(i) The distribution of land is highly skewed in rural areas. Therefore, majority of rural people work as hired labour to support their families.
(ii) Lack of Non-farm Employment: Non-farm employment opportunities do not match the increasing labour force. The excess supply of labour in rural areas reduces the wages and increases the incidence of poverty.
(iii) Lack of Public Sector Investment: The root cause of rural poverty in our country is lack of public sector investment on human resource development.
(iv) Inflation: Steady increase in prices affects the purchasing power of the rural poor leading to rural poverty.
(v) Low Productivity: Low productivity of rural labour and farm activities is a cause as well as the effect of poverty.
(vi) Unequal Benefit of Growth: Major gains of economic development are enjoyed by the urban rich people leading to concentration of wealth. Due to defective economic structure and policies, gains of growth are not reaching the poor and the contributions of poor people are not accounted properly.
(vii) Low Rate of Economic Growth: The rate of growth of India is always below the target and it has benefited the rich. The poor are always denied of the benefits of the achieved growth and development of the country.
(viii) More Emphasis on Large Industries: Huge investment in large industries catering to the needs of middle and upper classes in urban areas are made in India. Such industries are capital-intensive and do not generate more employment opportunities. Therefore, poor are not in a position to get employed and to come out from the poverty in villages.
(ix) Social Evils: Social evils prevalent in the society like custom, believes etc. increase unproductive expenditure.

i. People Related Problems
The problems related to individuals and their standard of living consist of illiteracy, lack of technical know how, low level of confidence, dependence on
ii. Infrastructural Related Problems:
Poor infrastructure facilities like, water, electricity, transport, educational institutions, communication, health, employment, storage facility, banking and insurance are found in rural areas.
iii. Economics related Problems:
The economic problems related to rural areas are: inability to adopt high cost technology, high cost of inputs, under privileged rural industries, low income, indebtedness and existence of inequality in land holdings and assets. In fertile areas, a few absentee landlords own large area and they do not evince greater Interest in improving the performance of agriculture.
iv. Leadership Related Problems:
The specific leadership related problems found in rural areas are: Leadership among the hands of inactive and incompetent people, self-interest of leaders, biased political will, less bargaining power and negation skills and dominance of political leaders.
v. Administrative Problems:
The rural administrative problems consist of political interference, lack of motivation and interest, low wages in villages, improper utilization of budget, and absence of monitoring and implementation of rural development programme.

Introduction:
Rural indebtedness refers to the situation where the rural people are unable to repay the loan accumulated over a period.
Causes:
Poverty of farmers:
The vicious circle of poverty forces the farmers to borrow for consumption, cultivation and celebrations. Poverty, debt and high rates of interest hold the farmer in the grip of money lenders.
Failure of monsoon:
So it is difficult to identify good years to repay their debts.
Litigation:
(i) Due to land disputes, litigation in the court compels them to borrow heavily
(ii) Being uneducated and ignorant they are caught in the litigation process and lose their savings.
Money lenders-high interest rate:
The rate of interest charged by the local money lenders is very high and the compounding of interest leads to indebtedness of the farmer.

People related problems:
The problems related to individuals and their standard of living consist of illiteracy, lack of technical know how, low level of confidence, dependence on sentiments, and beliefs.
Agriculture related:
1. Lack of expected awareness, knowledge, skill and attitude.
2. Unavailability of inputs
3. Poor marketing facility.
4. Insufficient extension staff and services.
5. Multidimensional tasks to extension personnel.
6. Small size of land holding.
7. Sub-division and fragmentation of landholdings.
8. Absence of infrastructure to work and stay in rural areas.
9. Primitive technology and low adoption of modern technologies
10. Reduced public investment and absence of role for farmers in fixing price for their products.
Infrastructure related:
Poor infrastructure facilities like water, electricity, transport, educational institutions, communication, health, employment, storage facility, banking and insurance are found in rural areas.
Economics related:
(i) There is inability to adopt high cost technology, high cost of inputs, under privileged rural industries, low income, indebtedness and existence of inequality in land holdings and assets.
(ii) Infertile areas, a few absentee landlords own large area and they do not show any interest in improving the performance of agriculture.
Leadership related:
Leadership is in the hands of inactive and incompetent people, self-interest leaders, biased political will, less bargaining power and dominance of political leaders.
Administrative Problems:
There is political interference, lack of motivation, low wages in villages, improper utilization of budget, absence of monitoring and implementation of rural development programmes.
Conclusion: The problems found in rural economy are endless.

Introduction:
Rural economy refers to villages and rural community refers to people living in villages.
Features of rural economy:
Village is an institution:
(i) Village is a primary institution and it satisfies almost all the needs of the rural community.
(ii) The rural people have a feeling of belongingness and a sense of unity towards each other.
Dependence on agriculture:
The rural economy depends on nature and agricultural activities.
Life of rural people:
(i) Life style in village is very simple. Education, housing, health and sanitation, transport and communication, banking, roads and markets are limited and unavailable.
(ii) Rural people rely on faith, superstitions and traditional cultural practices.
(iii) The methods of production, social organization, political mobilization, rural sector is extremely weak and backward.
(iv) The incidence of alcohol drinking has gone up.
Population density:
Population density is very low. Houses are scattered in the entire village.
Employment:
There is unemployment, seasonal unemployment and underemployment.
Poverty:
(i) Basic needs of the people like food, clothing and shelter are not met
(ii) About 22 crores of people in rural areas are poor and live below poverty line.
Indebtedness:
(i) People in rural areas are highly indebted owing to poverty, under employment, lack of farm and non-farm employment opportunities, low wage employment, seasonality in production, poor marketing network.
(ii) Since formal loan facilities are not available to the villagers, they depend on local money lenders who squeeze the villagers.
Rural income
Large proportion of labourers are underemployed and the scope for increasing their income is limited.
Dependency:
Rural households are largely dependent on social grants and remittances from family members working in urban areas.
Dualism:
The co-existence of features of organised and unorganised, traditional and modern, regulated and unregulated, poor and rich, skilled and unskilled is very common in rural areas.
Inequality:
There is inequality in distribution of income, wealth and assets. Land, livestock are owned by a few people. Landlords dominate the rural activities.
Migration:
Rural people migrate from villages to urban areas for gainful employment. Lack of basic amenities in rural areas also push the people to urban areas.