eBook Chapters

Rural Development : Concept and Meaning

Mahatma Gandhi said, “India lives in its villages. If the village perishes, India will perish too”. This saying about the social, economic and political development of rural areas justifies that India is predominantly an agrarian country with more than 70 percent of its population living in more than five lakh villages. Agriculture is the predominant livelihood occupation and the rural population largely consists of small and marginal farmers, agricultural labourers, artisans and scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. A large part of this rural population is still living below the poverty line and is the focus of rural development programmes. Rural Development is not a new concept for India rather it is a very basic principle of our culture. The famous epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata teach us the dignity of humanity and benevolence and justice to people. In ancient days, our villages were self-sufficient and requiring very little assistance from outsiders. However, during British rule, the rural economy was destroyed and the rural mass was made dependent on goods and services provided by outsiders. There was no rural development policy as such to make the people self-reliant. Some of the rural development activities were taken up by the British Government in India during the Great Bengal Famine. These attempts were of very limited scale without having legal sanctions behind the move.

Introduction 
Chapter 14 explores the intricate relationship between rural development and agricultural economics, emphasizing their roles in promoting sustainability and food security. This chapter examines various aspects of agricultural policy, agribusiness, farm management, rural entrepreneurship, and sociology, linking these elements to broader economic and environmental concerns. The chapter starts with an analysis of agricultural policy and development, discussing how policy frameworks shape agricultural practices and rural growth. It highlights the importance of effective policies in fostering agricultural innovation, improving productivity, and supporting rural development. Agribusiness and marketing are crucial components of agricultural economics. This section delves into agribusiness strategies and agricultural marketing practices that influence market access, value addition, and overall economic viability for farmers and agribusinesses. Farm management and financial analysis are essential for optimizing agricultural operations and ensuring financial sustainability. The chapter explores principles of farm management, including planning, decision-making, and risk management, along with techniques for financial analysis to evaluate the profitability and efficiency of farming enterprises. Rural entrepreneurship is highlighted as a key driver of economic development in rural areas. This section examines how entrepreneurial activities contribute to rural growth, job creation, and economic diversification, fostering resilience and innovation in rural communities. Rural sociology provides insights into the social dimensions of rural development. The chapter covers the importance of rural sociology in understanding social structures, behaviors, and dynamics within rural communities. It also discusses new concepts in rural sociology that address contemporary challenges and opportunities. The importance of rural development and agricultural economics in food security is emphasized. The chapter explains how these fields contribute to enhancing food security by improving agricultural practices, supporting rural livelihoods, and addressing food supply challenges.

Pre-Independence Rural Development Programmes

Rural development traces back its history to the seventeenth century when voluntary efforts to serve the mankind were initiated by a religious society of people known as ‘Friends’ or ‘Quakers’ in England, then the other parts of World including India. It aimed at providing services to mankind transcending bonds of religion, territory and culture. During the British period, the British government was never serious about the rural development. But, they acted under compelling situation like famines and economic distress. During 1800 to 1825, it was reported that there were five famines; during 1825 to 1850, two famines; during 1850 to 1875, six famines; and during 1875 to 1900, there were eighteen famines in different parts of the country. Famines forced the British government in to action. The Famine Commission of 1880, 1898, 1901, the Irrigation Committee of 1903, the Commission on Co-operation of 1915 and the Royal Commission on Indian Agriculture were the efforts of the Government to improve the economic condition of the common man, but seldom were the reports of the commissions implemented in right spirit. However, during these periods, the most active role in the field of rural development was played by the Christian missionaries who aimed at the all-round development of their Christian converts. In the year 1987, British Government heeding to the representation made by Manchester Cotton Supply Association established the Department of Revenue, Agriculture and Commerce. But, this department did not do much related to agriculture development except the collection of agricultural statistics.

Introduction

Rural development programmes are designed as an integral part for socio economic development, especially of developing country like India. These rural development programmes connotes greater social transformation which has recognized as a sine qua non. Since from independence, rural development programmes mainly focusing on poverty reduction (Dev, 1995). The number of public and private organizations focus on rural development as a way to poverty1 reduction has grown up with the comprehension that most impoverished people lives in rural and tribal areas.

Rural Development Concept

Rural development falls under the wider concept of “Development,” a goal universally valued by individuals, families, communities, and countries around the globe, regardless of its definition.

