NORTH VANLAIPHAI VILLAGE PROFILE Reported by R

NORTH VANLAIPHAI VILLAGE PROFILE

Reported by R.Zodinsanga Cluster Co-Ordinator, NRLM East Lungdar R.D Block

I. About the Village:

Socio geographic location & Feature:

N. Vanlaiphai village is situated in Serchhip District and is located between 2307’49’’ N Latitude and 9303’44’’E Longitude. It is the biggest village among the villages situated beyond the Tuichang river. It is 175 Km away from Aizawl, the capital of Mizoram. It is situated at 5052 ft. above from the sea level.

The climatic condition of N. Vanlaiphai is moderate and mild during the summer season and some snow used to fall in N. Vanlaiphai during the Winter season.

N. Vanlaiphai is surrounded by many beautiful hills and forests like; Purun Hill in the west, Lungreng tlang in the east and Hrangtur hill in the South. A wide range of WRC (A plain area, processed for the cultivation of rice) field is located nearby the village. These fields are known the oldest WRC field in Mizoram and have been started since 1899.

Pic-1, Some Parts of N. Vanlaiphai Village.

History of the village:

The first appearance of N. Vanlaiphai in the Mizo history is written like; “ Even before the Britishers came into Mizoram, the then eminent chief of Mizo, Lallula Sailo, the first son of Rohna-a had shifted his kingdom (Village) from N. Vanlaiphai to Piler”. When the British came into Mizoram, they had built their outposts in Champhai and N. Vanlaiphai. According to the record, the exact time of the British entered into N. Vanlaiphai was 3rd March, 1892. Since then the people have been dwelling in N. Vanlaiphai till now.

Major events in the Village history:

1. On 28th March, 1944 the five Japanese Jet Fighters flew over the village and dropped the bombs at the outskirts of the village and brushed with Machine guns from above. The people were rushing in and out on the ground with panic, fortunately no one was harmed or killed.

2. Vanlaiphai is the birth place of a renowned Mr. Lalkulha, one of the famous Mizo wrestlers. Whenever he was given the championship title in the wrestling, the whole people in the village used to give honours and awards. He is regarded as the longest holding wrestling championship title.

3. The N. Vanlaiphai Presbyterian church had celebrated their centenary jubilee in 2011.

Demographic feature:

According to the data collected by the Village Council of N. Vanlaiphai, the village features and its strength are as follows:

1. Number of houses - 1022

2. Number of households - 792

3. Number of Women - 1777

4. Number of Men - 1910

5. Number of Children (Below 15 years of age) - 1152

6. Number of Adults (Above 15 years of age) - 2535

7. Total Number of people - 3687

8. Religion - Christianity.

Occupation:

There are many occupational patterns in N. Vanlaiphai. The number of people holding different types of occupations with the percentage are:

1. Cultivation - 90.5%

2. Govt. Servant - 2.5%

3. Merchants - 3%

4. Animal rearing - 2%

5. Carpentry - 1%

6. Industry - 1%

Education:

All the adults’ people are recorded as Literate, but there are exceptions like - few people of more than 60 years of age are still illiterate. The students of Primary and Middle schools are provided teaching of computer studies, Television set for looking or enjoyment, Science journal for reading. Apart from these, text books, Uniforms and Mid - day meal are also given as free.

The list of different schools and the number of students attach to it are as under:

School No. Of schools No. of Students

1. Primary School - 5 - 541

2. Middle School - 4 - 274

3. High School - 3 - 150

4. Higher Secondary School - 1 - 62

Total No. of School - 13

Total No. of Students - 1027

Health Condition:

Since the N. Vanlaiphai has mild and moderate climate throughout the year, the people also living with happy and agile. According to the record of Health Sub - Centre, the people having chronic diseases are not yet recorded. The children below 6 years of age used to go to the Anganwadi every day and getting nutritions from there.

There are a few disabled people in N. Vanlaiphai like:

1. Hands and legs paralysed - 2

2. Dumb - 3

3. Unable to move legs - 1

There is only one Hospital and Sub-centre in N. Vanlaiphai. The rate of Maternal mortality and Infant mortality is recorded as zero.

