5 PRA in Malda District, West Bengal: a Report of a Training Workshop For
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PLA Notes CD-ROM 1988–2001 _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 5 PRA in Malda district, West Bengal: a report of a training workshop for ActionAid India and Tagore Society for Rural Development Thomas Joseph and Sam Joseph · Introduction used PRA methods to cover all their programme villages. ActionAid India and the Tagore Society for Rural Development are partners in a rural · Day one development project in the Malda District of West Bengal. Both felt that they needed to The participants were welcomed and then understand the villages in the project area from introduced to PRA with an exercise on the the villagers’ perspective. This, it was hoped, classification of information - what are the would lead to plans in which the client group differences between fact, opinion, hearsay, had participated. A PRA training exercise was inference, assumption. It was also emphasised organised which would cover 5 days (10-14 that villagers are experts in survival, and so Dec 1990) by Thomas Joseph (Northern India, different systems in villages such as soil, Field Director, ActionAid). Sam Joseph water, topography, cropping patterns, trees, (ActionAid) was invited to conduct the animals, food-flow, labour-flow, credit-flow, training. Mr B C Chatterjee, the Director of knowledge, social organisation need to be Tagore Society, was personally involved in the known to understand a village. To know the training as a participant. Another NGO, the village quickly, the first PRA techniques to be Tajmahal Society, sent three of their senior used are social maps, resource maps, transects staff for this training. and time-lines. The participants divided into 3 groups (social, resource and time-line) and The participants camped at the project base in then visited Chanduhati village in the evening. Tapan. The training followed a pattern of discussion, practic e and reflection. First, a · Day two method was discussed at the base. Then the participants divided into teams with the Social and resource maps assignment to attempt specific methods. The teams visited selected villages and attempted the methods. They then met again at the One group called on an elderly person and said project base, prepared their information on they had come to learn about the village as a large sheets and present their reports to the part of the training. Three more persons were entire group. Their presentations emphasised also asked to help. It was explained that the both the process and content. team were ignorant of the village, and so needed help to draw a map. The house where This report is an English translation of the group was sitting was at first plotted on the presentations in Hindi/Bengali which were sheet and then the neighbouring houses were taped concurrently. The exercise started at plotted with names and members of village Chanduhati on the first day. However, households and then subsequently the road the village was changed to Kharamdanga from (east-west), ponds, cultivated land, burial the second day onwards. After the completion ground, mosque, co-op society, etc. were of the training, the Tagore Society staff have shown. The local people also marked the ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 1 Source: RRA Notes (1991), Issue 13, pp.59–64, IIED London PLA Notes CD-ROM 1988–2001 _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ house/location of the quack doctor, panchayat during the day. On this suggestion, the team member, maulvi, CHG, tube-well, ring-well, were able to move back to the site. grocery shop etc. There was no school except an NFE centre run by TSRD. Electric poles At Chanduhati the team started with 3 or 4 were present without connections. The informants and asked them to help draw the position of the village was located in reference outline of the village. The informants could to metalled road and surrounding villages. All not agree. Then the team started drawing from the information was first obtained from one the house where they were sitting. The informant and then confirmed by other informants were Muslims and scheduled caste. villagers present. The team left the place after While drawing the tribal area, they were found thanking the informants. It was noted that: to be less interested though they were well aware. The team collected information on · While locating the tube-wells, some of the ponds, tube-wells, ring-wells, crops, etc. No outsiders drew attention to some locations land except areas adjacent to the ponds is which were ignored by the informants, and cultivated for vegetables. Generally, one so these team members were requested by leading informant was replying, while the the trainers to be silent. others were nodding approvingly. After the · At first they started with one elderly entire drawing was over, the team showed this person who was not able to provide the to the villagers for their confirmation. information. When the junior members aged 25-30 came, the interview ran In another mapping exercise the team was smoothly. helped by a boy of Class IX, who did the drawing. Other villagers were checking and if · The informants were Muslims, and so necessary rectifying the locations. The place were not at first readily responding to the where they sat was located at first, then ponds, questions relating to the tribals. After 2 or tube-wells, ground-wells, etc. The facilities 3 requests they gave the replies. not available within the villages were also · When asked about the availability of found out from the villagers. doctor/health worker etc, they said ‘no’. After some delay, they said in a lighter The key lessons arising during discussions tone that there was one CGH, implying from this exercise were: that the usefulness and impression of the · the team asked no questions about the CGH were not good. nature of the ownership of the ponds, · For education the NFE centre was all that names of cultivators in winter, availability was referred too. After repeating the of pumpset; question 2 or 3 times it came out that there · if some facilities are not available in the was one primary school just outside the village, questions may be asked about boundary of the village. where and how local people could avail of them; One informant led the group to the next village. During collection of information, the · one should start with the place of sitting, group realised this but as it was not possible to not with the village boundary; and, stop the information gathering, they kept on. · a copy of the map combining the two After some time, one of the informants said resource maps should be handed over to that it would have been better had you come the village (display at NFE/panchayat). ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2 Source: RRA Notes (1991), Issue 13, pp.59–64, IIED London PLA Notes CD-ROM 1988–2001 _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Figure 28. Social map of Kharamdanga village Figure 29. Resource map of Kharamdanga village ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 3 Source: RRA Notes (1991), Issue 13, pp.59–64, IIED London PLA Notes CD-ROM 1988–2001 _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Figure 30. Map of village of Kharamdanga NFE teacher (from the next village) drew the · Day three map starting from the house where the interview took place (Figure 30). Social and resource maps A time-line was produced during an interview with an informant of 105 years of age (Figure Better social maps were produced on the third 31). To make this time line better, it was day, in which all households were identified agreed that indirect questions should be asked and named (Figure 28). A second social map to avoid past glorification, and approximate was drawn by an informant, who at first dates with each event given. plotted his house, and then the house was located in reference to the pucca road. The On the third day some of the groups could not team then went to an adivasi family to draw a complete the field tasks for want of informants resource map. The drawing was done by the who were away for their ‘hat’ (weekly informant whose choice of scale meant that market). The group was reminded that two pieces of chart paper had to be added to embracing-error and flexibility are central accommodate the map (Figure 29). To cross- parts of PRA. check findings, another resource map was drawn by informants from scheduled castes. A ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 4 Source: RRA Notes (1991), Issue 13, pp.59–64, IIED London PLA Notes CD-ROM 1988–2001 _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Figure 31. Time line fro Kharamdanga village ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 5 Source: RRA Notes (1991), Issue 13, pp.59–64, IIED London PLA Notes CD-ROM 1988–2001 _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ for verification of the month; a suitable picture · Day four could be drawn above each month; each problem should be thoroughly investigated Transects