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RURAL RESEARCH REPORT
Village Name: Dhanachuli
MICA
Kunjal Kaw | Saarini Bagga
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Index
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Executive Summary
Introduction: Why Uttarakhand
Ethnography: Village Profile
Ethnography: Basic Amenities
Ethnography: Social Structure
Media Consumption
Brand Consumption
Communication Needs and Strategy
Kunjal Kaw Saarini Bagga | MICA
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Executive Summary
More than 83.3 crore of the Indian population lives in the rural hinterlands. Though there have been many
schemes by the government and programs by multinationals and corporate to improve the welfare of rural
India, we have still not been able to fully comprehend and understand the lifestyles of the rural people and
to effectively reach out to them.
This report is a detailed analysis of our findings after our ten day stay at Dhanachuli. Through this
research, we propose to study the village structure, economy, major sources of income, the culture and
beliefs of the villagers, societal structure, brand consumption and media consumption of the inhabitants of
the village and also assess the communication need gap that exists in the village.
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Why Uttarakhand?
For the success of a Rural Research Project, both the teammates agreed that the ability to
communicate effectively and be sensitive to the locals’ problems were two prerequisites of
seminal importance. The ability to communicate in this case of a short, 7 day rural research
would be even more critical, specifically from an ethnographic perspective as the immersion in
the community requires a certain degree of trust to be evolved between the researcher and the
community. Hence, softer skills and abilities such as being able to familiarize oneself with the
local language, a broad understanding of their traditions and practices become extremely
important in being able to get reliable qualitative research output from the community. Both
teams are proficient at Hindi, broadly aware of the cultures in the Kumaon region and somewhat
familiar with the general socio-economic trends of the place, for instance the rise in opportunities
for local employment of the youth.
The former experiences of both teammates put Uttarakhand in the ‘Consideration Set’ for the
place of the Rural Research Project. While one of us had trekked the lower Himalayas in
Uttarakhand and was overcome with the place and thoroughly fascinated by his brief interaction
with the locals, the other had completed a rural internship with an NGO named CHIRAG
(Central Himalayan Rural Action Group) based out of a small village called Simayal in the
Nainital district of Uttarakhand. Our own experiences had left us desirous for more – a desire to
gain more knowledge about the place, a desire to know the people more closely and a desire to
understand the community from within.
And thus, the opportunity to learn more about a place aligned our interests with an academic
requirement. We were hopeful about the project reaching a positive conclusion as we had faith in
the hospitality of the locals, their eagerness to welcome outsiders and the homely comfort they
believe in providing to any of their guests. We were equally ambitious of getting the opportunity
to learn the most in a relatively familiar set up. The decision of Uttarakhand was thus a
confluence of preliminary knowledge from past experiences a comfort with the place and its
people (more than other places offered) and an intrinsic ambition to become part of the
community while learning about it.
Rural Uttarkhand: An Introduction
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Uttarakhand due to its geographical spread and the natural resources available, has been
developing at a fairly reasonable rate on parameters of economy, livelihood, health and
sanitation. The rural to urban division in terms of population is about 80% to 20%. There is a
substantial disparity between the Rural and Urban Literacy Rates. The Mean Age of Marriage is
not drastically different for the Rural and Urban populations. While Child Labor seems to be a
prevalent problem for the urban populations of Uttarakhand, Rural Uttakhand continues to face
problems around people with Disability, people suffering from Dysentery, stark disparity in
terms of regular treatment being meted out to those suffering from Chronic Illnesses.
Nearly all these indicators reflect a degree of separation between the rural and the urban, most of
them connected or in some way impacted by the way of live in the rural villages. Livelihoods in
the rural areas are largely dependent on agricultural activities – Uttarakhand continues to be a
major supplier of potatoes, apples, peaches and plums. A new trend has been the growing supply
of herbs and smaller plants that require less water/ resources but result in higher income for the
households.
