Golaghat District Research Articles

Teaching learning materials in the early childhood care and education centre in Golaghat district of Assam

The Early Childhood Care and Education favour on the holistic development of the child and prepares child for school. It is expected to provide necessary maturational and experimental readiness to the child for meeting the demands of primary school curriculum. Early childhood development is therefore globally acknowledged as a significant input for lifelong development and successful completion of primary education. The objective of the study is toassess the availability of the teaching learning materials in the early childhood care and education center and to assess the acceptability of teaching learning materials by young children. The schools were from both the urban areas and the rural areas of Golaghat district of Assam. For selection of the samples 20 numbers of schools from each of the five educational blocks were selected.Achecklist has been preparedfor the teachers ofthe earlychildhood care and education centers. For analysis of surveyed data the interview schedule was thoroughly coded and appropriates tables were designed. Preliminary analytical devices expressed in frequency and percentages were used. The observation method was mainly used in the study to see the acceptability of teaching learning materials by young children. 98 per cent of the schools were having the teaching learning materials for the early childhood care and education. 60 per cents replied that the teaching learning materials were locally prepared, 92 per cent of the teachers also replied that the teaching learning materials was supplied from the Government of Assam. The children are more involved with activities when the teaching learning materials are administered to them. It has been observed that the children acceptance is more and learning is more effective with the use of teaching learning materials and the environment created is more joyful and child centric.

Effectiveness of introducing home-based newborn care (HBNC) voucher system in Golaghat District of Assam

Problem considered India carries the single largest share (around 25–30%) of neonatal deaths in the world.Neonatal deaths constitute two-thirds of infant deaths in India; 45% of the deaths occur within the first two days of life.1 MethodsThe primary objective was to assess the effectiveness of use of voucher system in HBNC in Golaghat District of Assam with a secondary objective to assess awareness and utilization of different maternal and child health related services. A community-based before/after intervention study was conducted in Golaghat District of Assam. Two-stage cluster sampling was used. All ASHAs (accredited social health activist) of the selected beneficiaries were assessed. All mothers who delivered were given a set of 6 HBNC double perforated numbered vouchers following baseline study and capacity building of ASHA. When the ASHA visits the baby and examines it using the standard recording format, mother/caregiver handed over the appropriate number of the voucher. The ASHA received the HBNC incentive only after all the six vouchers were submitted. Endline survey was done after 6 months of intervention. Rates, ratios and proportions were determined and chi-square test was done to assess the difference in knowledge and practices. ResultsA total of 582 and 650 caregivers and 174 and 182 ASHAs were assessed in baseline and endline. Only 68.2% know about birth preparedness, while 90.9% know about young infant and child feeding; 77.7% know about family planning and reproductive tract infection (RTI/STI) and 77.3% know the importance of safe delivery, while all know about immunization; 54.5% know about essential newborn care, 81.8% know the importance of home visit and all were unsatisfied with their incentives. Significant improvement was found in HBNC practices, antenatal and post-natal care, iron folic acid supply and immunization following introduction of voucher system (p<0.05). ConclusionsIntroduction of HBNC was found to be an effective intervention tool to improve knowledge on different healthy behaviour related to mother and child health, especially neonatal health, awareness of different services available amongst beneficiaries and practice pattern improvement amongst both service provider and beneficiaries.

Identification of intercrops in small tea plantations at Golaghat district of Assam, India

The study was conducted at Golaghat district of Assam, India with an objective to identify different intercrops and then different reasons to grow them by small tea growers in their tea gardens. As such a three stage random sampling design was used. All together 100 numbers of small tea growers were selected (during 2011). The study identified three crops viz., coconut, areca nut and sasi which were commercially cultivated as intercrop in the study area. Out of which sasi was more popular among growers and extensively cultivated with tea as intercrop. The growers were adopting intercropping mainly for additional income. Beside this, some other reasons were also identified.

Determinants of Credit Accessibility by the Small Tea Growers: A Study in Golaghat District of Assam

Determinants of Credit Accessibility by the Small Tea Growers: A Study in Golaghat District of Assam

Rural Tourism Development: A Study on Perception Local Community and Tourist of Durgapur Rural Tourism Project in the Golaghat District of Assam

Rural tourism includes a range of activities, services and amenities provided by farmers and rural people to attract tourists to their area in order to generate extra income for their business. This type of tourism enhances the revenue of government of a country as well as earnings of the rural community. The Assam government at present introduced four rural tourism projects at four resourceful villages of Assam. The present study makes an attempt to evaluate the performance of Durgapur Rural Tourism Project with a view to examine the potentialities and challenges of the project. The study observed that although the village has resourceful commodities but the site has been suffering since its inception to attract the tourist affecting into sustainability of the project and strategy of the government. To ensure the increase in the revenue of the project as well as local community, it is necessary to moderate the site with resourceful rural activities that can attract the tourist easily and also adopt steps for monitoring the site regularly by appointing some agency. The study also recommended that advertising and promotional campaign must be introduced to ensure the rise of number of tourist.