Status of Houses:

According to the data collected by the Village Council of N. Vanlaiphai in 2012, the number of houses and status of houses in the village are as follow:

Status of houses No. of houses

1. Pucca House (RCC Building) - 160

2. Assam type - 675

3. Thatch house - 145

Total number of houses - 980

Community Infrastructure

The followings are the public places or infrastructures that the village have:

Community Infrastructure Number Places

1. Community Hall - 1 - Bangla Veng, 2. Lersia Hall/YMA Hall - 1 - Damdawi Veng

3. VC House cum - 1 - Rahsi veng

Cultural &

Information centre - 1 - At Darthlalang hill

4. YMA Library - 5 - Bangla veng, Rahsi Veng,

Damdawi veng, Venglai, Rawlkhawng

6. Play ground - 1 - Rawlkhang.

Roads & Sanitation:

In N. Vanlaiphai, the roads which connected wide and corner of the village are metal roads and non metal. The ring road rounded around the village is estimated 2.5 Km long and non - metal roads in N. Vanlaiphai is estimated 3.0 Km long. Therefore the total length of roads in N. Vanlaiphai is 5.5 Km long.

All the families in the village have been recorded as having proper toilet like this:

1. The number of families having Septic tank - 483

2. The number of families having Pit latrine -309

The Village council already made 3 Community Urinal cum Bathroom at different places and 32 public Urinals. On the other hand, they don’t still have proper Side drain.

Environment & Ecological setting:

1. Hrangtur Forest: This forest is announced as ‘Protected Forest’ by the Village Council because it is regarded as the lifeline of the village as the good climatic condition as well as the water source has been taken out from this Forest.

2. Fachil Forest: 50 hectare of this forest is also preserved by Venglai Br. YMA.

3. Khawng Hill: This hill is preserved by Village Council as ‘Plantation cum Public Park’ because it has a beautiful scenery and feature. There are abundant Amla trees/fruits in this hill. These forests are rich in wildlife resources like- many varieties of medicinal plants, different species of wild animals and birds.

Farming/ Livelihood:

More than 100 families of N. Vanlaiphai are still attaching in the vast range of WRC for their livelihood, apart from this, Orange, Gingers and Chilli are their major cash crop.

Seasonal calendar:

1. January – February: These months are very cold, for the mizo people, it is the exact time for clearing the forest for jhumming cultivation. 2. March – April: This season is becoming hot the outbreak of monsoon is occurred during these months. 3. May – June: The Rain is starting fall, and the seeds are sew in these months. 4. July – August: Vegetables, corn etc. are becoming harvested during these months. 5. September – October: These months are autumn season, and the weather is mild and pleasant. 6. November – December: Winter season is started within these months. The weather is very cold. Everyone has to wear sweater and jacket.

Inter - Caste & Relationship:

There are few other clans and foreigners living in N. Vanlaiphai, who are living among the Mizo people peacefully. They never have any problems among different clans.

Rules & Regulation in the village:

The Village Council has many rules and regulations to look after the people. Some important are as under:

1. No one should take any forest products from the preserved forest.

2. Animal tax should be levied.

3. The rate of rice is fixed in every year, 1 Tin of rice is fixed to Rs. Rs. 200

4. The rate of meat is also fixed like; 1 Kg of Pork is fixed to Rs. Rs. 200 and 1 Kg of Beef is fixed to Rs. Rs. 180. People are supposed to abide by the rules and regulations of the Village Council. Any person who break the above rules and regulations should be punished or fine.

Social & Cultural aspects:

On the occasion of grief or merriment, people used to come together and helping each other according to the situation. During the grief occasion, YMA plays an important role and they used to sit up the whole night for the condolence of the sad or sorrowful people.

Political Aspect:

The political parties present in the village are:

1. Indian National Congress (INC)

2. Mizo National Front (MNF)

3. Zoram Nationalist Party(ZNP)

4. Mizoram People’s Party (MPC)

The Village council in N. Vanlaiphai is also formed in coliation.

Village Economy:

The people of more than 90% are engaged in Agriculture. There is only one Market place at Rahsi veng. According to the record prepared by the Village council, about 45 lakhs is annual Income of the people of N. Vanlaiphai from different occupations.

