Rural Areas Of Punjab Research Articles

From Sickle to Pen

This article discusses the relationship between women’s education and their everyday mobility in the rural areas of Punjab, Pakistan. Based on an ethnographic case study from a village in Southern Punjab, information from semi-structured interviews and observations is used to demonstrate an enhanced access to education has altered women’s everyday mobility trends. However, questions regarding women’s empowerment remain unresolved. Although some rural women have always been engaged in agricultural activities, there have been limitations on their mobility due to cultural sensitivities. I conclude the nature of social and socio-spatial relationships is being negotiated in some cultural contexts of rural Punjab through the changing facets of women’s mobility associated with modern education.

Heavy Metal Contamination in Excreta of Blue Rock Pigeon (Columba livia) and Indian Peafowl (Pavo cristatus) in Rural Areas of Punjab

Heavy Metal Contamination in Excreta of Blue Rock Pigeon (Columba livia) and Indian Peafowl (Pavo cristatus) in Rural Areas of Punjab

Exploring the Service Quality determinants of Solar Product Dealers

The present study explored the determinants affecting service quality of solar product dealers. The study is based on primary data, collected from a total of 345 solar pump users from different villages and rural areas of Punjab. Exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and paired sample t-test have been used to examine the data. Furthermore, the SERVQUAL scale has been used to measure the service quality of solar product dealers. Paired sample t-test was used to measure the users’ expectation and perception gap between service quality dimensions. The results validated that five factors namely reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, and tangibility influence service quality of solar product dealers and there is no significant difference between perceptions and expectations of solar product users except for the responsiveness dimension. As far as gap analysis is concerned, the dimension ‘responsiveness’ was responsible for the highest gap score. So, perceptions of solar product users are not fully being met with their expectations.

Levels, Pattern and Distribution of Income of Women Labour Households in Rural Punjab

Based on primary data collected from 1017 women labour households spread over four districts of Punjab, the present study reveals that the women labour households, on an average, earn 77198.48, annually in the rural areas of Punjab. These households earn only 24.91 per cent of their total income from hiring out (contractual as well as casual) labour in agriculture, which is too low to meet their basic necessities. Most of the time, the agricultural labourers have to remain unemployed due to seasonal employment in the agricultural sector. Therefore, they have to search other sources of income which include income from hiring out labour in construction work, salaries, MGNREGA, self-employment, domestic servants, white-washing and so on. From the other sources, they earned 71.23 per cent of their total household income. Beside of this, an average woman labour household receives a very small proportion of the total income, (3.86 per cent) as transfer income. There are more disparities in the distribution of per capita income in comparison to that of household income among the women labourers in the rural areas of Punjab.

Socioeconomic Determinants of Child Mortality (Under Age One): Reported by Mothers of Reproductive Age in Punjab, Pakistan

The future of a nation lies in the hands of its children. Health of children should be the first priority of a nation. It is an indicator of social and economic development. Pakistan falls among high child mortality rate countries. The aim of this paper is to assess the socioeconomic determinants of child mortality in the Punjab. For this purpose, the study obtains data from Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (2014), conducted by Punjab Bureau of statistics. The data were collected with the help of well-designed three questionnaires from 38,405 households of Punjab. The STATA is used to apply Logistic model to determine the factors affecting child mortality. The dependent variable is dichotomous in nature based on this question “Have you ever given birth to a boy or girl who was born alive but later died?” and response is either yes or no. According to the empirical results of the study, area of residence, source of drinking water, women ever attended school and their level of education, women media awareness, women smoking and wealth quintiles are important socioeconomic determinants of child mortality. But comparatively, wealth quintiles have greater influence on reducing child mortality. The study suggests some policies to improve the situation, e.g., allocation of more budget for health, initiative of health care programs for women and infant, particularly in rural areas of Punjab.