Rural development encompasses a wide scope, primarily targeting actions to enhance underdeveloped aspects of village economies. Key areas in rural India that require new development initiatives include- enhancing human resources, focusing on literacy (especially among women), education, skill enhancement, health, sanitation, public health improvements, and land reform, alongside the advancement of each locality’s productive assets.

Introduction 
The transformative potential of digital technologies in reshaping governance and development paradigms is increasingly evident, particularly in rural contexts. In India, where nearly 65% of the population resides in rural areas, the imperative to leverage digital tools for inclusive growth has never been more critical. Rural digital governance refers to the strategic use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to enhance service delivery, improve livelihoods, and foster participatory development in rural areas. It encompasses various applications from digital health, education, and financial inclusion to precision agriculture, market linkages, and entrepreneurial enablement, each designed to address long-standing structural inequities. Historically, rural regions have been perceived as passive recipients of policy support and welfare interventions. However, with the advent of digital technologies, these areas are increasingly positioned to become both demand drivers through rising incomes and service consumption and supply hubs, contributing to national productivity through digitally enabled livelihoods and enterprises. By enhancing access to essential services, improving the efficiency of traditional sectors such as agriculture and handicrafts, and facilitating diversification into non-farm activities like rural tourism and agri-processing, digital governance catalyzes rural transformation. However, the success of rural digital governance is contingent upon adopting a holistic and contextualized approach. One-size-fits-all digital interventions often fail to address the nuanced realities of rural economies. Effective rural technology deployment requires carefully diagnosing local needs, infrastructural capabilities, and livelihood profiles. In this regard, a participatory approach to technology selection and design grounded in the realities of rural life ensures greater relevance, uptake, and impact. Publicprivate partnerships (PPPs) play a pivotal role in scaling such initiatives, with governments providing scale and legitimacy while private actors contribute innovation, technical know-how, and financial investment.

There are many distribution networks which an organization may use depending upon the nature and usage of the product. Generally, there are two types of distribution networks which are being widely used the first is direct selling to the customer and the second is to have intermediaries in between which ensures that the product is available to the final consumer. In this indirect method the company is not in direct touch with the customer and this gap is filled by the middleman. The middleman not only provides the product to the customer but he also provides continuous feedback to the organization about the product and market demands. 

Introduction

The present world is still dominated by the villages. In sprite of the craze towards city life majority of the people in this globe prefer to stay in their village’s n the midst of nature. Hence the world population is predominantly rural. More than 2/3 the world’s population still lives in villages. India is basically a land of villages. In spite of the increase trend towards urbanisation Indian societies become meaningful and fruitful only if the villages and there problems are studies carefully. Villages existed in India even during the Vedic period and also prior to that. Some even described these villages as self contained little republics.

Tripura is a state in North-East India which borders Bangladesh, Mizoram and Assam. It is surrounded by Bangladesh on its north, south and west: the length of its international border is 856 km. It shares a 53 km long border with Assam and a 109 km long border with Mizoram. The state is connected with the rest of India by only one road (NH-44) that runs through the hills to the border of Karimganj District in Assam and then winds through the states of Meghalaya, Assam and North Bengal to Calcutta. At the time of Tripura’s merger with effect from October 15 1949 with the Indian Union, the major mode of farming was shifting cultivation or ‘jhum’, which produced little surplus. A small proportion of the plain lands of the State were under settled agriculture undertaken by Bengalis, and the main crop was rice. Most of the plain lands of the State were not under cultivation and were covered with cane-brakes and marshes. Thus at the time of formation of the State, the economy was predominantly agricultural and forest-based, with no industrial base, a low level of urbanization and limited infrastructure.

Introduction

Very few countries have experienced rapid economic growth without agricultural growth either preceding or accompanying it. Agricultural growth is a catalyst for broad based economic development in most of the low-income countries. Over the last few decades, the share of agriculture in GDP has steadily declined in India from over 19.7 per cent in the 1970-7 to 5.7 per cent in 2009-10. In contrast, the share of industry and services has increased to 26.4 and 55.1 per cent respectively due to greater focus on these sectors. But, agriculture still remains the backbone of Indian economy as nearly as 58 per cent of the rural population depends upon agriculture and allied activities for livelihood. The National Agricultural Development Policy (NADP) of India envisages a growth rate of 4 per cent per annum in the agriculture sector so as to achieve a target of over 300 million tonnes of food grain production by the year 2020. (Survey of Indian Agriculture, 2007).

