The number of villages in India is anywhere between 600,000 and one million, according to various government databases. The number and the definition of villages vary across databases, making it challenging to plan across sectors for a village development plan.
There are around 649,481 villages in India, according to Census 2011, the most authoritative source of information about administrative boundaries in the country. Of these, 593,615 are inhabited.
The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (MGNREGA)–India’s labour law that guarantees 100 days of wage employment to rural households–considers villages and their hamlets as distinct entities, and hence