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Excluded Lifeworlds - A participatory exploratory study of

children’s education in select flood prone villages of

Kiratpur Block, Darbhanga

Under the Child Rights and You Research Fellowship

(2009-2010)

By

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Roma Dey

Field Support from Mithila Gram Vikash Parishad

The cover picture was taken in the outskirts of Darghanga city on the morning of 2nd

August, 2007.

People are relocating after the Bagmati has flood their houses overnight.

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For flood effected children, their resilience and hope in

the face of death and disaster

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We are guilty of many errors and faults,

But our worst crimes is abandoning the children,

Neglecting the foundation of life,

Many of the things we need can wait,

The children cannot,

Right now is the time his bones are being formed,

His blood is being made,

And his senses are being developed,

To him we cannot answer

“Tomorrow”

His name is Today

Dare we answer “Tomorrow”?

Gabriela Mistral

Nobel Laureate

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Contents

Contents 5

Abbreviations Used 6

Local Words Used 7

Lists of Tables, Diagrams, Tools, Boxes and Pictures 8

Acknowledgements 10

Executive Summary 11

Preface 16

1. Introduction 20

2. Narratives, Voices and Visions 44

3. Analysis and Recommendations 68

Bibliography 77

Annex 1 Photographs 78

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Abbreviations Used

CRC Convention on the Rights of the Child

DPEP District Primary Education Programmes

FAO Food and Agriculture Organisation

HDI Human Development Index

IDNDR International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction

MGVP Mithila Gram Vikas Parishad

NDMA National Disaster Management Authority

NEP National Education Policy

NSSP National School Safety Programme

PDS Public Distribution System

PHC Primary Health Centre (also used in Sub-PHC)

UN United Nations

UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund

UNDMTs UN Disaster Management Teams

UNDP United Nations Development Programmes

UNDRO United Nations Disaster Relief Office

WHO World Health Organisation

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WSSD World Summit on Sustainable Development

Local Words Used

Tola—hamlet

Musahari—hamlet of Musahars

karmahi saag—edible vegetation that grows in water bodies

Dhia-puta—daughters and sons

Sarva Siksha Abhiyan—the flagship programme of Government of India to universalize

elementary education in India

khap panchayats—body of opinion makers and caste leaders for a group of villages

pukka houses—concrete house

Maha Dalit—21 Communities identified to be the most weak socially and economically within

the Dalit communities in Bihar

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Lists of Tables, Diagrams, Tools, Boxes and Pictures

List of Tables

Table 1.1.Selected Human Development indicators applicable to children for Bihar and India for

the years 1993 and 1999

Table 1.2 Gender and caste segregated literacy rate amongst the major (numerically) Scheduled

Castes in Bihar

Table 1.3.Tools used in the study and their objectives.

Table 2.1.Daily functioning of the government schools in Rasiari-Pauni

Table 2.2.Community and gender segregated status of education in Kubhol

Table 3.1. Gender and community segregated data on death of children post the 2005 flood in

Kiratpur

List of Diagrams

Diagram 3.1.A Conceptual Model of Childhood Adultification in Economically Disadvantaged

Families

List of Tools

Tool 2.1.Seasonality Map in the Musahari of Sirniya

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Tool 2.2.A Timeline of Village Rasiari with group of villagers in Rasiari (Main) to record major

educational events of the village

Tool 2.3.Forced field analysis in the main village of Kubhol village

Tool 2.4.Work Children Do in Musahari, Kubhol

List of Boxes

Box 2.1. When the river floods

Box 2.2 Larger overview on the meaning of education in the village:

Box 2.3.Building at a height to fight floods

Box 2.4.Children missed by the school, health services and governmental policies.

Box 2.5.A mother who traced her missing son

Box 3.1. Understanding Trauma

Box 3.2. Gender and community segregated data on death of children post the 2005 flood in

Kiratpur block

Box 3.3.Education and continuity/ break of culture

List of Photos

Picture 1.1 Driving on embankments

Picture 1.2. Construction of road network

Picture 2.1 Map of Rasiyari-Pauni Village

Picture 2.2.Children in a private tuition in a Yadav hamlet in Rasiyari village

Picture 2.3.A mother teaches her son as the grandmother looks on in a Yadav hamlet

Picture 2.4.A private residential school in Ghanshyampur

Picture 2.5.A child looking for ghongha (mollusks)

Picture 3.1 The idol of Raja Shailesh in the community school of Kanki Musahari

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Acknowledgements

To the children of Kubhol, Sirnia, Kanki, Pauni and Rasiyari for sharing their lives and visions.

To the people of Kubhol and Rasiyari, I remain indebted, especially my hosts, Daiwati Didi and

Sita Didi, also Nandu Bhaiya and Buchi Babu for their support.

To Tom, Anindo, Narayan Jee Choudhary and others at Praxis and MGVP for their support and

inspirational work. To my guide and teacher, Prof.Bimol A.Akoijam for giving me the space and

support.

To my teachers at De Nobili, Delhi School of Social Work and Jawaharlal Nehru University for

imbibing in me the spirit for quest and faith in equity and human dignity.

To my friends and family for being there in moments of crisis and self-doubt.

To the mentors and selectors, Prof.Jean Dreze, Prof. Sujata Patil, Prof. Karanth for sharing and

suggestions.

To people at Child Rights and You, especially Viji, Pradeep, Rajeev, Havovi for giving me this

opportunity and insights into research.

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Executive Summary

The study is a partial view of the lifeworlds of children in flood prone villages, namely

Rasiyari, Pauni, Kanki and Kubhol, Sirnia, in two panchayats, the first three villages is Rasiyari

Pauni and the last two in Kubhol Dhanga of Kiratpur block of Darbhanga district of Bihar.

The inception of the study of the lives of the children in these villages was from the

point of view of exclusion that these children face. The children of these villages, and many

other in the region, have to face the harsh conditions of floods and its aftermaths every year in

addition to a general lack of growth and development facilities owing to regional backwardness

and poor development of infrastructure and service delivery. Within a flood prone village also

there are groups of children who are excluded from spaces and services meant for children

such as the school. Like most villages in the area, the village comprises of hamlets (tola) based

on caste such as the Yadav tola, Mushahar tola1 with the main hamlet carrying the village name

inhabited by the erstwhile Brahmin and Thakur landlords (who are still the big landowners), the

1 The naming of the other hamlets are in reference to the main hamlet, most often by the residents of the main

village themselves. The residents of the main village thus exercise the power to name the other hamlets.

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business communities of Baniyas and Kayasths. Mostly Muslim families occupied in business or

farming and the yadavs reside at the periphery of main hamlet. Dalit groups mostly reside along

the river near or on the embankments. Most big hamlets have their own primary school,

sometimes two while smaller ones share a primary school. While a study of the government

schools’ day to day working showed most of them to be functioning moderately, there were

children, belonging to particular communities, who have never been inside the school.

However, in none of the villages the Musaharis/Musahar tolas, inhabited by a larger

population as compared to other scheduled and backward classes, have a school in their

hamlet. Further, children from the Musahar, Mallah, Chamar and Dom communities2 do not go

to the school situated in other hamlets, the reasons are a mix of push factors including casteism

(Dalit children are made to sit separately in the class, sent home before the mid-day meal is

served, called by caste names, fear of retribution by uppercaste), physical punishment, no

educational support system for first generation learners, apathy of the teachers, no visible

short-term gain from education, urgency to work and support family and gender being some of

the prominent ones.

As pointed out in one of the presentations during the study, the conditions of school

and problems faced by particularly weaker sections of the villages were no different from those

of any other village/ward in an urban set-up. While this is true, the larger picture has conditions

of flood proneness and its effects on the education of a numerical majority of the children in

the village3. One of the easier to understand effects is a period of no school for three to four

months owing to floods when the schools are turned into shelters if they are not inundated or

are defunct owing to water-logging. This is where the study contributes to understand-how the

non-functioning of the school in the village affect the children.

Through activity based discussions such as mobility maps, mapping one’s own house,

storytelling and transect walk around the most frequented places with children such as the

2 Caste came as an identity marker and reason for sending/not sending children to school from the Dalit adult

participants even when interactions with them occurred separately in their own hamlets or sometimes houses.

Statement such as musahar’s children do not go to school or education is not for a Chamar came from participants

belonging to the particular community, echoing the bias of the upper caste teachers/opinion leaders as well as

underlining the subtle practices of caste based discrimination. A deeper interaction on the issue of children’s

education yielded that parents from these communities also wanted their children to be educated, not that they

have internalized the bias and were party execution of caste discrimination. Some parents have been sending their

sons (not daughters though) to school even when their wards have faced discrimination. Caste names have been

used in the report as they have been used by the communities themselves to denote their hamlet/ people. 3 Prof.Karanth, had pointed out that sometimes a researcher has to look at things that bring groups of people

together, rather than the things that differentiate them, I owe this line of thinking to him.

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school and river front, friend’s houses, discussions were held around the contribution of school

and education. While achieving education, employment and better lifestyle did come up

strongly as contribution of school, it also came up as a space and time of their own for girls (In a

comparison for the Daily Routine maps of that of boys and girls with a school going group it was

evident that girls have a load of household chores and babysitting their younger siblings which

leaves no time for themselves otherwise). School, apart from a place of learning, is also a place

of bonding and emotional sharing for the children, especially the girls of the age group 10-14

years and younger children (6-10 years).

Even in hamlet having their own primary school, where children could otherwise meet

and play, during the period of flood and following water-logging children are bound within the

safety of their houses in case of households which could protect their houses. The local people,

who can afford it (most of the well to do households, most of the Brahmin, Thakur and some

Yadavs), make their houses after building 3 to 4 ft high earthen platforms as a safeguard against

water logging which occurs due to the unnatural obstruction to the receding river in the form of

the embankment to the river (another example of a structure built with good intention but

poor reality check4). In the case of other households children along with their families move to

makeshift shelters on higher/ raised locations such as the embankment. Sometimes if the

school building is accessible it is used as a temporary relief centre for distribution of

cooked/uncooked food and tarpaulin sheets.

A recommendation of the research work is the idea of localized plans for school

building. The number of abandoned school buildings and their conditions in the area stand

proof to the fact that consultations with the hamlet people before building a school in the

hamlet would have gone a long way in securing their future. This would also inbuilt a feeling of

ownership of the school within the community as evident in the community school in Kanki

Musahari which runs in the premises of a temporary community shelter. This can also be part

of larger disaster preparedness programmes to have localized plans for school buildings to

make them disaster resistant.