Background

Context

The information and knowledge system in virtually all sectors and access during the Soviet period was strictly state controlled and was essentially designed to meet the requirements of centralized planning. Very little information sourcing, message development, media packaging took place at the local level. Requirements for meeting agricultural production quotas were channeled to Moscow where information packages and norms, based on a central assessment of local needs were developed and transmitted from the center directly to the state and collective farms. The information was disseminated primarily via dense print publications, radio, TV, public campaigns, exhibitions and fairs, and to some extent through a computer network to areas with functioning telecommunication systems. The types of information and knowledge which the state and collective farms, private farmers, kitchen gardeners, agro-processing industries, input suppliers, marketing institutions and others engaged in agriculture could obtain were restricted and opportunities for exchange with the rest of the world were extremely limited and tightly controlled. There were very few avenues for cross checking the information received. In-house, well trained technical specialists addressed a variety of crop and livestock related problems and served as the main providers of knowledge. This was supplemented by research and field applications through a very large network of a variety of agricultural research institutes and experiment stations. Most of the research results were introduced through directives. Linkages between education, research, extension and end-users were weak and in some areas non-existent. However, the importance placed on education and training of all Soviet citizens resulted in a highly literate population to serve the needs of a socialistic economy. The centralized information and knowledge system was primarily aimed at meeting production targets in the plan with little or no importance placed on economic or environmental sustainability of farming systems and development of agro-industries.

Introduction

‘Infrastructure’ connotes physical assets. The meaning may differ based on the sector under which the term is in use. More often, it has been used to describe the public as-sets that facilitate production. Historically, Lewis (1955) included public utilities, ports, water supply and electricity as infrastructure, whereas Hirschman (1958) outlined four conditions that characterise infrastructure or social overhead capital: the services provided to facilitate or are basic to economic activity; the services are usually public goods because of economic externalities; these services cannot be imported; these investments tend to be indivisible or ‘lumpy’. 

Introduction

Leadership as such has a broad connotation per se. It is an interesting social phenomenon. It could be stated that leadership is a part of the power structure and any form of group life can be traced back to some form of leadership. Stogdill (1950) said that the word “leader” originated back in the 1300s and the word “leadership” in the 1800s (Muhammad and Sameen, 2019). Different authors have given different definitions and outlooks at different times. “There are almost as many different definitions of leadership as there are persons who have attempted to define the concept” (Bass, 1990).

Leader

Leader is aperson who influencing people so that they will strive willingly towards the achievement of group goals.

A leader is one who inspires, motivates and leads people to accomplish organizational goals.

Leaders’ styles encompass how they relate to others within and outside the organization, how they view themselves and their position, and to a large extent whether or not they are successful as leaders.

In the recent years, rural markets have acquired significance in developing countries like India and China, as well as the overall growth of the economy has resulted into substantial increase in the purchasing power of the rural communities. On account of technological change during 1966-67, rural areas are consuming a large quantity of industrial and urban manufactured products. In this context, a special marketing strategy i.e. rural marketing has taken place. Sometimes, rural marketing is mystified with agricultural marketing the later denotes marketing of agricultural commodities of the rural areas to the urban consumers or industrial consumers, whereas rural marketing involves delivering manufactured or processed inputs or services to rural producers or consumers or rural marketing determines the carrying out of business activities bringing in the flow of goods from urban sectors to the rural regions of the country as well as the marketing of various products manufactured by the non-agricultural workers from rural to urban areas. Also, when we consider the situation of developing countries, there is a picture that comes out, huge market for the development products as well as the labour support.

India is known for its heritage and diaspora has 6,40,867 villages with a population of aprox 120 crore people which is about 66.46 % of the population. The villages in India have always remained neglected and never tried to market their products to urban consumers. But the rise in incomes of the Indian urban consumers and the increased awareness due to technological advancement it leads to the growth of the Indian consumer market which became attractive for the Indian as well as foreign companies. The efforts by Indian Government for rural products contributed to the development of rural products and their marketing. 

The market research process is equally critical to rural marketing as to urban marketing because of two main reasons:

• The marketer has a limited understanding of the rural/urban consumer
• The marketer who is urban-oriented may need to find different ways to understand the decision variables in the urban market.

A marketing strategy of a business is the game plan of an organization for approaching its target market effectively. Marketing strategy is also used to target the prospective customer and converting them into loyal consumers for the brand and services being offered by the companies.

