The Muslim Community of Pali Village Panini Rural Municipality, Arghakhanchi a C2C Report Submitted To: Public Service Trainin

The Muslim Community of Pali Village

Panini Rural Municipality, Arghakhanchi

A C2C Report

Submitted to: Public Service Training Department Center for In-Service Training Nepal Administrative Staff College Jawalakhel, Lalitpur

Submitted by: Shankar Prasada Neupane Jaya Prasad Acharya Madan Suvedi

Baishakh , 2076

Acknowledgement

Training and development is an essential tool for every organization in order to develop skilled human resource. Two popular training methods are on-the-job training (OJT) (also called in- service training) and off-the-job training. OJT or in-service training meets two-fold objectives of the respective organization. Firstly, it serves as a motivational tool for the employees by acquiring them with new knowledge, skills and attitude; and secondly, by developing capable workforce for the organization.

Connecting to Community (C2C) is an integral part of the Advanced Course on Management and Development (ACMD), a professional development course designed by Nepal Administrative Staff College (NASC) for Class-II or equivalent officers of the government of Nepal. As per the requirement of ACMD, the participants are deputed to a particular place or community so that they can internalize their socio-cultural and economic issues. At the same time, they are required to understand people's perception towards public service delivery.

In this context, we visited a Muslim Community of Panini Rural Municipality (PRM) of Arghakhanchi district. This study has been delimited to a small village of PRM called 'Pali' where there is a considerable population of the Muslim Community exists. We have jointly prepared this report in consultation with and under supervisory guidance of Ms. Geetanjali Upadhyay, ACMD Course Coordinator, NASC.

WeI extend our sincere thanks to NASC for providing this opportunity to explore the Muslim community of Pali village, ward No. 8 of PRM. We would like to thank the people of Pali, especially, those who provided us primary and secondary information. We are thankful to some notable persons there including Maulana Noor Aalam, Teacher at local Madarsa, and Khabar Mohammad Ansari, Principal of Baburam Aadharbut Vidyalay, Mr. Achyut Gautam, Chairman of PRM. We express our gratitude to Mr. Surendra Tandon, the local resident and Technical Assistant in Ministry of Education. Last but not the least, we express our vote of thanks to Ms. Gitanjali Upadhyay and Pramod Niroula, the course coordinators, for their efforts to complete the task.

Shankar Prasad Neupane, Under Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture

Jaya Prasad Acharya, Under Secretary, Ministry of Education, Singha Durbar, Kathmandu

Madan Suvedi, Senior Manager (Acting), Employees Provident Fund, Lalitpur

Table of Contents

1. Background of the Study ...... 1

1.1 Introduction...... 1 1.2 Objectives ...... 1 1.3 Significance ...... 1 1.4 Methodology ...... 1 1.5 Limitations ...... 2 2. Community Mapping: Overview of the Community ...... 2

2.1 Geo-Physical Characteristics ...... 2 2.2 Demographic Characteristics ...... 2 2.3 Socio-Economic Characteristics ...... 3 2.4 Development Status ...... 4 3. Service Mapping: Status of Services in the Community ...... 6

3.1 Health ...... 6 3.2 Education ...... 6 3.3 Drinking Water and Sanitation ...... 7 3.4 General Administration ...... 8 3.5 Community Perception on Public Service ...... 8 4. Initiatives for Improvement ...... 8

5. Overall Impression and Lesson Learned ...... 9

1. Background of the Study

1.1 Introduction

1.2 Objectives

The main objective of the study is to meet the requirement of ACMD. However the specific objectives are as follows:  Developing a perspective on demographic, socio-cultural and economic environment of the community.  Understanding and analyzing community issues and the status of public service delivery.  Empathizing people by means of reinforcing state-people relationship.

1.3 Significance

For the participants, this study provides an opportunity to managing the self in different situations and building confidence. For the policy makers, it serves as an aid to identify key issues of local governance. At the same time, for the new researchers, this report adds literary value on the Muslim Community of Panini Rural Municipality.