Ethnography: Dhanachuli
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Profile
Village Name: Dhanachuli
Patti: Sundharkhal
District Name: Nainital
Population: 1,506 approximately
Nearest Town: Mukteshwar (10 km approx.)
The village is a part of Dhari Taluk which consists of 37 villages. The Block Development
Officer Mr. Kailash Dave (+919917528101) described the organization of the
administration which consists of the Gram Panchayat at the village level which is
superseded by the Block Administration followed by the District level administration. “The
village has a Gram Panchayat once every 2 months where around 60-70 issues with
varying levels of urgencies are suggested by the voting population of Dhanachuli. These
proposals are filtered and about half of these proposals are furthered to the Block
Administration. The remaining proposals are catered by the village Panchayat itself.”
The government made it mandatory for a woman to be the head of the Panchayat for the
term 2014-2019 but it seems that the same has been done for the namesake. Though the
village head was a woman, the decision making authority seems to rest with the father-inlaw of the village head who had been the Sarpanch before this guideline was imposed by
the government.
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Image 1: Father-in-law of the village head
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Topography
The topography of Dhanachuli is largely hilly which consists of valleys, river basins and
water divides. Due to the difficult topography of the village with respect to agriculture and
the failure of drip irrigation in the village due to limited resources, the inhabitants of
Dhanachuli grow potatoes and radish largely for personal use. In case of surplus production
they sell the local produce. Transportation being a huge hassle, the produce is unable to
reach the markets of Haldwani which is the closest major town. Due to the difficulties in
agriculture owing to the failure of drip irrigation and unavailability of adequate water, the
inhabitants of Dhanachuli have started selling their lands to people who are looking to
invest in a cottage for summer retreats. Te Aroha, the luxurious hotel stands in sharp
contrast to its mundane surroundings.
Image 2: Topography of Dhanachuli
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Demographic Composition:
Number of households: 240 households approximately
The sex ratio is fairly decent with nearly 800 males and 700 females. There are 155
schedule castes in Dhanachuli and around 20 scheduled tribes. According to the BDO the
number of literates in Dhanachuli are high coming down to approximately 70% of the
population but that might not be the true picture as Munna Bhai, the caretaker of the guest
house said. There is a high dropout rate as the children themselves are not motivated
enough to study. This was reinforced by the cab driver whose son did not want to study
after 12th. He would later take up the occupation as a mechanic and now is an expecting
father. There are about 622 literate men and 456 women who are literates. The illiterate
population is nearly the same for both men and women. There are approximately 210
children below the age of 6 years out of which 121 are males which gives enough evidence
to assume of gender discrimination does not manifest itself in the village. The 11% of the
population belong to the Scheduled Caste/Tribes with about the same number of men and
women.
Total-Workers
Non-Workers
Workers: 917- 61%
Male: 472- 31%
Female: 445- 29.55%%
Regular-Workers
Non Workers: 589- 39%
Male: 314- 21%
Female: 275- 18%
Irregular Workers
Regular Workers: 654- 43%
Male : 377- 0%
Female: 277- 18%
Irregular Workers: 263- 17%
Male: 95- 6%
Female: 168- 11%
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Main Cultivator Population
Main Cultivator Population Female
580
323
Nearly 40% of the population is unemployed which is a high unemployment rate compared
to villages in other states. The reasons can be possibly the seasonal nature of the work
considering the topography of the village. Another reason that can be the result of the high
unemployment rate can be the price level set by the government as compensation. A nonskilled worker is paid Rs.165 for one day of labor whereas the private contractors pay
Rs.250 for a day. Besides this, the poor management of the MNREGA regulation can be
considered another reason for such a high unemployment rate. The large female population
in the cultivator population is indicative of the pressing needs of the family as the males
would work in Mukteshwar doing odd jobs like driving cabs, caretakers of retreats and the
females would cultivate the land to have an added source of income.