Different Development Programme:

1. NLUP: Under the NLUP, 235 people had already taken benefit on different trades.

2. WRC : In N. Vanlaiphai, Rs. 200 lakhs had been used up for the development of WRC under the ‘Land development & Implementation Programme’ About more than 100 households are engaging in WRC for their livelihood. 3. MGNREGS: This programme is implemented by the central government in collaboration with the government of Mizoram. Internal road making, Half-moon terracing, making link road, WRC, Orange garden, retaining wall and making RCC Culvert are the main programme under MGNREGS

4. MP Fund: Rs. 17 lakhs was given to N. Vanlaiphai under Lok Sabha MP Fund. This fund was used for constructing the building of N. Vanlaiphai Higher Secondary School. Apart from that, under the Rajya Sabha MP Fund, Rs. 300000/- was also received for the construction of Library hall at Damdawi Veng.

II.Poor in the Village:

According to the record of Supply Deptt. in N. Vanlaiphai, the number of poor, Classification and percentage are as follow:

1. Non Poor - APL - 1800(48.8%)

2. Not so poor - BPL - 219(5.93%)

3. Poor - AAY - 157(4.25%)

4. Poorest of the poor - Annapurna - 15(0.4%)

III. Vulnerable Group:

Vulnerable group are classified as the poorest of the poor in the society, Old aged people who cannot earn their living. Only 15 people are present in the vulnerable group in N. Vanlaiphai.

The government pay heed to vulnerable group as giving an old aged pension regularly and giving 10 Kg of rice in free.

IV. Development Organisation & Programme:

The development organisations present in the village are:

1. Village Council

2. Young Mizo Association

3. Mizo Hmeichhe Insuihkhawm Pawl

4. Mizo Zirlai Pawl/Mizo Student Union 5. Self Help Group

6. Mizo Upa Pawl.

NGO’s present & activity:

1. YMA: In N. Vanlaiphai, all the four branches of YMA are affiliated to Joint YMA. They play a leading role on the occation of grief and merriment in the society. 2. MHIP: There are five branches of MHIP and all are affiliated to joint MHIP. Their main workings are the following:

a. They keep clean public places with the help of Village Sanitation Squad. b. They help of uplift an old aged people, widows and orphans in the society as far as possible.

(e)They established ‘Crech Centre’ with the help of Social Welfare Department. In which they used to take care of children in a day with giving nutritions etc.

3. MZP/ MSU: Being they are an organisation of students, upliftment and development of education in any way is their main goal. They used to honour and celebrate the talented students every year.

4. MUP: They are the association of senior citizens. Not only their experiences are very valuable and effective to drive the administration in the village to the right path but also important for reviving our culture.

IV.Stake holder:

The Stakeholders for the development process in the village are: MGNREGS, NLUP, IWMP, SSA, MI. Water User’s Group. Different government Deptt. like; Agriculture, Horticulture, Industry. All these stakeholders play an important role in the development process.

Sometimes the development programmes are failed due to the lack of proper planning, in that case the Village Council used to make aware of the concern departments for the betterment of the village

V. Natural resources in the village:

1. Site, Occupied area: The total area of N. Vanlaiphai VC is estimated about 2918.72 bighas. Out of this total area, 450 bighas is occupied for the house Site, garden, Farm etc. 2.Water: Almost all the drinking water is taken from Hrangtur forest with the help of PHE.

3. Forest Product: Honey, Hruizik, Timber, Firewood and medicinal plants are taken from the forest.

4. Animal wealth: Forests in N. Vanlaphai are very rich in animal wealth. Different species of animals and birds can be seen in the forests. The Mizoram state bird named Hume Bartailed Peasant is also existed.

5. Protection: Any resources/ forest resources are not allowed to take from these protected forests.

VI. Conflict & Mutual support:

The major group in the village are: YMA, MHIP, MUP, MZP/MSU. A conflict between these groups never be heard before, instead of that they are concurring one another.

The activity to show their good mutual support are:

a. The Village council has planned to beautify the Khawng Hill to make into Picnic Spot, without disparage all NGO’s supported as one mind. b. Nowadays N. Vanlaiphai District demand Committee has been organised by different NGO’s, they are stepping forward together as one hand.

