22nd

March, 2014

Report on visit to villages in Bihar

Submitted by: Rural Technology Development Club, IIT Patna Submitted to: Prof. Anil Gupta (IIM Ahmadabad)

Objective:-To understand the problems and struggle faced by rural people in their daily

life and try to relate the solution to their problems by applying the basic understanding of our engineering knowledge.

Introduction: On the 8th and 9th of March, 2014, members of the Rural Technical

Development Club, IIT Patna visited some villages in Bihar about 20km away from the transit campus of IIT Patna. The team surveyed five villages viz. Khaspur, Lodipur, Bhatheri, Sherpur and Chakiya Tola. These villages are near about 6-10 km away from Danapur. This visit was undertaken with the aim of investigating the technical problems, unemployment and lack of facilities prevailing in the rural areas. In this regard we met children, school going children, school principal and people having some jobs.

1. Lodipur: This village is situated near about 6 km away from Danapur. In this village we had a detailed discussion with local doctor named Vijay Kumar and some other villagers.

Electricity supply in the village is 22 hours in a day. People are interested to get some work of the small scale industries like making toys,

working with charkha, making Basket and others like Agarbatti.

People want the government to provide training and cheap loan facility to start small scale business in village.

People are staunchly in favour of women’s involvement in these small scale productive jobs.

Very few people have permanent secure jobs. Rest of the people work in agriculture or as labors in sand, bricks.

Number of schools falls short of the requirement. Primary school is in village, while the secondary school is located outside the village.

2. Bhatehari: This village is 2 km inside to Lodipur village. In this village we saw the conditions of the primary school and met some villagers.

Most of the working people migrate to other places so there is labour shortage. Both men and women work in field but the earning distribution is unfair. From the

villages sources it is Rs.60/- per day for women and Rs.150/- for men. This earning is really insufficient for a content secure life.

Due to uneven and scarce electrical supply, farmers have to invest lot of money for irrigation. To run diesel engine for irrigation oil costs around Rs.60/- per hour so farmers have to pay around Rs.150/- per hour for irrigation.

People of this village are eager to get more advanced machines and equipment for agriculture purpose.

To overcome the electricity problems they want cheap solar lamps so that their children can study in night time. It was encouraging to see a solar panel employed in one of the village household.

In this village people want some small scale business for themselves and women of the family. They support the working of the women.

Condition of school in village, Bhatehari: School name: Utkramit Madhya Vidyalaya Bhatehari For the class 1st to 8th. Number of class room: 4 (3 class room + 1 store room) Number of teachers: 6 (including Principal). Total registered students=252, regular school coming students=50. School infrastructure is really bad; there are no sufficient rooms in school. For

example class 1st to 3rd sit in same class. When one class is running, students of other two classes have to wait.

In this school a teacher teaches any number of subjects as per need. For example principal is from a biology background but sometimes he is compelled to teach Hindi.

Principal of the school is really dedicated towards students and school infrastructure. He wants as much improvement as possible in the school like learning from charts, schematic diagram, practical and observation based science learning.

We also met some children (Raushan, Pankaj, Sanjeet and others). Like all ordinary kids of their age, they have big dreams. They want to get a better future but their condition does not allow them to fulfill their dreams.

3. Sherpur (Sabarana area): This village is 1.5 km off the Sherpur main road. In this village we met and spoke to a teacher Amit Kumar and some other villagers (Suryamani Yadav and other). Electricity supply in village is around 8-10 hours per day. Only two three people are have a job in that area. Most of the people migrate from

village for survival as there are very less opportunities for earning in the village.

Most of the people in village do boating and also help in sand digging from Ganga River. Due to this type of work, they do not involve the women in their work.

Most of the people suggested that the government should run commercial training and awareness program in the village.

Agriculture is important sources of earning. Due to limited supply of electricity, here also people have to pay Rs.150/- per hour for irrigation.

They want new machines that can reduce human labour and increase the efficiency of work.

4. Chakiya Tola:- This village is 1 km away from Sherpur main road. In this village we met Jai prakash, Krishna Rai, Baleshwer Yadav, Kunkun and other villagers. Electricity supply in village is 4-6 hours in a day. Most of the people rely on agriculture and boating for their daily bread and butter. Negligible number of people are having proper job. There is less number of schools in nearby villages compared to the requirements.

Less number of people are educated. There are no small scale industries in village. People would like to work in some small

scale business if provided with the proper guidance and support. People are very keen to work, like working with charkha (to make cloths), printing

the book, candle making, medicine etc.

People also suggested that the government should run computer learning program in village and establishment for imparting formal sewing training for women.

They are also interested in solar based lightening system.

5. Khaspur:- This village is 5-6 km away from Danapur. In this village we met a Government teacher and other villagers. Only one person has a government job. Economic condition of the people is very poor and hence their children don’t get

proper schooling. Their basic need is to get employment rather than education. Most of the people work in agriculture or provide human labour in nearby areas. People live in small houses in very congested area. There is Christian missionary centre in village which gives some small scale industrial

training in village like papad making, sewing etc. In this centre only women of the lower caste work. Other caste people like Yadav; they don’t allow women from their family to work outside. Although their economic conditions are not good but due to caste mentality, they suffer.

Summary:- In general, employment conditions in these areas are extremely poor. Most of the people are working in the agriculture sector. It comes under the seasonal unemployment and disguised unemployment where farmers don’t have work many of the times or number of working people are more than that required. Hardly any people are involved with small scale industries. There is a scarcity in the number of public and private sector jobs. When people are not engaged in agricultural work, they work as labour with bricks, sand and soil. More than half of the people are uneducated as the number of government schools does not meet the requirements. By talking to the people, the team learnt that the basic need of the people is to get employment rather than the education.

Conclusion:- The issue that stands out in all the villages is unemployment which has a profound impact on the social and economic spheres of the rural populace. The people are in dire need of employment to earn two square meals for the family and to provide adequate education of children. Any means of livelihood will be welcomed and people are willing to any kind of work. After identifying and analyzing this fact, RTDC has identified some projects which will cater to needs of the rural populace for a better living.

Solar based devices (solar reading pads, solar driven pumps) can be successfully employed to decrease the dependency on electricity.

Alternative agricultural products like manual paddy transplanter, insecticide sprayer etc. can help in reducing time and effort of the farmers in these areas.

On healthcare front, water quality tester can help in monitoring the purity of water and help to prevent diseases.

Efficient waste management is required to dispose of waste properly and to come up with technologies which will help to produce fruitful products from management process.