A marketing strategy is the building block of a marketing plan and consists of the value which the company wants to offer, its key message which the company wants to convey to the target market and other elements which are key in the area of marketing.

Agriculture marketing and Rural marketing are two words used interchangeably by the people at large with the study of agriculture and management discipline. India is known to the world for its agricultural growth through the green revolution. India is an agriculture-based and oriented economy with approximately six and a half lakh villages predominantly involved in agricultural and agri-based activities. Rural India is termed as the backbone of the Indian economy and it contributes significantly to the economy and to its GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in terms of providing food grains (Cereals and Pulses), vegetables, and fruits which are essential ingredients for human life.

Introduction

Poultry rearing in North East is very popular as backyard venture and is an inseparable part of poor tribal people of this region.  Majority of birds reared in backyard yard system are indigenous nondescript in which growth and production is very low (60-70 eggs per bird per annum; 2.5 kg. and 1.5 kg. body weight per bird in males and females, respectively). Due to this reason, the per capita availability of egg and meat is too low as compared to recommended allowance, particularly in rural areas. Moreover, the agriculture of N.E. region is characterized by monocropping system. The system of cropping is not suitable for providing round the year farm income. Therefore, most of farmers of this region rearing pig, goat and poultry in the back yard of their house to support their livelihood throughout the year. The N.E. region is most suitable for rural poultry production having plenty of natural foods i.e. good greenery through out the year, insects and other food resources.  Rural poultry production also has an appreciable advantage of being easy to raise, low input and higher reproduction. Rural poultry farming utilizing surplus coarse grains, kitchen waste and greenery and converting them into protein rich human food and valuable manure.  The manure obtained from poultry having more essential nutrients Nitrogen (three times the cattle manure), Phosphorus, Potash, Magnesium, Sodium and Calcium plus trace minerals, which are very essential for soil fertility and texture.

Theory
    ·    Father of sociology: Auguste Comte 
    ·    The term sociology was coined by Auguste Comte (1789-1875).
    ·    Sociology word comes from two roots i.e.     
        Latin word ‘socius’ meaning companion         
        Greek word ‘logos’ meaning speech or reasoning.
    ·    Sociology: Sociology is the scientific study of human social behavior and its origins, development, organizations, and institutions. It is a social science that uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social actions, social structure and functions.

Rural Sociology

Significant proportion of Indian population lives in village and derives their livelihood from villages. India is a land of agriculture and its customs, traditions, social structure, etc. are unique in the world. Understanding of rural society is must for successful implementation of developmental programmes. The understanding of rural people requires study of rural sociology. Rural sociology, as indicated by its name, studies rural society, rural social structures and institutions. The rural society is primarily depending on agriculture and hence rural sociology also concerns itself on the peasant society. There is a stark difference between the social structure, processes, social dynamics and social control in rural society and urban society. Thus, rural sociology has been specially designed to study the rural phenomena and it is a systematic study of the varied aspects of the rural society. It is the study of the rural social networks and how they operate for the smooth functioning of the society. The rural society is generally rooted in the villages, and rural sociology studies the facets of the villages, the way it functions, the various problems it faces and the how it tackles to face the imminent challenges. Rural sociology offers viable solutions and ways of mitigating the problems that hound over the villages.

9.1. Rural Sociology

Science of rural society.

Study of sociological life in rural setting to discover their conditions and tendencies and to formulate principles of progress.

A.R. Desai: Rural Sociology involves the study of human relationships in rural situations.

Father of sociology: Auguste Comte

The term sociology was coined by Auguste Comte (1789-1875).

Sociology word comes from two roots i.e. Latin word ‘socius’ meaning companion Greek word ‘logos’ meaning speech or reasoning.

Sociology: Sociology is the scientific study of human social behavior and its origins, development, organizations, and institutions. It is a social science that uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social actions, social structure and functions.

Rural sociology: The study of social life of peoples lives in rural areas.

Social organization: The study of the various institutions, social groups, social stratification, social mobility, bureaucracy, ethnic groups and relations, and other similar subjects such as education, politics, religion, economy etc.

Social psychology: The study of human nature as an outcome of group life, social attitudes, collective behavior, and personality formation.

Social change: Alteration in the structure and function of society. It may be structural, functional and cultural changes and it deals with the study of such current problems in society such as juvenile delinquency, criminality, drug addiction, family conflicts, divorce, population problems etc.