VII. Functioning of public , Formal, Informal institution:

1. VC:The Village council in N. Vanlaiphai is composed of different political parties like:

1. Indian National Congress

2. Mizo National Front

3. Zoram Nationalist Party

4. Mizoram People’s Party.

Being they are the agency of different development programmes, they supervise and undertake for the development of the Village.

2.Bank: There is only one Bank in N. Vanlaiphai, i,e Mizoram Rural Bank(MRB). This Bank manipulate effectively the money of NLUP, MGNREGS for the people. 3. PDS: There are 5 retailers in N. Vanlaiphai from where the people take their ration- Rice, Sugar and Kerosene.

4. Church: Each domination has their own churches in many places. There are about 15 churches in N. Vanlaiphai.

VIII. Study of Quality of SHG:

Recently, in N. Vanlaiphai there are about 4/5 SHG’s actively function. These groups earn money from mushroom rearing, looming etc. These activities made them more active.

IX. Items being traded in and out:

Ready made goods and some grocery goods are brought from bigger towns like; Serchhip, Aizawl etc. while their products like Ginger, Orange, Chilli are exported to bigger towns.

About 500 quintals of ginger used to sell every year.

X. Mojor crises in the past:

The major crises happened in the past are:

1. On 28th March, 1944 the five Japanese Jet Fighters flew over the village and dropped the bombs at the outskirts of the village and brushed with machine guns from above. The people were rushing in and out on the ground with panic but fortunately no one was harmed or killed.

2. The cruelty deed was happened in 2012 that a 9 years old girl was raped and killed. At the beginning, the people are stunned and bewildered, at last, the cruel brutal was arrested.

XI. Development:

As the opinion of the people, Development is - When the programmes / workings, which are required for the upliftment of the Village, are really come true. These are Development called.

All NGO’s, VC play an active role for the development of their village. XII. Social Entrepreneurs:

Some social entrepreneurs are;

1. Desktop Publishing

2. Mobile top up Retailer

3. Milk Man

4. Petrol/ Diesel Vendor

5. Mechanics.

XIII. Formal/ Informal Leaders:

Leaders in all NGO’s and Village Council are Mizo community.

All these leaders are having leadership qualities like: Honesty, deligence, Wisdom, Will-power and amiable character, that is why people selected them as their leaders.

XIV. Functioning people’s Organisation:

(a)They keep clean public places with the help of Village Sanitation Squad.

(b) They help of uplift an old aged people, widows and orphans in the society as far as possible. (c)They established ‘Crèche Centre’ with the help of Social Welfare Department. In which they used to take care of children in a day with giving nutrition etc.

3. MZP/ MSU: Being they are an organisation of students, upliftment and development of education in any way is their main goal. They used to honour and celebrate the talented students every year.

XV. Detail about Village council:

Pic 2: N.Vanlaiphai VCP (Pu Lalthamawia)

There is only one Village Council to look after the village. The followings are the political parties having the number of members in the village council:

1. Indian National Congress (INC) - 2

2. Mizo National Front (MNF) - 3

3. Zoram Nationalist Party (ZNP) - 1

4. Mizoram People’s Party (MPC) - 1

5. Independent - 1

These village council members are cordially working together under the leadership of Mr. Lalthanmawia, the VCP for the betterment of the village.

XVI. Functioning of Public service in the village:

1. School: Apart from giving all knowledges and informations in the school, Mid day meal, Science journal for reading, and Television for looking are also provided to the students.

2. Anganwadi: Children below 6 years of age are going to anganwadi in every day. They learnt A,B,C or A, AW, B and rhymes. Nutritions are given to the children. There are 5 Anganwadies in N. Vanlaiphai.

3.Crech Centre: Crech centre is established in N. Vanlaiphai by MHIP with the help of Social Welfare Deptt. In this centre, children are taken care with providing medicine and nutrition.

4. YMA Library: This library is the only place for getting knowledges and informations in the village. There are 5 libraries in N. Vanlaiphai.

5. Community Hall: Community hall is a public place for the purpose of organising public function/programmes etc. There are 2 community hall in N. Vanlaiphai.

6. VC House: When turmoil, disputes and troubles are occurred among the people in the village, VC house is the place to make judgement and to settle disputes.

XVII. Status of Women:

In N. Vanlaiphai, the status of women is not low in different aspects in comparision with other places. Women are given high priority in all respects in the society and there are no any discrimination between men and women on the ground of jobs, salary etc.