Factors Affecting Customers’ Attitude towards Solar Energy Products

This paper aims to understand the customer attitude toward solar energy products in the Indian context. The data of 510 respondents have been collected from rural areas of Punjab (India) through a structured research schedule using convenient sampling. Various factors have been identified that collectively impact the customer attitude towards solar energy products. Multiple regression analysis was used to measure the magnitude of the impact of the identified dimensions on the customer attitude. The results of regression analysis validated that customer attitude towards solar products is significantly determined by green purchase behaviour and government initiatives. However, dimensions such as environmental knowledge, promotion and advertisement, environmental concern, and peers influence were not found significant to the customer attitude towards solar energy products.

Relationship between Television Violence and Social Aggression a Study Conducted on Youth of Rural Areas of Punjab

This study investigates the relationship between television violence and the social aggression of youth of rural areas of Punjab. This study is helpful to examine the exposure and attitude toward television violence of rural area youth of Punjab. This study also examined the impact of television violence on the social aggression of youth. Cross-sectional research design is used in this study and data was collected from the youth of the rural areas of nine divisions of Punjab. A total of 344 respondents were taken as sample size and a stratified sampling technique is used for data collection from the concerned population. The results of this study are generated through statistical software SPSS and Smart PLS. It was hypothesized that exposure toward television violence and the social aggression of youth have a positive relationship. The statistical test results show positive relationship among all hypotheses. So findings of the study help to conclude that exposure, attitude, and cognition toward television violence has an impact on the social aggression of youth of rural areas of Punjab.

Analysis of Incidence and Determinants of Poverty Among Scheduled Caste Households in Rural Punjab

The present article attempts to analyse the incidence and determinants of poverty among Scheduled Caste (SC) households in rural Punjab. The study based on the primary data of 543 SC households selected from rural areas of Punjab, concluded that the incidence of consumption-based poverty among different categories is slightly less than the incidence of income-based poverty among different categories of SCs across sampled districts. One explanation for this is that SC households try to maintain a minimum standard of living by taking loans from various institutional as well as non-institutional agencies. There is a negative relationship between the income earned by SC households and the percentage of those living below the poverty line (BPL). The study suggests that the proportion of SCs living BPL can decrease with an increase in their level of income and employment.

Diversification of Employment in the State of Punjab: Factors and Future Prospects

This paper examines the diversification of the employment scenario in the state of Punjab by utilising secondary data sources collected from various government and non-governmental sources. The results of the study show that the economy of Punjab has gone through the process of structural transformation which is revealed from the changing pattern of per capita contribution in net State Domestic Product. However, the economy of Punjab has not witnessed any transformation in terms of employment generation. In this sense, the rural population in the state of Punjab largely depends on the agricultural sector. The study also identified the major factors that contributed towards the non-farm employment generation in the state of Punjab. The empirical results of the study highlighted the level of education, values of non-farm assets, and the distance of the village from the nearest town as the major contributors towards rural non-farm sector. Based on the findings, the study suggests that efforts should be made to enhance infrastructural facilities to enhance the participation in the non-farm activities. Along with this, there is a dire need to strengthen the farm and non-farm linkages to enhance better opportunities for employment in rural areas of Punjab.

Health-care utilization and expenditure patterns in the rural areas of Punjab, India.

Objective:To determine pattern of health care utilization and extent of out-of-pocket healthcare expenditure in rural areas of Punjab in India.Methods:Using multi stage sampling procedure, 660 participants were selected from 110 villages, out of all 22 districts; 440 participants had utilized outpatient care in past 15 days, and 220 had been hospitalized in past one year. Pretested semistructured questionnaires were used to enquire about household and healthcare expenditures. Out-of-pocket (OoP) expenditure included only direct costs of healthcare. Sevety seven 77 (12%) participants could not provide expenditures, hence were excluded from analysis. More than 10% of total household expenditure on healthcare was considered catastrophic.Results:Majority of the participants had used public sector health facilities for outpatient (57%) and inpatient (51.5%) care. Public sector facilities were utilized more often for communicable diseases and gynaecological problems whereas private sector services were used more commonly for accidents and non-communicable diseases. Mean healthcare expenditure on outpatient and inpatient healthcare services was Indian Rupees (INR) 8501 and INR 53889 respectively. Expenditure in private sector was significantly higher compared to the public sector facilities. Catastrophic expenditure was incurred by 7% of the households while seeking outpatient care and by 53% while seeking inpatient care. To pay for outpatient and inpatient care, 23.3% and 61.5% of the participants respectively had to borrow money or sell their assets.Conclusions:Healthcare expenditure places households under considerable financial strain in rural areas of Punjab in India. Improvements of public hospitals may increase their utilization and decrease financial burden.