Opportunity Cost of Biodiversity Conservation and Attitudes Towards it in Assam

The study assesses the extent of dependence on forest by the dwellers of village forests and encroachers and estimate the opportunity cost of biodiversity conservation in terms of benefits foregone as well as external cost. The study showed the attitudes of dwellers of village forests and encroachers towards biodiversity conservation through Forest Rights Act 2006. During the study period, 190 households were surveyed in four village forests and two encroached villages under reserved forests of Sonitpur and Golaghat districts of Assam. It was observed that both village-types earned a significant portion of their total income from forest which demands livelihood diversification to reduce their dependency on forest. The benefits of conservation outweighed opportunity cost of biodiversity conservation for encroached villagers. Though the dwellers of village forests and encroachers had positive attitudes towards biodiversity conservation but they were more concern about their personal rights rather than biodiversity conservation through this Act. It is recommended that environmental education program, co-management mechanism by all stakeholders and self monitoring systems by the right-holders on their use of forest resources are necessary for biodiversity conservation.

Impact of Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (Sgsy) On Poverty Alleviation in Golaghat District, Assam

Self-employment is one of the significant steps to have sustained income and to remove the shackle of poverty. Earlier programmes of Government of India such as Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP) gained momentum but did not yield desirable result. After examining the deficiencies of the earlier programmes government launched an integrated self-employment programme Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY). This programme aims at establishing large number of micro enterprises through SHGs in the rural areas to build upon the potential of rural poor. Through this programme Government of India attempts to support capacity building and create provisions of income generation of rural poor through bank credit and subsidy. In India and Assam SGSY scheme has provided a successful livelihood to the BPL families and increase financial strength of the rural poor and help in decision making and alleviation of poverty. This paper highlights the impacts of SGSY programmes on poverty alleviation of the rural poor in the Golaghat District. The main objective of this paper is to identify the impacts of SGSY programme and constraints of the beneficiaries in increasing their income level. A total of 160 beneficiaries have been selected randomly from 16 villages of Golaghat West Development Block of Golaghat district of Assam to collect necessary data

Environmental Awareness Among Secondary School Students Of Golaghat District In The State Of Assam And Their Attitude Towards Environmental Education

The present study attempts to study the level of environmental awareness and attitudes towards environmental education among Secondary School students of Golaghat district in the state of Assam. The sample consisted of 200 students which includes 100 boys and 100 girls. The Descriptive Survey Method was employed for the present study. Environmental awareness, attitude and socio-economic scale was developed and standardized for the present study. The data was statistically analyzed by using ‘z’ test and Karl Pearson’s coefficient of correlation (‘r’). Environmental awareness and attitude towards environmental education among the Secondary School male and female students was found not significant; but in case of rural and urban student the attitude towards environmental education was found significant. The relationship between environmental awareness and attitudes towards environmental education among the students was found strong and positive.

Ecological Features of Cultivated Stands ofAquilaria malaccensisLam. (Thymelaeaceae), a Vulnerable Tropical Tree Species in Assamese Homegardens

Research was conducted in twenty-seven selected villages located in Jorhat and Golaghat districts of upper Assam, northeast India, for population estimation, quantitative ecological analysis, and evaluation ofAquilaria malaccensis(Thymelaeaceae). Vegetation sampling was done by quadrat method andA. malaccensisis the most dominant tree species in all twenty-seven different study sites of upper Assam contributing 10–54% of the total tree density with a mean of34%±2. Density of the species varied from 6,236 individuals ha−1to 429 individuals ha−1with a mean of 1,609 individualsha-1±217, whereas frequency of occurrence is very high ranging from 93% to 100% with a mean of98%±0.53in different study sites. Distribution ofA. malaccensisis found contagious in all twenty-six study sites on the basis of abundance to frequency ratio except in KBG, Golaghat, where its distribution is random with 0.04 abundance to frequency ratio. The widespread cultivation ofA. malaccensisin upper Assam, northeast India, offers a potential ex situ reservoir for the future conservation and management of this threatened tree.

