Authors: Dr. Abhishek Pratap Singh, Dr. Neha Pandey
Abstract: As we know that India is a village rooted country. Therefore, it is necessary to study the social structure of rural life and the social change occurring within it. Rural social structure is constantly changing at a rapid pace and changes driven by modernization, technology, and economic shifts. Due to which, significant changes are also being seen in traditional farming system. People from rural communities are now entering into other businesses than agriculture. They are now working in non-farm jobs like transport, retail, and construction. We can say changes in the structure of rural life are responsible for social change. Small businesses and local entrepreneurship are increasing, allowing villages to become more self-reliant. Traditional joint family systems are breaking down into smaller, nuclear family units.. Education and new job opportunities are helping to create more equality and remove caste-biasness. A significant change is being observed in the field of women in this era of transition. Now women are becoming more active in the workforce, education, and local politics leading to higher status and independence. Women are also taking on larger roles in farming. Self-Help Groups (SHGs) are empowering women financially and socially. Rise of "Lakhpati Didis" women-led collectives are central to rural transformation, with 10.05 crore women mobilized into 90.09 lakh Self-Help Groups (SHGs) by early 2026. Apart from this, presently a global transformation in digital infrastructure is also being seen. Digital infrastructure is now near-universal, with 398.35 million rural internet subscribers as of March 2024, rapidly expanding by 2026. Drones, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and apps for weather/soil health are being adopted to increase yields, though this sometimes creates inequalities favoring wealthier, more tech-savvy farmers. Although new trend have brought considerable positive changes in the rural social structure and social transformation, but still, these changes are somehow bound by their limitations, which leave a negative impact on rural life. Hence, the digital era has reduced the quality of human resources.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19510984