1.4 Methodology

Total Population of Pali stands of 5500 of which Muslim population is approximately 1700. A round table interaction programme was called in the Chautari near Baburam Aadharbhut Vidyalaya where the sample size of more than 50 persons of the Muslim community was involved. Unstructured interview was conducted to collect primary data. The secondary data and information were collected from office of the Panini Rural Municipality and District Administration Office. Various online sources were visited to access secondary information and for literature review.

1.5 Limitations

This study is delimited to the Muslim community of PRM. The other limitations of the study are:  Limited data and information available about the study unit.  Due to time and budget constraints, only group discussion and unstructured personal interviews were conducted.

2. Community Mapping: Overview of the Community

2.1 Geo-Physical Characteristics

Arghakhanchi is a hilly district of Nepal under Province-5. It covers an area of 1,193 km² and has a population (2011) of 197,632. The neighbouring districts are Palpa in the East, Pyuthan in the West, Gulmi in the North and Kapilvastu in the South. The altitude of the district varies from 305 to 2515 meter above the sea level. Approximately 68 per cent of the district is in the mountainous region called The Mahabharat Range and the rest is in the Siwalik Hills. The district headquarters is Sandhikharka. At sub-national level, Arghakhanchi is divided into 3 urban municipalities, 3 rural municipalities and 61 Wards.

Panini Rural Municipality (PRM) is one of the three rural municipalities of Arghakhanchi districts. It was formed after the declaration of local levels by Nepal government on 27 Falgun 2073 by merging 9 previous Village Development Committees, namely, Panena, Khidim, Pokharathok, Patauti, Maidan, Dhatibang, Anguri, Chidika and Pali. PRM has a tropical weather ranging from 6.5 degree Celsius in winter and up to 40 degree Celsius in summer.

There are altogether 8 wards in PRM and Pali is in Ward No. 8. It is close to Palpa district. It is situated about 22 kilometres east from Sandhikharka, the headquarters of the district. It covers about 125 hectors of land. It has the population of 5500 people.

2.2 Demographic Characteristics

According to Census Report-2011, ward wise population of PRM is as follows:

Population Ward No. Household Total Male Female 1 557 2,363 979 1,384 2 800 3,682 1,564 2,118 3 869 3,474 1,498 1,976 4 746 3,147 1,308 1,839 5 955 4,288 1,855 2,433 6 426 1,843 769 1,074 7 935 3,871 1,580 2,291 8 864 3,756 1,591 2,165 Total 6,152 26,424 11,144 15,280

Population size of PRM is 26,424 in which Male and female population counts 42% and 58% respectively. Similarly, sex ratio is 73 per 100 women. It shows that there is no balance between male and female population.

Table : Households, Population and Average Household Size Panini Rural Municipality Household Population% Average Household Size 966 Total Male Female Ward No 8 966 4,219 42 58 4 Muslim Community 105 1551 40 60 15

According to the reference obtained from the office of the PRM, the total Muslim population of the Muslim community in Pali village is 1551 in 105 household of which Male and Female population is 40% and 60% respectively. It is believed that the Muslims had migrated to Pali from India since ancient times. The Muslim ancestors are as old as the Malla dynasty of Nepal. Currently there are three different Muslim communities in Pali, namely, Sunni, Wabi and Deubandi. Urdu and Nepali are the major languages. However, Nepali is the official language.

2.3 Socio-Economic Characteristics

The community inherits a diverse culture composed of language, costumes, traditions, festivals, rituals, music, literature, food etc.

They speak both Nepali and Urdu at home. However, Magarate is the typical language of communication within the community. Men wear kurta-surwal, shit-pants, lungi and askot with dhaka topi or muslim cap. Keeping long beards has been a male tradition. Whereas, the women use saree-blouse or kurta-surwal. As the majority of the women of Muslim community outside, the women here don't wear burqua- a black veil from top to bottom covering the whole body. There is no social discrimination between men and women. Inter- caste marriage is strictly prohibited. According to the elderly citizens of the village, there exists no social discrimination between men and women.

Islam is the main religion and Quoran is their holy book and Allah is the God of Muslims. The community celebrates common festvals as it's done in other Muslim communities around the world. Some of them are Moharram- the new year day, Bara-Rabiot- one month after the new year. Similarly, Shabbe-Barat- which occurs after 5 months of Bara-Rabiot. Then comes the month of Ramjan which lasts for a month. People observe fasting and stick to one meal a day at night throughout the period. The last day of Ramjan is Eid-Ul-Fitr. Later the year after 2 months of Ramzan, they celebrate Bakar-Eid.

