Villages In Bihar Research Articles

Dynamics and determinants of farm household income in Bihar: evidence from panel data of selected villages

The study is undertaken to analyze the farm household income, income sources, economic inequality, and determinants of income of farm households in Bihar which is based on five-year panel data (2010–11 and 2014–15). Findings of the study show that the income level of farm households in the selected villages of Bihar is low, but exhibited an impressive annual growth rate of 6% from 2010–11 to 2014–15. The income level showed a positive relation with the size of landholding. Further, the sources of household income are quite diverse, and cultivation contributes only one-fourth to the total income of farm households. The level of remittances showed signs of decline, while the share of transfer payments and non -farm activities increased from 2010–11 to 2014–15. Inter- and intra-class inequality in farm household income is also prominent but diminishing with time. Farm assets, diversification, and education level have turned out to be important drivers of farm household income. These findings have significant implications and call for holistic rural development strategies for enhancing farmers’ income.

Goat raring: An easy profession

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Migration and the Making of a Village

It is a myth that only cities are made by migrants. Citing from his fieldwork in a village in Bihar, the author establishes how the historical conditions and processes that went into the making of the village influenced, and continues to influence even today, the sense of home and belonging. For an estate under the Permanent Settlement System, the making of a village was an exercise in adding a revenue unit, i.e., creating a new source of ground rent. For the people, however, it was an exercise in mobilising themselves into a social formation that had, on the one hand, a codified relation with land and other natural resources, and on the other, social relations that kept challenging the boundaries of prevailing customs, norms, and power dynamics while continuing to operate within them. The chapter mobilises people’s memories to create historical evidence and, in this way, takes anthropological accounts beyond an objectified history that privileges archival and other documentary material over people’s subjectivities. This land-centric ethnographic account of migration makes foray into an anthropological exercise in which people make sense of their abrasions with history in a timeframe with which they can easily relate.

Between metis and techne: politics, possibilities and limits of improvisation

ABSTRACT Geographers, especially those working in developing country contexts have often encountered improvisation because it plays a critical social and cultural role. Engaging with anthropologist James Scott’s conceptualisation of metis – contextual, practical and flexible skills and knowledge – and techne – universal technical knowledge – this paper furthers the geographical scholarship on the politics of improvisation. The paper makes three main contributions. First, using metis and techne, it provides a new conceptual repertoire for making sense of improvisation. The paper places improvisation at the nexus of metis and techne. Second, it pushes the understanding of the morality of improvisation by attending to the role of relationships of power in morally and materially legitimising improvisations. Third, although states and experts celebrate and actively engage with improvisation, this paper demonstrates that they also create limits and boundaries for improvisation. These limits demonstrate a contradiction in experts’ actions. This paper is based on a nine months ethnographic research on two energy projects carried out in 2012–13 in five villages in Bihar, an eastern state of India. It used participant observations, home tours, interviews and group discussions.

Assessing the role of risk perception in ensuring sustainable arsenic mitigation

This study aims to evaluate the role of people's risk perception, and their socioeconomic, demographic, and other social correlates in providing sustainable arsenic mitigation. We interviewed the head of 340 households in three arsenic-affected villages of Bihar, India. A conceptual framework of risk perception and decision-making of arsenic mitigation technology is used to capture possible predictors of risk perception. Bivariate analysis was performed to derive the predictors of risk perception, and cross-tab analysis was conducted to calculate novel findings. A majority of the respondents were willing to adopt arsenic mitigation technologies as a result of their higher perceived risks to health and income than social discrimination risk. Respondents' caste, education level, agricultural landholdings, and social trust were the strongest predictors of perceived health risks. In addition to these factors, income, sanitation practices, people's prioritization of socio-environmental problems, arsenic awareness, and social capital, were the strongest predictors of perceived economic risk. Respondents' agricultural landholdings, prioritization of social problems, arsenic awareness, and social capital, were the strongest predictors of perceived social discrimination risk. Arsenic mitigation is highly likely to be successful among communities with greater perceived health and economic risks. The households with higher perceived social discrimination risk should be targeted for arsenic awareness program along with the mitigation.

