VILLAGE STAY @ PRADAN

Essay about the village

Bansitoli is a village where I was placed for the village stay. It’s a hamlet of the main village Sehal & hence is named Sehal Bansitoli. This is situated about 13kms west to sub-location ghagra. This village has about 100 houses & a population of about 500. The nearby village is Jalka where the majority is Sahukars & they have their shops on which the villagers were dependent for basic amenities. This village is a very nice one; the people here are very interactive & supportive. They didn’t give me a feel that I m a stranger. Of-course they gave me so much respect when they came to know that I m a Pradan Dada.
.
Long Ago they say that due to fight among the sadan & aadivasis because aadivasis reared pig a person named bansi came here & then others followed him, thus slowly it became a hamlet & hence named so.
In bansitoli the majority of people are oraon 90 families (ST) , there are 7 lohar families, 2 yadav families & 1 Christian family but they all live together. There is no discrimination among them which is a very good sign & they never fought. They all stand together.
.
In this village about 90% people migrate i.e. they go to bhatta to carry bricks & earn some money, they go to Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab etc. Every body leaves the village for bhaatta in jnaurary & return by june for agriculture & after that they again prepare to go to bhatta. Thus this is their way of income. There is local market called Bazzar every Tuesday & Saturday. They say Tuesday is the Big bazaar & Saturday is the small bazaar.
.
Prime occupation of people over here is agriculture & paddy is there staple crop which they grow in the kharif season. They also cultivated several vegetables, dal like urad, arhar, chanaa, moong & they also cultivated badam as a cash crop as its in high demand. For livelihood people here also reared hen, goats, pigs & ducks that they sold in the market for cash. In this village the production of paddy is very good. Almost every family has enough to eat through out the year & they sell the paddy in jalka when they are in need of money.
.
Here the land resources are classified in to local names like Donn (low lands) which are again classified into Donn lower & upper they are also denoted by 1 & 2. The next one is the mid-lands named chaura denoted by 3 & the last one is high lands called Tand denoted by 4. Donn lands are suitable for paddy cultivation bcause it has water logging facility. The next chaura is good for Khandagiri & dehati quality of paddy. The next land Tand is suitable for vegetables, dal, chana, urad, arhar & badam etc. There are about 250 acres Donn, 300 acres chaura about 250 acres Tand. I also saw the arrangement for extracting kranch oil, sarso oil called as “chipa”. I have also helped them in doing that.
.
There are 4 SHGs in this village namely: Kisan, Sarna, Bajrangbali & Challa Mahila Mandal promoted by PRADAN where the women save their money in a box & maintain their account. This ensures that their self sufficiency in emergency. They sat ever Friday & collected the money with entries in their pass-book. They also attained the cluster meeting on 2nd of every month.
.
They celebrate various festivals like “budhiakaram” where the old ladies worship to get rid of the diseases for their family & the village after puja they all dance & drink handia. Then they celebrate “chodikaram” where the girls beat the boys with a flower & enjoy a lot. They also celebrate “Sarhol” where they worship their lands for good production & good rain. They celebrate “holi” & “diwali”. They also celebrate “durga-puja”, dussehra & kartik where they worship laxmi goddess.
In this village children go to school nearby & then after 5th class they go to nearby village. For higher studies they have to go to ghghra or lohardaga or gumla. There are only 3 hand-pumps in the village out of which 2 are functional, except that some families also depend on wells for drinking water. There is a dam in the village & a local river flows through the lands of farmers where they irrigate with the help of the river. Most of the women take bath in the river & also cleaned their utensils in the river. There was a lift irrigation scheme operational in the village since 1997 by Pradan for 4 years but is now uprooted due to some problems as a result people are facing difficulty in irrigating in the off-season. They are primarily dependent on rain for agriculture & irrigation. This village is very nice & I have made a lot of friends with whom I played football & enjoyed ghost stories at night. I was also invited by some didi for dinner for 4 days & I enjoyed that. Here the prime means of entertainment is radio then some times they also watch TV with the help of battery &watch old movies that I enjoyed a lot with the villagers at night & continued till morning. Here the people are very nice & I really enjoyed my village stay.

