Chapters 9 Education, Communication and Patterns Of
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Chapters 9 Education, Communication and Patterns of Health Care CHAPTER-9 In this chapter, an attempt is made to summarize the findings of the study undertaken in a rural settings, Bijoypur, a Barman village located in Cachar district of Assam and in Silchar town, district headquarter of Cachar district, which are inhabited by the Barmans. In a comparative framework in order to understand similarities and changes in the level of education, mass media exposure and patterns of health care among them. Finally, an attempt is made to analyse the relationship between Education, Communication and Health Care patterns in the Bijoypur village and Silchar town. Major Findings of the Study: The major findings of the study may be summarise as follows: 1. Social Background: Social background of the respondents is analyzed in terms of locality, length of residence in village/town, age group, marital status, class to which they belong, religion, numbers of generation lives in town/villages, household consumption patterns, basic amenities like mode of cooking, drinking water, electricity place for medical treatment, types of family, languages known, member of N.G.O, position in N.G.O, member in any political party, position in the political party and form of worshipping. 1. Locality: In Bijoypur, there are no localities as it is a small Barman village having only 40 households. However, in Silchar town consists of numbers of localities, namely Rongpur, Tarapur, Ithkhola, Malugram, Jhalupara, Meherpur, National Highway, and Jhalupara. The data reveals that Barmans in Silchar town mainly concentrated in the then traditional localities, namely Rongpur (26.9%), and Tarapur (22.6%). While, more than one-tenth of each of the respondents are from National Highway (10.4%) and Malugram (13%). Less than one-tenth of the respondents are from Rangirkhari (3.4%), Jhalupara (6.9%)), Meherpur (5.2%), Ithkhola (7.8%o), and Banipara (3.4%)) locality. Here, it may be noted 348 [Page that Rongpur and Tarapur are old Barman village which have been urbanized during the British Period and now are part of Siichar Township. Malugram locality was developed after independence it is a mixed locality inhabited by Bengalis, immigrants from U.P and Bihar as well as by the Barmans. The locality like Rangirkhari, National Highway, Meherpur etc. are of recent origin. A number of Barman families immigrated from different Barman villages settled down in these parts of Siichar town. 2. Length of Residence: On the basis of length of the residence in Bijoypur village most of the respondents are of local origin i.e. from the village only. However, a number of families have immigrated and settled down in the village in last 30 years. In Siichar, most of the Barman families are migrated from neighboring villages and shifted their base from rural to urban for seeking education, job and better life. However, one-fifth of the respondents (20%) residing in Siichar for More than 30 years and only less than one-tenth of the respondents (6.9%) are residing in Siichar, since birth 3. Age Group: Majority of the of the respondents (61.6%) in the village are Youth (18-35), about one- fourth-of the respondents (24%) Middle aged and remaining respondents (14.4%) are Old aged. While, in Siichar town, majority of the respondent (48.7%) are middle aged (36- 50) group, more than one-fourth of the respondent (27.8%) are youth (18-35) and remaining are (23.4%o) old aged (above 50 years). 4. Marital Status: In Bijoypur village, majority of the respondents (64.8%o) are married, while near about two-fifth of the respondents (27.2%) are unmarried and less than one-tenth of the respondents (8.7%o) are widow. 349 I P 0 g e Likewise, in Silchar town, majority of the respondents (91.3%) are married, while less than one-tenth of the respondents (6%) are unmarried and a few are widow (2.6%). 5. Clan: The most outstanding characteristic of tribal social life is the existence of the clans. "Clans is an exogamous of a tribe, the members of which are related to one another by some common ties, it may be belief in descent from a common ancestor, possession of ac common totem or habitation of a common territory." Several lineages together constitute a clan. A clan is based on strong "We feeling". Clan is an exogamous social group. Members are bounded by the discipline by the discipline of the clan. On the ground of serious indiscipline a member may be excommunicated. This is considered as the most severe punishment that could be imposed. A clan differs from tribe as it has no definite language and also because it is not bound by the geographical limits. However, Dimasa has unique characteristics in this regard as they follow bi-Jineal. They