Indian Village Research Articles

Developing a community based participatory model for efficient and sustainable use of groundwater – An exploratory research using system dynamics in a village in south India

The paper presents a model developed collaboratively with farmers in a south Indian village to visualize productive, efficient and sustainable usage of groundwater. This model is based on information and data collected over several years and analyzed through participatory community interactions. The objective of the participatory modeling process is to trigger thinking among the community regarding the use of groundwater in a sustainable manner. It is expected that a model of sustainable groundwater use would evolve if the community is able to perceive groundwater as a community resource. With the System Dynamics approach, the community was enabled to understand the complexities in groundwater availability patterns, its over exploitation and its impact, and also to visualize scenarios that suit their context for sustaining their agriculture. These scenarios effectively project the potential of groundwater as a critical and productive source of irrigation so as to sustain the agricultural base of the village community. They also helped in visualizing the benefits of collectivizing groundwater from the existing borewells within the village boundaries. The study reveals that there is a possibility for more sustainable use of groundwater in the selected village provided the community makes a viable choice to restrict the irrigated area and pool groundwater to provide protective irrigation to rainfed crops in a much larger area.

RaagDarbari: An Analysis of the Post-Colonial Political Scenario in India

In the novel, RaagDrabari, Shrilal Shukla explores the little nuances and complexities of the largest democracy in the world, India. This creative work as a political satire explicitly presents the pathetic condition of India by metaphorically presenting a typical Indian village called Shivpalganj. It is a microcosm of Indian villages which are alienated and neglected in terms of modern material outlooks and developments. In India, politics and government are the two important factors that decide the fate of the country. As Gillian Wright points out in her introduction to the translated version of RaagDarbari, ‘politics and government’ are the two integral aspects of this novel. Therefore, the first part of this paper traces the evolution of these two strong pillars of India by focusing on the ideas presented in the novel. And the remaining part elucidates how much India changed since independence in terms of the socio-political and cultural perspectives envisioned by the visionary leaders and shared by common men.

Water, sanitation, and hygiene practices among rural households and related health impacts: a case study from some North Indian villages

Abstract The present study was carried out to assess the water availability, hygiene practices, and sanitary conditions in the households of open defecation-free (ODF) villages after achieving ODF status. Monitoring was conducted from 360 households of 9 ODF villages from 3 blocks of the Kurukshetra district of north India, using a questionnaire. The results interpreted that 78.33% of the surveyed population were using water supplied from government borewells and 65.55% of respondents agreed that their water is safe for drinking as they did not have any water-related diseases. Many respondents (57.2%) replied that someone in their family had suffered from waterborne disease in the preceding year. About 42.8% of households were treating their drinking water at the house level through methods like boiling, chlorination, and reverse osmosis systems. 90.8% of respondents said that they have access to a functional latrine facility. However, 5% population responded that they still prefer fields for open defecation (OD). Logistic regression results showed that the presence of garbage or litter and stagnant water near the household were associated with an increased risk of disease occurrence among the households. The findings suggested that people should maintain good sanitation and hygiene in their household surroundings to avoid health problems.

Who are the key players? Listeners vs spreaders vs others.

The literature on social learning examines how people learn from their neighbors and reach a consensus. The DeGroot social learning model describes the social learning process as one in which people form their opinions by taking a weighted average of their neighbors' opinions. In the model, the influence structure is represented by a single matrix. In this paper, we empirically identify the role of the hub and authority centralities based on this matrix using data on microfinance adoption in rural Indian villages. Controlling for other well-known centrality measures, authority centrality is positively associated with final adoption rates in the villages, but hub centrality is not. Furthermore, we find that authority centrality is the most informative variable predicting microfinance diffusion success from LASSO regressions.