Substantially Present but Invisible, Excluded and Marginalised: A Study of Musahars in Bihar

This article is an engagement with the socio-cultural, economic and political life-world of a Scheduled Caste, namely the Musahars, in light of official records and field data collected from four villages in Bihar. Against the background of Brahminical, colonial and post-colonial understandings of Musahars, the article presents an ethnographic account of Musahars by reflecting on their life cycle, culture and educational, health, political and economic conditions. They have remained as usual a poor, landless, marginalised and excluded caste group in the state of Bihar. The discourses representing Musahars in a negative manner have continued to remain as deeply embedded forms of structural violence against Musahars. The article finds that the Naxalite movement in Bihar has generated a somewhat socio-political awareness and aspiration among the Musahars and is equipping them to fight against the system for their well-being.

Determinants for progression from asymptomatic infection to symptomatic visceral leishmaniasis: A cohort study.

BackgroundAsymptomatic Leishmania donovani infections outnumber clinical presentations, however the predictors for development of active disease are not well known. We aimed to identify serological, immunological and genetic markers for progression from L. donovani infection to clinical Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL).MethodsWe enrolled all residents >2 years of age in 27 VL endemic villages in Bihar (India). Blood samples collected on filter paper on two occasions 6–12 months apart, were tested for antibodies against L. donovani with rK39-ELISA and DAT. Sero converters, (negative for both tests in the first round but positive on either of the two during the second round) and controls (negative on both tests on both occasions) were followed for three years. At the start of follow-up venous blood was collected for the following tests: DAT, rK39- ELISA, Quantiferon assay, SNP/HLA genotyping and L.donovani specific quantitative PCR.ResultsAmong 1,606 subjects enrolled,17 (8/476 seroconverters and 9/1,130 controls) developed VL (OR 3.1; 95% CI 1.1–8.3). High DAT and rK39 ELISA antibody titers as well as positive qPCR were strongly and significantly associated with progression from seroconversion to VL with odds ratios of 19.1, 30.3 and 20.9 respectively. Most VL cases arose early (median 5 months) during follow-up.ConclusionWe confirmed the strong association between high DAT and/or rK39 titers and progression to disease among asymptomatic subjects and identified qPCR as an additional predictor. Low predictive values do not warrant prophylactic treatment but as most progressed to VL early during follow-up, careful oberservation of these subjects for at least 6 months is indicated.

Effects of an mHealth intervention for community health workers on maternal and child nutrition and health service delivery in India: protocol for a quasi-experimental mixed-methods evaluation

IntroductionMillions of children in India still suffer from poor health and under-nutrition, despite substantial improvement over decades of public health programmes. The Anganwadi centres under the Integrated Child Development Scheme...

Subjective Income Expectations And Risks In Rural India

Income risks and expectation about future income play a fundamental role in the decision making of households. The analysis of income risk is particularly important for developing countries, where incomes are more volatile than developed countries, and credit and insurance markets are inadequately developed, limiting opportunities available to households to diversify their risks. When households have inadequate opportunities to diversify their risks, income risks may lead to relatively high fluctuations in consumption and thus greater levels of transient poverty. This may also lead to a poverty trap, as poor households may enter low-risk, low-return activities, and low-return and less capital-intensive activities. This paper analyses the pattern and determinants of (perceived) expected income and income risk in rural India. It uses unique primary survey data eliciting subjective income distribution from households in twelve villages in Bihar. The sample consists of 659 households with approximately 4,100 household members. The survey was designed to elicit the cumulative distribution function (cdf) of future household income. Using this information, it constructs household-specific subjective expected future income, its variance and coefficient of variation. It finds that both expected future income and income risks (variance and coefficient of variation) differ substantially across households. Both expected future income and its variance increase with current income, however, there is a significant negative association between the coefficient of variation of future income and current income, suggesting that low-income households face greater variability in their income. Upper caste households and households reliant on non-agricultural income have significantly higher expected future income and variance. To the extent income risks lead poor households to choose low income and low risk activities, public policies designed to reduce these risks, such as provision of insurance (e.g. rainfall insurance) and easier availability of consumer credit are likely to have a significant effect on poverty and inequality. Microfinance institutions and nongovernmental organizations can play an important role in the provision of insurance and labour market information. Public investment in irrigation, better weather information, and employment guarantee schemes, such as the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, can reduce income and consumption risk.