maintain both male and female clan. Among the Dimasa, there are forty male clans (Sengphong) and forty four female clans (Julus or Jadis). Both the clans male and female are exogamous and no marriage can take place between boys and girls of the same clan. No one can marry in his father's clan or mother's clan. The son belongs to the father's clan and the daughter to the mother's clan. Hence, it is a bi-lineal type of society, a unique feature that is not found in any tribes of North-East India. In Bijoypur village, most of the respondents (14.4%o) belong to the Phonglo Patrician, while, more than one tenth of the respondents belong to Jidung(10.4%) and Zarambusa clan (10.4%). However, the representation of other clans is relatively low. While, in Silchar town, the data reveal that majority of the respondents belong to the Langtadaoga Patrician (8.7%), other clans have low representation. 6. Religion: All the respondents both from Bijoypur village and Silchar town practice Hinduism. 350 I P a g e 7. Generation: In Bijoypur village, majority of the respondents (37.6%) belong to the first generation, more than one-fourth of the respondents (26.4%) belong to the second generation, more than one-sixth of the respondents (17.6%) belong to the fourth generation, one-sixth of the respondents (16%) are belong to the third generation, while a few of the respondents (2.6%i) belong to the fifth generation. However, in Silchar town, majority of the respondents (87.8%) belong to the first generation, while more than one-fifth of the respondents (12.1%) belong to the second generation. 8. Household Composition Pattern: House hold consumption pattern reveal the standard of living of the people in the town, which is one of the important aspects of our study. It also helps us to understand the economic aspect of the respondent. In Bijoypur village, the majority of the Barmans (60.8%) have low consumption pattern, while near about two-fifth of the respondents (39.2%) are having very low consumption pattern. While in Silchar town, the household consumption pattern is little higher than the village. Majority of the respondents (53.4%) have average level of household composition pattern, near about one-third of the respondents (30.4%) have low level of household composition pattern, more than one-seventh of the respondents (15.6%)) have high level of household composition pattern and a few respondents (0.8%) have very low level of household composition pattern. 9. Mode of Cooking: Majority of the Barman respondents have access to modem mode of L.P.G cooking method in both the village and Silchar town. 351 I P a g e In the village, only, one-third of the respondents (26.4%) use Chula, and a few respondents have kerosene stove. While, in the town, only a few (0.8%) of the respondent have Kerosene Stove for cooking purpose. 10. Drinking Water: In case of drinking water facilities, both the respondents of the village and the Silchar town use P.H.E water supply for drinking purpose. However, in the village, less than one- tenth of the respondents (9.6%) still use pond water for drinking purpose. 11. Electricity: Both the Bijoypur village and Silchar town have access to have Electricity. Only 0.8% of the respondents in the village don't have electricity. 12. Medical Treatment: Most of the Barmans, in the village prefer for government medical institution for medical treatment. This is due to the easy accessibility of the Primary Health Centre in the village only, for economic condition and sometime for certain government scheme in case of child birth. However, some of the respondents in the village prefer private clinic. And some of them prefer to go Silchar Medical College (SMC) instead, located in the Silchar town for medical treatment. However, in Silchar town, majority of the Barmans (52.2%) prefer Private Clinic for medical treatment, while a little less than half of the respondents (47.8%) prefer Silchar Medical College (SMC). 13. Types of Family: The majority of the Barmans live in Nuclear Family both in the village and Silchar town. However, numbers of Joint Family in the village are still higher compare to Silchar town. This shows that the traditional patterns of family structure are still intact in village rather than in town. 14. Languages Known: 352 I P n g e Both in the Bijoypur village and the Silchar town, the Baimans can speak both Bengal as well as Hindi other than their mother tongue. It shows that Bengali and Hindi are the dominant language other than their own language. Apart from this, in the village more than one-fifth of the respondent (22.4%) can speak English, Hindi and Assamese, less than one-tenth of the respondent (8%) can speak English, Hindi and Bengali, other than mother tongue and a few of the respondents (3.2%) can speak English, Hindi, Bengali and Assamese.