Village size and Development in India

Abhishek Singh, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)
Tarun K. Roy, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)
Sandip Chakraborty, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)

India is predominantly a rural and agrarian society. According to recent census data, around 80 percent of the India’s population stays in villages. Furthermore, village size varies considerably in the country. Although many studies have focused on the villages, hardly any study in the past has tried to study the interactions between village size and the demographic behavior. Again, studies focusing exclusively on village size are virtually non existent. Population living in larger size villages is expected to behave differently than those living in small size villages, as large size villages are expected to have more facilities. The analysis reveals that large size villages in general have all weather roads, higher literacy levels, higher availability of sanitation facilities and safe drinking water. The persons living in large size villages are found to have higher exposure to mass media, higher standard of living, and higher utilization of various services.