..
Typical Women
..
It was a bit difficult task for me to find out a typical woman. I discussed about this with dadas in the evening & they suggested me few names. I went to the didis & interacted with them. Out of them I got 2 names they were Bhikhain didi & Phagi didi. Bhikain didi is still struggling & is not in a good position so I felt that she is not a typical women whom I m searching. But when I interacted with Phagi didi who is in a better condition now & asked her to tell her story she told me that:

Just after her marriage with Tirpa dada, due to some problems in the family & some personal conflicts, her father in law had threw them out of their house & dint give any land or home to live. Thus they took shelter in Nand Kishore dada’s home for about 15 years. They had 5 children 2 boys & 3 girls. Didi then took the charge on her hand & went to bhatta for income, while dada remained at home in the village with 3 daughters & reared their cattle. I personally felt it very strange for me.
Didi told me that she got up at 1 am to prepare liquor & then from 6 am to 5 pm she carried bricks after that from 6 pm to 9pm she sold liquor to ensure additional income. In the meanwhile her 2 sons were with her. Every day she followed the same routine she worked very hard & thus saved money & returned her village to look upon her family. Dada too was dependent on Didi’s income for everything. Didi kept something for her family gave something to the family where she took shelter & thus her struggle continued. In mean time she also ensured that her children do study something. She said that she continued like this for 18 years & then she had built her house in which dada’s was contribution was with meager.

All lands went to them after her father-in-law died & now they have their own land, phagi didi had a major contribution is building their home because she was the only earning member. As I said dada was not going to bhaata & remained in the village. She said Tirpa dada’s brother is living in shimla & never come to village so they now cultivate the whole piece of land. I asked her since how many years she got her land & she replied its been only 6 years she got it & before that she had to go to bhaata & now after so much of struggle only she had come to a better position. Now they have their land & they do agriculture. Her children are grown-up & married. Thus all because of her struggle & patience their family is now in a good position. So I really admire her.


Economic Analysis of Families

I interacted with some families in the locality & during the interaction procedure in the initial days of my stay I came to know that in the village there are a lot of poor & medium families. The villagers also pointed out that near about every house are okay with their lands & production capacity except a few & they are mainly poor by money as they don’t have additional source of income.
So interacting with a group of dadas in the evening time on my 5th day of my stay, I enquired about the poor families & they suddenly replied that, “we all are poor”. When I tried to get deeper into the discussion I came to know that there are a lot of families who have insufficient land & so they don’t manage to have reserve of paddy through out the year for their consumption. Then for additional income source most of the people from the village go to Bhaata. Most of them consider the families of this kind poor among themselves. So I enquired among the dadas who are such families, they fetched me few names. They told me that in this locality where I live there such families who are poor.

There was a dada in the group itself who claimed that he is poor & therefore he has to go to Bhatta. I asked about the standard & the reason why they consider that families poor & also asked them about status of the poor families one by one. I got a lot of assumptions & I was not satisfied with their explanation because they were not sure about the actual status of land & production capacity but they knew that they are poor. Thus I selected few such families & tried to get deeper by engaging my self into direct discussion with the particular dada rather than asking the dadas in the group to ascertain the production & standard of the poor families they listed.


Poor Family-1

Name of dada: Goya Oraon.
Name of didi: Sheela Oraon (sarna mahila mandal)
Kids: 3 boys & 1 girl.
Parents-2
Land: 1-1/2 acres (approx.)
Production (last year): 15 mann= 600kgs/ 6 quintal (approx). Insufficient for whole family.
( 1 mann= 40kgs) Sufficient only for parents @ home.

Consumption: 2kg/day*365= 730kg (7&1/2 quintal approx.)