Women have contributed significantly and selflessly since ancient times to uplifting and bettering any nation. A literate woman builds a country; truth cannot be closer than that. Women have always carried the burden of being a wife, mothers, sisters and daughters, all on their own magnificently. They are leaders, decision-makers, entrepreneurs and service providers in different fields. The valuable contributions of women are significant to the well-being of families and communities and the economic growth of any society. Rural women have tremendous potential for developing culture, and their leadership, participation, and education will help eradicate poverty and hunger.

Since time immemorial, women have played and continued to play a key role in conservation of basic life support system, such as, land, water, flora and fauna. Women power at present constitutes nearly half of the global population and account one third of the total work force. They contribute more than half of duties and responsibilities but are not given proper rights. In India till now rural women continue to struggle with dual responsibilities of economic production and domestic labour, and most are confronted by poverty, illiteracy, high health risks, inadequate access to productive resources, and lack of credit/market access. The empowerment and autonomy of women and the improvement of women’s social, political, legal and economic status is essential for sustainable rural development

The decadal Census, 2011 puts India’s population at 121.08 crores (cr.), split into 83.37 cr. of rural and 37.71 cr. of urban inhabitants. Of the total population, the working population was 48.18 Cr. comprising primary workers at 36.25 cr.

Regarding gender analysis, the male and female populations counted 62.32 and 58.75 crores, respectively. The female population was rural-dominated,with 42.77 crores living in villages and 10.51 crores in urban centres.The Census also showed that the women accounted for a substantive size of the working population, 14.99 crores (12.19 rural+2.80 urban). The primary workers of this female working population were as high as 8.93 crores, with 6.77 crores living in rural India and 2.15 crores in urban centres. The details may be seen in Table 1.

ABSTRACT

Women nearly constitute half of the population of the mountainous region of northwestern Himalayas. Rural hill women with their multiple roles and functions in the society, form an integral part of sustainable development of hills. Irrespective of age and health, they have to perform domestic household and agriculture work. Collection of fodder, firewood and fuel wood from the forest areas for energy requirements and household cooking are also done by women. The present paper provides the background information about the women in hilly areas and their dependence on agroforestry for meeting daily requirements of household.

INTRODUCTION

More than ninety per cent of mountain population inhibit in rural areas. Women nearly constitute half of the population of the region having composite social profile. Mountain specificities which consists of habitats, societies and their interactions and adaptations can prove to be constraints as well as opportunities. Comparative economic growth or development and dynamism in social-economic structure are due to interlinking of various land use systems including agriculture, horticulture, forestry, animal husbandry and tourism. Rural women play a pivotal role in sustainable development of their areas and form an integral part of subsistence rural economy (Thakur, 2003). They are considered nucleus of hill farming because of their multiple functions/ role in the society. Hence this section of the society in the region is the main and basic asset. They depend on their surrounding environment for many of the basic needs, therefore they are inextricably linked with natural resources and environment, and thus have to cope with the harsh environment by developing mountain specific adaptations.

Agriculture is the main stay of Indian economy as more than 60 per cent of the people of India are dependent upon this evocation and allied disciplines for their livelihood. Even today, at the dawn of 21st century, the Indian agriculture has continued to be the backbone of our National economy, representing countryís about one seventh of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Thus, farming families consisting both of men and women, boys and girls, known as the pillars of our agriculture constitutes backbone of the Nation. The support and contributors made by the rural women in agriculture, consisting 50-60 per cent of farm work force are, however, not less than those performed by the men, and therefore they become spine of the rural economy.