Construction of Negative Identity of Female Gender in the Punjabi Proverbs

Language plays an important role in constructing identities in a society. The Punjabi Language is a member of the modern Indo-Aryan family of languages. It has a very rich culture, especially in the rural areas of Punjab. Punjabi language has a strong connection with the culture and its norms. Punjabi society is a patriarchal society in which, male members who bear the decision-making authority, head the families. Women are usually not included in making decisions and are considered socially and economically dependent on men. Women consider themselves insecure, incomplete, ineffective and inefficient without males. Therefore, the male dominance becomes one of the significant predictor of the male discrimination against women. Power relations are maintained through the use of Punjabi proverbs. The female gender endures gender discrimination and low self-esteem. Male dominance is also exercised through the use of proverbs. The current research aims to expose the male dominance and the negative connotations attached with the identity of female gender in the Punjabi society. Female gender will get awareness of their identities constructed through the use of language in the proverbs. The qualitative research method has been employed to research randomly selected 20 Punjabi proverbs. It employs critical discourse analysis as its theoretical framework. Norman Fairclough’ 3D model has been used to do textual analysis. The proverbs have been taken from the famous book “Punjabi Akhaan”. The proverbs have been analyzed on the literal, contextual, syntactic, semantic and pragmatic levels. They have also been dissected on the micro, meso and macro levels to analyze them from the different perspectives. The frequency of the use of Punjabi proverbs has also been observed. After the research, it has been concluded that male dominance in the Punjabi language causes gender discrimination and false representation of female identities. The kind of images constructed in the Punjabi proverbial language truly labels the female gender permanently with the negative connotations. It hinders their progress as well as their status. All the females of Punjabi culture will be benefitted with the current research. It will enable them to understand the kind of male dominance and gender discrimination in the Punjabi language. As a result they will be able to understand the authenticity and the true value attached to these proverbs.

Poverty among Scheduled Caste Households in Rural Punjab

In Punjab, the poor economic conditions of scheduled castes force them to survive with low standards of living. The social exclusion is viewed as the prominent reason for their poverty as a result of which these downtrodden people face certain obstacles to reap the benefits of sustainable development policies. The main objective of the present study is to analyze the levels of poverty and the factors affecting income and consumption based poverty among the scheduled caste households in the rural areas of Punjab. Multiple regression is used to explore the relationship between poverty and the different factors affecting it on the basis of their income and consumption patterns. The study is based on secondary data as well as primary data. The study explores that in Sri Muktsar Sahib district, the large portion of the scheduled caste households is living below poverty line with minimum necessities and facilities of life as compared to other two selected districts. The World Bank estimates of moderate poverty are quite high as compared to the Tendulkar Expert Group estimates and the incidence of poverty on the basis of per household's income and expenditure is more than poverty on the basis of per capita income and expenditure. The major factor influencing the income per capita of scheduled caste households is non-agricultural income whereas the major factor affecting consumption expenditure per capita is per person expenditure on education.

Cross sectional study to assess immunization knowledge and practice among families of children between 0 -5 years in rural areas of Punjab, India

Background: Immunization is the single most cost effective and efficient intervention to reduce the burden of childhood mortality and morbidity worldwide. Vaccines under universal immunization programme (UIP) are provided free of cost but still the current coverage of fully immunized children is quite low. Main reason identified for poor coverage included illiteracy, lack of knowledge and poverty.Methods: It is a cross sectional study carried out in rural area of Punjab from March 2014-March 2015. Total 500 families with 500 children between age 0-5 years were selected randomly. Study involved one to one, interview according to a pretested structured questionnaire prepared in a vernacular language Punjabi and English too.Results: Total 500 children were included in the study out of which 230 (46%) were female and 270 (54%) were male. Maximum coverage to BCG vaccination (77.2%) and minimum for measles vaccine (56.2%) was observed. 55% of children were completely immunized, 28.8% were partially immunized and 16.2% were not immunized. Most common reason given by families for non\partial immunization was lack of knowledge, family issues and sickness of child.Conclusions: It is concluded from present study that the main reason for partial\non-immunization was lack of knowledge of families about vaccination. Considering incomplete knowledge and inappropriate practices the policy makers and medical profession require to put in much more efforts to sensitise families about importance regarding immunization in preventing diseases and their consequent morbidity and mortality.