Migration: both dada & didi go to “Bhatta” @ Punjab, Tripura, Ayodhya. (Last time: Ayodhya)

Dada’s income @ bhatta= Rs.3000/ month
Didi’s income @ bhatta= Rs. 1500/month
Savings at Bhatta: 2500/- per month.*6= Rs.15,000 half yearly. (savings from income)


Expenditure @ Bhatta:
Consume rice= 50 kg per month @ 12/- = Rs. 600 per month
Consume vegetables= Rs. 200 per week *4 = Rs. 800 per month
Soap, surf & other requirements= Rs. 100 = Rs. 400 per month
Total Expenses at Bhatta = Rs. 1800-2000 (approx per month)

Village expenses

After returning from Bhatta
Consume rice= 2.5 kgs * 180 days = Rs.5500/- per 6 month
Oil, surf, soap = Rs. 150 per week * 4= Rs. 600/- *6 = Rs. 3600 per 6 month
Vegetables= Rs. 100 per week * 4= Rs. 400/- * 6 = Rs. 2400 per month
Expenses for family = Rs. 11,500

Agriculture (about 150 decimil. Land or 1.5 acres)
Rs.1600 per 50 decimil for paddy * 3 = Rs. 5000 (approx)
For other vegetables = Rs. 1000 approx.
Expense in agriculture = Rs. 6000/-

Total Expenses in village = Rs. 17,500/-
Total Saving from Bhatta = Rs. 15,000
Balance in hand = Rs. 15,000- Rs.17,500= - Rs. 2500/- (negative balance in hand @ village)

Negative balance Balance for the year= Rs. 2,500/- (falling short of money)


This analysis shows that this family is economically poor & dada’s claim that he is poor was correct. But when I looked on to the background of this family, I discovered that this family has good reputation, nobody is involved in drinking, no bad habits, no fights, no violence against women & I really appreciated this approach. In spite going through rough patches I found the family standing together.

To support their negative balance they rely on daily mazdoori. They get Rs. 60/- per day as per the work. For emergency purposes they sell off the paddy & compensate later.
Except migration while living in village the only source of money is selling off the paddy.


Not so poor family

In the filed nearby where we play football with local boys, this dada’s house is built in front of the field so many a times the ball is hit high & falls on his newly made house & the khappars cracks, didi then keeps the ball & don’t give us. She never quarrels & after some time gives the ball. I came into interaction with this family when the boys sent me one day to get the ball from their house because they believed they she would not deny me. After that when ever he saw me always talked to me & greeted me. I came to know about his family status & standard after interacting with him since last 6 days.



Name of dada: Sumra Oraon.
Name of didi: Sundermuni Oraon (sarna mahila mandal)
Kids: 3 boys
No cattle, No animals.
Land: 4 acres (approx.) all given on lease.
Production (last year): 22 mann= 880kgs/ 8.8 quintal (approx). insufficient for whole family.

Migration: whole family with dada Goes to “Bhatta” @ chhatisgarh.
Also visits Bengal for carrying Paddy during October.

Expenditure:

At Bhatta
Rice = Rs. 750 per month *6 = Rs. 4500 per 6 month. (50 kgs @ 14/- per Kg)
Vegetables= Rs. 1200 per month *6 = Rs. 7200/-
Soap, surf, oil = Rs. 800 per month *6 = Rs. 4800/-
Total Expenses for 6 months = Rs. 16,500/-

At village
Kerosene= Rs. 100 per month * 6 = Rs. 600 for 6 month.
Soap, Surf, oil= Rs. 400 per month * 6 = Rs. 2400 for 6 month
Total = Rs. 3000/- for 6 months

Agriculture (only 50 decimill by own)
Mazdoori= Rs. 120 per man *2= Rs.250/- per day * 3 persons = Rs. 750/-
Boundary of land = Rs. 250/-
Ropai= Rs. 12.5 * 20 didis = Rs. 250/-
DAP= Rs. 15/- * 16kg = Rs. 250/-
Potash = Rs. 7/- * 8 = Rs. 60/-
Urea = Rs. 6/- * 12 = Rs.72/-
Cost of seeds = Rs.180/-
Total Expense on agriculture (paddy) = Rs. 1800/-