Employment Arrangements, Labour Conditions, and Job Satisfaction Among the Women Workers Employed in the Pencil Village of India (Pulwama, Kashmir)

The expansion of industry in India necessitates the continual advancement of manufacturing workers. Employees encounter several obstacles that jeopardise their health, comfort, and access to important services. Such limits can be reduced by establishing legislation that prioritises the appropriate execution of particular workplace practises and allows individuals to work in a pleasant atmosphere. The Indian Factories Act of 1948 is one such legislation that attempts to guarantee the safety and well-being of all industrial employees in India. We examined the actual implementation of this Act, notably its welfare provisions, in Pulwama’s pencil factories. Despite women’s lack of education and ability, pencil makers offered individuals the possibility to work and earn a livelihood, but their earnings were insufficient. Though employers and the government are making efforts to recruit and assist women workers at pencil factories, we have discovered that they were ignoring their medical treatment facilities and some basic amenities. Women workers received insufficient pre- and post-natal care, which has led to frequent employment turnover following marriage. The majority of women workers were uninformed of their rights under the Factories Act and hence were unlikely to approach anybody or any organisation to enforce its responsibilities.

Strengths-based Gram Sabhas? Challenges and radical possibilities when ‘measuring’ poverty in India

Poverty as an object of study in India continues to be the domain of economists, statisticians and demographers. The National Sample Survey Organisation (NSS) serves as the main instrument of data collection to measure poverty relative to economic indicators. In this paper we draw on strengths-based research undertaken in an Indian village to foreground alternative ways of conceptualising and practising data collection when measuring poverty. Explored through an analytics of biopolitics, asset-mapping exercises with young people and women revealed new subjectivities that emerged via illustrative meaning-making and dialogue. This approach to poverty measurement facilitated methods and produced outcomes that were less calculated and predefined than the NSS, and encouraged participation, even questioning of the status quo, in the ‘doing’ of the methodology itself. A strengths orientation to poverty opens up radical possibilities, particularly in India where the state-sanctioned self-­governing body, the Gram Sabhas, has a mandate to provide for the most marginalised groups. And while this governing body is not free from power imbalances, the potential it offers, when combined with strengths-based approaches (SBA) that value people for the expertise they already have, demands renewed attention in practitioner and policy debates in the country.

Book review: Jan Breman, The Poverty Regime in Village India: Half a Century of Work and Life at the Bottom of the Rural Economy in South Gujarat

Jan Breman, The Poverty Regime in Village India: Half a Century of Work and Life at the Bottom of the Rural Economy in South Gujarat. Oxford University Press, 2007, 544 pp., ₹795. ISBN: 9780195690835.

Impact of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) on Rural Marketing & Development with Reference to selected Villages in India

Information is power and power is information. Without information there can be no growth. Now information is penetrating into rural India as well, because without its presence there, we cannot think about development of the entire country. India is in the midst of a knowledge revolution, complemented by the opening up of entirely new-vistas in information and communication technology. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has emerged as an effective facilitator in the development of any society and is a prime driving force in the growth of rural economies. The Rural Market of India is showing an impressive growth largely due to changing lifestyle patterns, better communication network and rapidly changing demand structure of consumers of rural area. With the changing patterns of Rural Market, the role of ICT has increased from providing only the Networks to set-up the basis of updated technological programs in the rural area. It is widely believed that Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) are effective tools in the development of rural India. Rural people are less knowledgeable rather than their city counterparts. Thus, technological advancement is necessary for every nook and corner of India.

Building viabilities: youth social action in the Indian Himalayas

ABSTRACT This paper examines the social action of young people in the north Indian village of Bemni, drawing on field research over a 20 year period. We argue that a cohort of young people in Bemni in the period 2004–2014 tended to focus on key issues of survival in their social action, what they often termed ‘lifelines’, related especially to infrastructure and schooling. A second cohort of young people involved in social action between 2015 and 2022 combined this focus with a concentration on issues of social inequality and ethical questions of how to sustain the social, environmental and spiritual/cultural fabric of their village. Building viability in this context involves simultaneously ‘thinking in’ to reflect on core issues of survival and ‘thinking out’ to consider how to integrate this quest for survival in relation to broader ethical concerns about society and cultural/spiritual practice.