4 The local people claim that due to the embankment the river cannot release its load of silt which keeps collecting

within the embankment, causing the river to shift and change its course faster and increasing its pressure on the

walls of the embankment. Further, the natural system of refreshing the top soil through silting has been breached

making the soil sterile and bringing down the agricultural productivity of the place. They also claim that that the

collected old silt within the embankment wash their lands if it floods. Also due to water-logging they have lost

cultivable land and productivity has also gone down.

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During the monsoon when the river is in full force, villagers keep a check at the places

where the embankment might breach and do whatever possible locally for them to stop the

river from breaching the embankment. While this keeps floods out of the hamlets/villages

outside the embankments, the rising water level is a constant threat to hamlets/villages inside

the embankments. The children in both the areas live under the threat of floods. Their

relationship with the river and its tributaries is of immense importance.

Most children learn to swim early on and a lot of their daily time is spent around it-

some children (Yadav and Brahmin boys and girls) have to cross the river to go to school after

primary to the middle school or high school, some children (Yadav boys) have to take their

cattles for bath in the river, sometimes with adults sometimes alone or with other children,

some children (Musahar children) also collect edible vegetation (karmahi saag) and mollusks

for meals. Most children, on both sides of the bank, associate freedom, adventure, work and

fun together with the river. Floods are seen as a period when they are not able to leave home,

meet friends or go to school, also a period when a lot of snakes are around for children in the

yadav hamlet in Rasiyari. The notion of fear is attached to the snakes and is not that of

drowning during the floods.

This brings us to the issue of the children missing from the school. What about them? As

mentioned earlier, children of particular communities-Musahar and Dom, two of the most

socially and economically backward communities in the state, do not go to the government

schools in the villages. The situation of these children is worse as compared to the others in the

villages owing to the incapacities of their families to provide for them. Most young children of

these communities wander around the swamps near their homes in search of mollusc and

other edibles. Owing to the acute poverty, they are naked with their stomachs protruding,

signifying malnutrition and their eyes bleary and serious.

It is difficult to break ice with children of the community of most age group, except for

boys who are migrant child labourers (most boys above the age 10 years are sent out to work

for survival, while girls are not allowed). Some reasons for the difficulty to break ice with the

children is definitely the lack of fluency of the local dialect, the children being shy, however, a

larger issue is the suppression of social skills of expression and speech owing to difficult

childhood. To understand and explain the impact of this difficult childhood, the framework of

child adultification, exclusion, vulnerability and others on the effect of disasters and stress have

been used. The study endeavours to capture some parts of the lived realities of the diverse

childhoods in these villages.

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An important finding is that, the big segment of the missing children from the schools-

the migrant child labourers have developed skills of expression-facial expression, gestures and

speech unlike the younger children in their hamlets. One reason for this is their movement out

of their native place into other places and their interaction with the outer world, another could

be age and in case of girls of their age group gender could also be claimed to be a reason. A

significant reason, as found in the analysis and literature review from various other parts of the

worlg, is their ability to come out of the cycle of disasters-flood and its aftermath of disease and

death. Even though they still remain under the pressure of earning and surviving on their own,

the cycle of disaster and trauma is breached and the process of rebuilding their lives, though

uprooted from their native, has begun. However, in the case of the other missing children from

the school, they continue to live within the cycle of disaster, loss, disease and death along with

poverty and malnutrition. These children are burdened with the dual load of deprivation and

disaster, continuously accumulating unresolved/ unshared traumatic experiences.

In the face of the inability of their family to provide for them, it is imperative that they

are brought under the coverage of government social welfare schemes such as the Integrated

Child Development Scheme for those below 6 years and the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan and the

National Rural Health Mission.

As an important deduction of the study, school is not a mere building in the lives of the

children, but a time and space for learning, emotional sharing and bonding. The experience of

school life is also recourse for emotional recovery and rehabilitation post floods, something

which is also supported by studies from other parts of the world hit by disaster.

Another significant group of children missing from these welfare schemes and missions

are differently abled children. For children with curtailed mobility in such a difficult terrain and

harsh conditions of mobility, there should be special provisions to connect them to these

schemes. The need is double pronged- to include all the children and to cover their educational,

health and security needs- both physical and emotional. The solution is also at two levels- to

reach all, that is, having schools physically in the hamlets of all communities (in the case of

Kanki Musahari a primary school has been allotted to the hamlet but is actually made in a yadav

hamlet) and teachers who do not discriminate (a good start for this would be a teacher from

the same community, but owing to the abysmal level of literacy in the Musahar and Dom

communities, only highly motivated and sensitive teachers can do the formidable task of

bringing back the missing students as has been seen in the case of the community school in

Kanki in the study) and to cover their educational, health and physical and emotional security

needs. For the second part, the study recommends-

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Localized plans and implementation of health needs. In this case, it would include,

village level emergency health and medical facilities in the face of floods- such as hygienic

drinking water through chlorination, immediate medical attention in case of common post

flood ailments such as diarrhea and gastrointestinal infections, water borne diseases such as

cholera, jaundice and typhoid and snake bites. Coverage of all for preventive and precautionary

measures against common diseases in the area such as kala-azar and malaria.

Integrating a basic health programme with schools. In bringing all children in the school,

the chances of covering all children in a basic health programme will be higher if integrated

with the school. For this the school can have regular visits of a general physician and special

lessons on health and hygiene during and after the floods could be included as part of

curriculum.

The study also recommends development and inclusion of special curriculum to help

children cope emotional, physically and mentally with natural disasters and their aftermath.

School as one of the centre for disaster preparedness and building community

resilience. This particular proposal is an extension of the earlier two recommendations. The

school with its wide reach and participation of children, who also happen to be one of the most

vulnerable. Thus, school can be the locus of community disaster preparedness and resilience

programmes with the involvement of parents and teachers.

Preface

“I am, as researcher, a bricoleur, a maker of patchwork, a

weaver of stories, an assembler of montage by which

means I construct and convey meaning according to a

narrative ethic .” (Yardley,A.,2008)

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Growing up in Bihar in the 1990s, amidst the boom in media and liberalization of

economy, our generation was constantly reminded of the sorry state of Bihar. It consistently

performed from bad to worse. There was no growth in agriculture and the economy was slump.

There were floods and droughts in the plains of north and central Bihar (then undivided),

respectively, every year. Newspapers reported of corruption in relief distribution, abandoned

school buildings and non-payment of teachers’ salary. Cases of teachers’ suicides, caste wars,

scams and corruption made the headlines. Nothing seemed to work in the state. Political

henchmen ruled the roost as the law and order machinery collapsed. Business houses and

investors fled. Creation of Jharkhand was pushed to harness the natural ore’s and minerals

abundant on the Chotanagpur Plateau. There seemed no respite for Bihari’s who migrated in

out of the state in large number in search of livelihood (majority belonged to unskilled and low

skilled labour category) and educational opportunities (majority belonged to the upper middle

and upper class). Coming from a salaried lower middle class families and a student migrating

out of Bihar, I was constantly aware of both the opportunity to study further and the inability to

do so close to home.

Coming back to work in Bihar, after masters, opened my eyes to a Bihar beyond the

realms of a salaried middle class family to a more real Bihar. The first time I visited the Kosi

Basinit felt as if time had got stuck in this part of the world where everything seemed to belong

to an earlier era. Although I was oriented about the poverty and conditions through a thought

provoking documentary Children of Kosi, produced by Narayanjee Choudhary and directed by

Amitava and Dr.D.K. Mishra’s Between the devil and the deep sea- Story of the Kosi river, my

visit to the place stunned me. It was an immersion programme in the summer of 2007 when

our team visited Kubhol in Kiratpur Block of Darbhanga. It was the stay in Kubhol that brought

home the gravity of the situation. The low lying areas of the village was waterlogged as the

floods water in the last flood had not been able to drain out creating large areas of swallow

water bodies providing breeding grounds for mosquitoes. The flood waters had deposited old

silt that has made the land unproductive and unsuitable for agricultural purposes. Men from

almost all houses from the lower socio-economic communities had migrated in search of

livelihoods. Most houses had only women and small children. There were families were the

men had not returned for years, a widespread phenomenon that had led the women of these

houses to be termed grass widows 5.

5 The term has been used by Dheerandra K. Jha (Jha, 2004)

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In the subsequent visits to other villages in the region I observed similar trends of male

children and adult migration. Wherever we went children were the first to crowd around us,

curious and observant but silent. However, teenaged boys would be missing in these groups.

Dhia-puta, as children are generally referred in the local dialect, seemed to be the main

concern of the women. But the children spoke little, shared little in the presence of their elders.

The seriousness on their faces, their naked vulnerability provoked me. Their faces questioned

the notion of “childhood” imbibed in my conscious, a childhood which was stark opposite one,

that of innocence, protected and full of rainbow coloured dreams and fairytales. Their reality

was a childhood of constant fight for survival against floods, starvation and diseases. Theirs was

a childhood of manual labour and taking care, of being careful and mature. I accept the critique

of an esteemed reviewer that there is nothing new, novel or rare in this observation. Conditions

of children in other places, in other historical periods might have been worse than this.

I also accept the view point of the same reviewer that there is no single childhood, the

notion of young people and childhood has differed from culture to culture and historically

within the same culture. Further, the reality of childhood has been different for different

groups of people in the same cultural and historical space, which has been aptly put by Frones

(James and Prout,1997) ,

There is not one childhood, but many, formed at the intersection of different cultural, social and

economic systems, natural and man-made physical environments. Different positions in society

produce different experiences.

The globalization of a particular concept of childhood, that is, a twentieth century white,

urban middle class European concept of childhood has been critiqued on the grounds of

“rendering deviant or criminal much of working class life and many of children’s everyday

activities”, assuming some kind of universal experience for all children, a pathway for the North

American mass media and market to make inroads into the lives of people in the Third

World(ibid.)

Criticism definitely is a good way to check the negative aspects of a concept and

provides newer avenues for its growth. The above criticism of a the dominant notion of

childhood has not only made us conscious of the pitfalls but also open to accepting a variety of

childhoods. And it is precisely under such conditions of existing differences, that one requires

rights and supportive legal frameworks to diminish the constraining effects, if any, of the

existing social, economic and cultural differences impinging upon the child’s right to grow up to

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her/his potential. Here again I adhere to the position of participatory research of bringing the

last person first, that is, putting the concerns of the most disadvantaged and marginalized in

terms of survival struggles and strategies, developmental needs, aversion or attraction to

education, accessibility, and cost of education. From this perspective the Universal Declaration

of Child Rights (1959), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1990) and the Millennium

Development Goals extended to be fulfilled by 2015, universalizing a particular version of child

rights, are important supportive frameworks providing direction to successive the Indian

governments. Use of participatory approach in the ground level local planning, monitoring and

implementation of processes to achieve the goals and programmes to uphold the rights of the

citizen can actually magnify and bring out the regional variations. This has been upheld by

studies in the development sector where a programme’s replication has failed or succeeded

due to space for regional differences.

