A team from Youth For Equality Delhi University Chapter visited the flood affected district of Darbhanga in Bihar.
The basic objective of the project was to assess the post-flood management programmes in operation in the flood-affected region, to analyse the various factors that hamper quick recovery from the flood, to find out alternatives to the problems and to inculcate efficiency in the system to mitigate the losses incurred due to floods in the region concerned. It is pertinent to note that the region in question has witnessed regular occurrence of floods almost every year for several decades now and thus, the level of preparedness for flood and efficiency in post-flood management programme become noteworthy.
At the preparatory stage, three problem areas viz. education, health and sanitation were identified and to begin with, the major government schemes targeted towards these problem areas were studied. These schemes if implemented properly could drastically reduce the problems faced during flood. The major schemes which we selected for study were Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan, National Rural Health Mission, Mid-day Meal Scheme, Rajiv Gandhi Drinking Water Mission and Total Sanitation Campaign. This was to be followed by an appraisal of these schemes in the flood-affected region of Darbhanga.
On visiting the area, many new dimensions were added to the programme and it got further diversified to include health and sanitation, education and economy as its major target areas. The problems crippling these areas were identified through observation and interaction with the local people. Taralahi was chosen as a sample-village for carrying out intensive research and coming up with solutions to tackle the various problems of a flood-affected region. Taralahi-Santpur Village Development Society, an NGO working for the development of these twin villages at local level, provided assistance to the Youth For Equality-Delhi Univ. team in carrying out the study at the local level. Various alternative solutions were considered and finally a proposal consisting of most suitable alternatives, which could solve the common problems of flood-affected region and if implemented, transform Taralahi into a model village, was drafted. This proposal was submitted to the Commissioner, the District Magistrate, the Executive Director for Public Health Engineering, the Civil Surgeon and the Deputy Development Officer for Darbhanga district and other officials concerned. The DM himself assured to approve all the projects subject to sustained initiative on our part.
With a view to empower local people to stand up for their rights and hold the government agencies accountable, an awareness drive was launched simultaneously and maximum participation of local people was ensured. People were informed about the various schemes launched by the government and the means whereby those benefits can be availed to them. They were informed about the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan, the Mid-day Meal Scheme etc and the procedure to file RTI. Rural masses were addressed on issues such as importance of education and their problems heard and sorted out. It was on people’s behest that an enrolment drive was launched on Oct 9, 2007 and over 500 children were enrolled. Interactive sessions with the rural population were conducted with the aim of inculcating a sense of initiative, participation and collective responsibility. Community participation is also expected to play a major role in the success of various government schemes the implementation of which is sought after under this project and there is no better guarantee to people’s rights than awareness and vigilance.
MAJOR PROBLEMS OF TARALAHI, THE INITIATIVES TAKEN AND THEIR IMPACT
Taralahi village, housing a population of over 30,000 people, suffers from extreme infrastructural under-development which paralyses its economic and social life. Absence of economic opportunities, educational facilities, sanitation, health-related and other social necessities renders inhospitable living conditions and poor quality of life. Frequent occurrence of flood is a major obstacle to improvement in living standards of the people. Life in the village comes to an absolute standstill with the occurrence of the flood. Many areas of the village are cut off from the rest as water floods the river-banks, fields and plains. There are not enough boats to connect the fragmented areas of the village to one another during the flood period. Traversing across the river even in the absence of flood is a difficult task for the villagers, due to scarcity of boats and absence of a bridge. The flood relief from the government is inadequate and unplanned. Some missionaries are reported to have come to the villagers’ assistance this year by providing them with boats, lamps, salt, edibles and other life-saving necessities.
HEALTH AND SANITATION
Life in Taralahi is characterized by acute malnutrition and lack of hygiene among other problems. The problem aggravates after flood as water-logging due to absence of proper drainage mechanism provides favorable conditions for mosquito-breeding, insect-breeding, spreading of infections and diseases, manifestations of which can be seen in the inhabitants in the form of skin problems, eye-infections etc. absence of proper toilets in houses as well as public-toilets adds to the hygiene concerns, particularly after flood. People are left with no other choice but to defecate in open which not only renders an unhygienic environment but also contaminates surface-water. As people traverse across the contaminated standing water, probabilities of catching infections are very high. Most of the children living here are severely undernourished, many of them underweight or suffering from deficiency-diseases. There is no provision for medical aid to the villagers.
Most of the efforts towards sanitation are discouraged by the fact that during flood season, things would hardly work. Elevation of the level of houses is beyond the affordability of most of the villagers. Many villagers live in small huts due to high density of population in the village, and don’t even have enough land for construction of toilets. Therefore, the government scheme of providing for construction of subsidized toilets for each Below Poverty Line household is ineffective in this area.
