n an attempt to engage and educate students The social map helps in identifying households based about the rural space, the National Coun- on predefined indicators relating to socio-econom- Icil of Rural Institutes (NCRI) in collabora- ic conditions ( status, skills, property, education, in- tion with University of (UoH) con- come). The population’s well being is then ranked (by ducted a 48-hour Rural Immersion Camp (RIC) those living there)identifying as to which household is from 1st to 3rd September in 10 selected vil- better or worse off in terms of the selected indicators. lages from Rangareddy District of .

The Resource map helps in identifying nat- 195 students belonging to various streams from the ural resources in the locality and it de- Centre for Integrated Studies (CIS) participated in this picts land, hills, rivers, fields and vegetation. camp. These students were formed into 10 groups guid- A resource map in PRA is not drawn to scale. It is ed by a resource person from NCRI. Under mentorship done with the support of the local people as they of the resource person from the Council, the Participa- have an in-depth and detailed knowledge of the sur- tory Rural Appraisal (PRA) exercise was conducted in roundings where they are living there for a long time. these villages with an aim to understand and experience Seasonality map helps to identify heavy workload pe- rural . On day one, a Transect Walk was conducted, riods, periods of relative ease, credit crunch, diseas- during which the students walked along with the villagers es, food security and wage availability. It is useful in to get the demographics and geographics of the village. project planning, i.e. when to implement various activities. It is to identify periods of stress and to On day two, the students analyzed the collected data plan for as to when intervention is most required. and converted it into a map. The map included the so- cial, resources and the seasonality aspects of the village. These are the villages where the camp was held

2 National Council of Rural Institutes Connect Attempts to Improve Waste Disposal Management in Lemoor Village

a primary school and a high school in the village. A private primary school has also been set up in Lemoor. Off late the people in the village are being oriented on the segregation of waste before its disposal to ensure efficient degradation of organic waste. Biogas plants are being constructed as they will help the villagers in waste management and power generation. Also, there are at- tempts to install vermicompost unit in several houses.

This would further help the people become self-sufficient in making effective use of the organic waste produced at home daily. Such practices not only enable them to keep emoor village is located in Kandukur block, their surroundings clean and tidy but also generate ma- Rangareddy district, Telangana. The total nure or biogas which is quite useful for their daily chores. Lpopulation of the village is 4,828 out of which A few villagers have pitched in the idea of collecting 2,506(52%) are male and 2,322(48%) are female. non-biodegradable wastes from each house to pro- In Lemoor 62% (2,634) of the population is literate.70% cess them effectively. Efforts to construct a closed of males and 53% of females are literate here. There is drainage systems are being made in the entire village. Landholdings and Cropping pattern in Kothapally Village othapally village is located seven kms from , which is the nearest Mandal Head- Kquarters. The village has a population of 2600 with 1400 votes and has 490 houses. Kotha- pally Gram Panchayat has 10 wards i.e, 9 wards in the village and one ward in the Hussainpur Ham- let which forms part of the Village Gram Pan- chayat, located one kilometer from the village.

The village has 1100 acres of cultivable land in- Large section of the villagers are into culti- cluding the government land, of which about 200 vation/farming and they largely grow cotton, acres of land is given to the SCs. 75% of the peo- maize, rice, vegetables like tomatoes and car- ple in the village have the land holdings, i.e. they rot. Flowers and agricultural produce are sold own lands. Whereas, one fourth section of the largely in Gudimalkapur market in Hyder- villagers do not own any lands. These landless vil- abad. ICRISAT has been supporting the villag- lagers largely work as laborers in the agricultur- ers in farming by supplying high yielding variet- al fields or go to Hyderabad City which is about ies of seeds of chana dal, maize and green gram. 45kms from the village in search of employment.

Connect National Council of Rural Institutes 3 Siddapur a Model Village in Making meet the Field Assistant Subba Rao. He delegates the task of reconnais- sance to Mallesh, the village Sar- panch’s assistant. Mallesh took us to three hamlets: Pullicharla, Laman- gila and Chinthagaatu. These three hamlets have average population of 410 people. What is depressing is that these hamlets don’t have roads and it is difficult to access the interiors of those hamlets due to this reason