I accept that the notion of childhood that I have taken as my standard is predominantly

a twentieth century “Western” concept of childhood. I will like to add here, that my standard of

childhood is as “Western” as the concept of Rights, Nationhood and Constitution that has come

to define our daily lives. A researcher needs standards, biased or otherwise claimed. Also, no

nation/civilization/culture exists in vacuum, it influences and is influenced by others. Definitely,

as a nation we have been influenced by other nations in the formulation of our concepts of

nationality and rights but these cannot be exact replicate in letter and spirit, because these

influences are not working on a “tabula rasa” but an existing civilization. One cannot dismiss

the fact that here is an agency involved in the borrowing of a concept and relocating it within

existing social relations. Neither can one deny the fact that there is a distinctiveness local flavor

to the concept once brought in practice locally.

However, I do not accept the position that the existing conditions, social beliefs and

traditions such as child marriage, caste based occupation of children, attitude towards literacy

and involvement of children in farm related or other livelihood options are issues that is best

decided by the parents, community or village. My major contention in this regard is that none

of the above parties vested with the “power” to decide are isolate entities, they are all

enmeshed in a variety of social relations that impinge upon their decisions. While education of

a child is at one end of the continuum, issues such as female feticide and death sentences by

“traditional” khap panchayats are at the other end of the same continuum. In the case of the

latter examples, the right to life is at stake and the “modern” legal mechanism is the recourse

at the moment. The notion of “culture” and “traditions” has often been used to perpetuate

systems of oppressions and inequality even within what is called “modern” times and

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institutions. Rather than opting for hasty conclusions or given answers, as a researcher I chose

to be critical of both “traditional” and “modern” systems, institutions and power relations. I

have tried to be so.

The research report is laid out in three chapters. The first chapter, Introduction briefly

introduces the location, issues that influence the lives of the children. The choice of education

as the field of study, aims and objectives of the study are slso brought out. Theoretical

frameworks and concepts available from literature on children, disaster/hazard management,

education and schooling are also discussed briefly. Finally the approach, methodology and tools

used for the study and the timeline of the study are laid out.

The second chapter, Narratives, Voices and Visions consists of the observations and

outcomes of tools in the different locations. Some of the tools used have also been included

with description of the process and the following discussion. The last chapter, Analysis and

Recommendation is an attempt to understand the outcomes within theoretical frameworks

and concepts that has been discussed earlier in the introduction, wherever the requirement has

been felt new theoretical frameworks have also been taken up. Finally a set of

recommendations from the field and that emerged in the analysis has been included.

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1. Introduction

This introductory chapter briefly describes the effects of floods and flood control

programmes which has largely been limited to building and maintaining embankments. It also

tries to bring out the changes that have come over time in the lives of the people- their survival

strategies and family and social relations. It brings out the aim of the study, that is, the life

conditions of the children in the region with focus on education, the research questions and the

underlying assumptions. The rationale of using participatory approach, tools used in the study

and steps taken to reach out to children and women within the different communities during

the field work is briefly discussed.

It discusses the framework of exclusion that is used to understand the condition of children

in the villages. Finally, it tries to bring together information from existing literature to provide a

base to understand specific issues involved in the research such as vulnerability of children to

natural hazards such as floods; role of parents, community and state to reduce the effects and

manage hazards and disasters.

1.1. Floods, Embankments, Livelihoods and Immigration

Flooding has been recurrent and a regular feature in the plains of northern Bihar criss-

crossed by river groups, the major five of these are Burhi Gandak, Bagmati, the Adhwara group,

Kamla Balan and Kosi. In his book Between the Devil and the Deep Sea-Story of The Kosi River,

Prof.D.K.Mishra (2006), writes that flooding of the river has been an essential part of the lives

of the people, with which they had adapted their lives- thatched houses on the river bed

instead of pukka houses which are rebuilt every year, festival of worshipping the flooded river

and the sun, songs for the flooding season. This resounds very much in the narratives of the

older people, who remember a time when the embankment was not there and floods would

bring rich silt with them making the soil in the basin fertile for cropping.

Even today, farmers and share croppers wait for the rains and river to flood just enough

for the crop, any excesses of it would destroy the crops. The older people blame the

embankment for the crisis in the aftermath flooding- water-logging, diseases, older infertile

sand of the embankment and river bed instead of fertile silt. It is not that the hazard of flooding

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and deposition of infertile soil is new to the region, but the embankments have exacerbated the

conditions. Literature from hazard/disaster management show that all floods are not always

disastrous but a hazard that a community becomes susceptible to only when it interacts with

the physical, social, economic and social vulnerabilities of the community (McEntire, 2001;

Paton and Johnston, 2001 as cited in Henstra, 2011). This hazard becomes disastrous only when

the impact of the hazard is beyond the coping capacity of the community.

According to the United Nations (UN) University currently one sixth of the world’s

population, approximately one billion people, are vulnerable to a “worst-case flood” and by

2050 the number will double to 2 billion people (United Nations News, 2004). It cites a number

of reasons for this increase such as deforestation, rising sea levels due to global warming and

population growth in vulnerable areas. It also identifies building urban areas in hazard-prone

areas and efforts at flood mitigation such as diversion, stopbanks concentrating on those urban

areas. This meant the natural flow of the flood water was diverted to lower lying areas that

sometimes affected forest areas or rural areas changing their flora and fauna. This is supported

by other sources of literature which suggest that protective measure at one point in time has

later been assessed as poor planning (Tierney et al., 2001 in Ronan & Johnston, 2005).

Interestingly, writing in 1961, Enayat Ahmad (p.265-66) describes the bund-building

measures on Kosi in the late 1950s as “coaxing a mad elephant”. Given below is his lucid

description of the nature and effect of the flooding of Kosi on the economics and livelihood of

the region in the 1960s.

“The behavior of the Kosi River during the last three decades has led to a deterioration

of the habitat on the Kosi plain of northeastern Bihar to such an extent that its present

supporting capacity is almost as low as the capacity of the plateau fringe of Chota Nagpur and

this in an area of the Ganges Plain known for its rural overcrowding.

The Kosi is the Hwang Ho of Bihar and the wildest and most uncertain of the Indian

rivers. Within the last two hundred years its course has shifted seventy-five miles, converting

about three thousand square miles of fertile ricelands into sandy flats and grassy marshes and

seriously disturbing the rural economy of an area that had formerly supported a population

almost equal to that of the western part of the plain. The Kosi has a large catchment in the

mountains and so short a course that it has built a large and high alluvial delta at the base of the

foothills. To be close to the Kosi is to be in constant danger of sudden floods and the deposition

of infertile sands. Wells are choked, communication lines are destroyed (fifty miles of railway was

washed away between Supaul and Nirmali), and fertile ricelands are ruined; after the river has

encroached on a cultivated tract, the fertility of the soil is known not to revive for nearly half a

century.

23

The area at present affected by the Kosi is roughly conterminous with the cultural zone known as

the Mithla, comprising the districts of Darbhanga and Saharsa and parts of Monghyr and Purnea.

It is about twelve thousand square miles in extent and has a total population of eighty-seven

lakhs (8,700,000). The Kosi is so impetuous that it has not been possible to bridge it except at

Kursela. The direct pressure of the river is now concentrated on Darbhanga District. It enters the

northeast corner of the district at Neur, whence it divides and unites almost endlessly until it

flows into the Ganges.

There is a pathetic blessing in the Kosi water. The spillwater may percolate in sandy soil as much

as five miles from a channel and give bumper paddy crops. But the harvest is invariably followed

directly by the arrival of the river of death. The Kosi flood destroys both food and fodder, and

there is an acute lack of potable water during rains, the Kosi water being almost poisonous to

plant and animal life.

Per capita income in Bihar is one of the lowest among Indian states, and the Kosi region has the

lowest per capita income in Bihar. The floods throw about a million people out of employment

every year; the total annual loss due directly or indirectly to the ravages of the river is about ten

to fifteen crore (100 to 150 million) rupees. The people suffer from acute malaria, dysentery, and

cholera. To those who understand the crux of the problem, which is inherent in the Kosi's

physiography and can be solved only by the arrest of the Kosi's sediments and the regulation of

its water near the foothills, all the reclamation, relief, and bund-building measures on the plains

must look like coaxing a mad elephant.”

Very little has changed over the last five decades in terms of infrastructure development

(during the field work the construction of the road link in the region was is progress, reaching

concrete roads to some of the difficult and interior terrains of the region). This region still

remains the most difficult to live with annual flooding but due to the embankments it also has

to suffer perennial water logging in the low lying areas on both sides of the embankments.

Accessibility is poor as the interiors do not have any roads. The only ways to reach the interiors

is to drive on the embankment (which is prohibited) except for the monsoon when it becomes

dangerous to use the embankments. Some places can also be reached by country made boats

on the rivers when the flow of the river is neither to strong or low for boats.

24

Picture 1.1 Driving on embankments

Picture 1.2. Construction of road network

There is very little livelihood options apart from seasonal agricultural work and small

business in the region. Apart from reasons specific to the region such as the decreasing

productivity of the land, reasons prevalent in most of rural Bihar such as lack of industries

owing to no electrification, poor connectivity and administrative control have lead to out-

migration of a large section of the population. Informal tenancy, incomplete landreforms,

ineffective tenancy and land ceiling laws seem to have aggravated the conditions of the

landless tenants and set in motion the increase in out-migration of the peasants in the 1950s-

60s in undivided Bihar (Sharma, 2005). A large section of the upper caste moneyed population

tend to live and work outside. Seasonal migration is high in the rest of the population of the

region. The lowest socio-economic strata of the society, that is the scheduled caste are the

25

worst effected by the lack of livelihood options. While segregated data for the flood affected

region is not available, the 2001 census puts 77.6% of the scheduled caste population of Bihar

as agricultural labourers. Largely this section of the population is landless.