Stroke profile and outcome between urban and rural regions of Northwest India: Data from Ludhiana population-based stroke registry.

The objective of this study is to compare the clinical profile, risk factors, type and outcome of stroke patients in urban and rural areas of Punjab, India. The primary data source was from the Ludhiana urban population-based stroke registry. The data of first-ever stroke patients with age ≥18 years were collected using WHO stepwise approach from all hospitals, general practitioners, physiotherapy and scan centres between 26 March 2011 and 25 March 2013. A total of 4989 patients were included and out of 4989 patients, 3469 (69%) were from urban areas. Haemorrhagic stroke was seen more in rural as compared to urban regions (urban 1104 (32%) versus rural 552 (36%); p = 0.01). There were significant differences seen in stroke risk factors; hypertension (urban 1923 (84%) versus rural 926 (89%); p = 0.001) and hyperlipidaemia (urban 397 (18%) versus rural 234 (23%); p = 0.001) between two groups. In the multivariable analysis the rural patients were more likely to be younger (age < 40 years) (OR: 1.82; 95% CI: 1.24-2.68; p = 0.002), Sikhs (OR: 2.57; 95% CI: 1.26-5.22; p = 0.009), farmers (OR: 9.41; 95% CI: 5.36-16.50; p < 0.001), housewives (OR: 2.71; 95% CI: 1.45-5.06; p = 0.002), and consumed alcohol (OR: 1.57; 95% CI: 1.19-2.06; p = 0.001) as compared to urban patients. In addition, use of imaging was higher in rural patients (OR: 1.99; 95% CI: 1.06-3.74; p = 0.03) as compared to urban patients. In this large cohort of patients, rural and urban differences were seen in risk factors and type of stroke. Stroke prevention strategies need to take into consideration these factors including regional sociocultural practices.

Characteristics and utilization of ante natal care services amongst women of rural Punjab, India- a community based study

Background: India has high maternal and infant mortality. The maternal mortality ratio (MMR) in India (2013) was 167 per 100 000 live births and infant mortality rate (IMR) was 40 per 1000 live births. In rural Punjab, the MMR and IMR were 155 and 26 respectively. Ante natal care (ANC) services are crucial in reducing MMR and IMR but still there are barriers to the reach and utilization of ANC services. The objective of present study is to assess the characteristics and utilization of antenatal care (ANC) services in rural areas of Punjab, IndiaMethods: A total of 820 women were interviewed in a community- based analytical cross sectional study from 20 villages of Amritsar, Punjab (India) in 2005-06 by standard cluster sampling.Results: About 93% respondents had received at least one ANC during last birth. Almost 92% of women received injection tetanus toxoid (TT) and 56.34% received iron folic acid (IFA) tablets as ANC services. But only 49.75 % of the respondents had at least ≥3 ANC visits. 59.15% respondents did not receive any health advice from health worker during pregnancy.Conclusions: The majority of respondents, although availed the ANC services, but did not availed the full ANC package. The literacy of women has significant bearing on utilization of ANC. Health education is observed to be the most neglected aspect. The role of local health workers and community participation would be crucial in improving the utilization of ANC services at ground level.