ABSTRACT

Agriculture is an important economic activity in India, contributing around 50% for the employment generation and 14% to the total gross domestic product (GDP) of the nation. Being a subsistence activity, agriculture shares maximum contribution in the national economy. However, the income generated from agriculture is not sufficient to engage the rural youth in farming profession. Lack of economic incentives coupled with other factors like lack of infrastructure for education, and opportunities for employment lead to the migration of the rural youth to the urban areas. Migration of human population can be both interstate as well as intrastate to establish a new permanent or semi-permanent residence. According to the 2001 census, total number of migrants is 314 million by the last residence. Of these 85% of the migration is intrastate while 13% migration is interstate. Approximately 20 million people have migrated from rural areas to urban areas; the reason for migration was predominantly marriage for females, and employment and education for males. This phenomenon has resulted in decrease in the work force in the villages leading over labour population in urban areas – those results in low wages due to competition and wide spread poverty. The situation becomes worse when the youth drop out from the formal education system and move to the urban areas in search of better employment opportunities. This unskilled labour constitute the labour class in the urban areas, and due to the low wages received by them, they remain economically vulnerable. This situation is aggravated by the biased government policies for the rural youth, lack of awareness and ever spreading poverty. Thus, it is important to understand the factors responsible for the youth migration from rural to urban areas and effect of this migration on both rural and urban economy. This paper highlights the issue of youth migration from rural areas to urban areas in search of better education and employment opportunities and its consequences. Further, the policies are described in brief for the involvement of the rural youth in rural economy.

The progress and prosperity of a nation depends to a large extent on well trained and disciplined youth. The youth of today are the adults of tomorrow and farm families of the future. More than half of the India’s population is below 35 years of age. Majority of these young people live in village where they do not have adequate opportunities for vocational training and formal schooling. This vast youth population has limitless energy and enthusiasm. The proper chanalization of this energy for constructive work can make India one of the most developed and prosperous nations of the world. Youth are the future of India, it is therefore, essential to harness them in an organized manner to build up the backbone of the country. If they are given good training they grow up as individuals-physically, mentally and morally capable of playing their full part as adult members of our welfare society.

Youth, defined as those who belong to the age group of 13-35 in the National Youth policy 2003 of India, is considered to be the most vital segment of the population. Across the globe youth is being treated as an asset for a country’s development and enormous investment is being made to develop the human capital. The challenge of nations like India with ‘Youth Bulge’ in their population is to channelize the energy into positive and creative development process. Youth in the 21st Century aspires for a just global order,  They are looking for democratic process in all spheres of life, whether it is education, employment or decision making.  The issues and concerns of youth are fast changing in tune with the technological innovations.

ABSTRACT

Youth denotes-”Young, Original, Unique, Talented, and Hopeful”. Youths represent the most active segment of the population and the engine that do most productive work of the society (Adesope, 1996). Youths are a formidable force in the agricultural production, process, constituting a sizeable proportion of future progressive farmers and better citizens, especially in the rural areas. Fifty percent of Indian population has average age group 25 and more than 65 percent below the age of 35 years therefore United Nations (2005) defines youth as ‘all individuals aged between 15 and 24 year’ and declared 2014 as the “International Year of Family Farming”. Family farming is a means of organizing agricultural, forestry, fisheries, pastoral and aquaculture production which is managed and operated by a family and predominantly reliant on family labour, including both of women and men.

1. AN OVERVIEW OF RWANDA’S SOCIO-ECONOMIC SETTING

Rwanda is a small landlocked country located in East Africa covering a total surface area of 26,338 km². It lies about 120 km south of the Equator and is bordered by Uganda in the North, Tanzania in the east, Burundi in the south and the Democratic Republic of Congo in the West. According to the national official statistics, the total population is approximately 8,200,000 people, with women accounting for 55 per cent of the people. The country’s population density is 505 people per km², making it one of the most densely populated countries in Africa (National Institute of Statistics, 2002). Since the turn of the millennium, the annual growth rate of the population has been 2.9 per cent and it is believed that by the year 2020, the country will have an estimated population of 20 million, thus exerting pressure on the limited land resources. It is also important to note that most people (64 per cent), those living in abject poverty, reside in rural areas of the country (Government of Rwanda, 2008).

Abstract

A very strong shallow focus submarine earthquake (of magnitude 9.0) occurred off the west coast of Sumatra Island due to the movement of Indian Plate and Burma Plate on 26th December 2004 at 06:18:53 IST. A vast area around its epicentre was rocked including Andaman and Nicobar Islands and parts of the eastern and western coasts of the Indian mainland. This earthquake had generated a global tsunami, which had also pounced on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and the coasts of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala and caused severe damage to the coastal population and infrastructure. Considering the devastation of this tsunamigenic earthquake, the Department of Science & Technology, Govt. of India has launched a coordinated programme for imparting S & T inputs with futuristic approach to support rehabilitation programme in the affected areas on a sustainable manner. The main objective of the programme is to generate geospatial databases on damages and risk zonation using pre and post-tsunami remote sensing (RS) data along with collateral attribute data in GIS platform. This paper speaks on the damage assessment (both natural / physical resources and human resources) caused by the earthquake and tsunami covering parts of Andaman Islands along with strategies for risk management and constraints and alternatives for micro level planning.