Short-term movement of Phlebotomus argentipes (Diptera: Psychodidae) in a visceral leishmaniasis-endemic village in Bihar, India.

Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), transmitted by the sand fly, Phlebotomus argentipes, is frequently reported on the Indian subcontinent where its basic ecology is largely unknown. Our objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of sugar solution (10%), containing colored food dye (0.5%) applied to peridomestic vegetation, to mark P. argentipes and subsequently estimate horizontal movement by capturing dye-marked specimens in CDC light traps in a village in Bihar, India. From September 30 to November 27, 2016, a total of 667 captured sand flies were successfully marked using sugar baits, of which 608 were P. argentipes (~91.2%). Although the majority of P. argentipes were captured <100 m from the respective marking sites, a significantly greater proportion of females (15.7%) was captured >100 m from marking sites when compared to males (3.1%). Sand flies that ingested sugar bait were only collected from areas containing >eight vegetation types and mature banana plants. The average number of marked P. argentipes captured per trap-night (±SD) <100 m from respective marking sites was greatest in peridomestic vegetation (Males: 0.9 ± 1.97; Females: 0.63 ± 1.44), followed by areas with livestock (Males: 0.66 ± 2.75; Females: 0.24 ± 0.69), and areas with humans only (Males: 0.1 ± 0.36; Females: 0.11 ± 0.31). To our knowledge, this is the only study in Bihar in which sand flies have been marked with food dyes, and the results demonstrate the potential usefulness of food dyes in estimating short-term movement of P. argentipes. Limitations of this experiment are that the number of each trap location type, vegetation composition at marking sites, and distance of all trap sites from marking sites were not homogenous, and the total number of marked sand flies collected were relatively low. In spite of the above limitations, these data should prove useful in developing a large-scale study addressing the caveats. Results of such a study could provide important information regarding the dynamics of VL transmission and inspire managers to pursue alternative means of sand fly control on the Indian subcontinent.

Agrarian Transition and Migration in a Village of Bihar

Agrarian Transition and Migration in a Village of Bihar

Bionomics of Phlebotomus argentipes in villages in Bihar, India with insights into efficacy of IRS-based control measures.

BackgroundVisceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a deadly vector-borne disease. Approximately 90% of Indian VL cases occur in Bihar, where the sand fly, Phlebotomus argentipes, is the principal vector. Sand fly control in Bihar consists of indoor residual spraying (IRS), the practice of spraying the inner walls of village dwellings with insecticides. Prior researchers have evaluated success of IRS-control by estimating vector abundance in village houses, but the number of sampling periods (n = 2–3) were minimal, and outdoor-resting P. argentipes were neglected. We describe a large-scale field study, performed in 24 villages within two Bihari districts, during which P. argentipes were collected biweekly over 47-weeks, in cattle enclosures, houses, and outdoors in peri-domestic vegetation. The objectives of this study were to provide updated P. argentipes ecological field data, and determine if program-initiated IRS-treatment had led to noticeable differences in vector abundance.Principal findingsP. argentipes (n = 126,901) relative abundance was greatest during the summer months (June-August) when minimum temperatures were highest. P. argentipes were most frequently collected from cattle enclosures (~46% total; ~56% blood fed). Many sand flies were found to have taken blood from multiple sources, with ~81% having blood fed on humans and ~60% blood feeding on bovines. Nonparametric statistical tests were determined most appropriate for evaluating IRS-treatment. Differences in P. argentipes abundance in houses, cattle enclosures and vegetation were detected between IRS-treated and untreated villages in only ~9% of evaluation periods occurring during the peak period of human-vector exposure (June-August) and in ~8% of the total observations. No significant differences were detected between the numbers of P. argentipes collected in vegetation close to the experimental villages.ConclusionThe results of this study provide updated data regarding P. argentipes seasonal abundance, spatial distribution, and host preferances, and suggest vector abundance has not significantly declined in IRS-treated villages. We suggest that IRS be supplemented with vector control strategies targeting exophagic, exophilic P. argentipes, and that disease surveillance be accompanied by rigorous vector population monitoring.