Students of UoH visiting the agricultural land at Siddapur village during the On the brighter side, a mineral Rural Immersion Camp water plant, sanitation facilities and dopted by Telugu Cinema big- reached without any difficulties as a new Anganwadi have come into wig Mahesh Babu, Siddapur- it is well known as it has attained existence. And, post-adoption, the am of mandal has un- prominence since Mahesh Babu’s village’s populace are striving for Adergone positive reinvention. About adoption. Almost everyone knew 62 km from Ghatkesar, the Eastern where the village was located at. development as the naysayers are edge of Hyderabad, the village has a watching the development without population of more than 2500. We After entering the village, one gets placing any spokes. To sum it up, need to take the Nehru Outer Ring to the Gram Panchayath Office to the village is set to enter the realm Road to reach the village. It can be of the ‘developed villages’. More farmers now to survive on dairy in Mucherla

ucherla is a Village in Gundla Cheruvu on the north- equipped with science labs and Kandukur Mandal in east. Although paddy was the ma- the students use lab periodically. Rangareddi District of jor crop during normal monsoon As dairy farming is the major source MTelangana State. It is located 61 season, maize has been the major of income for many villagers, there KM from Hyderabad. The pop- crop raised under rainfed condi- are four milk collection centers in ulation of Mucherla is 4400 liv- tions during Kharif. A large num- the village. There is only one TS- ing in 930 Houses. The total area ber of farmers have taken up dairy RTC bus which ferries to this vil- of Mucherla is 3051 hectares. farming during the last 10 years. lage. The village has 4000 acres of The name of Mucherla comes from farmland. Black soil is spread over the fact that the village is encircled Education 1000 acres while the major part is by three tanks, the Pagavani Che- There are two governmentthe red soil. The maize and cotton ruvu on the southwest, Polkam- schools in the village prima- are the common crops and the pad- ma Cheruvu on the southeast and ry and secondary. The school is dy is cultivated only when it rains.

4 National Council of Rural Institutes Connect Literacy Rate and Self Employment in Chinchode

Students of University of Hyderabad during the Rural Immersion Camp at Chinchode village iteracy rate in the village has improved, no one who did not go to school, to learn, has yielded this result. in the village sits idle,” said Mrs. Anitha Srinivas, Most of the youth in the village are preparing for gov- Sarpanch, Chindode. In a time when literacy and ernment exams, pursuing education or are employed. Lemployment are given utmost importance and push A member of the youth group in the village said “we from the government, the people in the village are elat- know about the progress rate in urban areas and ed considering their advancement in terms of literacy. the youth here are falling short of the facilities and Chinchode village is located in Farooqnagar Tehsil of the opportunities, therefore we are trying our best Mahbubnagar district in Telangana. It is situated 12km to enrich our village and have those facilities here.” away from sub-district headquarter Farooqnagar and 62km away from district headquarter Mahbubnagar. Self-Employment is another thing that has gained prom- The total geographical area of village is 2237 hectares. inence in this village. Due to the dearth of jobs in the state, Chinchode has a total population of 5,445 peoples. the youth and a few other men and women are working There are about 1,322 houses in Chinchode village. on their own sources of income in the village. The village has most of the facilities that a town possesses, thanks to The literacy rate which was 49.85% in 2011 has now im- these small scale businesses and the unending effort of proved to 57.1%. The villagers say that sending every the people in the village to see it as a more developed one. child to school and the attempts made by those adults

Students of Students of University of University of Hyderabad Hyderabad in during the a conversation Rural Immer- with the vil- sion Camp at lage Sarpach the HighSchool at Chinchode in Chinchode village village

Connect National Council of Rural Institutes 5 Surpassing the Superstition in Japal Village wami Vivekananda once said “Superstition is our great enemy,” and the people of our na- tion have very often fallen prey to such beliefs. SBreaking one such barrier, the students and people of the village Japal have taken a step towards mod- ernisation. Japal village is located in Manchal Teh- sil of Rangareddy district in Telangana. It is at a dis- tance of 4kms from sub-district headquarter Manchal and 37km away from district headquarter Hyderabad.

The Zilla Parishad School (ZPHS) in the village was built right in front of the village graveyard. Parents in creased and the literacy level of the village has also grown. the village were hesitant to send their children to school The total geographical area of the village is 1188 hect- as they were misled by a few rumors herding the fallacy. ares. Japal has a total population of 2130 people. The teachers and the management in the village visited There are about 512 houses in the village. Hyderabad many homes and spread awareness on the importance is 37 kms from Japal. Most people depend on agricul- of education affirming their belief in rational and mod- ture here. Roads, electricity and drinking water are the ern thinking. Today, the enrollment in the school has in- major concerns in front of the village administration. Intervention of Horticulture Department in UrellaVillage to Promote Floriculture rella village in Chevella Mandal of Rangareddy to cultivating rose flower by collecting saplings from District, Telangana is located on a hilly terrain. Pune and Tamilnadu. But only some of them could The village gets rainfall from July to October, sustain and others stopped cultivating rose flowers. It Uwhich is scanty and erratic. Therefore, water scarcity was during this time the Horticulture Department both for irrigation and drinking is the main concern of Telangana Government encouraged few enterpris- in the village. In most areas, ground water is not avail- ing farmers to cultivate ornamental flowers by subsi- able and only few farmers were successful in getting ground water for irrigation, the rest are managing by dizing a few selected and enterprising farmers in the borrowing water from those who had the access to it. village. Use of modern agricultural technologies is promoted. Today in the village 20 farmers are cultivat- Change in Cropping Pattern ing ornamental flowers using poly house/ greenhouse Off late the intervention of Horticulture department technology. The ornamental flowers thus cultivated is transforming the floriculture scenario in the village. are sold in cities like Bangalore and Hyderabad. Re- Traditionally farmers in the village used to cultivate cently two nurseries were also set up by the farmers. maize, jowar, cotton and local flowers such as mari- Unfortunately, the benefits of the modern technolo- gold, chrysanthemum and jasmine and even today, gy and the support extended by the Government are most of the farmers are cultivating the same crops. not reaching the small and marginal farmers. They are About 8 years back some of the progressive farm- still undertaking the traditional crops using tradition- ers cultivating the traditional flowers switched over al methods thereby adjusting with very low return.

