Informal Settlements: Increasing urban population leading to slums and informal housing developments.
3. Environmental Pollution: Air, water, and noise pollution due to industrial activities and vehicular emissions.
4. Urban Sprawl: Unplanned expansion of urban areas leading to inefficient land use and loss of green spaces.
5. Social Inequality and Gentrification: Rising real estate prices pushing low-income residents to urban peripheries.
6. Waste Management Issues: Inefficient disposal and recycling systems causing environmental hazards.

Community-Based and Workshop-Based Methods in Planning

Community engagement is crucial in addressing both rural and urban planning challenges. Participatory planning ensures that the needs and aspirations of local populations are considered.

Community-Based Methods

These methods involve local residents in the planning and decision-making processes to ensure grassroots solutions that align with their needs. Some key community-based approaches include:

1. Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA):
   • Engages rural communities in assessing their needs and resources.
   • Uses tools like mapping, ranking exercises, and problem analysis.
2. Community Visioning:
   • Involves brainstorming sessions where community members collectively shape the development vision.
   • Helps in long-term goal setting and planning.
3. Focus Group Discussions (FGDs):
   • Facilitates dialogues among specific groups (e.g., farmers, women, youth) to gather insights and opinions.
4. Stakeholder Consultations:
   • Engages local leaders, businesses, and civil society organizations for integrated planning.
5. Citizen Observatories:
   • Uses technology (e.g., mobile apps, GIS mapping) to collect real-time community data for planning purposes.
6. Co-Design Workshops:
   • Involves local people in designing solutions, particularly in urban redevelopment or infrastructure projects.

Workshop-Based Methods

Workshops provide a structured setting for collaborative problem-solving among stakeholders, planners, and policymakers.

1. Scenario Planning Workshops:
   • Participants develop and compare alternative future development scenarios.
   • Useful in climate resilience and urban expansion planning.
2. Design Charrettes:
   • Short-term intensive workshops where multidisciplinary teams work with communities to create urban or rural designs.
3. Deliberative Forums:
   • Structured discussions where diverse stakeholders debate issues and develop consensus-driven solutions.
4. Capacity-Building Workshops:
   • Training sessions that equip communities with knowledge on sustainable practices, governance, and resource management.
5. Policy Co-Creation Workshops:
   • Involves policymakers and citizens in drafting policy frameworks that reflect ground realities.
6. Hackathons and Innovation Labs:
   • Uses technology and collaborative problem-solving to develop data-driven solutions for urban and rural challenges.

Addressing Rural and Urban Planning Issues Using These Methods

The effectiveness of community-based and workshop-based methods in planning depends on their application to specific problems. Some examples include:

• Improving Rural Infrastructure: Participatory mapping and stakeholder consultations help prioritize infrastructure projects like roads and irrigation.
• Managing Urban Growth: Scenario planning workshops guide zoning policies and land-use regulations.
• Enhancing Public Transport: Co-design workshops with urban residents can refine public transport routes and services.
• Mitigating Environmental Challenges: Citizen observatories help in real-time monitoring of pollution and waste management.
• Empowering Local Economies: Capacity-building workshops support small businesses, cooperatives, and sustainable agriculture.

By integrating these participatory approaches, planners can create more inclusive and sustainable rural and urban environments, ensuring that development initiatives align with the needs of the people they serve.

The Government has initiated and is implementing the following schemes aimed to provide farmers with latest skilling requirements.

The Government is implementing Skill Training of Rural Youth (STRY) with the objective to impart short term skill training (7 days duration) to rural youths and farmers in agriculture and allied sectors for upgradation of their knowledge and skills and promote wage/self employment in rural areas. The component aims at providing short duration skill based training programs to rural youth and farmers on agri-based vocational areas for creating a pool of skilled manpower. Recently, the STRY programme has been subsumed under ATMA cafeteria.  