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Village Resources:
Location and Transportation: The village of Dhanachuli is located around 10 kms from
Mukteshwar which is the closest town to the village. Mukteshwar is known for its holidays
retreat and acts as a major employment source for the inhabitants of the village. The
transportation facility largely comprises of shared 4*4’s and the nearest bus stop from the
village is Bhateliya from where you can find local buses which take you to the larger towns
for Almora which seems to be a rendezvous point for tourists visiting Binsar Wildlife
Sanctuary and Ranikhet which serves as the same for the Binsar Mahadev Temple.
Image 3: Bhateliya Bus Stop
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Basic Amenities:
1. Education: The village has a public senior secondary school which teaches classes
from 6th to 12th which is only girls. The school was made in 1988 and has 20
teachers which belong to Uttarakhand. Majority of the teachers belong to the nearby
towns. The school is government aided and besides providing free uniforms and
books to students from 6th-8th also have various other schemes which guarantee a
scholarship of Rs.25000 to the girl child based on merit. Students in 9th standard
get the benefit of a fixed deposit which is created or they are given a cycle to
commute as most of the students which belong to the school travel more than 6-8
kms every day. In case of an issue, the same is communicated to the principal which
insinuates it further to the Block Educational Officer superseded by District
Educational Officer to finally reach the Chief Educational Officer. The nearby
NGO Chirag has given the school computers to help aid the education of the
students but the basic resources are still missing hence there is a growing aspiration
of private education in forms of private schools but the fees remains a major issue
as the largely farming population of Dhanachuli cannot afford to pay Rs.6000 per
month for their child’s education.
Image 4: High school in Dhanachuli
2. Water and electricity facilities: Water seems to be a major issues of concern as
an average family which consumes around 300-400 liters fails to get the same due
to lack of infrastructure and the high costs of maintaining piping because of the
adverse weather conditions during the winters. The main sources of water in the
village are a couple of hand pumps and natural sources. Another problem was the
sabotage of the major water pipe by a pharmaceutical major who had links with the
bureaucracy and political representation of that village. This lack of water is
automatically reflected in the sphere of agriculture in the village where cultivators
remain dependent on natural sources and rainfall for sufficient produce. Harish
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Nehwal who worked at the water board of Letibunga which is a village near
Dhanachuli exclaimed “The conditions get extremely harsh during the winters as
the water within the pipe freezes and hence the requirement of better materials and
maintenance of the infrastructure”. On the other hand electricity seems to be not
such a major issue with power cuts happening for maximum 2 hours in the evening.
This is obviously because of low electricity requirements from the more well off
population of Dhanachuli. The other households do not have the disposable income
to afford electricity because they are largely farmers. The Kuti Jyoti Yojana
guarantees electricity to BPL households after they have registered with the village
block who furthers the proposal. The connection comes at a minimum charge so
that the marginalized can afford the same.
Image 5: Letibunga administration office
3. Financial Institutions: Before the evolution of banks in India, Post Offices used
to serve as a major government institutions to provide financial schemes to the rural
population of India due to the nationwide presence of Post Offices. The Post office
still acts as a financial intermediary and has various schemes to secure the financial
stability of the villages in India. The Dhanachuli post office on the other hand has
no such schemes and the unawareness of the villagers regarding such schemes
seems like the same won’t be implemented soon. Though, Bhateliya Post Office is
planning to open Post Office Savings Bank which is separate from the current
operations of Small savings Schemes which might be beneficial to the villagers.
The absence of a Gramin bank is also a deterrent for the farmers to get credit in
case of low rainfall in a certain year. The lack of credit is also a major reason why
people in the village seek alternate sources of revenue due to the growing demands.
4. Animal Husbandry: The lack of livestock in the village seems to be a major
problem in creating a self-sustaining village in terms of milk requirements. There
are no specific centers for rearing of livestock but the more affluent households do
own milch animals which is a sign of prosperity for the inhabitants of the village.
The practice of rearing animals has also declined because the inroad of tetra packed
milk which reaches the village through small trucks. These trucks visit the villages
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thrice a week delivering basic amenities like breads, milk, maggi and other
sustenance products.