- Our team met the Civil Surgeon and discussed prospects of expanding health-care services in the village. The Civil Surgeon has committed to provide a Primary Health Centre and a hospital for the village within a month or as soon as the flood-water recedes.
- In our proposal submitted to the Commissioner, the DM and the Civil Surgeon, we demanded for the appointment of ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) or trained mid-wives which is a provision of the National Rural Health Mission. The Civil Surgeon has ensured that the process for the appointment is on.
- We pressed for the construction of community toilets in the village under in our presentations made to the DM, the Deputy Development Officer and the Executive Director for Public Heath Engineering, under the Total Sanitation Campaign. The DM assured to approve the construction of community toilets. The Executive Director PHED himself accompanied by a team of civil engineers visited the village on Oct 10 2007 on our behest. The construction of as many as 22,000 free toilets for BPL households has been sanctioned.
- We also pressed for the provision of drinking water supply to the entire village by constructing a tank, under the Rajiv Gandhi Drinking Water Mission, as many water-borne diseases are common in the region. The land for the same has been demarcated by the PHED and the provision of a 10,000 litres capacity water tank has been sanctioned.
EDUCATION
Education facilities in the village are quite inadequate, with no high school. There is one major school in the village which has been cut off from the rest of the village due to water-logging. The school has ample area to be developed at least into a high school. Many children are yet to be enrolled into school despite having crossed the average enrollment age. Besides the handicaps of water-logging due to flood and incapability in crossing the river to reach school, lack of motivation among parents to educate their children is a major barrier to education. The state of primary education facilities, non-seriousness and non-cooperation of teaching and non-teaching staff, ignorance of procedure among people and misuse of this ignorance by the staff, lack of awareness and consciousness regarding the significance of education, lack of knowledge of government schemes to promote education, such as mid-day meals and provisions for assistance to the underprivileged children to continue education, suspension of school during major part of the year following the flood, poverty and impoverishment of people by flood, causing concerns like education to take a back-stage, with procurement of bare necessities of life occupying most of their time and energy, all collectively make education, even literacy a far-fetched dream.
The Initiative
· An awareness drive was launched to motivate people to send their children to schools. We interacted with over a thousand people in a week’s period and disseminated awareness regarding incentives related to education such as mid-day meal schemes. An enrolment drive was also launched to assist people to get their wards enrolled into schools
· The school in the village was visited to interact with the children and teachers. School bags and stationery items were distributed among the school children to encourage them to study.
· The mid-day meal scheme was not functioning properly in the village-school. Efforts were made to operationalise the scheme in the school by submitting a status report to the DM and Commissioner and interacting with the school authorities
· Issues of timely availability of books to the school children and irregularities in enrolment procedure were taken up in conversation with the school authorities
· YFE-DU will award 5 annual scholarships of Rs. 1000 each for meritorious students as an incentive for them to study and to support their sationery expenditure.
· A library has been set up for children with books on a vast range of subjects including Mathematics, English, Geography, Biology, Physics, and Sanskrit etc. YFE-DU has donated 500 books for the library and will donate Rs. 500 per month for the salary of a librarian who will assist the children in the studies of their choice.
· Efforts are on for getting the intermediate level school upgraded to a high school
ECONOMY
The problem of education and poverty are integrated to a large extent. The educational facilities in the village are inadequate at the primary level itself. They are further paralysed by the flood which makes normal functioning of schools much more difficult as large part of the village is cut off from the area where the school operates. There are no facilities for secondary level schooling. Thus obtaining education requires the villagers to send their wards outside the village which is restricted by the economic constraints as most of the villagers cannot afford to do so. Lack of proper education restricts employability and entrepreneurial skills in the villagers and thus the vicious circle of poverty and lack of education continues.
Most of the land that is occupied by villagers for housing or cultivation purposes is submerged during the floods.
- In Taralahi, betel is cultivated on sixty acres of land which is above the level of flood. Around three hundred families earn their livelihood from betel cultivation. Betel is known to be possessing anti-carcinogenic properties. IIT-Kharagpur has developed a technology for processing betel to make mouth-fresheners and extract oil which is useful in medicinal preparations. If such a plant is set-up in Taralahi, it will make Taralahi an economically self-reliant village and provide full internal employment to its population. The only hindrance is the monkey-menace and certain plant diseases which destroy the crop. To overcome this problem, we made a presentation before the agriculture and forestry departments. Through their intervention, the plant disease has been identified and efforts to overcome the monkey-menace are on. The success of this initiative will set an unprecedented example of an economic self-reliance for the whole region.
We invite you to post your views here and help us in bringing prosperity to these backward regions of the country.