In a study conducted by the Overseas Development Institute, London, in six districts of

Nalanda, Gaya, Muzzaffarpur, Purnia, Madhubani and Sitamarhi on The Role of Migration and

Remittances in Promoting Livelihoods in Bihar (2006) it was reported that while the wealthy and

forward caste migrated out of Bihar to secure well paid jobs on a more permanent basis, the

vast majority of migrants go for periods ranging from 3 to 9 months. Amongst the other

migrants, the Scheduled caste and extremely backward classes are engaged usually in the

lowest paid jobs such as farm labouring work, casual labouring work in construction, work in

brick kilns and rickshaw pulling. These poorest, unskilled and landless migrants includes (but is

not limited to) the Musahar, Majhi, Dom. 95% of the migrants from Bihar are male and

migration has become a finite stage in the lifecycle of the household, when sons approach an

age where they can be sent away to earn, the head of the household stays in the village (ibid.).

In the villages where the present study was conducted, the situation was similar. Almost

all the socio-economically weak households had atleast one male member migrating in search

of work. Wives and children are left behind in the villages with older widowed female relatives.

They have to fend for themselves and negotiate with middlemen for bank/postal orders6, the

village money-lenders from whom they tend to lend money, panchayat members and block

officials during the selection of beneficiaries of government projects and distribution of relief.

To survive they have to work in the fields of the landowners as money sent by their husbands is

not regular and does not suffice. These observations were supported by an earlier work Grass

Widows of Bihar (Jha, 2004) according to which these women have vulnerable to newer forms

of exploitations within and outside their household without the support of their spouses. The

study also brings out how very little policy level work has been done on the conditions of these

women.

It is a well known and accepted fact that children have been overlooked in most policy

frameworks and special provisions have to be made for children and women within most

existing policies. It is not just academic or policy short-sightedness but an extension of the

social view of life. Qvortrup refers to the absence of children from official statistics and social

accounting methods as a function of their “conceptual marginality in everyday life” (James and

6 Money is sent back to home by migrant labourers with fellow villagers, sometimes contractor for work or through

bank or postal orders. Since the women/men at home are illiterate they have to take the help of some literate

person of the village/block who charge them a 10% of the order as the charges of their service.

26

Prout, 1997). In most cultures children are listened to, they are expected to listen and follow.

The situation is not very different in this region, even though the period of social childhood (as

compared to biological childhood) is curtailed drastically. Children as young as ten years are

expected to handle family and work pressures like adults, while girls look after home and

younger siblings in the absence of the parents or start working in the local fields, boys migrate

to distant cities to work as migrant workers. This might not be the case with all but a vast

majority of the communities.

1.2.Aim of the Study, Research Question and Assumptions

The aim of this research is to look into the lives of the children in five flood prone

villages with a focus on children’s education. In a broader perspective the research tries to

understand how the various factors such disaster, socio-economic backwardness of the state,

lack of development resources and services and interiority of the place intersect, react and

affect the rights to life, security, health and education of the children. While these issues are

inter-related, together they are a wide range of issues and beyond the scope of the present

research. The study tries to focus primarily on schools and education; however, it also brings in

cross-cutting issues such as diseases, lack of livelihood option and migration as a strategy to

escape hunger and disaster. The study also tries to understand the strategies used by

children/communities to survive floods, diseases, and find ways to earn their livelihoods.

It also tries to understand children’s and people’s perception of school education, are

they doing anything to get their children educated? What are the hurdles perceived by

children/people? How can these be removed? What is the vision of the school and education

that children/people have? How are the state support/services regarding school education in

the region? Are there special provisions keeping in mind the disasters, backwardness, interiority

of the place?

In a nutshell, the questions can be grouped as:

1.What is the level of school education? What are the factors of low/high education? Can this

be changed? Are there any positive cases/models?

2.How children and their people view education/school? What are the changes they aspire for

in the school/village level education system?

27

3.How does annual floods effect the schools’ functioning? How does the flood effect the lives of

the children from different socio-economic backgroundsw?

The focus on school education is based on the following assumptions which also clarifies the

position of the researcher-

1. school education as a right of all children,

2. state’s responsibility in bringing education within the reach of the most vulnerable,

3. the school and education cannot be studied in isolation, the value system and the socio-

economic realities of the society in which the school is located has to be studied too

4. as a logical inference to the last point, the socio-economic position and psychological

condition of the learner/family has to be taken into account to understand the factors

affecting the child’s schooling-going to school/not going to school/able to learn.

5. thus, to understand some of the shortcomings of the school/education system, children

who the schools have missed need to be included in the study

1.3. The Framework of Exclusion

As evident from the questions and the preceeding discussions, the study tries to

understand the lives of children who have been absent in the government policies and

statistics. The study argues that often when chidren are included in the statistics, their real

conditions, problems and needs remain curtained behind the numbers. Thus, it questions the

inbuilt exclusion within the mechanism of the system. It uses the framework of exclusion to

understand some of the mechanism of systemic exclusion of children (as against adults) from

policies and changes that have been or can be brought about.

Education is perceived as a tool to overcome historical inequalities and exploitaition

such as the caste system and patriarchy. By excluding certain groups from education, these

systems have been able to survive. How does this exclusion take place? What are the factors in

the school premises within the village context or within the school system in the larger context

that lead to exclusion? Are there ways these can be overcome? These are some of the

questions that can be tackled through this framework.

In this section, we try and understand exclusion through a brief literature review before

moving on to locate education in the paradigm. The specific case of literacy in Bihar and the

28

block and villages selected for the study is discussed. Finally, the approach and methods used

to counter methodological exclusion is laid out along with the timeline of the study.

1.3. (i)Understanding Exclusion

The term social exclusion was brought into parlance in 1974 by Rene Lenoir, a member

of the Jacques Chirac government in France to denote socially excluded groups such as the less

privileged, differently abled, aged, substance abusers, abused children etc. He premised the

term on two distinct frameworks, firstly, the aspiration of the French Republicans for solidarity

and social integration. The second was a period of economic, social and political crisis and

restructuring in the 1980s. It is in this later framework that the term social exclusion came to be

used to refer to newly created social disadvantages such as unemployment, ghettoisation and

changes in the family. In this framework social exclusion was used as an analytical category for

strengthening welfare policies. The term has come to be used in other countries through the

European Union. The term has come to travel and gain significance and meaning geographically

and temporally (Sen, 2000).

Powell (2001) has used it in the sense of “counter-concept of citizenship”, a denial of

the rights and participation of the citizen as evident from the European Foundation for the

Improvement of Living and Working Standards’ (1995) definition:

[T]he process through which individuals or groups are wholly or partially excluded from full

participation in the society within which they live.

Exclusion, thus, implies a relational concept and is imbibed within the social. Social

exclusion is not a reality but a theoretical concept to look at reality. The concept examines the

social relations, processes and institutions that form the base of deprivation. The concept of

social exclusion has been used most widely within the field of economics, where it is

intrinsically related to and used to study poverty and relative deprivation.

The psychological underpinning of exclusion is stressed by Haan (2008) who uses Robert

Chambers’ (1989) conceptualization of exclusion as close to vulnerability—insecurity,

defenseless and exposure to shocks and risks. Fred Powell (2001) has highlighted the

psychological aspect of exclusion. According to him, it is evident in the way people relate to

each other, inequalities amongst them, use of violence and in the breakdown in social

solidarity. He cites Fr. Sean Healy (Powell, 2001: 91-92) to describe the experience of exclusion:

29

Exclusion is experienced in many ways. If you are excluded it means your opinion is not sought

and it doesn’t count. In fact you are not expected to have an opinion, rather you are encouraged

to trust the opinion of the shapers of the society…

When you are one of the excluded, politicians and policy-makers can ignore you without

fear of censure or loss of position. If your rights are infringed, the avenues of redress are very

few and haphazard. Since society fears excluded groups you are always suspect—guilty until

proven innocent…

Generally speaking poverty is the companion of exclusion. People on low incomes have

to struggle even to provide the necessary food, clothing and heat. They are not simply ‘less

comfortable’ than everyone else—they have shorter lives, sicker children, babies which are more

likely to die in infancy.

In the Indian political and social context debates for the rights of the excluded

communities based of caste, religion and numerical minority has been a major concern much

before the inception of the nation (we briefly engage with some of this in the context of

education in the next sub-section).

1.3. (ii) Education and Exclusion

Historically, in the Indian subcontinent literacy was the right of a privileged few-based

on caste and gender. Women and Dalits were barred from any form of participation in

knowledge production and consumption. The Varna system worked through control on the

rights and duties of each Varna. There was restriction in the field of work- manual or mental

labour, where manual labour was devalued. There was control over the possession of property

in the form of land and cattle. Rules of marriage within the Varna, prohibition on inter-dinning

and sometimes extreme forms of punishment on “pollution” were some of the manifestations

and ways to keep this rigid system in place. Upward mobility within the system was extremely

difficult.

There were strict restrictions against women and Dalit learning. Manusmriti, one of the

texts on social rules prohibits the Brahmin from teaching Shudras:“A Brahmin must never read

the Veda in the presence of a Shudra….He who instructs shudra pupils shall become disqualified

for being invited to a shradha” (Thorat, 2004). It also prescribes punshments for Dalits who

wishes to learn, “If a Shudra intentionally listens to memory the Veda, then his ears should be

filled with (molten) lead and if he utters the Veda, then his tongue should be cut off, if he has

mastered the Veda his body should be cut to piece” (Ibid. ).

30

The rigid socio-religious structure excluded women and Dalits from educational

institutions and scholarly pursuits. The religious and ideological frameworks differentiated

them as unworthy of education and mental labour, which was the exclusive arena of pursuit of

the Brahman male (Chakravarti, 2002, 2003; Panikkar, 1933). This exclusivity was further

exacerbated by using Sanskrit, a language not used commonly for knowledge production and

dissemination.

The present Indian education system was devised by the British colonizers for

supporting their scheme of rule in the subcontinent. Hence, the education policy devised by

them to cater to their need of educated workers in administration did not require them to

tackle the issues of existing inequalities and exclusions within the system. However, the system

of education introduced by British was open to all as the Court of Directors’ order prohibiting

refusal of admission on class grounds proves: “all schools maintained at the sole cost of the

Government shall be open to all classes of its subjects without distinction” (Kumar, 2008).

Changes were being brought about by different princely states and socially active individuals

who were making provisions for the socially weak (part of this is, is of course a result of the

British efforts in educating the native).