Keywords: Tsunamigenic earthquake, Damage Assessment, Remote Sensing and GIS, Andaman - Nicobar.

Salicyclic acid: Salicyclic acid (from Latin salix, willow tree, from the substances used to be obtained) is aminohydroxybenzoic acid, a type of phenolic acid and a beta hydracid. It has the formula C₇H₆O₃. This colourless crystalline organic acid is widely used in organic synthesis and function as a plant hormone. It is derived from the metabolic of salicin. In addition to being an important active metabolic of aspirin (acetylsalicyclic acid), which acts in part as a prodrug to salicyclic acid, it is probably best known for its use as a key ingredient in topical anti-acne products. The salts and esters of salicyclic acid are known as salicylates.

Salination: The process of accumulation of soluble salts in the soil.

Saline adaptation: Genetic modification of individuals in a population that increases their ability to survive excess salt.

Saline adjustment: Physiological and biochemical changes of individual plants that increase their ability to survive excess salt.

Sagittaria sagittifolia L. (Alismataceae):Eng.- Old World Arrow Head; Hindi- Chotakut; Kash.- Kyou [W]. Perennial herb inhabiting shallow water ponds, swampy rice fields. Leaves arrow shaped. Flowers have small sepals and three white petals, numerous purple stamens.Tubers edible (Figs. S 1, 2).

Sample: A sample is a subgroup of the population, which is the focus of research inquiry and is selected in such a way that it represents the study population. A sample is composed of a few individuals from whom the required information is collected. It is done to save time, money and other resources.

Saccharification: The process of breaking a complex carbohydrate (starch or cellulose) into its monosaccharide components is called saccharification.

Saccharimeter: A device (polarimeter) used for measuring the amount of sugar in a solution is called saccharimeter. It is also known as saccharometer. It is a hydrometer with a special scale.

Saccharin: A crystalline compound C7 H5 NO3 S that is unrelated to the carbohydrates, is several hundred times sweeter than sucrose, and is used as a calorie free sweetener.

Saccharomyces: It is one of the genus (Saccharomyces) of the family Saccharomycetaceae and is usually unicellular yeasts (brewer’s yeast) that are distinguished by their sparse or absent mycelium and reproduced asexually by budding.

Safe food: Food that provide maximum nutrition and quality while revealing a minimal hazard to public health and they assume any risk present to be minimal.

Saccharification: Process by which oligosaccharides and polysaccharides are degraded to produce smaller sugar units. It involves acid, alkali or enzymic (e.g. cellulases, amylases) hydrolysis of glucosidic bonds. Term is used frequently to describe hydrolysis of wastes, e.g. sugar cane bagasse or other lignocellulosic materials to produce substrates for microbial fermentation.
Saccharimeters: Devices used for measuring degree of rotation produced during transmission of polarized light through a sugar solution. When a standardized saccharimeter is used, this property is a function of the concentration of a sugar solution. In the sugar industry the rotation value (Pol) is used as a measure of sucrose content due to the low concentrations of other sugars.
Saccharin: It is a heterocyclic organic sulfur compound (o-benzosulfimide) that has approximately 300-600 times the sweetness of sucrose and is used in artificial sweeteners. It is available as the free acid and as sodium or calcium salts. Like sugar, saccharin salts are white crystalline solids that are highly soluble in water, but unlike sugar they are non-nutritive and impart a bitter metallic aftertaste.
Saccharometer: It is a graduated devices i.e.hydrometer which is directly calibrated with the percentage of sugar in the sugar/water solution. It is also used for determination of the density of sugar solutions, based on the level at which the device floats. It is also known as hydrometers.

Today it has been understood that yeasts have great potentials as novel probiotics (Nayak, 2011). They have been found to be safe for human consumption in traditional fermented foods (Jakobsen and Narvhus 1996). Yeasts have a great physiological importance inside the gastrointestinal (GI) tract (Czerucka et al., 2007; Gatesoupe, 2007). Jespersen (2003) has mentioned the role of consuming fermented foods and the health benefits attributed with it.Yeasts are known for prevention of table olive (Arroyo lopez et al., 2012). Bonatsau et al. (2015) have shown multi-functional property of yeast as starters.