There are several rituals in the Muslim community of Pali. They observe Azaan on child birth where the Maulvi recite Azaan- the secret chanting in right ear of the new born. On the seventh day, there comes Akeeka which is a naming ceremony of the child. It it's a boy, the child has to undergo Khatnaa- the circumcision ceremony after 6 months and within 2 years. Thereafter it's Nikaah or wedding. The last ritual is Maiyyat- the death ceremony. The deads are buried in tomb, called Kabristan.

The untouchability during menstruation period prevails for the girls and women in Muslim community. They are not allowed to enter the mosque nor to read Quoran until 7 days of menstruation. Unlike in Brahman-Chettri communities who observe 11 days, the Muslim women remain untouchable for 40 days, after the child birth. According to Iddat- the code of conduct for Muslim women, the widows cannot remarry until 3 months and 13 days. After which they can remarry, even with her husband's brother. Marriage within blood relations of mother's brother (Mamaa) and father's sister (Fupu) is the common practice of Muslim community here.

Main profession is making and selling bangles but due to various reasons, they don't make it. 80% of the youth are abroad for employment. Wheat, maize, kodo and mustard are the main agro-products. Animal husbandry hardly meets the family requirements. Cow and buffalo rearing, goat keeping, bee keeping are other sources of livelihood. Agricultural product of Pali is hardly enough to feed 40% population. Primary reason for low agricultural production is lack of irrigation facility and youth-drain from the village. Much of the arable land was observed barren.

Since the community is agriculturally not self-sufficient, many of them leave the village in search of the economic activities like employment, trade and business. Many are out of the village engaged in several business activities like- operating petrol pump, trading of groceries, manufacturing bricks, making and trading cosmetic products etc. However, there are less economic activities in the village as only olds and women are left there.

2.4 Development Status

According to Regional (Provincial) National Accounts Report-2019, issued by Central Bureau of Statistics, Province-5 has the highest economic growth rate for the fiscal year 2075/76. It is 3rd largest province in terms of Gross Domestic Production. Arghakhanchi district lies in Province.

Transportation: Arghakhanci is one of the most developed districts of Province-5 in terms of access to road transportation. Almost every ward of Pali is connected to road network. However, most of the rural roads are in graveled state and are waiting to be blacktopped. It was observed that some of the villages have the crossings that leads roads up to 5 directions. Due to lack of information (Arrow, notice or name), in many places, visitors from outside and the tourists may get confused over which one to follow. There is Arghakhanchi-Pali-Palpa road, whose track was opened in the year 2040/41, one of the oldest routes used for travelling by foot, is also waiting to be upgraded blacktopped. Lumbini-Sandhikharka-Dhorpatan road is under construction. There is no air service in the whole district. The nearest airport is Bhairahwa which is almost 6 hours' drive from Sandhikharka.

Communication: Pali can be said well-developed in terms of communication network. Every elder person of the community has mobile phone. People use Nepal Telecom and NCell sim cards for talking and exchanging information. There are…….FM stations and local television networks in PRM. However, the rural municipality don't have any print media.

Education: There are 5 Madarsas registered in Panini. However, only 4 of them are running. There are 120 Muslim children receiving Islamic education in the mornings and general education in the day time. One of the community schools is up to Higher Secondary level (+2). The community children have to go to Sandhikarka for the education beyond +2 level. Most of the elderly people were found illiterate. There is a technical college in Panena, 2 KM away from Pali which is called Panini Politechnic Institiute. 30% students are from Arghakhachi and 70% from other districts of Nepal. No Muslim student was found in technical college during the observation. The oldest school of Sandhikharka is Harihar Sanksrit Pathshala located in Pokharathok of PRM. It provides Sanskrit education up to Uttar Madhyama (Equivalent to +2 level). It was established by Harihar Gautam. However, there are very few students in it. There are no Muslim students in this college.