XVIII. Description of 10 Livelihood:

1. Pig Rearing: Piglet is brought for Rs. 3500, different kinds of pig foods are given and it can be slaughtered after 1 year.

2. Fowl: Firstly chicken are bought for about Rs. 50 per head. Readymade foods and water are given twice in a day and after 2 months it can be sold in the market.

3. Cow : Grass Leaves, Oil cakes, Wheat and water etc. are given for food. Milk has been squeezed out in every morning and evening. 1 Lt. of milk is sold in Rs. 40 in the market

4. Silk: The Silkworms are given the leaves of mulberry tree for food, The cocoon is the final product which can be sold 1 Kg of cocoon in Rs.200

5. Fishery: At first, fingerlings are bought from the Department and feed with oil cake etc. in the pond, and after 1 year it can be sold in the market.

6. Tailoring: Sewing machine, threads, clothes are the materials. Children, Ladies and Gentlemen’s clothes are sewed.

7. Orange garden: The garden of Orange has to clear or weeded 2-3 times a year and can be harvested after 6/7 years.

8. Pineapple: The area for growing pineapple is needed to clear or weeded at least 2 times a year. After 2 years, it can be harvested.

9. Nimbu: The Nimbu trees are planted between 5 feet different. After 2/3 years, it can be harvested.

10. WRC. The plain areas are processed for WRC. After ploughing the field and filled with water, rice is planted. It can be harvested in the month of November and December.

XIX. Household analysis:

1. Household A

1. Income & Exp. Analysis: Most of their income is used for food. They don’t save it. 2. Sources of income: From Pension. 3. How they spent 24 hrs.: Go to the farm, children are going to the school. 4. How they spent 365 days & How seasons affect their life: working in the farm, not effect their life when the the season is changed. 5. Household status: Not too poor 6. Leaders: Not too poor & not migrated. 7. Labourer & Food security: They are not labourer and earn their living from their farm. 8. School Drop out: Nil.

1. Household B

1. Income & Exp. Analysis: Most of their income is used for food. They don’t save it. 2. Sources of income: From Cultivation, Income about Rs. 4000 per month. 3. How they spent 24 hrs: Go to the field, children are going to the school. 4. How they spent 365 days & How seasons affect their life: working in the field. They used to get Common cold when the the season is changed. 5. Household status: Not too poor 6. Leaders: Not too poor & not migrated. 7. Labourer & Food security: They are not labourer and earn their living from their farm. 8. School Drop out: Nil.

1. Household C

1. Income & Exp. Analysis: Most of their income is used for food and clothes. They don’t save their income. 2. Sources of income: From Orange. Income is Rs. 10000 per month 3. How they spent 24 hrs.: Go to the Orange garden, children are going to the school. 4. How they spent 365 days & How seasons affect their life: working in the Orange garden, not effect their life when the the season is changed. 5. Household status: Not poor 6. Leaders: Not poor & not migrated. 7. Labourer & Food security: They are not labourer and earn their living from their Orange garden. 8. School Drop out: 1

1. Household D

1. Income & Exp. Analysis: Most of their income is used for food and clothes. They don’t save their income. 2. Sources of income: From grosery shop, around Rs. 3000-Rs. 4000 per month is an income. 3. How they spent 24 hrs.: Staying in the shop, children are going to the school. 4. How they spent 365 days & How seasons affect their life: Bringing goods from bigger towns and staying in the shop, sometime effect their life when the the season is changed. 5. Household status: Not too poor 6. Leaders: Not too poor & not migrated. 7. Labourer & Food security: They are not labourer and earn their living from their shop. 8. School Drop out: Nil.

1. Household E 2. Income & Exp. Analysis: Most of their income is used for food. They don’t save it. 3. Sources of income: From Carpentry. 4. How they spent 24 hrs.: Working in workshop, children are going to the school. 5. How they spent 365 days & How seasons affect their life: working in the workshop, sometime it effect their life when the the season is changed. 6. Household status: Not poor 7. Leaders: Not poor & not migrated. 8. Labourer & Food security: They are not labourer and earn their living from their workshop, Carpentry. 9. School Drop out: Nil.