Jyotirao Phuley, in 1848, started the first school for the untouchables, without

distinction of sex. In the case of Indian provinces, the Maharaja of Baroda, Sayajirao Gaekwad,

started the first schools for educating the discriminated population and he had to depend on

educated Muslims as caste-Hindu teachers refused to teach in such schools. It was in 1885 that

Sir Richard Temple, governor of Bombay, reserved 50% scholarships for Muslims and backward

Hindus as it was realized that the criterion of merit perpetuated the Brahmin monopoly in

education. The rulers of Indian provinces such as Kohlapur, Baroda, Travancore and Cochin had

introduced economical and educational rights for the non-Brahmins in the nineteenth and

twentieth century along with the changes brought about by the British Government and

missionaries.

There was a demand for representation in Public Services of backward caste by the non-

Brahmin movements in Bombay, Madras, Mysore and Travancore. The Bombay government

recognized the need for backward representation but it did not work on it. In Madras, a system

of communal rotation of representation of all backward groups was introduced. The

government of Mysore evolved a more effective policy of backward representation by

according representation to the un-represented before the under-represented and the

represented in the respective order. The Travancore and Cochin states implemented

31

representation of several communities in proportion to their population (as per the First

Backward Class Commission Report of 1955) (Ibid.).

In Kohlapur, the Maharaja, Shahuji, inspired by Phuley’s effort founded boarding houses

for the backward castes and in 1902 reserved 50% seats in the administration for the backward

communities. He established free and compulsory education for the non-Brahmins including

the Untouchables in 1917 and in 1919 issued the “Hujur” order stating that if any man7 of the

state education having an objection in having Untouchable in schools must send his resignation.

Under the chairmanship of Sir Leslie Miller, the Chief Justice, in 1918, a committee of the British

government recommended that the proportion of backward communities’ officials in all district

and headquarters should be increased to 50% of the total strength through preference for

qualified members of backward communities as per the First Backward Class Commission

Report of 1955 (ibid.).

Owing to the devolution of power to Indians with the Indian Councils Act 1861, through

the system of nomination of Indians in the Legislative Council and the subsequent Indian

Councils Act, 1892, increasing the numbers of Indian members and empowering them to ask

questions, the Muslim community under the leadership of Aga Khan, demanded special

representation in 1906. This lead to the Minto-Morley reforms or the Government of India Act

1909, which introduced the Separate Electorates or representation based on different

communities, classes etc.

Under the Chairpersonship of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, the Constitution Drafting Committee

provided measures and safeguards for the socio-economically backward communities such as

the scheduled tribes, scheduled castes and Muslim minorities, who have been historically

excluded from social decision making and socially deprived of opportunities to improve their

socio-economic conditions. The aspirations of the nascent nation Justice, Liberty, Equality and

Fraternity as enshrined in the Preamble of the Constitution have been the pillars of the Indian

nation-state.

Although the Constitutional and legal provisions have been supportive, but for the

ordinary citizen (there is a remarkable bias in the word itself which relates it to the idea of city,

a space where the traditional ties are weaker) claiming the rights is tough. One important

reason for this is the inability to identify oneself primarily as a citizen. The reasons can be lack

of awareness in some ways but most often or not it is the social location of the individual. The

7 The use of the word in the order signifies that official posts were held by men, women were not part of the

official system.

32

primary conception of the self is within the immediate network of social relationship- as a

female labourer in the field of the village landowners, as wife of a migrant labourer with the

responsibility of providing food to children and older people in the household, as a debtor

avoiding the village moneylender. As evident these relationships are not devoid of power and

often there is a convergence of different forms of power- social, economic, gender.

For a moment one feels that nothing has changed over time. However, there has been

change, slow and sometimes in the form. The power structure has changed from feudal to

bureaucratic but the power has majorly remained with the same set of people- the landed,

educated male who could enter the bureaucracy. Authority has largely eluded the landless and

illiterate again and very often women. There is change in the condition of the minorities,

women and scheduled castes and tribes owing to the supportive governmental policies. In

some areas this has been more marked owing to early support from princely states such as

Baroda, Travancore and Cochin, social activists in Bengal and Maharashtra and leadership from

within the communities such as Ambedkar, Phule and Periyar.

We can quickly rush through some of the high points in terms of educational policy in

the historical trajectory of the nation-

The National Education Policy(NEP) 1968 which came towards the end of the third five

year plan to initiate “a fresh and more determined effort at educational reconstruction” which

calls for strenuous efforts for free and compulsory education for all children up to the age of 14

and equalization of educational policy,

The Constitutional Amendment of 1976, which includes Education in the Concurrent List

where by the Union and the States shared the administrative and financial responsibility of

education.

NEP 1986, which seems to be more concrete in terms of the role of education and

problems faced by it as well as the direction and initiatives to be taken for spread of elementary

education. It openly adheres to the notion of “catalytic action” of education in the development

of the nation, individuals are resources and free education is an investment made by the state

to develop its human resources. It also banks on the acculturating role of education to imbibe

“national cohesion, a scientific temper and independence of mind and spirit-- thus furthering

the goals of socialism, secularism and democracy enshrined in our Constitution”.

Education of women is stressed to not only change the status of women but also to

support the national aim of population control. This it envisages can be done through

33

“redesigned curricula, textbooks, the training and orientation of teachers, decision-makers and

administrators, and the active involvement of educational institutions”, promotion of women

studies in various courses, promotion of women's participation in non-traditional occupations,

in vocational, technical and professional education and prioritizing women’s access and

retention in elementary education, providing special support services, setting time targets and

effective monitoring .

It also charts out measures to equalize the education of the Scheduled castes with the

non-secheduled castes through incentives to needy families to send their children to school

regularly till they reach the age of 14; Pre-matric Scholarship scheme for children of families

engaged in occupations such as scavenging, flaying and tanning to be made applicable from

Class 1onwards. All children of such families, regardless of incomes, will be covered by this

scheme and time-bound programmes targetted on them will be undertaken; Constant micro-

planning and verification to ensure that the enrolment, retention and successful completion of

courses by Scheduled Caste students do not fall at any stage, and provision of remedial Courses

to improve their prospects for further education and employment;Recruitment of teachers

from Scheduled Castes; Provision of facilities for Scheduled Caste students in students' hostels

at district headquarters, according to a phased programme; Location of school buildings,

Balwadis and Adult Education, Centres in such a way as to facilitate full -participation of the

Scheduled Castes; The utilization of rural employment programme resources so as to make

substantial educational facilities available to the Scheduled Castes; and Constant innovation in

finding new methods to increase the participation of the Scheduled Castes in the educational

process.The policy also talks about that the investment on education to be gradually increased

to 6 percent of the national income as early as possible

The revised NEP (1986) in 1992 devices the National Curriculum Framework, the

common core of the National Education System, to nurture national identity and promote

values such as India’s common cultural heritage, egalitarianism, democracy, secularism,

equality of sexes, protection of environment and removal of social barriers, observance of small

family norms and inculcation of scientific temper.

Some other important landmarks in the field of school education are—The District

Primary Education Programme (1994) which tried to bring in district level planning and

implementation in schooling, the Mid day Meal Scheme (1995) targeted to attract children to

school and increase their nutritional intake, the flagship programme of the government to

universalize elementary education by 2010-Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (2001), the Right to Education

Act (2009) which guarantees every child in the age group of 6-14 years 8 years of elementary

34

education are some of the important interventions made in the field of school education.

However, the budgetary allocation in education still remains meager.

However, the condition of children in Bihar in terms of some basic health and literacy

indicators show that there is still more to achieve. Data on literacy rate pertaining to Dalits

present a gloomier scenario and the need to address the issues at its earliest. A quick

comparison into some of the child focused development indicators of the state of Bihar with

the national average will help illustrate this point.

The table below gives a comparison of selected Human Development indicators

applicable to children for Bihar and India for the years 1993 and 1999.

Indicators 1993 1999

India Bihar India Bihar

Prevalence of child malnutrition/underweight children below 5(%) 53.4 62.6 47.0 54.4

Net primary enrollment ratio (%)(for the year 1993-94 and 1999-00) 71 54 77 52

Literacy rate (male) 64.1 52.5 76.0 60.3

Literacy rate (female) 39.3 22.9 54.3 33.6

Child mortality rate (per 1000 live births) 109.3 127.5 94.9 105.1

Immunization, measles (% of children under 12 months) 35.4 10.7 42.0 11.0

Source: World Bank Report, 2005 (from Table 1.2, p.11)

Table 1.1.Selected Human Development indicators applicable to children for Bihar and India

for the years 1993 and 1999

As visible from the above data, Bihar fares worse than the national average in all the five

indicators of Child mortality rate, Child malnutrition, Primary enrollment ratio, Gender

segregated literacy rate and Measles immunization of children. There are marked difference in

the rate of female literacy (national average is almost 1.5 times greater) and percentage of

measles immunization where the national figure is 4 times the state figure.

Available data from 2001 census for literacy rate amongst children of different castes in

the state of Bihar show a dismally low literacy rate of 28.5% amongst the Scheduled Castes

which is nearly half of the national literacy rate of 54.7% of all Scheduled Castes. Within the

Scheduled Castes in Bihar, boys fare much better with a literacy rate of 40.2% (against the

35

national level of 66.6%) than girls, with a meager 15.6% of girls being literate (against the

national level of 41.9%). Table 1.2 gives a gender and caste segregated literacy rate amongst

the major (numerically) Scheduled Castes in Bihar.

Literacy Rate All SCs (Bihar) Dhobi Pasi Dusadh Chamar Bhuiya Musahar

Total 55.8 43.9 40.6 33.0 32.1 13.3 9

Females 15.6 27.9 25.3 18.5 16.8 6.5 3.9

Table 1.2 Gender and caste segregated literacy rate amongst the major (numerically)

Scheduled Castes in Bihar

As observed from the data, the level of literacy differs drastically within the Dalit communities

in Bihar. The alarming difference in terms of literacy, employment and other socio-economic

indicators have made the present government in Bihar to demarcate the backwardness within

the Dalit communities as well by creating the category of Maha Dalit within Dalits.

According to the 2001 census again, out of the total 38.8 lakh Dalit children in the age

group 5 -14 years, 11.4 lakh, that is, 29.4%, attend school while the remaining 70.6% or 27.4

lakh Dalit children in the age group do not go to school. Evidently, there is a disparity in the

growth of literacy amongst the various groups in the region, as well as the growth of literacy

rate of all the communities in the region as compared to other regions in the nation. What are

the issues that the region faces and the different communities within the region face that leads

to this disparity? What are the ways the communities have developed to face some of these

issues? What is the perception of the communities towards literacy and school education?

