MAD

DHYAPRADESHDARSHAN
NIIIEDITION
N
RURALIIMMERSION 2011

Group1
12Hoshangaabad
TeamMem
mbers
A
AbhishekUpaadhya
AnirudhSuresh
BhavyaAm
mulya
Haidry
HussainH

NandiniRaamani
PaBadrinarayan

R
RahulJagannaathan
RichaSingh

SreeR
Ramya

nthKV
Suman

Brief Overview of the Hoshangabad District

Hoshangabad district lies in the central Narmada Valley and on the northern fringe of the Satpura
Plateau. In Hoshangabad district, there are two main rivers namely the Narmada and the Tawa., which
join each other at the village Bandra Bhan. In the spot, a holy mela also organise on the occassion of
Kartik purnima. The climate of Hoshangabad district is normal. All the seasons come in the district. An
average height from the sea level is 331 mts. and average rainfall is 134 cms.
Key facts:
The irrigated area is 78% of the net sown area.
Total Literacy Rate is 58% (Male 68% and Female 48%)
There are 960 Primary Schools, 207 Middle Schools 207 and 69 Senior Secondary Schools.
The Geographical Area is 5408.23 sq. km. out of which Forest Area is 2229.74 sq. km.
Total Populated Villages are 923 divided into 8 Tehsils and 7 Blocks.
Total Gram Panchayats is 428 and Total Janpad Panchayats is 7
No.of Urban Areas is 11 and Total Municipals are 4
Total Population is 1,084,265 Nos.

Major Activities on a Daily Basis:

Date
28th Nov

29th Nov

30th Nov

Activity
Description
Interaction with Collector The interaction with the District collector and CEO of Zilla
and CEO
Parishad helped us understand basic details about the district
and a broad overview of the government schemes and their
implementation
Visited various houses to see the toilets built under TSC
Total Sanitation
scheme under which every BPL household is given Rs.
Campaign An
3200. The scheme also aims at educating the residents about
infrastructure and
person hygiene and keeping their surroundings clean. We
awareness campaign to
spoke to a number of school children and villagers to check
improve sanitary and
their awareness levels and gauge the effectiveness of the
health conditions
campaign. Also understood the working of the water
conservation projects- water harvesting and a hand-pump
connected to a tank which are in pilot phase.
Jan Sunvaayi
A grievance redressal mechanism through which problems
can be brought to Sarpanchs, Department heads and the
Collector. The way a wide spectrum of problems were
handled while ensuring justice to all stakeholders taught us
valuable management lessons.
Visit to a NREGA
Understood the implementation of NREGA scheme and the
implementation site
effect it has had on Bawai village in terms of not only asset
creation but also in employment generation and increasing
general awareness
Visit to Silk Center
The visit helped us understand the entire process of silk
production right from rearing silk moths to producing silk
thread.
Interaction with
Interaction with the SHGs brought to light the impact it has
Sericulture SHGs
had on the quality of life of the members and its role in
women empowerment

Visit to District Hospital

1st Nov

Visit to Anganwadi

Mid day meal Programme

2nd Nov

3rd Nov

Jan Abhiyaan- A zero funding semi

governmental initiative
that works with
community participation
Visit to Agricultural
Department

Understood the working of various government schemes

targeting reduction of Maternal and Infant mortality rates,
Communicable and Non-Communicable diseases and the
role of Primary health centers, Community health centers
and hospitals in the implementation of the schemes and the
Universal Immunization Programme
Examined the effectiveness of Vatsalya scheme that was
launched to tackle malnutrition problem and the role that
Anganwadis play in child welfare
Visited a school in Aanchalkheda village and got views from
various teachers, students and the SHGs involved in cooking
on the mid day meal programme
Visited Nepaniya and Dhaamaniya villages where Jan
Abhiyaan committee members have worked in tandem with
the government and NGOs for betterment of the village and
effective implementation of all schemes

