Sustainable Rural Development through Entrepreneurship Development Programs

Abstract

Entrepreneurship on a mass scale is the key for rural development and sustainability. Development and its sustainability are possible if they are sought to be achieved through diversification in to non -farm and service sectors in a bigger way. The dispersal of economic activities with labor intensive nature present a field for all round sustainability notwithstanding the well meaning governmental interventions in the nature of subsidies, technical and marketing supports. The major obstacles in the nature of illiteracy, inhibition, inactivity and the like that prevent rural enterprises to blossom can be effectively tackled through well designed training interventions in the rural spectrum. For instilling and promoting the entrepreneurial acumen and attitude, Entrepreneurial Development Programs (EDPs) are designed. An attempt is made in this article to study various EDPs that are being organized in India, the modus operandi of their structure, the forms of EDPs and their brief evaluation. A few suggestions are also offered to make the programs more vibrant with the ultimate objective of spreading entrepreneurial message and thereby sustainable rural development in the country.