What is the vision for the school and education at large that the communities have? Is there a

need to re-think public policy, planning and implementation in matters of school education to

increase the ambit and reach of schooling?

1.3. (iii)Selection of villages

The reality of the children in the Kiratpur block if Darbhanga is a hard one. The

performance of the block is among the poorest in the district. According to the official website

of the Bihar government, the total, male and female literacy rate of Kiratpur and

Ghanshyampur together are 24%, 35% and 11%, respectively, faring marginally above East and

West Kuseswarsthan, the poorest in the district with total, male and female literacy rate of

36

18%, 29% and 7%. With a population of 68,9858 and more than 20% of the population of the

block below 6 years it has only one PHC and no sub-PHC to cater to people’s health needs.

There are socio-economic processes and factors working at the block and village level which

further hinder the growth of a child to her/his potential. This was a kept in consideration while

selecting the block and villages for study. Communication with the executive head of a local

organization Mithila Gram Vikas Parishad (MGVP), Narayanjee Chaudhari and Manas Bihari

Verma, a retired scientist of Defence Research and Development Organisation, who has been

involved in relief and post flood reconstruction in the rural areas of the district helped in

selecting the villages as per the criterion of educational backwardness and excluded groups.

One of the selected village was Rasiari, criss-crossed by the Kamla and the Geunha river,

offshoot of the Kosi in Kiratpur block was based on the contrasting images of Rasiari, a village

with high educational indices (way back in 1940s Mr. Laxman Jha from this village went to

London School of Economics for higher education and also held the post of VC of Mithila

University). It has a hamlet Pauni, a Musahar hamlet with dismal educational indices. Pauni

provides for the agricultural labour and services of Rasiari. Apart from that, Kanki, the Musahar

hamlet in the neighbouring Aasma village happens to be the only Musahar hamlet in the whole

block where there is a primary school and that too built on community land and through

community initiative with financial support from MGVP. People locally refer to these two

Musahar hamlets as islands of illiteracy in a sea of literacy. In view of the suggestions of the

selection committee and other members to locate successful example/case studies of

education in the field, this village became an immediate choice. The other villages selected are

in Kubhol Dhanga Panchayat, Sirniya a village consisting to Brahmin, Yadav, Mallah population

inside the embankment and Kubhol located outside the embankment with Brahmin, Yadav,

Mallah, Muslim, Musahar and Chamar population. Again the Dalit and Muslim population of

Kubhol provide services to Sirniya.

1.3. (iv)Countering methodological exclusion

The study was conducted through the participatory approach and methods such as

immersion, participatory observation and mapping. The researcher stimulated discussions on

issues related to floods, education and livelihood options while staying with the local people,

8 As per the 2001 Census according to the webpage: http://darbhanga.bih.nic.in/dar_at_a_glance.htm

37

amongst one of the most marginalized section of the society, the Musahars in the field

locations and visiting other sections of the villages.

Men were more vocal, at times would downright shout on the women publicly and ask

her to shut up. Women and children would be intimidated and it would be difficult to have their

view. To hear their views, would bring up the issues related to children, women and education

after the last of the men had disappeared after lingering on. Opportunities to talk to children

only on the banks of the river, while grazing animals in the fields or after school were utitlised.

Other opportunities came during their trips to the river for a swim or for collecting saag or

molluscs or on their way to work to the brick kiln or in food stalls they are employed.

Discussions with women’s group were held while they worked in groups such as deseeding corn

ears, working in the field or taking a rest.

In the field sites a variety of participatory tools were used. Given below is a table of the

specific tools used and the objective of using them.

S.No. Tool/ method used Brief description Objective

1 Transect Walk A walk with members of the

community in their village, locating

important resources, boundaries etc.

To build rapport with the people.

Locate important places, people

and layout of the village as per

different groups, housing patterns

and said/unsaid boundaries.

2 Social map of village,

hamlet with adults

This map locates the various parts of

the village, the resources in the

village, its location vis-à-vis the main

approach road (if any), rivers and

embankments.

To have an idea of the distribution

of the resources in the different

hamlets, the comparative

remoteness of each of the hamlet

and the village itself.

3 Social map of school

and surrounding with

children

The school building, location in the

village, places in and around which

children can visit.

This when done with the children

in the school (and leave out the

children not going to school) gives

an idea of the school and opens

the discussion to issues

infrastructure, teachers and

quality of education.

4 Daily activities map

with boys and girls

Children map out the daily activities

that they spend their time on and

engage in a discussion on the trends

The different daily activities maps

of different groups of children in

different locations exhibit the time

spent by them in different chores

38

that appear. and educational and recreational

activities. This also gives a chance

to engage in discussion related to

gender difference in household

chores, educational and

recreational time allowed to

children.

5 Time line with village

elders to mark

important events

The important achievements

/occasions in the history of the village

and other important years that have

consequences in the history of the

village is mapped against a time line

This tool helps in having a

historical background of the village

and milestones of the village

which has a relationship with the

education system/culture in the

village.

Table 1.3.Tools used in the study and their objectives.

Each of the tools was preceded by an introduction of the facilitator and participants (this was

skipped in large groups/community gatherings). The tools become handy in entering into

discussions and in sharing different viewpoints/narratives.

Timeline of the study

April 2009 Sharing of Research Proposal: Changes suggested, incorporated

May-June 2009 Literature review

July 2009 Formulation of Research questions and design

Aug.-Sept.2009 Consultation with local support organisation, individuals on site selection,

field visits

Oct. 2009 Preliminary analysis and documentation

Nov.2009 Preliminary sharing: Modification in tools, shortcomings

Dec.-Jan 2010 Field visit

Feb 2010 Documentation/data analysis

April 2010 Sharing

39

May 2010 Field Visit

June 2010 Documentaion

Sept.-Oct.2010 Data analysis/interpretation

Oct.-Nov. 2010 Documentation

1.4.Children Facing Disaster—Role of Parents, Community and State

We start with the most pressing question-Who is responsible for the safety and security

of the child in the face of a natural hazard such as flood? The child? Parents? Community?

State? There can be a range of positions, and an equally qualified range of reasons.

The family is the primary provider of protection, nourishment and safety for the child in

daily life and in times of disaster, parents have the responsibility to safeguard their children as

put by Masten & Osofsky (2010):

Parents have a key role in the protection of children in life-threatening circumstances through

actions they take related to preparedness and safeguarding their children, their communications

about safety or danger, their instructions or training of children about what to do, and other

means, such as their role modeling of adaptive behavior. As a consequence, an important part of

disaster preparedness for children involves preparing parents to carry out these roles effectively

under very trying circumstances.

However, owing to their own inability parents are not able to provide for their children

in the face of economical and social deprivation. For such children disasters are greater risks.

According to Masozeraa (2007) parents owning more resources are in better positions to locate

safe shelter during natural disaster and to help children cope with the disaster. They can also

obtain professional mental health services if required unlike parents with lesser resources. This

brings in the issue of differential vulnerability and differential exposure to disasters for children

of different economic and social backgrounds (Masten & Osofsky, 2010). At the same time

poverty and unemployment can produce increased stress and frustration in times of disaster

that may lead to violence at both the broader community level and the more intimate family

level (Mohr, 2002).

According to an African proverb it takes a whole village to raise a child. This shows how

in a particular tradition it is the responsibility of the whole village to protect and nurture

40

children. Even in the Indian subcontinent some communities collectively tend to the needs of

the children, while in others it is the responsibility of a joint household, yet in others it is the

role of the parents and in the absence of parents close relatives. In some communities other

children take care of younger children, while in others once capable of walking and taking care

of her/his daily needs is left largely on its own. Overarching all these actors and permutation

and combinations is the state, a repository of laws, controlling mechanisms to delegate rights

and duties.

Both in the case of a child, who is legally minor (which is based on biological reasoning

in case of India) and in the case of an emergency situation where people of all other age groups

are involved, emergency management is necessarily a public responsibility, because only

governments have “the technical capability, the appropriate resources, and the authority to

coordinate a range of disaster-related responses” (Schneider 1995). Although in practice, the

government is not always the first to act. It is the family, community, personal networks and in

some cases nongovernmental actors who come to one’s rescue and relief in times of disaster.

However, as often has been the case, disasters push families and communities to their extreme

conditions leading to conflict like situations. We look into the ways the family, community and

state can play a crucial role in protecting children from negative effects of disaster situations.

1.4(i) Managing Disaster at Community Level: Building Resilience and Fighting

Vulnerability

The guidelines issued by the UN on disaster prevention, mitigation and preparedness

have been drawn from studies conducted in disaster prone areas of different parts of the

world. Some of these studies have shown how the effects of natural hazards are more

pronounced in the developing world owing to the inability of the state to respond at a scale

required. There has been efforts to put in place an effective disaster/emergency management

programme with teams at different levels working in sync with each other.

According to Waugh and Hy (1990) the programs and policies of emergency

management to deal with major hazards and disasters is divided into four areas- preparedness,

mitigation, response, and recovery. While Preparedness stands for anticipatory measures to

increase a community’s capability to respond effectively to emergencies, Mitigation policies are

meant for preventing or reducing the impacts of hazards. Response policies intend to

strengthen relief operations and assistance provided during an emergency, whereas, Recovery

41

policies are aimed to help in restoring and rehabilitating a community after an emergency. An

effective disaster management program gives equal weightage to preparedness, mitigation,

response and recovery and is a continuing process with the involvement of communities and

governments at different level.

Although the age old maxim says “women and children [should be] first” to be rescued

in times of emergency, in planning of disaster preparedness this seems to be completely

neglected (Myers, 1994, p.14). Myers proposes that the United Nations Disaster Management

Training Programme (Kent,1992) sets out a useful framework upon which a national disaster

preparedness strategy can be developed. The manual recommends nine inter-related

components:

1 Vulnerability assessment

2 Planning

3 Institutional framework

4 Information systems

5 Resource base

6 Warning systems

7 Response mechanisms

8 Public education and training

9 Rehearsals

As explained above for a disaster management program to work well it is important to

do a vulnerability assessment so as to identify the areas and groups who are vulnerable to the

effects of disasters. It can also map the reasons for their vulnerability and ways to reduce or

mitigate the risks. Vulnerability assessments can feed important data at the planning level,

where some of the vulnerabilities can be confronted and specific plans can be made to face

emergency situations. According to Ronan & Johnston (2005), who have compiled factors of

vulnerability from sources such as Rubonis & Bickman(1991), Norris et al. (2002) certain groups

are more vulnerable than others such as female, youth and primary victims (versus rescue and

recovery workers who tended to demonstrate resilience). Vulnerability increases in case of

more injuries and deaths, exposure to disaster in a developing (versus developed) country, in

case of a mass violence (versus technological or natural disasters).

