IIHMR NEWS VIEWS

The following article is in response to the article titled Rural India tops consumption charts published in Business Standard on 03/04/14

The fact that consumption pattern in rural India is rising and growing at a faster pace than the urban is symptomatic of the nature of rapid rural transformation that is on way. More than ever before, there is a need to understand it and acknowledge the shifts to increased share of non farm production and a shift in the consumption patterns of India rural. This is more apt and pragmatic rather than raise red herrings of idyllic, rustic and pristine village that for all practical purposes is fast vanishing from the India except in interior pockets in some regions. Having said this it is important to remember this growth story highlights stark paradoxes between the wealth of few and the abject poverty of large swathe of population. The emergent contexts of rural reality beckon us to strive for a pragmatic balance between rapid expansion of market (with all it necessary and un- necessary products) and access to basic entitlements of a good quality life and well being of the vast majority and the health of the complex of fragile eco systems that constitute India. The key to this lies in managing our tectonic rural transformation well. The challenges associated with this lie at the kernel of the MBA in Rural Management at IIHMR University. The course equips young rural managers with requisite knowledge and empathy to manage rural modernization in a equitable way. (For more information on IIHMR, please visit IIHMR Jaipur Website)