Multi criteria decision making for the most suitable combination of energy resources for a decentralized hybrid energy solution with green hydrogen as the storage option

Decentralized hybrid renewable energy systems are emerging as possible solutions for remote locations not feasible for grid power. However, such systems always need a storage device to bridge the gap between demand and supply during its operation. Electrochemical storage systems are currently the most common devices for this purpose. An alternative novel process to meet this gap between the demand and supply of power may be to generate hydrogen with excess renewable power during off-peak load. Produced green hydrogen may be used by fuel cells to generate electricity subsequently to compensate for the gap during peak load. However, practical suitability of acceptance of these alternative options will depend on economic feasibility including risk in return on investment. This is explored through comparative evaluation of these options with relative assessment of a few indicative parameters including uncertainties. These parameters are fuel consumption, cost of electricity, net present cost, financial risk and renewable fraction with full load meeting. As projects with new technologies have generally associated risk with return on investment, a Monte Carlo Simulation is also done to assess and compare the uncertainties of different options. As the five different evaluation criteria do not converge to the same best solution, finally a multi-criteria decision-making approach is adopted to decide the acceptable solution. The sensitivity analysis is also performed to examine the robustness of the decided solution. The analysis results show that the combination of photovoltaic-wind-generator-Lithium-ion is techno-economically acceptable with a moderate risk and a significant renewable share. Corresponding values of different parameters are: cost of electricity-$0.159/kWh, net present cost - $4,24,568, fuel consumption- 2628L/year, renewable fraction- 96.5%, and standard deviation–0.45% respectively. Though the methodology is generic, the study is demonstrated with data of a remote Indian village.

Effectiveness of family-centred sexual health education and HPV self-sampling in promoting cervical cancer screening among hard-to-reach indian women in rural and tribal areas: a community-based pilot study

BackgroundWhile cervical cancer deaths have declined steeply in high-income countries due to the widespread use of the Papanicolaou test (Pap test), the same trend has not emerged in low or middle-income countries (LMICs). Access to screening in LMICs like India is limited due to barriers such as limited healthcare infrastructures, lack of sexual health education, and stigma demarcating sexually transmitted infections (STIs). HPV self-sampling (HPV-SS), a woman–centered and at-home method for screening, can be utilized as a unique screening tool to overcome some of these barriers. Our study examined the effectiveness of HPV-SS, supported by family-centred arts-based sexual health literacy on the uptake of cervical cancer screening among hard-to-reach women in rural and remote areas in India.MethodsOur community-based mixed methods pilot study recruited 240 participants (120 women and 120 male partners or family members) through female Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) across 3 Indian villages of Shirgoan, Khodala, and Jamsar in Palghar district. Inclusion criteria included women ages 30–69 who were under or never screened (UNS) and their male partners/family members aged 18 or over. Knowledge and attitudes about cervical cancer and screening and their perceived stigma surrounding STI were assessed using validated scales prior to and after attending a 2-hour arts-based sexual health education (SHE). In addition, participants’ uptake of cervical cancer screening was assessed after attendance in SHE.FindingsResults revealed significant improvement in knowledge and attitudes about cervical cancer and screening, and a reduction in the STI stigma after participation in SHE sessions (overall mean difference in Knowledge: z = 6.1 ± 2.4, P < 0.001; attitudes about Pap-test and VIA: z = 2.2 ± 8.4, P < 0.001 and z = 2.9 ± 8.2, P < 0.001; STI stigma: z = 2.8 ± 12.4, P < 0.001). 118 out of 120 female participants chose to be screened and 115 opted for HPV-SS.ConclusionsThe implementation of HPV-SS coupled with family-centered arts-based and culturally appropriate SHE is highly promising in promoting cervical cancer screening among hard-to-reach women. Evidence from our study can be used to advance public health policies and inform the scale-up of similar initiatives in other villages and states across rural India and other LMICs.