42

Disaster literature, both academic and practice based, acknowledge children to be the

most vulnerable in times of disaster. For an effective and efficient disaster management and

resilience program, one has to understand the factors influencing their vulnerability. Family

factors appear paramount in influencing the vulnerability of children, particularly in the

immediate aftermath of a hazard (Ronan & Johnston, 2005).

Over the years there has been a concerted effort towards making communities resilient,

that is, able to “bounce back” (ibid.) after a disaster. It has been acknowledged in the field of

disaster management and post disaster recovery phase that a community’s preparation for,

response, and coping capacity to a disasters depend on how resilient they are.

The most prominent models of community resilience are based on the idea of “local

hazards sustainability” where

Sustainability means that a locality can tolerate—and overcome—damage, diminished

productivity, and reduced quality of life from an extreme event without significant outside

assistance (Mileti, 1999, p. 4).The essence of this idea centers on incorporating an ethos of long-

term prevention and resilience starting with the building of networks within a community.

(Ronan & Johnston, 2005)

Resilience is not simply preventing loss but promoting healthy communities that are

able to sustain and rebound from the effects of a hazard. There will be a mix of factors that

strengthens and protects the community and others that increase community vulnerability.

One of the widely written about approach to community resilience is the Strengthening

Systems 4R (SS4R) Prevention Model or approach where the four Rs stand for Risk Reduction,

Readiness, Response, Recovery. It is evident that resilience and disaster/emergency

management have certain common grounds. Both the resilience approach and the emergency

management philosophy work on the basis of cooperation and communication across multiple

organizations, professionals, and community groups (Ronan & Johnston, 2005). Both

emphasizes on readiness and recovery.

According to Lindell & Perry (2000) (as cited in Ronan & Johnston, 2005) there is a small,

but statistically significant, correlations between various demographic factors such as income,

presence of children in the home, ethnicity, gender, age, and community bondedness such as

identification of the neighborhood as home and the presence of friends and relatives nearby

and adjustment adoption. Mulilis & DuVal (1995) found that a households’ or family’s adoption

of adjustments is related to the perceived sense of responsibility for personal protection (as

cited in Ronan & Johnston, 2005).

43

According to Peek and Mileti (2002), the main goal in building a resilient community is

. . . effective preparedness and response activities help save lives, reduce injuries, limit property

damage, and minimize all sorts of disruptions that disasters cause, and research into

preparedness and response has done much to effectively inform how we plan for and respond to

disasters.

So that fewer lives are in danger, property damage is minimized during the emergency, helping

the community to recover physically as well as psychosocially with lesser efforts, time and

resources. Thus, an effective and well co-ordinated disaster/ emergency management plan

would help in making a community resilient to disasters and emergencies.

1.4. (ii) The Welfare State vis-à-vis Children Facing Disaster

The condition of children during and after the World War I—hungry, maimed, sick,

orphaned, distressed provided the impetus to Eglantyne Jebb and his sister Dorothy Buxton, to

work for the children and draft a document that recognized that children too have rights for the

first time. The basic tenet of the document is that “mankind owes to the Child the best that it

has to give” and it was the duty of all adults above race, creed and nationality. In 1924, the

League of Nations adopted this document as the Geneva Declaration and its General Assembly

approved it in 1934. Not only was the Geneva Declaration the first document to recognize the

rights of the children, it also put the child as the “first to receive relief in times of distress”. The

rights enshrined in the declaration were not legally binding to the signatories but directive to

their national laws. However, the outbreak of the World War II, brought an end to the League

of Nation. It was replaced by the United Nations in 1943.

The first major step exclusively for children by the UN was the creation of United

Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in December 1946. The 1948 Human Rights Declaration,

based on the concept of citizenship, conceived rights belonging to humans who were adults.

Thus, children’s right were not recognised and they were not entitled to claim it (Oakley,1994).

It was only in 1959, that the UN devoted the Declaration of the Rights of the Children

exclusively for the rights of the children. It served more as a moral framework rather than a

legal binding. The Covenants on human rights adopted in 1966 recognized that children needed

protection. The 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against

Women partly recognized the gender discrimination faced by girls. The same year, 1979, was

declared the International Year of the Child. A decade later in 1989 the General Assembly

adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) which India became signatory to in

44

1992. The Convention enshrines the rights of children to Survival, Develop, Protection and

Participation.

As a signatory to CRC the Indian nation-state has a responsibility to the welfare of the

children in the absence or inability of the family and parents to take care. Studies conducted by

international bodies such as the United Nations Development Programmes (UNDP), World

Health Organisation (WHO), Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in different disaster prone

areas of the world have been used to come up with detailed community, state and national

level plans, structures, processes and roles of the different organisation for reducing the affects

of disasters. Pre-disaster planning has been a call of the UN since 1970. In 1971, the United

Nations Disaster Relief Office (UNDRO) was created to promote the study, prevention, control

and prediction of natural disasters and to advice governments of pre-disaster planning.

Towards the end of the decade disasters were perceived as a major challenge to development

and the UNDP considered the inclusion of technical co-operation activities for disaster

preparedness and prevention in national and regional programmes.

The UN designated the 1990s as The International Decade for Natural Disaster

Reduction and adopted the International Framework of Action for the International Decade for

Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR) in 1989. Accordingly, disaster prone countries were

requested to form the UN Disaster Management Teams (UNDMTs) consisting of government,

civil society and UN representatives to ensure a prompt, effective and concerted country-level

response in case of a disaster. The World Conference on Natural Disaster Reduction was held in

1994 in Yokohama, Japan where the Yokohama Strategy and its Plan of Action for a safer World

was adopted. These are Guidelines for Natural Disaster Prevention, Preparedness and

Mitigation. Disaster prevention, mitigation, preparedness and relief were recognized as four

elements contributing to and gaining from sustainable development policies. It also shifted the

focus from technical perspectives to people’s participation and community involvement to

determine things, including people’s behaviour and their interaction with physical and natural

environment, which favour or hinder prevention and mitigation efforts.

The World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) held in Johannesburg in 2002

provided a set of objectives to integrate and mainstream risk reduction into development

policies and processes etching disaster reduction within the sustainable development agenda.

This came to be known as the Johannesburg Plan of Action. In 2005 a World Conference on

Disaster Reduction was held at Kobe, Hyogo, Japan to review the ten years of the Yokohama

Strategy and its Plan of Action. It endorsed the Hyogo Declaration and the Hyogo Framework

for Action 2005-2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters aims to

45

“build the resilience of nations and communities to disasters through people-centered early

warning systems, risks assessments, education and other proactive, integrated, multi-hazard,

and multi-sectoral approaches and activities in the context of the disaster reduction cycle,

which consists of prevention, preparedness, and emergency response, as well as recovery and

rehabilitation”.

The progress at the national level policy making and integration has been very slow and

mostly under international influence. There has been very few studies at ground level on the

implementation of policies. The Disaster Management Act, 2005 established the National

Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the State Disaster Management Authority and

District Disaster Management Authority at the level of different states and districts along with

Disaster Response Force at the National, State and District levels. The National School Safety

Programme(NSSP) was launched to promote a culture of disaster preparedness in the school

and to ensure safe school environment. This is a demonstration project of National Disaster

Management Authority in select districts started in 2011 and to be completed by July 2013.

The policies and process of upholding the rights of the child and disaster reduction go

hand in hand in principle, as has been emphasized integrating disaster reduction into policies of

development and sustainability. However, as mentioned earlier owing to the conceptual

marginality children tend to be overlooked and excluded in many common programme.

Evidently, there is no special focus on children in the guidelines or programmes on disaster

reduction taken up by the UN. The outlook that the needs of the children will be taken care of

within the common programmes or the common programmes will reach the children needs to

be seriously questioned. However, there are certain inbuilt mechanisms such as vulnerability

assessment that can bring in some of the issues related to children provided they are not

excluded once more.

The role of the state becomes immensely important in the case of disaster affected

children as it is the state, which is the only institution with the capacity to deal with the

traditional exclusionary social relations (Kabeer,2008). However, state policies at times can re-

inforce some of the existing inequalities. Kabeer (2008) and Powell (2001) suggest the use of

Nancy Fraser’s critical theory of recognition consisting of a combination of transformative

politics of recognization and a transformative politics of redistribution, based on the principles

of socialist solidarity, to blur and destabilize group differences and to help redress some forms

of misrecognition and exclusion. Government policies have to go beyond affirmative remedies

which “aim at correcting the inequitable outcomes of social arrangements without disturbing

the underlying institutional framework which give rise to it” to transformative remedies that

46

seek to destabilise existing group identities and differentiations, raising not only the self-

esteem of currently devalued groups, but also changing everyone’s sense of self”

(Kabeer,2008).

2. Narratives, Voices and Visions

2.1. Introduction

47

This chapter brings out the outcomes of the tools and discussions held during the field

visits in the villages. It also includes observations of the researcher. While in most tools names

of the participants have been given, in the case studies their identities have been with held. The

chapter is divided into 4 sections. The first is the introduction to the villages and their location.

The second section covers some issues on livelihood option, migration as a livelihood survival

strategy, floods, relief and related issues that have emerged through the fieldwork. The third

section is on the schools, education levels, achievements, perception on education for different

communities. The fourth section is about the condition of the children from the most deprived

communities and their struggle with poverty, floods and diseases.

Rivers are an important part of the lives of the people in the region. The lives of farmers,

peasants, boat makers, oarsmen and fisherfolk are intimately enmeshed with that of the river.

Traditionally, these communities worship the river and have festivities celebrating the power of

the river. This can be also seen in the way the children are connected and are in sync with the

rivers and their surroundings.

Repetitive flooding and water-logging, however, makes life difficult in the region. Thus,

many people see the Rivers of the North Bihar as the “sorrow” of the place. The whole of North

Bihar is criss-crossed by rivers, with Kosi as one of the most devastating of thes. Some of these

and the place they join the Kosi, as identified by a group of villagers in Rasiari are:

1. Bhutihi Balan and

2. Budhi Kosi joins Kosi at Nirmali (22kms from the village)

3. In the village the Geunha links to Kosi

4. Tiljuga

5. Jivach

6. Kamla and its tributary Balan

7. Bagmati joins Kosi in Darbhanga city

8. Karehe joins Kosi at Haya ghat, Darbhanga

To understand the way the rivers mark their presence in the lives of the people in this village

the map of Rasiari village, picture 2.1, would be helpful.

