ROLE OF TRADITIONAL FOLK MEDIA IN RURAL DEVELOPMENT

The role of communication has been very significant since the beginning of history. With the development of science and technology, the forms and way of communication have become more specialized. In a country like India, so vast and varied, modern mass media alone does not constitute the sum total of communication channels. We have T.V., newspaper, internet etc. But the millions of people in rural areas have no regular access to such mass media due to poverty and illiteracy. With 35 per cent of the population unlettered and with the media's reach largely restricted to urban areasinformation, education & entertainment do not reach a large majority of the people. Our society is characterized by a complex social system with different caste, classes, creeds, and tribes. The high rate of illiteracy and poverty added to the inadequacy of the mass media to reach almost 700 million people who reside in village. To them, the mass media proved to be glamorous, impersonal and unbelievable in comparison with the familiar performance of traditional artist whom the villagers could not only see and hear but even touch emotionally. The traditional media can be used to reach these people in the process of change and development of the country. Traditional folk media have a remarkable impact on rural society because of their acceptable idioms, functional significance and entertainment component. Folk media can overcome the difficulty of language, speech, words and other barriers of communication like, interest, understanding, interpretation, attitude and perception. Traditional folk media are the most important vehicle of social change. While a lot of modification may be needed to convey social as well as agricultural messages, traditional media will easily carry social issue related to the rural development. Today, both the traditional and modern media are complement each other. Therefore, we need to keep our traditional media alive by continuously and cautiously, as well as possible with the modern media. These traditional media will not only help in the development activities, but will also help in preserving and transmitting our culture, tradition and values to the next generation.