Discussed with the Dy. Dir of Agricultural Department

about the research activities undertaken by the Krishi
Vigyan Kendra to improve productivity and the manner in
which they handle distribution and pricing of seeds and
fertilizers. Also understood the way they facilitate various
government schemes for farmers
Interaction with Janpad Understood the working of local self government and their
executives
perspective on its advantages and disadvantages. The
interaction also gave us an opportunity to see the difficulties
in implementation of government policies
Presentation
and Presented our learnings from the visit and suggested
discussion on suggestions improvements for better implementation of the welfare
programmes

Noteworthy Incident from the Rural Immersion Programme

Our visit to Dhaamaniya a model village under the Jan Abhiyaan Programme, was the highlight of the
visit. Under the community initiatives, the village has transformed itself on pressing issues like energyconservation, Sanitary and Hygiene conditions, Education, Nutrition etc.
The Sarpanch and the Jan Abhiyaan group took us on a tour around the village streets. We felt
immensely proud at witnessing people working for the entire village with a feeling of oneness. This was
evident in the way they identified needs of the community, took those tasks up, and implemented them
with finesse. Some of the ingenious methods like village-wide CFL installation, mosquito removal.
Electricity savings through physical bells instead of electronic ones, etc were implemented in this small
village. The ideas were so unique, yet simple to launch it in hundreds of villages throughout Madhya
Pradesh.
We were treated like guests, and we loved being welcomed into such a near-ideal village. The interaction
with the Prasphutan team and the villagers was a real eye-opener, and we wish that such community
driven initiatives be encouraged to the fullest extent.

In a way, this visit to Dhaamaniya summed up a key learning from the entire programme itself. It is these
simple, yet often ignored ideas, which when implemented successfully has far-reaching benefits for the
society at large.

Major Learning from the Entire Experience

Hailing from urban India, most of us were unaware of the ground realities rural India faced. Although we
have read in newspapers and followed news channels on various Government schemes and initiatives,
and have been exposed to the problems of rural India through the electronic media, none of it matched
the experience rendered by this immersion programme. It was an eye opener of sorts and sensitised us to
various issues whose solutions, we take for granted right from employment to basic sanitation to
electricity.
A major point of fascination for us was the Jan Sunvaayi session with the collector. It exposed us to what
is possibly the toughest Managerial responsibility a person could possess. It is tough to address a
problem objectively when the decision bears huge, game-changing implications to the person facing it. A
first hand exposure to this was simply amazing.

Reflections on the Entire Trip

While life in a rural environment is something that we have often heard of and read about, actually going
to one and experiencing the life there was wonderful. The first interactions that we had were with the
government officials, ie the collector et al. The collector struck us as being extremely efficient and
highly concerned about the welfare of the people in his district. It was heart- warming to see his tireless
dedication to the rural people after hearing about great absenteeism and corruption in bureaucracy. After
this, we had an opportunity to interact with the people in the villages. What struck us about the people in
the rural environment was how absolutely warm and welcoming they were to everyone. In contrast to
urban life, life in the rural areas seems a lot less hectic. It was refreshing to see how uncomplaining and
hard-working people in the rural environment were in spite of often not being very privileged.
The children we met in the schools we visited were extremely enthusiastic about learning and very hard
working. However, we learnt that many of them were often absent as their parents would send them to
work elsewhere. Seeing this made us aware about how much we take for granted. While we get the
opportunity to attend the best schools and colleges, we often take it all for granted and waste these
opportunities.
This trip sensitized us to the problems faced by people in rural areas. The government has done much by
the way of schemes for housing, sanitation, education, nutrition, hygiene and so on. While we can
appreciate the government on how appropriate the schemes are, it seemed at times as if not all the
benefits were reaching the people they were intended for. There is still much to be done before the need
for such schemes entirely disappears.
We completed this trip with much learning, enlightenment and a sense of purpose to better the lives of
the people around us.