Total Expenses = Rs. 21,300

Income:

From Bhatta = Rs. 3000/- * 6 = 18000/-
Goes to Bengal for carrying Paddy = Rs. 5000/- for 2 months in October.
Total Income = Rs. 23,000

Balance for the year= Rs. 23,000 – Rs. 21,300 = Rs. 1700/- per year


This balance is very important for them because this gives them some security against health problems, some emergency expenditure & anything else they may need.
If they fall short of money due to som unavoidable circumstances then they rely of mazdoori they seek a day’s work in someother’s field, engage in making some ons’s house, seeks mazdoori from sahukars etc. Sometimes he has to travel other village also to work & earn money daily. Didi on the other hand is engaged in household chores & sometimes she also engages herself in mazdoori while working in other’s field during paddy cultivation (ropai).
Thus they manage their family & continue their livelihood.


Relatively Well-off

It is a relatively well-off family who is the neighbour of Satan Dada where I lived. Everyday I interacted with dada in the evening with tea & I collected the information over a period of 3-4 days. This dada is very hard working & conscious about the education of his children. His mentality is very open towards new ideas & is not reserved that’s why I loved interacting with him & always visits his house in the evening. Most of the time he asked me about the life in town & big cities & how to create awareness of conscious education for the village children.

Name of dada: Nand Kishore Bhagat.
Name of didi: Bajo didi (Bajrang Bali Mahila Mandal)
Kids: 3 boys & 1 girl.
Land: 5 acres (approx.)
Parents: dead
Production (last year): 150 mann= 6000kgs/ 60 quintal (approx). Sufficient for family.
( 1 mann= 40kgs)

Migration: No.
Rice consumption: 3kg * 365= 11 quintals approx.

Expenditure
Vegetables: Rs. 400 per month * 12 = Rs. 5000/-
Pulses: 2kg @ 40/- per week= 80*4* 12 = Rs. 3840/-
Soap, surf, oil= Rs. 600 per month * 12 = Rs. 7200/-
Petrol= Rs. 400 per month * 12 = Rs. 4800/-
Biscuits for kids: 400/- per month * 12 = Rs. 4800/-

Total Family Expenses: =Rs.25,640/-

Expense on agriculture = Rs. 10,000 per year

Total Expense = Rs. 35,640

Income

Didi (school teacher at aangan baadi) = Rs. 1200* 12 = Rs. 14,400/-
Sold paddy (4000 kg * 7) = Rs. 28,000/-

Total Income: = Rs. 42,400/-

Cash Balance= Rs. 42,400 - Rs. 36,640= Rs. 5760/- per year.

Savings in LIC: Rs. 3000/- already deposited.
Rs. 3000 will deposit in future.


Touching Moments

Initially 2 days I felt bad because I was feeling alone as I was new to the community but after that I adjusted so well that even if I am said to spend another 2 months over there in bansitoli I would enjoy the stay.

This incident touched me when small kids (ajit & rohit) while retuning from school brought me a mango & some jamun with a guava of their own for me. Then I took them to hotel for eating samosas.

Subhash, kalwari, Bibdhe, prakash, sumeal, suersh, chaita & rohit were me close friends & we played football in the evening.

This is very funny, son of nand kishore dada “chotu” 2 years old, always forgot his name whenever I asked him. He says “I donn know”. Then I told him his name & asked him everyday to ensure that he remembers his name & thus after 3 days whenever I asked him he tells me his name “swadesh bhagat” & now dada & didi give the credit to me.

I also helped kalwari’s sister who is mentally challenged. One day she went out & was not obeying anybody & was walking away from village I saw that & I asked her mom if I can try, then I went to her & tried to convince her to come home after a lot of hard-work I managed her to bring back.

I used to play with Phagi didi’s grand son Anoop who always cried out whenever he saw me. When I m away he laughs when I approach nearer he crys.

I used to run behind the hens & tried to catch chicks after a lot of running I am able to catch a chick, I took it in my hand played with it & leave it after some time.

