Mahatma Gandhi once said that the soul of India lives in its villages; if you want to make India a developed country then you must first develop its villages. India is a land of villages and there are around lakhs of big and small villages spread out in the length and breadth of the country. Around 65% of Indian population lives in villages and the primary occupation carried out by then are agriculture and farming. Apart from this they are also engaged in occupation like carpentry, blacksmith, goldsmith, handicrafts and pottery. The daily life of an Indian village is not fast and busy like the cities. Most of the Indian villages has narrow roads and the each of the roads are muddy or paved, green fields and green trees adorn the roads of these villages.
After independence till recent years, there is much development in the villages where the village folks get access to good education, means of good communication like telephones, mobile phone networks, televisions, computers, internet, etc. Moreover, for the sake of better health and hygiene government run health centres are also established so that the villagers get better medical facilities. The Indian Government has also made initiated and implemented programmes like National Common Minimal Programme (NCMP), Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana, National Food for Work Programme, Pradhan Mantri Sadak Yojana, Rural Housing, National Rural Employment Guarantee Act etc to achieve overall development of rural areas.
India comprises of 35 States and each of the States has its villages under its respective districts. The total number of villages comprises of 649481 villages according to Census 2011. Out of these the Gahmar is the largest village in India which situated in Ghazipur District, Uttar Pradesh. In fact it is regarded to be the largest village in the world with a population of 25,000 approximately. On the other hand, India’s smallest village is the Ha which is a small tribal village in Kurung Kumey District, Arunachal Pradesh with population strength of only 289. Ha has the most stunning natural beauty and is regarded to be one of India’s ancient villages to have the ancient Menga caves dedicated to Lord Shiva. According to 2011 census, literacy rate of Kerala villages were highest whereas villages of Bihar maintains least literacy rate. Once again the villages of Kerala has the highest sex ratio rate with 1084 females per 1000 males and the villages of Haryana has the lowest sex ratio rate with 879 females per 1000 males. But among the villages of Union Territory of Daman & Diu it has the worst sex ratio rate of 618 females per 1000 males.
India is also the home of various ancient villages and among the Malana Village of Himachal Pradesh is regarded to be the most ancient one which is dated back to Pre-Aryan times. But according to historic sources the oldest settlers of Malana were believed to be the descendants of Alexander the Great’s soldiers when the Greeks took refuge here while invading India. Moreover, India is also proud to have its own advanced village in form of Punshari Village which is located 100 Kms away from Ahmedabad, Gujarat. It is hard to believe that this Indian Village is quite modern to have proper water and electrical supply, Wi-Fi, CCTV cameras, concrete roads, primary schools, health center, street lights and better drainage facilities. There are also various Indian Villages which have set a great example for whole country and you will get to know about each of them in Online Bharat Portal. It is a storehouse of knowledge related to Indian Villages, towns, tourist destination and all sorts of information available for those who want to know India better through this exclusive portal.