Rural development crucial for nation's growth: VC

Tirupati: The development at rural level is most important in building a strong nation, said Prof. W Rajendra, Vice-Chancellor of Sri Venkateswara University. He attended as chief guest at a two-day National Seminar on 'NGOs and Rural Development' organised by department of Sociology of SVU, which began on Thursday at the Senate Hall. Addressing the seminar, Prof. Rajendra said that even after 60 years of independence, many villages remain undevelopment and the backwardness still remains as a major drawback in many aspects. Due to the underdevelopment of villages and the welfare schemes not reaching the rural areas, thousands of villagers were migrating to urban areas in search of employment, he said. Many Non-Governmental Organisations are limited to mere awareness and occasional programmes, but at many times the follow-up has become a big lapse and there should be frequent result-oriented programmes in rural areas, he said. Due to the negligence of the villages, there is significant impact on the biodiversity. Apart from awareness, there should be continuous practice of development and service activities at rural level and a periodical review on the progress and shortcomings, Rajendra suggested. The role of NGOs is vital in village development, improvement of livelihood of rural folk and prevention of migration to urban areas and special stress to be on these issues to achieve satisfactory results, he observed. Prof. K. Satyavelu Reddy, Registrar, Prof. D. Kirankranth Choudary, principal of SVU Arts College and Prof. MP Narsimha Raju, seminar director and students and research scholars attended the seminar.