A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF GANDHI’S AND AMBEDKAR’S VIEWS ON THE INDIAN VILLAGE

The present paper focuses on the idea of village in the Indian context and chronicles the various identical transformations it underwent during the colonial times and especially during the freedom movement of India. The paper studies how during the nationalist movement, the idea of village became central to the idea of ‘India’ in the attempt to critique the colonial regime and its means and ways. The paper studies the idea of village from the points of view of two of the most crucial figures of the Indian freedom struggle and the shapers of the independent India, Mahatma Gandhi and B. R. Ambedkar. Mahatma Gandhi was a strong proponent of the idea that India could achieve svaraj or Independence only by focusing more and more on its rural life and areas and also candidly pointed out the shortcomings of the contemporary Indian villages for their betterment. The paper also provides an overview of the influence of Gandhi’s views on village on Gujarati as well as Indian literature in English. On one hand where Gandhi’s views of village were a democratic one, B. R. Ambedkar’s views came from the viewpoint of the oppressed. For him, the village represented the microcosm of upper-caste dominance in which the Dalits had no place. Hence, the paper also throws lights on a different view of village than of Gandhi, one of the subaltern’s view.

What influences village-level access to a bank branch? Evidence from India

PurposeFinancial access is key to achieving several economic goals in developing countries. This paper aims to construct a longitudinal village-level measure of financial access in India and understand the role of RBI's policies and village characteristics in influencing the access.Design/methodology/approachThe authors adopt a spatial approach in developing a metric of financial access. In particular, they measure the distance of each unbanked village in India to the nearest banked-centre from 1951 to 2019. The authors use this measure to conduct two exercises. First, a descriptive study is undertaken to assess how RBI's policies on bank branch expansion from 1951 to 2019 influenced the proximity to bank branches. Second, the authors conduct regression analyses to investigate how socio-economic and demographic characteristics of villages influence their proximity to bank branches.FindingsThe average distance of an unbanked village to the nearest banked-centre has declined from 43.5 km in 1951 to 4.2 km in 2019. The gain in bank access has varied geographically and over time. In 2001, bank branches were relatively distant from villages with under-privileged caste groups and proximate to areas with better infrastructure. This relationship worsened after 2005 when RBI introduced liberalized branch expansion policies. By 2019, proximity responds much more adversely to the presence of underprivileged groups. At the same time, banks have moved closer to economically better-off villages and villages with workforce in non-farm enterprises rather than agriculture.Originality/valueFirst, studies in the Indian context focus on state-level determinants of bank branching, this is the first study to develop a longitudinal measure of financial access at the village level. This helps to understand spatial heterogeneity in bank branch access within states, which other studies are unable to do. Second, the paper analyses the role of village-level socio-economic and demographic characteristics in proximity to bank branches. This analysis helps in discovering micro-foundations of growth of bank branch network. The granularity of the approach adopted here overcomes the confoundedness problems that the studies at a more aggregate level face.

On resistance and pluriversal voices of subversive archaism

On resistance and pluriversal voices of subversive archaism

Magic, metaphysics, and methods

Magic, metaphysics, and methods

Farmers in the Maze of Problems

India has been an agricultural country since ancient times. About 70 percent of India's population lives in villages. Most of this population is dependent on agriculture. Agriculture sector has given India a special reputation in the international arena. About 30 percent of India's total national income comes from agriculture. The organization of Indian society and the joint family system retains its importance in today's age only because of agriculture. Surprisingly, despite agriculture being the main and important occupation of the majority of people in our country, it is very backward and unscientific. Unless Indian agriculture improves, there is no possibility of improvement in the condition of the Indian peasantry, and the development of Indian villages is unthinkable before the improvement of the condition of the Indian peasantry. There is a huge difference between Indian agriculture and agriculture in other countries. Reason : Farming in other countries is done in modern scientific manner, while Indian agriculture is unscientific and underdeveloped. Indian farmers do not want to do modern farming and are based on traditional farming. Apart from this, the nature of Indian agriculture is unorganized as agriculture here depends on the bounty of nature. If there is rain in the right amount at the right time, the crop will grow well, otherwise, if there is a drought, the entire crop will be destroyed. Thus, Indian agriculture is not economically viable for the common farmer due to its dependence on the uncertainties of nature. The condition of agriculture and farmers in India is getting worse day by day due to which many farmers are forced to commit suicide. Even today 60% to 70% of people in India depend on agriculture. Every government is aware of this problem but there are no proper solutions. The condition of Indian farmers is very bad, people just argue, politicize and forget about it. But no effective solution has been found for this.&#x0D;