6 National Council of Rural Institutes Connect Pulimamidi Rurban Village in Making ulimamidi is a Village in Kan- The residents of Pulimamidi are CC roads were constructed under dukur Mandal in Rangareddi literate due to the successful imple- Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yo- District of Telangana State. It mentation of Saakshar Bharat a gov- jana has provided pucca roads to Pis located 55 KM from Hyderabad. ernment of India initiative. In total the entire village. They say that ra- Pulimamidi is situated in 2276 hect- village has four schools 2 govern- tion is supplied in the village after ares. The name Pulimamidi signifies ment schools and 2 private schools. the implementation of E-Pass the the ‘Tiger Mango’. Nearby village The Primary school has nearly 97 ration is distributed in a fair man- Dhannavaram and four hamlets, students from nearby hamlets and ner. Though there are four water Thatuguda, Peddammatalli Than- only three teachers. The most of tanks in the village the villagers da, Pochamma and Bajarangadda the children in Pulimamidid vil- buy water from the water plant. came under Pulimamidi village. lage go to private schools. The new Improved Education and Health Facilities in Thippaiguda Village

Students of University of Hyderabad during the Rural Immersion Camp at Thippaiguda village hippaiguda camp was guided four lakes such as Veermani lake, grade it upto 10th class but no ac- by T V Sriram and Rajshekar Pedarunanikunta Lake, Errakunta tion was taken due to the fewer Twho were the resource persons. lake and Ninhurnijal lake. The ma- strength i.e. less than 40 per class jor crop in Thippaiguda is paddy. Spread across 100 acres Thippaiguda There is only one RMP Doctor is a place located in Manchal Man- The village has a school con- in the village, Dr Pandu covers dal, in Rangareddy district of Tel- structed 7 years ago for which the the basic health issues. For ma- angana state. The total population land was donated by the villag- jor illness the villagers has to trav- of Thippaiguda is 1400 in 262 hous- ers. There are 109 students in the el 7 kms to the nearest hospital. es, among them male population is school and it covers classes upto Asha workers visits village cover- 750 and female population is 850. 7th class. There is a demand to up- ing National programs like polio. Surrounded by mountains and

Connect National Council of Rural Institutes 7 My Rural Immersion Camp..... “My experience of rural immersion program is very memorable and rich experience. I have been fortunate enough to be the part of the program. The challenges in the village and group experience Alam Sheikh including soft skills, adjustments, have taught me many things and “Though being from the science Sai Kumar background I had an opportunity also made me strong and to look at “The village stay enabled me to to learn some of the PRA methods life from new perspective.” gain firsthand knowledge and like transct walk, social map and experience about various ground resource map used for collection of realities of the village in particular data from the community in a and the challenges faced by them participatory model in social in sustaining their livelihood.... science research. I will try to It is easy to stay outside the village explore its applicability in my area and suggest various means for the of research.” K Aruna development of the village but the real picture is quite different in the “Learning and unlearning, village...” dispelling biased against the stereotypes are the major learning for me in the field. Being with the villagers for three days changed my attitudes and behaviour and built P Gour Pravalitha a positive image about the rural “In the cities where people usually people as well as their contribution don’t have enough time to greet to the society.” Shiva each other. Here I found that all of the villagers are well aware of “It was surely a very unique and the neighbours. The entire village delightful experience for me to seemed to know each other. be able to experience a lifestyle Helping out each other when which was so different from our needed and supporting each other daily routine. I learned a lot which as an when required was could be never learned from the M Prabhkar embedded in their social fabric.” four corners of a text book.”

National Council of Rural Institutes Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India 5-10-174, Shakar Bhavan, Ground Floor, Fateh Maidan Road, Hyderabad - 500 004 Telangana State. Tel : 040-23422112, 23212120, Fax : 040-23212114 E-mail : [email protected], Website: www.ncri.in Editorial Team: Dr WG Prasanna Kumar Chairman NCRI, Dr S Sudarshan Rao, M Abhilash, Victor Paul Published by Dr R Manoj Kumar Member Secretary NCRI

8 National Council of Rural Institutes Connect