Diffusion of Agricultural Technologies through Social Network Analysis in Selected Villages of Bihar, India

Diffusion of innovative research has a large impact on extension practice. Innovation is understood as an idea, practice or object that is perceived as new by an individual or other unit of adoption. Information on technology adoption and diffusion in a given society is important for focusing future research, extension-related development efforts aiming at benefiting majority of Bihar farmers. The identification of the roles of social networks that influence technology adoption and diffusion is important to identify and design measures to remove or alleviate the constraints affecting diffusion of innovation. This study was undertaken in three villages in Sameli block in Katihar District of Bihar. The extent of functional contributions of social networks and their implications in the diffusion of maize close-spacing variety (P3522) and identification of options for enhancing the role and sustainability of these social networks for promoting agricultural technology in the study area was the focus of this study. A multistage sampling procedure was employed to select respondents from 90 sample households from three villages in khaira panchayat, from which three group discussions were conducted. Both qualitative and quantitative data were used to obtain reliable information from primary and secondary sources. Data analysis was done using sociometric matrix, percentage and frequency, mean and standard deviation and co-efficient of variation using Ucinet software. The study revealed that relatives, friends, neighbours and input dealers were the most important nodes of information source for seed and planting material (SPM) sources, and they were influential networks in the adoption and diffusion of maize close-spacing variety (P3522). The findings revealed that the highest ties were fertiliser/pesticide and plant protection network (294), followed by government scheme/programme (252), irrigation (235), animal husbandry, market information, credit (213), agricultural package of practices (205) and SPM (202) ties.

Can iron-fortified salt control anemia? Evidence from two experiments in rural Bihar

Iron deficiency anemia is frequent among the poor worldwide. While it can be prevented with the appropriate supplement or food fortification, these programs struggle to reach the poorest, out-of-school children, men and the elderly. This paper reports on the impact of a potential strategy to address iron deficiency anemia in rural areas: salt fortified with iron and iodine (DFS). We conduct a large-scale experiment in 400 villages in Bihar to test the impacts of both selling DFS and giving it away for free. At baseline, 45% of the sample is anemic. In 200 randomly assigned villages, we introduce DFS for the first time at half the normal retail price and sell it for roughly 30 months. In 62 of those sales villages, we deliver DFS for free directly to 7 randomly assigned households over nearly 24 months. We find no evidence that either selling DFS or providing it for free has an economically meaningful or statistically significant impact on hemoglobin, anemia, physical health, cognition or mental health. For the sales experiment, we can reject a reduction of 2.4 percent in the fraction anemic in the entire sample and 1 percent among those who were previously anemic. Using an IV strategy, we find a statistically significant, though relatively small, increase in hemoglobin and reduction in the fraction anemic for adolescents, a subgroup that responded well to supplements and fortification in earlier studies. These disappointing results are explained both by modest purchases and low impact of DFS for the majority of the population, even when consumed somewhat regularly.

Longitudinal Study of Transmission in Households with Visceral Leishmaniasis, Asymptomatic Infections and PKDL in Highly Endemic Villages in Bihar, India.

