Introduction
The present study attempts to delineate the nature and impact of technological change in the rural areas with the objective of making possible policy options for rural develop-ment planning. The problems of technological change and development are interrelated and complex. But the case here is in what all respects the technological change can explain development in the present times so that the problems of development in the rural areas can be better understood. This is important when programmes for rural development are envisaged with technology as the major factor of development. The term 'technology' is used widely to mean the "operative knowledge of means of production of goods and services by the society". Specifically it means the "syste-matic use of industrial processes, tools and techniques" for the production of goods and services by the society. Technologi-cal change, therefore, implies a change in the tools, techniques and the industrial processes used by the society for production. The goods produced may be either producer goods or consu-mer goods. The producer goods are those used in the production of other goods. They can be agricultural implements, machinery, fertilizers or pesticides, as well as raw materials used in industry, and crafts and equipments used for fishing, etc. Consumer goods are those which have only use value and no production value such as household appliances and equipments, food stuff, etc. Technological change, therefore, involves the changes in producer and consumer goods as well as services used by the society. These goods and services may be internally generated by the society (in this case, the rural society) on its own innova-tion or, externally introduced according to the socio-economic requirements. In the former case, it becomes an endogenous factor in the socio-economic development of the society. The technology internally generated incorporates the skill, resources and the productive ability of the society. In the latter case the goods and services may be externally introduced to cater to the socio-economic requirements of the society. Then it is an exogenous factor, which does not incorporate the skill, productive ability and the resources of the particular society. But, its adoption and use become integrated into the socio-economic requirements of the society in the long run. Then it becomes an endogenous factor. This amounts to the fact that technologies have been in use which have been internally generated or externally introduced by the society according to its own socio-economic requirements. In either case, techno-logy is not neutral to the socio-economic change it brings in its use or application. The socio-economic changes brought in the process of its use is referred here as 'development'. The rural development programmes in the country show a definite pattern of technological change which is externally "induced". This is evident from the transfer of goods and services made to the rural areas through the development programmes during the Five Year Plans. The main objective of the programmes of development was transformation of traditional production by increasing the productivity in the agriculture sector. Although such development has increased the production and consumption levels of the few who had the resource endowments to invest for more returns to the agricultural "inputs", it has not been conducive to the deve-lopment of other sectors of production and services, which depend on agriculture. The traditional industries and services sectors lost the demand for their products and services, because their demand mainly came from the agricul-tural producers. Not only the demand for traditional goods and services has become less, but also the traditional skills of the village artisans and their occupation have their value reduced. Moreover, the product-inflow from the urban industries and their organized marketing techniques changed the consumption pattern of the few who could enhance their income level from the increase in their earnings. These structu-ral changes have important bearings on the socio-economic development of the rural people. The rural industrialization programmes attempted to ameliorate the unemployment situa-tion of the rural artisans and those in the service sector have only created problems like want of resources for investment in new tools and equipments. In effect, the rural industrialization programmes aimed at the revival of the rural economy have only helped in building up of another level of production and consumption pattern among the rural people. The artisans did not endeavour to revive their own traditional industries as they could not compete with the products-inflow from the organized manufacturing industries in the urban areas.
About the Author
Dr. V. Gopalakrishnan Asari received his M.Sc. and M. A. from the University of Kerala and Ph. D. from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He was earlier been on the Research Studies in Science Policy" at the Jawali New Delhi. He was working as Joint Direc Tropical Studies in Trivandrum.
About the Book
The work provides an alternative to the study of factors interacting with Science, Technology and Society within a Science Policy perspective. It analyses the horizontal transfer of technology in the rural areas to delineate the phenomenon of technological change in the Indian rural developmental context. It elucidates the 'induced technological change' in terms of the tools, techniques and products diffused in the various sectors of production and consumption, such as agriculture, fisheries, industry, trade and commerce, household and electrification, over a period of time from, 1951 to 1977, based on extensive field research from household level to the highest organisational level in the state. Its impact has been studied from the magnitude of its interaction with some relevant socio-economic and organisational factors in different sectors. On the basis of the empirical evidences the 'induced model of rural development' initiated by a technological change, mainly in the agriculture sector has been held as inadequate for rural development planning in the country to posit a model of integrated sectoral development and technology policy thereof. A study of this kind is rarely attempted within the frame-work of interaction of science, technology and society. Authenticity and depth being its hallmark it should prove valuable to a wide spectrum of scholars in the field of Science Policy, Sociology, Economics and Rural Development as well as to those who are in the arena of planning and policy making on rural development.
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