Rural development earlier focused as agriculture based development is described at various levels of developing stages. Struggle for development in India before and after independence to alleviate poverty and uplift the life of people in rural areas is briefly described. Community development and emergence of Panchayati Raj system are detailed as per the context. As the paper has special reference to the state Andhra Pradesh the formation of the state and the role of information in development information system are elaborated. In addition to this, rural development programmes implemented by the ministry are also described.