Willingness to Spend Labour Hour for Biodiversity Conservation: A Case Study with Special Reference to Village Forest Dwellers and Encroachers in Assam

Loss of biodiversity has been considered as a major threat for mankind and declining biodiversity is burning issue in the north-eastern region of India, especially in Assam. Some of the threats to biodiversity in the region are deforestation and forest degradation, expansion of agriculture and illegal extraction of forest. The Forest Rights Act 2006 has been passed by the parliament of India with dual aims of protecting the right of forest dwellers and at the same time this Act tries to procure the involvement of forest dwellers to protect forest. The main objective of the paper is to determine the factors which affect willingness to pay in terms of labour hour for biodiversity conservation in Assam. 190 households were interviewed from two village forests and two encroached villages of Sonitpur and Golaghat districts of Assam during April and May of 2010. Respondents in village forest are more willing to pay than that of encroacher’s village. Sex, age, literacy of the respondents and size of land holdings were found to be significantly related to spending labour hours for biodiversity conservation programme.

Fertility Status of Soil in the Tea Garden Belts of Golaghat District, Assam, India

The increasing land use intensity without adequate and balanced use of chemical fertilizers and with little or no use of organic manure have caused severe fertility deterioration of our soils resulting in stagnating or even declining of crop productivity in Assam. The need of the hour is to achieve substantially higher crop yield than the present yield levels from our limited land resources on a sustainable basis. A study was carried out in the paddy fields of tea garden belts namely, Rungagora, Balijan, Banwaripur, Khomtai, Rungajaun, Lattakoojan, Borjan, Behora, Negheriting, and Borsapori of Golaghat district of Assam to investigate the fertility status of soil during 2008–2010. Results of the present study showed that soil solutions were acidic in nature in all seasons. Medium‐to‐high BD, medium SOM, medium‐to‐high available N and available phosphorous, and low availability of potash showed that soils were not sufficiently fertile for crop production. Depending on the SOM, available N, available P, and exchangeable K in soil, the study areas were grouped in to six fertility classes as MMML, MMHL, MMMM, MHHL, MHHM, and MMHM. Student t‐test values of all the parameters with control sample showed statistically significant results for SOM, available N, and available P in both seasons (dry and wet) and EC in wet seasons and bulk density in dry season only.

Dry biomass distribution pattern in Mallotus albus Muell. under energy plantation

The present paper on biomass distribution pattern of Mallotus albus Mull. under energy plantation was carried out in Golaghat district of Assam, India. Biomass production up to 36 months was estimated by random stratified technique. Total dry biomass at the age of 12, 24 and 36 months was estimated to be 0.78, 18.65 and 42.57 t ha-1 respectively. The percent contribution of utilizable biomass (wood, branch and bark) increased from 32.6% at 12 months to 71.9% at 36 months. Genetic improvement of the species should be worked out and vegetative multiplication of improved material to be utilized for raising high density plantation.

Attitudes Towards Biodiversity Conservation of Forests Dwellers and Encroachers: A Case Study of Assam in Northeast India

By enacting the Forest Rights Act 2006, the Government of India aimed to protect the rights of the forest dwellers; at the same time, it sought to involve the forest dwellers in protecting the forests. But the forest dwellers are critical of this Act, on the ground that it does not consider tribal customary laws, which are essential to protect both the forests and the rights of the forest dwellers. This paper examines the perceptions and attitudes of the dwellers of village forest and encroachers towards biodiversity conservation under the rights enshrined in the Forest Rights Act 2006. A survey was conducted in190 households in four village forests and two encroached villages under reserved forests of Sonitpur and Golaghat districts of Assam in Northeast India. The majority of the respondents were found to have positive attitudes towards environmental issues in general and protection of biodiversity loss in particular. Village-type, residents’ occupation, caste, source of fuel for cooking, educational qualifications and size of land holding were found to be significantly associated with attitudes towards biodiversity conservation. It is concluded that conducting an environmental education program and rights-holders’ monitoring system on the impact of their use of forest resources will support conservation of biodiversity.

Groundwater arsenic contamination in Brahmaputra river basin: a water quality assessment in Golaghat (Assam), India

Distribution of arsenic (As) and its compound and related toxicology are serious concerns nowadays. Millions of individuals worldwide are suffering from arsenic toxic effect due to drinking of As-contaminated groundwater. The Bengal delta plain, which is formed by the Ganga-Padma-Meghna-Brahmaputra river basin, covering several districts of West Bengal, India, and Bangladesh is considered as the worst As-affected alluvial basin. The present study was carried out to examine As contamination in the state of Assam, an adjoining region of the West Bengal and Bangladesh borders. Two hundred twenty-two groundwater samples were collected from shallow and deep tubewells of six blocks of Golaghat district (Assam). Along with total As, examination of concentration levels of other key parameters, viz., Fe, Mn, Ca, Na, K, and Mg with pH, total hardness, and SO[Formula: see text], was also carried out. In respect to the permissible limit formulated by the World Health Organization (WHO; As 0.01 ppm, Fe 1.0 ppm, and Mn 0.3 ppm for potable water), the present study showed that out of the 222 groundwater samples, 67%, 76.4%, and 28.5% were found contaminated with higher metal contents (for total As, Fe, and Mn, respectively). The most badly affected area was the Gamariguri block, where 100% of the samples had As and Fe concentrations above the WHO drinking water guideline values. In this block, the highest As and Fe concentrations were recorded 0.128 and 5.9 ppm, respectively. Tubewell water of depth 180±10 ft found to be more contaminated by As and Fe with 78% and 83% of the samples were tainted with higher concentration of such toxic metals, respectively. A strong significant correlation was observed between As and Fe (0.697 at p<0.01), suggesting a possible reductive dissolution of As-Fe-bearing minerals for the mobilization of As in the groundwater of the region.