Education and Employment Situation in India: A Case Study of Rural Punjab

Indian society experiences various inequalities in the field of education and employment wherein the scheduled castes subsist on the minimal levels. They are lagging behind in the developmental process. The main objective of the paper is to analyse these two parameters among scheduled castes of rural Punjab. The paper is divided into three sections. To begin with, the educational and employment situation of scheduled castes is compared with general population in India and in Punjab. Thereafter, the relationship between these two components is considered. In the next part, their educational status and inequality in the occupational structure is examined. The paper revealed that the diminutive educational as well as occupational status of the scheduled castes in rural areas of Punjab represents their disappointing situation. The paper is based on the secondary as well as primary data. Secondary data is taken from Census of India and various issues of NSSO. Primary data is collected from three districts of Punjab namely SAS Nagar, Hoshiarpur and Sri Muktsar Sahib districts.

Epidemiological study of road traffic accident cases admitted in government tertiary hospital: a study from Punjab, India

Background: Among all types of injuries road traffic injuries constitute a major public health problem. They lead to not only deaths but many more cases of morbidity and disability. People from all economic groups are affected but poor are affected the worst because they suffer from double brunt of injuries and also the economic loss; sometimes pushing them below the poverty line. The present study was conducted to study the epidemiological variables involved in road traffic accidents.Methods: 500 road traffic accident victims admitted in emergency department of Rajindra Hospital, a tertiary institute; attached to Government Medical College, Patiala (Punjab) were studied from July 2002 to February 2003. In this descriptive study pretested proforma was used to know the various epidemiological factors related to road traffic accident victims. The demographic variables, category of road users, details of injured pedestrians and types of vehicles involved in road traffic accidents were studied.Results: The road traffic accident victims mainly include the young males, especially 21-30 years (31.4%), married (70.6%), and men (86.8%) mainly literate (66.6%), from rural areas of Punjab. Maximum accidents occurred during night time (8pm- 4am) and major involvement was of two wheelers (63.4%). Mainly drivers were affected in the road crashes (46.6%) followed by pedestrians (21.4%).Conclusions: young male drivers are affected the most, mainly involving two wheelers. There should be regular and continuous on-going traffic safety and awareness programs covering all the media especially directed towards education of drivers, pedestrians and young population; mainly focusing on the schools and colleges youth.

Sociological Analysis of Community Participation in Sustainable Water Supply in Rural Areas of Punjab, Pakistan

There are many questions arising about country’s ability to ensure adequate water supplies for residents. This study aims to examine the degree of participation of community in supplying the water and further to explore certain sociological factors that may promote or impede the supply of water. In present study collected data was used for developing a causal relationship among the variables. The sample size consists of n=300. Two rural water supply schemes were selected from each District. For collection of data cross sectional survey research method was used. Interview schedule was formed as data collection tool to gather information from respondents who were head of house hold. It is found that empowerment of local people in operation and maintenance tasks of development projects enhance ownership of these projects, in terms of sustainability. It was found that lack of interest of line departments, non-fulfillment of promised benefits and lack of sense of ownership in community is the reason of dissatisfaction with the operating system of water services in their village. The findings of the present study clearly warrant the need for increased rural water supply programs and active engagement of people in quality assurance such schemes. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2016.v7n2s1p448

Extent and Magnitude of Indebtedness Among Scheduled Caste Households-A Case Study of Punjab

The objective of the present paper is to analyse the extent and magnitude of indebtedness among the Scheduled Caste households in rural Punjab. The present study is based on a sample size of 543 Scheduled Caste households of Punjab. The study has concluded that the average amount of loan per indebted Scheduled Caste household is 36, 496.64, while the average amount of loan per sampled household is 50, 044.20 in the rural areas of Punjab. The amount of loan per indebted household and per sampled household increases as the income of the Scheduled Caste household's decreases. The study further revealed the fact that the low level of income and employment prospects fail to meet the family requirements of the Scheduled Caste households.

Magnitude and Determinants of Indebtedness Among Farmers in Rural Punjab

The objective of the present paper is to estimate and compare the debt position of the sampled households of the different farm-size categories in the rural areas of Punjab. The concentration of debt within various categories has also been studied. Source-wise debt has been classified according to the lending agencies. The various purposes for which the different categories of the farmers owed debt have also been studied. The debt incurred by different farm-size categories at various rates of interest have also been discussed in this paper. The present study is based on 631 farm households and relates to the year 2010–11.