There is electricity service in all the community houses. However, due to load shading, there is irregular power supply in Pali. There is a local health post in Pali where general medicines are available.

Tourism: The community has a mosque where people gather for prayers on every Friday. There are a lot of other places in PRM for tourists. Some of the famous ones are Panini Aashram, Siddha Baba Aashram, Durbaseshwar Cave, Kailashe Danda etc. However, due to lack of basic infrastructures of tourism like access roads and hotels, the PRM is unable to attract tourists. Completion of Lumbini-Sandhikharka-Dhorpatan road will open up new avenues of tourism in the district.

Table: Households by usual type of fuel used for cooking

Main source of fuel Guit Total Wood Panini Rural ha househ / Keros LP Uncovered Bio Electri Not Municipality (cow old firewo ene gas well/kuwa gas city Stated dun od g) ward No 8 966 98.34 0 0.82 0.1 0.31 0 0 0 Muslim 16.1 Community 105 83.81 0 9

There are no industries except the saw mills run by diesel. It works for threshing and grinding of the food grains and spices. Internal migration is high in Pali from where the youth have migrated to other provinces in search of trade and employment. Poor literacy has led to lack of skilled people. However there are some influential people from Pali in different sectors, as shown below:

List of Influential Persons from Pali S.No. Name Status 1 Asagar Ali Advisor to the Prime Minister 2 Saddam Ali Engineer 3 Nazir Mohammad Miya UML Leader 4 Kuresh Aazad Doctor

3. Service Mapping: Status of Services in the Community

3.1 Health

There is a local health post in Pali which provides basic medical service. It provides intravenous medication, child birth service and general medicines for common health issues like fever, cold and cough, headache, skin diseases. Almost 38 types of general medicines are freely available for the community people. Health awareness program are regularly organized by the government, NGOs and INGOs. The community people told that medicines for such diseases are regularly available. There is a stretcher facility but no ambulance service available in the community health post.

3.2 Education

There are 5 Madarsas registered in Panini. However, only 4 of them are running. There are 120 Muslim children receiving Islamic education in the mornings and general education in the day time. One of the community schools is up to Higher Secondary level (+2). The community children have to go to Sandhikarka for the education beyond +2 level. Most of the elderly people were found illiterate. There is a technical college in Panena, 2 KM away from Pali which is called Panini Politechnic Institiute. 30% students are from Arghakhachi and 70% from other districts of Nepal. No Muslim student was found in technical college during the observation. The oldest school of Sandhikharka is Harihar Sanksrit Pathshala located in Pokharathok of PRM. It provides Sanskrit education up to Uttar Madhyama (Equivalent to +2 level). It was established by Harihar Gautam. However, there are very few students in it. There are no Muslim students in this college. There is one secondary school, one lower secondary school and two primary schools. Major Issues in Education  No recognition of the teachers of Madarsa  The teachers at Madarsa are from India. Their academics haven't been recognized. Lack of qualified and trained teachers in Madarsas from local level.  Heavy workload to Muslim children. They study 4 hours in Madarsa and then go to community school. Illiteracy among the elders.  Absence of Muslim children in technical education.

3.3 Drinking Water and Sanitation

In our observation and discussion, it is found that the community has tap-water facility. Regular supply of water has saved their time and effort. As per the table below, there are 86 water taps to 105 households. There are 9 covered wells and 5 open wells.

Table: Households by main source of drinking water Total Panini Rural Main source of drinking water (in percent) Househol Municipality Tap/p Tubewell/h Covered Uncovered Spout River Oth d iped andpump well/kuwa well/kuwa water /stream ers Ward No 8 966 67 0.3 0 13 19 1.0 0 Muslim 105 86 0 9.0 5 0 0 0 Community

Looking at the sanitation part, the community has basic health awareness on food and drinks, cleanliness. However, overall sanitation status in terms of toiletries is as follows:

Table: Households by Type of Toilet % of Households with toilet facility of

Panini Rural Total Households without Flush Ordinary Toilet facility not Municipality household toilet facility toilet toilet stated

Ward No 8 966 58.28 0.83 40.58 0.31 Muslim Community 105 21 10 80 5

As seen in the table above, 21 households do not have toilet facilities. They use open space for toilet. It shows that there is no adequate awareness about sanitation in the community.

