Role of Opinion Leaders in Rural Development and Community Advancement

Abstract

India lives in village, which observe enormous cultural diversity and has a deeper reflection on their occupational and agricultural practices. The rigid and regimented belief system that the illiterate rural folk possesses hardly undergo material change so as to cope and mobilize with the emerging changes in agricultural processes and rural upliftment as a consequence of modernization and technological advancement in agriculture. The change in attitude & perception, motivation & learning abilities requires a great deal of persuasion. To bring about a desirable change in the attitude & perception, motivation & behavior of the low motivated and fewer need oriented farmers with lower need satisfaction level, challenges the existing drive for adoption of modem technology. The new varieties of agricultural practices and process as well as incorporation of norms and values of modern social order in to their social system and religious observance is called for in all these activities need to be adopted and incorporated for the total upliftment and transformation of rural social system and their occupational dynamics in agricultural process. The role of opinion leaders cannot be under-estimated. However, with the emergence of Panchayat Raj in Madhya Pradesh, as constitutional provision, the role of opinion leaders have been delegated to the elected! Nominated members i.e . Panch and Sarpanch. Though it appears that elected members of Panchayati Raj may be substituted in place of opinion leaders, but in reality this hardly happens, as the opinion leaders with their power of domination, expertization, initiation and high order interpersonal attraction may retain and undertake the village leadership with them in various matters of agricultural advancement, community development and rural upliftment