BackgroundVisceral Leishmaniasis (VL) is a neglected tropical disease that afflicts some of the poorest populations in the world including people living in the Bihar state of India. Due to efforts from local governments, NGOs and international organizations, the number of VL cases has declined in recent years. Despite this progress, the reservoir for transmission remains to be clearly defined since it is unknown what role post kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL) and asymptomatic infections play in transmission. This information is vital to establish effective surveillance and monitoring to sustainably eliminate VL.Methodology/Principal FindingsWe performed a longitudinal study over a 24-month period to examine VL transmission and seroconversion in households with VL, PKDL and asymptomatic infections in the Saran and Muzaffarpur districts of Bihar. During the initial screening of 5,144 people in 16 highly endemic villages, 195 cases of recently treated VL, 116 healthy rK39 positive cases and 31 PKDL cases were identified. Approximately half of the rK39-positive healthy cases identified during the initial 6-month screening period were from households (HHs) where a VL case had been identified. During the 18-month follow-up period, seroconversion of family members in the HHs with VL cases, PKDL cases, and rK39-positive individuals was similar to control HHs. Therefore, seroconversion was highest in HHs closest to the time of VL disease of a household member and there was no evidence of higher transmission in households with PKDL or healthy rK39-positive HHs. Moreover, within the PKDL HHs, (the initial 31 PKDL cases plus an additional 66 PKDL cases), there were no cases of VL identified during the initial screen or the 18-month follow-up. Notably, 23% of the PKDL cases had no prior history of VL suggesting that infection resulting directly in PKDL is more common than previously estimated.Conclusions/SignificanceThese observations argue that acute VL cases represent the major reservoir for transmission in these villages and early identification and treatment of VL cases should remain a priority for VL elimination. We were unable to obtain evidence that transmission occurs in HHs with a PKDL case.

Agricultural Diversity, Dietary Diversity and Nutritional Intake: An Evidence on Inter-linkages from Village Level Studies in Eastern India

The linkage between agriculture and nutrition is complex and often debated in the policy discourse in India. The enigma of fastest growing economy and yet the largest home of under- and mal-nourished population takes away the sheen from the glory of economic achievements of India. In this context, the study has examined the food consumption patterns, assessed the relationship between agricultural production and dietary diversity, and analysed the impact of dietary diversity on nutritional intake. The study is based on a household level panel data from 12 villages of Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha in eastern India. The study has shown that agricultural production diversity is a major determinant of dietary diversity which in turn has a strong effect on calorie and protein intake. The study has suggested that efforts to promote agricultural diversification will be helpful to enhance food and nutrition security in the country. Agricultural programmes and policies oriented towards reducing under-nutrition should promote diversity in agricultural production rather than emphasizing on increasing production through focusing on selected staple crops as has been observed in several states of India. The huge fertilizer subsidies and government procurement schemes limited to a few crops provide little incentives for farmers to diversity their production portfolio.

Cultures of lights

This paper is part of a larger project, looking at electricity access in rural India. For the project, a nine months long ethnographic research was carried out in five villages in Bihar, an eastern state of India. It involved looking at various sources of light – grid electricity, solar lanterns, biomass micro-grids and kerosene oil. The paper tries to understand, and explain, the cultural notions that dictate peoples’ specific lighting practices and lighting practices that propagate particular cultural notions. The paper argues that, through the mediation of materiality, light cultures (cultivates and propagates) culture and culture cultures light. It does this by engaging with three key ideas. First, it argues that light has a critical role in establishing and reinforcing honour. Following this, it examines light’s role in hospitality. Lastly, it connects light to the religious beliefs among Hindus, and looks at how culture affects the materiality of light. The paper approaches what light does and what it means as emerging from a material-culture assemblage, which embodies the external and the internal, the political and the productive, the corporal and the conceptual, the material, moral, and the sensible. From this, light emerges with dual – material and non-material – properties, as it interacts with culture.

