Field Visit- Day 2 : Learning and Unlearning

We were almost done with our surveying on day-1. For day 2, we had planned to visit the farms, look at the wells and other water resources, and collect some soil samples. After that, as the sarpanch had told us, we had planned to attend the gramsabha. Here are the highlights of our village safari-

The village is divided into 5 zones according to its area. That way, it is a fairly big village. At the center of it, people have set up the society. There are natural slopes almost all over the fields and depending on those, there are farms. For example, if there is a natural water slope on some side of the farm and if it has to be divided into two for next generations, the division is made such that both farms get a share of the water. Each farm has been given a unique gat number so as to keep a record.
The water problem is much severe that we can imagine. It was just the first week of February, and a lot of wells were empty. We could see from the survey that it was August-September when the wells would go to their highest limit. By December, the water level would drop to almost zero. Many farmers used drop irrigation, and they took water through borewells. Some would put water in the wells and then use them. But depending on the fields, some borewells had a good flow while others couldn’t get water even after digging deeper.
Water availability is also a function of soil quality. We saw that some fields had a very high quality of soil – black and heavy. It could hold a lot of water and thus less amount of water would be sufficient. However, most of the land had medium or low quality soil. The same goes with murum- the material below the soil. If wells are made up of black rocks, those would not allow the water to drip and would have a good amount of water even in February. Under the MGNREGA scheme, workers had created an artificial farmpond which had almost no water because of incomplete work and fewer rains. Another naala was also created which would help during the rainy season but was completely empty. Moreover, it had carried the fertile soil with the flow it once had. We couldn’t imagine the situation when the summer would arrive.
We walked for more than two hours and could barely touch two zones. Meanwhile, we saw farmers in the fields, some giving water, pesticides and some sowing the seeds. We also ate some fresh farm products like harbhara (chana). As it was time for the gramsabha, we left for the grampanchayat office.

This gramsabha was a continuation of the previous sabha, held on 26 January. Due to some reasons, it was suspended. Following are the highlights of the gramsabha- the smallest unit of our democracy.

The first thing I noticed was the complete absence of women. The vice- sarpanch of Yewati was a woman, and from the 10 grampanchayat candidates, five were women. The saddening part was a lot of women and men had gathered near the office to attend a funeral, while some men came to the meeting, no woman was even encouraged to follow. The only women present in the hall were two of us girls in the team. There were a total of 30-40 people for the sabha.
As always, everyone sat on the floor, sarpanch took a chair, and the gramsevak started addressing the sabha. We all were offered chairs, as we were the ‘guests’, though younger than all of them. Firstly, they asked us to talks about our visit and PoCRA. Manasi did her job well and then the gramsevak continued with the process. It was a bit surprising for me to see that he was actually presenting all the schemes govt has along with the requirements for beneficiaries. Except for the male dominance part, the sabha was just as how I had read in the civics textbook. Most importantly, the villagers were patiently listening to him and if anyone had any doubt, he would ask after the gramsevak would finish his sentence. This was unbelievable to me, as the biggest unit of our democracy, the Loksabha, functions totally opposite to this.
The gramsevak introduced many schemes in proper details – PoCRA, Pradhanmantri Awas Yojna, Sanjay Gandhi Niradhar Yojna, Indira Gandhi Yojna (for BPL), Rojgar hami Yojna etc. Some were for special backward classes, some for single ladies, some for landless people and so on. He had a proper documentation for each and he would tickmark once he was done explaining. After he was done, he would ask if anyone had doubts and if so, the person should stand up and ask. It was very disciplined.
I saw that people carefully listened and asked smart questions. One person asked about hygiene in the village and proposed that they get big dustbins at different places to avoid littering. They all discussed the possible plans if there is a water shortage. They had planned that if nothing works out, they would surely get water tankers. People asked about local development plans and the proposed work and its progress. It was interesting to see many people actually making this small unit of democracy function well. A lot had been proposed- old temple rehabilitation, Buddha Vihar construction, water tanks, gutters, farm roads, etc.
The sabha ended with a conflict. Someone proposed that the people who are illegally living in someone’s field should be thrown out. To that end, an old post holder started making aggressive comments. When asked to name the person who is responsible, he blamed the sarpanch, which resulted in him shouting and asking for proof. Everyone else left the sabha quietly. Again to my surprise, the conflict was under control.

After the sabha, we again went back to sarpanch’s house for lunch. We left the village around 4. He generously offered to drop us, but unfortunately, his car didn’t start. We then went back in a dukkargadi- a share auto. All this while, no one asked us for money as per the sarpanch’s order. We got into a Volvo from Jalgaon station and reached Mumbai the next day.

My main takes from the trip –

The world is relative in its every sense. And that makes it beautiful for everyone. According to us, the village was very small, had barely anything ‘happening’ and also no great food, or theatre. But in itself, the village probably didn’t bother. Of course there is poverty and shortage of water, electricity etc, but in gaining happiness, I wouldn’t rate them lower. They didn’t know the IITs and were unaware of the pressure system other students go through. Though the world is small, it makes a perfect sense to them.
We take transport for granted. One of us wanted to leave in the evening of the first day, and because he told about it around 6, there was no way to go back. The standard way to commute is to go to the nearest station (7 km) where Maharashtra express stops, and from there it’s possible to go Jalgaon or Bhusawal. The next possible option is at 2:30 in the night. Moreover, going to the station in the evening is painful too, unless you have a car. The only car in the village belonged to the sarpanch.
Human is a very smart creature. Yeah, this is biology, but we see that people generally look down upon villagers. But I saw that many of them have better morals, better business sense, more power to struggle, patience, and discipline. The clerk knew everything about the village, about who owes how much to the grampanchayat, who has filled the PoCRA form and so on. People knew the demographics also. Everyone was perfect in their jobs. Everyone was very friendly and showed hospitality. Overall, I felt that they are no less than the city folk, but are devoid of opportunities that we get. Among those 5000, surely there are people who can complete with at least 1000 of city people, but rarely would they get any chance.

Here are some photos from day 2:

Little water that the well has-