In the evening I helped ajit & sumitra in reading their books when ever they found any difficulty they asked me & I helped them every day.

Chaita had a radio & he played it very loud we all sat together had long chats & enjoyed the radio for hours.

I also enjoyed watching TV at night with the community whole night & that too old movies it gave me a feel as if I m in a theater. I enjoyed the old movies the way we enjoyed the new ones. It was a nice unforgettable experience for me.

I also enjoyed playing football with all the friends in the school field.

While watching Satan dada irrigating his land from the river with a pulley arrangement; I asked him to teach me & I also did the irrigation which involved a lot of toil.

I also helped didi in extracting the Kranch oil from the chiipa which they believed to have medicinal qualities.

I always used datum of sal & never used my brush & paste although I had it.
From the 3rd day of my stay I stopped sleeping on the bed arranged for me & started sleeping near the tree with my group.

One night I drove away a mad dog to ensure that my friends sleep well at night.

I enjoyed long chats with budhmania didi, bajo didi, phagi didi, satan dada & nanadkisore dada in the evening.

I also enjoyed the invitations for dinner by various didis Fagi didi, Bajo didi, Somo didi and Budhmania didi.

I was also frightened by the ghost stories at night which Bindhe, chaita, subash told me.

Rohit, Subodh, ajit & chotu always loved me for I gave them biscuits in the after noon.


My discomfort

I had to travel a long distance to respond to the call of nature.

Initially 2 days I felt a bit alone as I was new to that place but then I adjusted well very easily.

Seeing people killing pig was a personal discomfort for me.

Seeing Kalwari’s sister who is mentally challenged & his pain made me sad.

Sometimes I dint enjoy the local jungle vegetables which I have never tasted in my life.

My dislikes

Irresponsible & unconscious education at school.

Uprooting the LI & then crying for help.

Women & girls going out long distances to respond the call of nature.

On the other side of the village, most of the children didnot go to school.

They were a bit low in maintaining hygiene.

My Learnings

I Came to know about the really poor.

Now I can adjust in any kind of village I feel without electricity & other facilities.

Now I learnt social interplay with the poor families.

Now I understand their problems & feel that it’s our social responsibility to help them.

SHGs

There are 4 SHGs in the village which is promoted by Pradan. They are:

Name of SHG Name of Lekhapal Members
1.Kisan Mahila Mandal Kalwari 18
2.Sarna Mahila Mandal Manohar 16
3.Chala Mahila Mandal Arjun 21
4.BajrangBali Mahila Mandal Bajo didi 18
1.
They sit every Friday & 2 members from every SHG attend the cluster meeting on 2nd of every month, as per the number assigned to them.

The SHG is formed since 2002 & is 7 years old. They regularly conduct this meeting. It was formed with Pradan’s assistance.

Benefits:

1. They take loan to buy cattle for agriculture.
2. They take loan to build their homes.
3. They take loans for higher education of their children.
4. They take loans for marriage & other personal uses.

The main aim behind forming this SHG is that the women in the village collected their savings which acted as an emergency fund for them. After formation of SHG didis claimed that they have been benefited a lot by this practice & they now are in full form to continue this. Now they don’t have to ask money from anybody else at higher interest rates, now they can always ask for help from their SHG at nominal interest rates of Rs.50 per Rs100/ week for a stipulated period of time & this ensures their self-sufficiency. Their families have been benefited by schemes like Mango plantation which was given to the SHG members. Being an SHG member ensured that they are in touch with PRADAN & they can seek help from PRADAN’s dada, they claimed. Now they have enough savings. They have bank accounts one is savings account & other is credit account they are now assisted by professionals from Pradan which they say is valuable for them.
I was really impressed by this practice this is something which I had never seen before

I express my hearty thanks to my field guide Mr.Rajeev Ranjan for guiding me & giving me the opportunity of village stay. I also like to extend my thanks to my field friends Prakash Da, Sukanta Da, Rajibul da, Pankaj Da & Suchit da. They frequently visited me during the village stay & helped me in the preparation of report & presentation.

Regards Abhishek Sinha