Socio-Economic Impact Assessment Of Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA): A Comparative Analysis Of Adopted And NonAdopted Rural Villages

Abstract

Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA) is one of the most ambitious programs India has launched to bridge the developmental gap between academic institutions and rural communities. This study attempts to analyze the rural developmental impact of the UBA through the analysis of socioeconomic conditions prevailing across UBA and non-UBA villages to register the actual effectiveness of the UBA in terms of rural development. The study encompassed sixteen villages across four administrative blocks through extensive surveys and statistical analysis of 400 households comprising a total of 1,759 individuals. Multitudinous positive results emerged for caste inclusiveness and occupational diversification in UBA villages. O.B.C. formed 50.0% of the population in UBA villages, compared with only 26.5% in non-UBA villages (p = 0.0019), indicating greater inclusiveness and participation across social strata in UBA villages. Further, changes in livelihood were substantial between UBA and non-UBA villages, with engagement in farming rising from 14.23% to 35.11% and private employment from 1.10% to 11.67% (p < 0.0001), indicating better employment opportunities and away from traditional dependence on agriculture only. However, the results indicate the absence of any statistically significant differences in terms of gender composition, Aadhaar enrolment, poverty incidence, level of education, and age structure, highlighting that while UBA is seen to be doing well in certain highly targeted areas such as economic empowerment and social representation, rural transformation-that is, at least in foundational indicators-needs further deep, long-term, and multi-pronged interventions to yield sustainable results into the rural landscape.