Image 6: Livestock and Agriculture in Dhanachuli
Social structure:
Education: There seems to be no evidence of gender discrimination as equal opportunities are
provided to both boys and girls in terms of education. The education expenditure has been kept at
a minimum by the government for Dhanachuli because of which a large number of students finish
schooling and usually head to bigger cities for higher education. Though the reluctance from the
students because of a lack of motivation to study further seems a hindrance. The Aanganwadi
schemes have helped empowering the marginalized women and giving them equal opportunities
as men.
Marriage: In spite of being a relatively progressive community, the Bishts which form the
majority of the population of Dhanachuli are averse to inter-caste/community marriages. The belief
that inhabitants of the same village are related by blood and land relation is slowly fading away
but alliances outside the villages are preferred. As a school teacher remarked “I had always thought
I will get married outside the village but I’m happy in finding a life partner who belongs to and
shares the same set of cultural norms as I do”.
Value system: Despite the inklings of the progressive community that the villlagers of Dhanachuli
are a part of, there is still a similar orthodox hierarchy in terms of cultural norms which was evident
throughout the in-depth interview of the BDO and the father-in-law of the village head. Religion
still remains the center around which the life of the villagers revolves which is followed by the
duty to family. Though receiving a wholesome education has come to receive higher significance
in terms of community living. Parents are proud of sending their kids to school and higher
education to cities. The female roles in the affluent Bisht community still remains confined to
dealing with household chores whereas the women from the marginalized communities are
engaged in agriculture to support the household.
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Image 7: Shop owned by the family of the village head
Media Consumption:
Newspapers:
The readership in Dhanachuli is about 100 people with not necessarily all families subscribing to
a daily newspaper. The BDO describes the readership as largely individuals who want to keep up
with the political changes happening in Uttarakhand. Uttarakhand being one of the newly formed
states is undergoing constant political fluctuations and an aftermath of the devastating floods which
happened last year, so the villagers consider it important to keep in touch with the happenings in
the state itself. The majority of the readership has subscribed to a Hindi daily with a split between
Dainik Jagran and Amar Ujala. The newspapers are delivered every morning at around 8 and
Dainik Jagran seems to be the more popular out of the two. Hindustan is another newspaper which
was read by the villagers in Dhanachuli. English daily readership is pretty slim partially because
of the language barrier and the late delivery of the newspaper. The Times of India gets delivered
to the village usually around noon and is erratic with a number of days going by when one does
not get the newspaper which is a major reason for many literate families not adopting the an
English daily considering a vast majority of Dhanachuli is literate according to the statistics.
Radio:
Most of the youth in Dhanachuli listens to radio through their mobile devices. Males are avid radio
consumers as they seek entertainment through songs. The marginalized sections largely listen to
Vividh Bharati whereas the more affluent families tune into 92.7 Big FM, Radio Mirchi. 80%
households in Dhanachuli own a transistor.
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Television:
Around 60% of the households in Dhanachuli have a TV and have a Dish TV connection. Other
DTH connections that are prominent in the village are Tata Sky. All the TV sets are colored. The
TV viewing timings usually ranges from 8-11 in the evening. The subscribers have basic channel
packages which largely are local. Besides the local channels, the inhabitants have subscribed to
Zee TV, Sony and Star Plus which are largely viewed by the female population of Dhanachuli.
Males are avid viewers of Aaj Tak and sports channels like Star Sports. There was a definite
inclination of the female population towards serials whereas the males preferred watching movies
and news.
Mobile:
Nearly all the households possessed a mobile phones which usually belong to the father. Vodafone
and BSNL are the major service providers. One could notice hoardings of Vodafone targeting the
notion of being connected after the devastating floods in Uttarakhand. Boys were using data to
download ringtones, songs, and wallpapers alongside social networking with Facebook being the
most popular platform. Nokia and Samsung were the most preferred brands in the village.
