Rural Development Policies and Programmes: A Sociological Perspective

Dr Shiv Mehta has provided a macro-level study of rural development programmes and policies in the Indian context using a sociological perspective. The author's basic contention is that development has to be considered as something more than just growth -- it is both an economic and socio-cultural change process because development programmes affect the conditions in which people live. No programme or policy of development can succeed, argues Dr Mehta, without transformations in the value systems and the social structural and organizational aspects of the communities concerned.