Page:SELECTED ESSAYS of Dr. S. S. KALBAG.pdf/195

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RURAL AREAS: GOLDMINE OF OPPORTUNITIES FOR CREATIVE SCIENTISTS Development means change for progress; this is what we mean when we say research and development or urban development or National Development. But when we say rural development, there is a connotation about low-level technology, voluntary agencies and 'sacrifice'. The term rural development connotes many things but not science or modern technology. Setting up a factory in a rural area is generally not considered rural development, nor for that matter, setting up a farm or a plantation or construction of a dam. But these are major rural development activities. With this background, I will attempt to remove this misconception about rural development and try to show that rural development in the true sense has been a largely unexplored field for our scientists, technologists, and entrepreneurs. The present kind of rural development is low in technology, because most of the agencies and individuals involved are not trained in science and technology. Yet this, in no way indicates the relevance or otherwise of the sciences in the rural context. Working for Rural Development is also in someway associated with < Rural Development Through Education System 182