Brand Consumption:
The aim of mapping the brand consumption is as follows:
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The purchase-behaviour
Penetration of different brands
Availability and SKU sizes of product categories
Brand-preference existing
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Image 8: General stores in Dhanachuli
The purchase pattern and consumer behavior is largely dependent on the general store owner
who uses his own discretion according to the needs of the village dwellers. A major reason for
the same is also the non-availability of these products on a regular basis due to the isolation and
topography of the village. The delivery of products happen once a week in trucks from the town
of Haldwani. The other source for the same is Bhawali but the products have to be brought in
personally.
Image 9: Munna Bhai ( General Store owner )
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The major items that were sold were the following:
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Confectionaries in the form of chewing gums and chocolates were sold the most. Center
Fruit and Centfresh. Kit-Kat and smaller SKU’s of dairy milk. Besides these brands there
were a variety of local brands which were erratic in their supply depending upon the
population of the village
Shampoos came in sachets and Sunshilk black shine was the most preferred brand as
there were sachets of only this shampoo
Biscuits and Wafers also formed an important part of the inventory with Parle-G,
PriyaGold as the major brands. Lays and O’Yes were largely sold in the general stores.
Maggi has come to acquire a special significance in the product basket in Dhanachuli.
Communication Need Assessment:
The major occupation in Dhanachuli is agriculture and looking at the increasing discontent rising
amongst the youth due to unemployment has led to large scale migration to other cities looking
for better sources. Although the majority of the population in Dhanachuli are engaged in
agriculture, they are largely engaged in sustenance production therefore out of all the pressing
issues the lack of water supply needs to be addressed before any other issue is concentrated
upon. The current sources of water in Dhanachuli are as follows:
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Water from natural sources is collected in tanks which is supplied to different areas of the
village through pipes.
Two bodies providing the same functionality are: Gram Panchayat (Free) and Jal
Sansthan ( Paid )
Currents problems range from the drying of water in the natural sources in the winters alongside
the breakage of pipes and the flow being extremely weak. The consequences of this is the
disruption in the life of the villagers besides the unavailable resources to produce for the market
since drip irrigation has failed miserably in Uttarakhand. Therefore it is imperative that this is the
most pressing need of Dhanachuli.
Communication Need Strategy:
The village had sources of water in only two forms: The springs and rain water. During the
summer months, there are no rains and even the springs dry out. If we go for ground water
sourcing then on one hand it is very difficult due to hilly site and on the other hand, it will
directly make people dependent upon the government machinery. As per the village profile and
the above the only solution to the water problem in the village seems to be rain water harvesting.
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Water harvesting can be undertaken through a variety of ways:
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Capturing runoff from rooftop
Capturing runoff from local catchment
Capturing seasonal floodwaters from local stream
Conserving water through watershed management
Communication plan:
Phase 1:
The major issue with the implementation of water harvesting in the village would be making the
villagers aware of the benefits of water harvesting so it can be pursued by the Gram Panchayat.
Chirag and TERI can play an important part in gathering the villagers.
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Lectures by the people of the nearby towns/villages who have used rain water harvesting
Diagrams and figures
Lectures by specialist
Phase 2:
NGO will take Panchayat into confidence and build a rain water harvesting system in the
Pradhan’s House. This will be the demonstration based communication. The people will be
asked to visit the Pradhan’s house and see the benefits of this system.Once these benefits have
been established. The Uttaranchal government has easy loan schemes for rain water harvesting
through different national banks and NABARD as per the terms and condition lay down by the
RBI. We would spread awareness about the loan schemes available and convince the villagers
that benefits of the new system will supersede the cost involved by huge margin.
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Phase 3:
The following phase will involve the villagers to be aware of the cleanliness and hygiene system
with similar methods as done in the previous phases. Lectures from health experts via the NGO
and Panchayat conducting a regular check of hygiene and the good health practices.
Kunjal Kaw Saarini Bagga | MICA