1. Household F

1. Income & Exp. Analysis: Most of their income is used for food. They don’t save it. 2. Sources of income: From Pig rearing. 3. How they spent 24 hrs.: Go to the farm, and in the pighouse, children are going to the school. 4. How they spent 365 days & How seasons affect their life: working in the farm pighouse, sometime it effect their life when the the season is changed. 5. Household status: Not poor 6. Leaders: Not poor & not migrated. 7. Labourer & Food security: They are not labourer and earn their living from their pig rearing. 8. School Drop out: Nil.

1. Household G

1. Inctome & Exp. Analysis: Most of their income is used for food and clothes. They don’t save it. 2. Sources of income: From manual labour. About Rs. 5000-6000 per month 3. How they spent 24 hrs.: Labour, children are going to the school. 4. How they spent 365 days & How seasons affect their life: Labour and working in the farm, not effect their life when the the season is changed. 5. Household status: Poor 6. Leaders: Not poor & migrated. 7. Labourer & Food security: They are labourer and earn their living from their manual working. 8. School Drop out: Nil.

1. Household H

1. Inctome & Exp. Analysis: Most of their income is used for food. They don’t save it. 2. Sources of income: From Working in PHE Deptt. as MR. 3. How they spent 24 hrs.: Go to the field and firm, children are going to the school. 4. How they spent 365 days & How seasons affect their life: working in the field, sometime effect their life when the the season is changed. 5. Household status: Poor 6. Leaders: Poor & not migrated. 7. Labourer & Food security: They are not labourer and earn their living from Monthly salary. 8. School Drop out: Nil.

1. Household I

1. Income & Exp. Analysis: Most of their income is used for food and clothes. They don’t save it. 2. Sources of income: Working in Private school 3. How they spent 24 hrs.: Working in the school. children are going to the school. 4. How they spent 365 days & How seasons affect their life: working in the School, Sometime it effect their life when the the season is changed. 5. Household status: Not too poor 6. Leaders: Not too poor & not migrated. 7. Labourer & Food security: They are not labourer and earn their living from monthly salary. 8. School Drop out:1

1. Household J

1. Income & Exp. Analysis: Most of their income is used for food. They don’t save it. 2. Sources of income: From the product of their firm. 3. How they spent 24 hrs.: Go to the farm, labour. 4. How they spent 365 days & How seasons affect their life: working in the farm, manual labour and sometime it effect their life when the the season is changed. 5. Household status: Not too poor 6. Leaders: Not too poor & not migrated, and widow. 7. Labourer & Food security: Her son is a labourer and also earn their living from their farm. 8. School Drop out: Nil.

XX. Top Problems, gaps and Opportunities:

1. Water: Due to the scarcity of water during the spring time, the people used to have hardship. They need to buy water with high price, but that was inevitable!

2. Huge size of VC: In N. Vanlaiphai, there are 3687 people and 1022 houses that means the village is too big to govern / look after properly for one Village Council. Rules and regulations are difficult to maintain properly.

3. Transportation: We know that N. Vanlaiphai is in a remote area, No National Highways or Major roads are passing through the village, that make it difficulties for practicing business as well as trading with their products. XX. Learning & Unlearning Report:

Pic : Hilly Ranges around N.Vanlaiphai

Learning Report:

1. The village is very pleasant regarding climate, landscape etc. and the people also keeping politeness to the strangers. Houses and public places are very good and standard.

2. Since the village is surrounded by forests, the climate is mild throughout the year.

3. Very beautiful scenery like- Hrangturzo Forest, Fachil forest, Purun hill and Khawng hill surrounds the sub town.

Pic : Paddy fields of N.Vanlaiphai

4. There are many government Schools and Offices and public places like –Community Hall, YMA Hall, Library and Playground. A big Supply Godown can also be seen. There are many churches owned by different dominations.

5. The hospital of N. Vanlaiphai has great importance in the history of Mizos. The Japanese army shot the hospital during the World War II. The mark of the bullet can also be seen till today on the wall of the hospital.

Unlearning

1. There is no proper Side Drain in the village.

2. They don’t have Market place (Bazar).

3. Although the area of the sub town is big, the services like Auto Rickshaw, Taxi, and Town bus are not available in the village.