Pain and Hopelessness among Indian Farmers: An Analysis of Deepa Bhatia’s Nero’s Guests

Nero’s Guests (2009) is a documentary film directed by Deepa Bhatia on farmers’ suicide in India. It documents the suicide of farmers harvesting cotton crops. Sainath P, journey across villages in India, to investigate the motive behind farmers’ suicide. Sainath mentions the shortcomings of the Green Revolution — the use of HYV seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides results in higher costs of crop production and so the profit declines and debts escalate. This hopeless situation of the farmers prevail all over the country and force them to end their lives. The pain of farmers is incomprehensible due to debts, lack of water, rapid urbanization, and insurmountable pressure to run the family and farming despite losses. This paper focuses on David Klonsky and Alexis May’s Three- Step Theory (2015). The theory identifies four important factors such as pain, hopelessness, connection, and capability for suicide. This study aims to bring out the overlooked state of the farmers and the agrarian economy of India in the light of pain and hopelessness in David Klonsky and Alexis May's Three Step- Theory (2015).

The Impact of Urban Expressways on the Street Space of Traditional Tibetan Villages in Kham, Taking Daofu County as an Example

Villages are integral to population gathering in the Tibetan ethnic area of Kham, and their spatial formation is influenced by various factors such as topography, river and canyon direction, etc. This study focuses on the impact of urban expressways on traditional villages there. In this study, we take 18 well-preserved traditional villages in the Kham area as examples, construct an axial model and a visual field model from the perspective of space syntax, simulate the basic data required for the algorithm, and further calculate the categorized spatial measures and star model of the streets. One-way ANOVA and Tukey’s multiple comparisons test are adopted to statistically analyze the above spatial measures. The results show that villages intersecting urban expressways have high categorized spatial measures. In addition, it is found that the sample adjacent to the expressway with the lowest mean NACH value (1.396) has the highest mean NAIN value (1.703). The sample with the highest mean NAIN (0.930) intersecting the urban expressway has the lowest mean NACH (0.743). The above approach presents certain reference values for the urbanization of traditional villages in India and Nepal, where topographic and climatic conditions are similar.

Latent network models to account for noisy, multiply reported social network data

AbstractSocial network data are often constructed by incorporating reports from multiple individuals. However, it is not obvious how to reconcile discordant responses from individuals. There may be particular risks with multiply reported data if people’s responses reflect normative expectations—such as an expectation of balanced, reciprocal relationships. Here, we propose a probabilistic model that incorporates ties reported by multiple individuals to estimate the unobserved network structure. In addition to estimating a parameter for each reporter that is related to their tendency of over- or under-reporting relationships, the model explicitly incorporates a term for ‘mutuality’, the tendency to report ties in both directions involving the same alter. Our model’s algorithmic implementation is based on variational inference, which makes it efficient and scalable to large systems. We apply our model to data from a Nicaraguan community collected with a roster-based design and 75 Indian villages collected with a name-generator design. We observe strong evidence of ‘mutuality’ in both datasets, and find that this value varies by relationship type. Consequently, our model estimates networks with reciprocity values that are substantially different than those resulting from standard deterministic aggregation approaches, demonstrating the need to consider such issues when gathering, constructing, and analysing survey-based network data.

(Re) conceptualizing and Contextualizing ‘Community’ in Tribal/Indigenous Cultures and Development in India

This article discusses the need to (re)conceptualize and contextualize ‘community’ in tribal/Indigenous cultures and development practices. While the community has been a key concept in Indian village studies, it has been predominantly analyzed and applied in the caste structural framework of Indian society. Examining the concept in the spectrum of village studies, this article argues that the academic interest in enquiring about communities in India requires widening its scope beyond the caste framework to encompass tribal/Indigenous societies’ development and cultural experiences of community life. It posits to explore the possibilities of multiple meanings of community in the scope of studying tribal village communities.