Similarly, 100 households use electricity for lighting, whereas remaining 5 houses use solar power.

Table: Households by Usual Source of Lighting Total household % of Households Fuel used for lighting Panini Rural Electricit Kerosen Remark Municipality y e Bio gas Solar Others s ward No 8 966 98.34 0 0.83 0.52 0.31 Muslim Community 105 95.23 0 4.77

3.4 General Administration Ward office is located in central location of the ward which is reachable within an hour of walking distance from every household. Ward Secretary is assigned to provide necessary services to the community people. Elected representatives including the Chairperson accessible any time and are active enough to facilitate them. The ward office provides following services to the people: It takes about 1 hour by public transport to reach office of PRM located at Pokharathok. Local health post is also located within the community where every household can reach in about 15 minutes on foot maximum. There is motorable road is linked from the district headquarters to the community, ward and to office of the PRM. The ward office, office of PRM and district level government offices are providing all services as prescribed by the respective level of governments.

3.5 Community Perception on Public Service As per our observation and interaction community people have mixed perception on public service. There is better service from the elected government than by the previous body. Though, ward office and office of the PRM are yet to be managed better. The vacancies of required number of employees at local offices are yet to be fulfilled. Thus Availability of the employees has been a major barrier to get public service like health, education, agriculture etc. Agricultural inputs like seeds and plants, fertilizers, financing, irrigation, technical services, marketing etc are insufficient as per public expectations. Quality of health service, availability of the required medicines and ambulance service are health facility related issues.

Upon the discussion, the community people expressed that the Muslim children's academic learning competency is lower than the other community's students. It is because of scattered Madarsas with insufficient facilities and management. The community people shared that government should focus on improvement of Madarsa education as well.

4. Initiatives for Improvement

The government has taken various initiatives to ensure development results and improve the livelihood of the community people. The major initiatives are as follows:

 Access of road transportation to each village and ward of PRM. The main actors in this initiative are the central government, local government and community people. It has supported other aspects of livelihood for travelling and transportation. This has increased people's connectivity, saved time and labour.  Delivery of basic health services including child birth, free common medicines of 38 varieties has been managed by local health center. It has contributed to cure common illness of the community people by saving their money and providing service from own area.  The government has been providing fund and basic learning materials along with scholarships for smooth running of the Madarsas. It has conserved traditional educational practices and ensured school education to Muslim childre.  It is found that the Government has managed to provide tap-water facility to most of the households. Regular supply of water has saved their time and effort. At the same time, tap-water has reduced water-induced diseases to a greater extent.  Office of the PRM is preparing its Master Plan for overall development of the municipality.  What we did..  Met the representatives of the local government. This has created moral pressure for better public service.  Understanding the issues and expectation of the community.  Clearance of misunderstanding of the community people on policy provisions and facilities provided to Madrasasa from the federal government in terms of conditional grants.  Brief orientation provided to the local representatives, teachers and other stakeholders about provident fund and facilities provided by Employees Provident Fund.  Imparted knowledge on bee keeping, methods to manage monkeys and wild animals and use of manures and fertilizers to the community people.  Facilitated to the Chairperosn of PRM, Chief Administrative Officer, Accountant and Education Section Chief to take decisions for releasing budget to the concerned schools.

5. Overall Impression and Lesson Learned

 Social harmony was found among Muslim and other castes. They invite each other in festivals and special occasions.  There is Joint cooperation of all castes in renovation and construction of the cultural heritages.  There is a good practice of allocating budget for the Muslim community.  Average Muslim children in Madarsas is 20 which is very low in terms of resource utilization and quality learning. Thus, merger of the 4 Madarsas is required.  Studying in both Madarsa and public schools has created extra work load in students for learning.  There is health awareness due to the impact of internal migration, health campaigns by NGOs and INGOs. The community is conscious for the access to better health services.  There is high dropout rate of Muslim children after completing basic level education. This is due to seasonal migration for income generation.  Skill development training is a prerequisite for economic development of the community and to control youth-migration.  Migration of the youth for trade and business has led to barren lands and poor agro- production.