Seasonal Distribution of Trace Metals in Ground and Surface Water of Golaghat District, Assam, India

A study has been carried out on the quality of ground and surface water with respect to chromium, manganese, zinc, copper, nickel, cadmium and arsenic contamination from 28 different sources in the predominantly rural Golaghat district of Assam (India). The metals were analysed by using atomic absorption spectrometer. Water samples were collected from groundwater and surface water during the dry and wet seasons of 2008 from the different sources in 28 locations (samples). The results are discussed in the light of possible health hazards from the metals in relation to their maximum permissible limits. The study shows the quality of ground and surface water in a sizeable number of water samples in the district not to be fully satisfactory with respect to presence of the metals beyond permissible limits of WHO. The metal concentration of groundwater in the district follows the trend As&gt;Zn&gt;Mn&gt;Cr&gt;Cu&gt;Ni&gt;Cd in both the seasons.

Anti-genotoxic hydrazide from Crinum defixum

Crinum defixum Ker-Gawl popularly known as Bon-naharu (meaning wild garlic) in Assam. It is found abundantly growing wild on riverbanks of Dhansiri River in Golaghat District of Assam. It is used as ethnomedicine in this part of India for a number of ailments. Bioassay guided chemical investigation of the bulbs of Crinum defixum Ker-Gawl afforded to isolate a new hydrazide derivative and its structure was determined as ( E)- N′-[( E)-2-butenoyl]-2-butenoylhydrazide by spectroscopic methods. The compound was assayed for anti-genotoxic activity by onion root tip assay (by observing different types of chromosomal aberrations such as chromosomal bridges, stickiness, delayed anaphase, polyploidy and vagrant chromosome). The phyto-compound was found to have anti-genotoxic activity and imparted a clear dose dependent protective effect against the genotoxic effect of H 2O 2. Further, the compound seems to be more effective against clastogenic aberrations than physiological aberration at the highest concentration used (250 ppm).

Raising of Stocking Materials of Indian Major Carps in Pen Enclosures in Selected Floodplain Wetlands of Assam, India

Raised stocking materials, fingerling of Indian major carp seeds (Catla catla, Labeo rohita Cirrhinus mrigala) in pens, installed in two floodplain wetlands of Assam viz. Goruchora (Golaghat district) and 46-Morakollang (Morigaon district). The pens were stocked at 30,000 fry•ha-1, in a ratio of 3:2:1 of C. catla, L. rohita and C. mrigala fry, respectively. The average initial length and weight of fry at the time of stocking for C. catla, L. rohita and C. mrigala were 5.45 cm (1.80 g), 4.51 cm (1.15 g) and 4.65 cm (1.12 g), respectively. The fish stocks inside the pens were given supplementary feeds, mustard oil cake and rice polish (1:1) at 5% body weight. The pens were harvested after a rearing period of 145 days with an average growth of C. catla (19.0 cm, 85.1 g), L. rohita (15.8 cm, 52.8 g) and C. mrigala (15.8 cm, 42.9 g) in Goruchora wetland, while in 46- Morakollang wetland it was recorded as 17.0 cm (63.8 g) for C. catla, 15.4 cm (55.9 g) for L. rohita and 14.0 cm (41.5 g) for C. mrigala for further grow-out in the lakes proper. During the period of experimentation, the fluctuations in water quality parameters like water temperature (17.6-29.0o C), transparency (72-102 cm), dissolved oxygen (3.60-16.50 mg•l-1), pH (7.12-9.53), total dissolved solids (46.6-111.3 mg•l-1) and specific conductance (102-232 µS•cm-1) were monitored, too. The production in terms of fish biomass (fingerlings) was estimated at 2106 and 1780 kg•ha-1 in Goruchora and 46- Morakollang wetlands, respectively. The cost-benefit ratio was calculated as 1.40 (Goruchora) and 1.77 (46-Morakollang), which can be considered as significant, economically.