The Government is implementing skill development programmes through Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) under Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) in different States of the Country to serve as single window agricultural knowledge, resource and capacity development centres with mandate of technology assessment and demonstration for its use and capacity building. As part of its activities, the KVKs are imparting training to the farmers, farm women and rural youths on different aspects of agriculture and allied sectors (Crop Production, Horticulture, Soil Health and Fertility Management, Livestock Production and Management, Home Science/Women empowerment, Agril. Engineering, Plant Protection, Fisheries, Production of Input at site, Agro forestry etc.) for their capacity building.

A Centrally Sponsored Scheme on ‘Support to State Extension Programmes for Extension Reforms’ popularly known as Agriculture Technology Management Agency (ATMA) is implemented across the country by the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare. The scheme promotes decentralized farmer-friendly Extension system in the country with an objective to support State Government’s efforts to revitalize the extension system and making available the latest agricultural technologies and good agricultural practices in different thematic areas of agriculture and allied areas to farmers, farm women and youth, through various interventions like Farmers Training, Demonstrations, Exposure Visits, Kisan Melas etc.  Presently, the scheme is being implemented in 739 districts of 28 States & 5 UTs in the country.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare is implementing ‘Sub Mission on Agricultural Mechanization’ (SMAM). For implementation of this scheme Four Farm Machinery Training & Testing Institutes (FMTTIs) located at Budni (Madhya Pradesh), Hissar (Haryana), Geraldine (Andhra Pradesh) and Biswanath Chariali (Assam) are engaged in the country for imparting skill development training courses to different categories of beneficiaries like farmers, technicians, under graduate engineers, entrepreneurs on selection, operation, repair and maintenance, energy conservation and management of agricultural equipments.

Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), an umbrella scheme of Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, is implemented for ensuring holistic development of agriculture and allied sectors. There is provision for allowing the states to choose their own agriculture and allied sector development activities including training programmes as per the district/state agriculture plan.

The Government has launched National Skill Development Mission under the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) in July 2015, under which the DA&FW has been operationalizing skill training courses of minimum 200 hours duration for rural youth and farmers as per the approved Qualification Packs developed by Agriculture Skill Council of India (ASCI) in the areas of agriculture and allied sectors. Recently, this programme has been subsumed under ATMA cafeteria. 

The details of the number of farmers benefited/trained under the skill development schemes implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare during the last three years, year-wise is given as under:

S.No.	Schemes	Number of Farmers Trained			Total
		2021-22	2022-23	2023-24
1.	STRY	10456	11634	20940	43030
2.	KVK	1691744	1953220	2156363	5801327
3.	ATMA	1359069	1428446	1207207	3994722
4.	SMAM	13261	15440	14971	43672
5.	RKVY	—	3799	2951	6750
6.	MSDE	3470	3715	718	7903
	Total	3078000	3416254	3403150	9897404

The funds allotted/utilized under respective schemes in the districts of Tiruchirappalli and Pudukottai are given as under:

District : Tiruchirappalli.

(Rs. in Lakhs)

S.No	Schemes	2021-22		2022-23		2023-24
		Funds alloted	Funds utilized	Funds alloted	Funds utilized	Funds alloted	Funds utilized
1.	STRY	0.42	0.42	0.42	0.42	1.26	1.26
2.	ATMA	51.5	51.5	24.9	24.9	21	21
3.	TNSDC STRY	0.88704	0.88704	0.68544	0.68544	—	—
	Total	52.80704	52.80704	26.00544	26.00544	22.26	22.26

Source: State Department of Agriculture, Government of Tamil Nadu

District : Pudukottai

(Rs. in Lakhs)

S.No	Schemes	2021-22		2022-23		2023-24
		Funds alloted	Funds utilized	Funds alloted	Funds utilized	Funds alloted	Funds utilized
1.	STRY	0.84	0.84	0.42	0.42	1.26	1.26
2.	ATMA	56.40	56.40	39.50	39.50	19.60	19.60
3.	TNSDC STRY	1.69	1.65	0.60	0.58	—	—
	Total	58.93	58.89	40.52	40.50	20.86	20.86

Source: State Department of Agriculture, Government of Tamil Nadu.