Impact of Rural-urban Labour Migration on Education of Children: A Case Study of Left behind and Accompanied Migrant Children in India

In developing countries, seasonal labour migration from rural to urban or from backward to developed region is a household livelihood strategy to cope with poverty. In this process, the children of those migrants are the worst affected whether they accompany their parents or are left behind in the villages. The present paper explores the impact of temporary labour migration of parent(s) on school attendance of the children between 6–14 years and their dropping out from the school through an analysis of the cases from both the ends of migration stream in India. Data was collected from thirteen construction sites of Varanasi Uttar Pradesh and nine villages of Bihar by applying both qualitative and quantitative techniques. It is evident from the study that the migrants through remittances improve school accessibility for the left behind children and bridge gender gap in primary school education. However, among the accompanying migrant children of construction workers, many remain out of school and many are forced to drop out and some of them become vulnerable to work as child labour due to seasonal mobility of their parents. Thus, mainstreaming these children in development process is a big challenge in attaining the goal of universal primary education and inclusive growth in the country like India.

Contrasts in Development in Bihar: A Tale of Two Villages

The article investigates the economic and social changes that have occurred over the last 30 years in two villages in Bihar, one of the poorest states in India. The two villages are on different development paths: one based on agricultural diversification and local non-agricultural employment, the other dependent on migration to distant labour markets. They therefore connect with India’s overall growth in different ways. Neither development model delivers clearly superior outcomes in terms of incomes, nor are they exhausted, but the long-term sustainability of a migration-led model remains debatable.

Dimensions of Rural Poverty in Bihar: A Village Level Study

The measures of poverty involves a) the specification of the threshold income level below which a person is considered poor (the poverty line) and b) construction of an index to measure the intensity and severity of poverty suffered by those whose income is below the poverty line. Sen(1976) has proposed several criteria that a poverty measure must satisfy to be able to assess the changes in social welfare whereas Foster et al (1984) proposed a class of poverty measures that are additively decomposable and that satisfy all the criteria for an ideal poverty measure. For this study, we used a method known as FGT index to measure the incidence of poverty (headcount ratio), intensity of poverty (poverty gap ratio) and severity of poverty (squared poverty gap ratio). To find out the determinants of poverty, affecting the probability of an individual being poor, we estimated a Probit model using poverty as a dependent factor-a binary (poor-1 and non-poor-0) and a set of agricultural and socio-economic variables as explanatory variables. Despite annual growth of more than 10 per cent in Bihar’s economy, poverty remained the same during 2004-05-2009-10.Incidence of poverty was double among agricultural labours than that of farm households and the poverty gap between farm and agricultural labour households increased during last two decades. The decline in poverty has been also higher among farm households than the decline observed among agricultural labour households during last two decades however the decline in poverty was comparatively high among agricultural households than farm households during 2004-05-2009-10, mainly due to adverse weather at one hand and increase in wages of agricultural labour at another during the period. The comparatively high poverty incidence, gap and severity are observed in less developed village than developed villages in Bihar. Hence it may inferred that the level of development has direct influence on poverty alleviation that is; higher the development, lower the level of poverty in rural area. In villages, land is the main income generating asset hence the poverty incidence, gap and severity level are comparatively low in case of large households but the observation does not hold true in case of medium and small households because their land base is very low in Bihar. The highest poverty incidence, gap and severity are not found among labour households. It is only due to larger proportion of earning members and the majority of them are employed in non-farm activities on comparatively high wage whereas family member of households with even small piece of land do not prefer to work as labour, resulting less income flow and higher level of poverty among them. Various agro-economic and social factors are responsible for poverty. The three key determinants that help the household in keeping away from poverty are education, number of earning and family size. The education enhances the skill, chances of getting remunerative employment and increasing labour productivity which lead to higher income and decline in poverty. Larger proportion of earning members in the household also helps increasing income flow whereas smaller size of family leads to comparatively less expenses and more income to the household hence low level of poverty. These findings of poverty determinants call for establishment of effective educational and training infrastructure and streamlining of their functioning in rural area. The family welfare programme needs to be strengthened for population control since smaller family is likely to be away from poverty.