48

2.1. Location of Villages

2.1.(i) Rasiari-Pauni and Kanki

Rasiari-Pauni is located 7kms from Kiratpur block. The nearest motorable road is

Ghanshayampur(4km), from where a bus runs every morning to Darbhanga and returns in the

afternoon.

A map (given below a participatory village map) would show it lying south-east of Aasma

village. Kanki, a small Musahar tola (approximate population 500) lies between Aasma and

Rasiari is part of Aasma village. It provides with labour to both the these villages. Rasiari has

another smaller Musahar hamlet located in village Pauni.

As evident from the map the river Geunha, part of the Bhutahi-Balan river cuts through

Rasiari and Pauni while the eastern embankment of Kamla river lies around 1km north. Kanki

lies on the embankment and on either side of it, part of Aasma and Rasiari (namely, Rasiari

basti) lies between the eastern and the western embankments of Kamla. The Rasiari high

school lies further north of the western embankment. This high school caters to the educational

needs of other nearby villages such as Aasma and Bour.

Picture 2.1 Map of Rasiari-Pauni Village

49

2.1.(ii) Kubhol and Sirniya

Kubhol is located 6 kms from Kiratpur block, outside the Western embankment of Kosi.

It is sandwiched between the weastern embankment of the Kosi and the Balan river. It has a

highly flood prone being situated between these two rivers even though the Balan’s breath is

much smaller here.

To reach Kubhol, from Bheja (18kms) one has to either travel on the embankment or on

a countrymade boat on the Kosi. It becomes difficult to travel on the earthen embankment

during rains. It is also fraught with problems to travel on boats when the water level in the river

is too low or too high. The other way to reach Kubhol is from Ghanshayampur. Kubhol is

neighboured by village Tarwada and Bhubhol. Tarwada has a health centre, Asha Kendra, run by

MGVP. The nearest PHCs are at Ghanshayampur (5km) and at Kiratpur (7km).

Sirniya is located parallel to Kubhol and Tarwada, between the two embankments of

Kosi. According to the villagers there are about 300 villages which lie between the eastern and

western embankments of Kosi, which at the narrowest is separated by 9kms and at the widest

by 15kms. These villages are certainly to be flooded in case the river is flooded unlike the

villages outside the embankments which gets flooded only when there is a breach in the

embankment.

2.2.Floods, Migration and Livelihoods

2.2. (i) Livelihoods, Floods, Embankments in Kubhol

Part of Kubhol village of Kubhol-Danga panchayat is called Punarwasi, literally meaning

rehabilitated, like many other villages in the region which have been partly or totally relocated.

The Musahar tola has 400 Musahar households and is visibly the most deprived of the hamlets

of Kubhol village. The houses are made of bushes with a bamboo structure and a similar roof

covered with plastic sheets. Houses belonging to the same family encircle a courtyard which is

used as a common space for women to cook and sleep and the children to play. The hamlet was

relocated to this raised part of the village close to the embankment after the earlier hamlet was

flooded in 1987. At the time there were 150 houses.

Originally 3 musahars settled at Kubhol. They were given land to settle down by 3

Brahmins in the village who were the original zamindars9. They were hired to chase away wild

pigs that destroyed their crops. Yadavs in the village owned cattles and helped manage the land

9 Owners of land under the Zamindari system.

50

of the Brahmins by keeping land grabbers away. There were also some Mahars and Chamars

who are traditional fishing and leather working communities. Over generations the Musahar

families grew. Once married each son makes his one house next to the father’s and sometimes

has an independent household. The Brahmin families have mostly migrated to the cities leaving

the management of their lands to Yadav families.

According to the people belonging to the Mallah community the excessive silting of the

Kosi over the last two decades have reduced the availability of fishes in the Kosi. The inability of

the flood water to recede back to the river kills the fishes. The stagnant water and rotting

vegetation of the flood area makes the fish inedible. Many of the family has taken up

agricultural and other daily labour to survive.

Most of the land in the village was originally owned by the 3 Brahmin families. Over the

years they have sold off parts of their land to yadav families leaving most of the villagers

landless and dependent on the landed families for availability of agricultural work. The

availability and profit on agricultural work had gone down exponentially after the embanking of

the Kosi. According to Dukhan Sada the floods of Kosi was considered a boon for the paddy

crops. Every year the flooding water would bring rich silt which is good for the crops unlike the

old sand brought in by the Kosi now10

. This sand is washed from the walls of the embankment

and destroys the fields as they do not have regenerating capacities of natural silt.

Flooding traditionally was a time of celebration and no work. Even today on full moon

nights people move from one place to the other in the village on boats singing songs in praise of

the moon and the Kosi. This is a tradition cherished by the people for whom the river is an

integral part of their lives. In the 1960s the people from all the neighbouring villages

collectively protested against the proposed embankments. They lay down on the way of the

officials who had come for measurements. People protested as many were losing land in the

proposed plan, many villages feared evacuation and caught inside the embankments. One such

village is Sirniya which was not evacuated. The fear of devastation due to flood is highest for

the people within the embankments.

The protestors were promised a 16 point development plan for the region which has not

come into implementation till date. They were asked to relent by the late Jai Prakash Narayan

himself and many protestors later did shramdaan11

for the embankments.

10

This has been stressed by works of D.K.Mishra (2001,2006) and B. Dogra (1997). 11

Literally, donation of labour; it refers to voluntary work done to serve the community.

51

2.2. (ii) Livelihood, Migration and Food Availability in Sirniya

The land in Sirniya is owned by three Brahmin families, who have ancestral enimity

amongst them. After some violence between two of the families they have relocated to cities,

Box 2.1. When the river floods

Dashmuni Sada narrates the calamitous night of the 2007 flood when they woke up to find their house

flooded with water. They somehow carried the children to the community hall which is at a raised height and

found others had also collected. Most houses had already been affected and later that night other houses in

the hamlet including the community hall also got flooded. The whole night people remained awake huddled on

the window sills and on the charpais, fending off snakes and praying. They decided to shift to the embankment

when the water kept on rising. Some men of the hamlet were already there trying to gauge the damage.

Nothing could be done to block the breach as the water was in great force. Men and women carried children

and belongings on their heads and shoulders. They stayed on the embankment without food for the first two

days as the fuel wood and food reserves had gone under water. There was a lot of chaos with children wailing

in hunger and so many people on the narrow embankment. Neighbouring villages were also affected and

people from these villages had also come on the embankment.

The force of the water reduced by the second night and men took out their boats to the village to save

whatever remained. They brought back grains and wood for fuel and women prepared a community meal. It

brought down the cries of the children and people could sit and plan what to do next before help arrived.

There was enough for the next meal which would keep peace for another day. By experience they also knew of

the problems of health and sanitation would also come up in a day or two. The PHC was 7 kms away and there

was no way to reach a sick person there with the embankment full of people. In the past they had sought the

help of the medicine man in the neighbouring village of Bhuvol but it had not been of much help. For the next

three days they managed to run their community kitchen with the help of MGVP rather that borrowed grains

from the yadav moneylender which they had done in the previous 2005 flood. The moneylender had charged a

high interest rate of 10% per month when the families were stuck on the embankment for 2 whole months.

Relief in the form of grains and plastic sheets had to be collected from the block office only from the

sixth day. Men collected the relief on boats and brought it back. There was a dearth of dry wood now and

people decided to continue with the community kitchen for the next few days. It was only on the tenth day

that people from the block arrived to inspect the damage to release monetary relief. People were given Rs. 600

to Rs.1400 as relief to build back their huts. They felt it was too small and could not even cater to their

immediate needs of cooked food and medicines which they cannot afford as the cost of fuel and medicines

skyrocket.

52

they have survived on agricultural labour in the fields of the landowners. The embankments

were built in 1956.

Agricultural land has decreased over the years, population has increased in the hamlet.

There is no work in the fields any more. Men from all families started to go out in search of

work early in the 1960s. Male members of all family go out for work in the cities and return only

once in year or two.

Around 1960s people came to embrace Kabir Panthi, a sect meant for followers of Kabir.

People in the hamlet has given up eating meat/fish/molluscs and survival has become more

challenging. Given below is a seasonality map in the Musahari of Sirniya showing the availablity

of food, work in the village and trends in migration and borrowing money. A scale of 0 to 10 has

been used.

Tool 2.1.Seasonality Map in the Musahari of Sirniya

M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 M6 M7 M8 M9 M10 M11 M12

Food 2 0 1 10 6 5 5 3 3 3 2 4

Work 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1

Mig 10 3 3 4 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10

Debt 10 5 6

Mig stands for migration

Participants: Mahinder Sada, Phuleswar Sada, Brinda Devi, Phulo Devi

Musahar Tola, Sirnia

Food availability is good in the fourth month when there is some grains from the crops

and money from the work done outside. The availability of grains reduces gradually till the

eleventh month due to consumption and the dwindling funds. By the twelfth month the crop of

maize is harvested giving some relief for 2 months. However, it can not see them through some

difficulties and a period of food scarcity. There are no food grains and people survive by

borrowing money from moneylenders who charge them an interest of 10% every month on the

principle. Some families who can’t afford to get money and others too depend on leafy

vegetable growing in the water bodies called karmahi saag and other leafy vegetable such as

chuche saag. Depending on availability a regular meal consists of rice, madua or maize roti with

bhatua saag, chuche saag or khesri dal.

Availability of paid work is low in the village and consists of preparing the fields for crops

and sowing the crops from the second to the fifth month. Work was also available for reaping

the winter crop in the last month. However, the amount of work available is not suffiecint to

53

employ the whole of the population. This leads to migration of people for work for the whole

year. People returned for a month or two and returned again for work. This is also a time when

people borrow money for their journey and initial subsitence in the cities they migrate to.

Other periods they borrow money are for medical treatment or organisng social functions such

as marriages.

2.3. Schools, Tuitions and Perception of Education in the villages

2.3. (i) Rasiari, Kanki and Pauni

Rasiari and its neighbouring Bour village are known for their educational achievements

in the region. This is one of the reasons Rasiari was selected for the study. The timeline below

gives a chronological idea of individual educational achievements and some of the major

educational events in the memory of the villagers. Evidently, the participants took pride in

sharing this part of their history.

Tool 2.2.A Timeline of Village Rasiari with group of villagers in Rasiari (Main) to record major

educational events of the village

Year Event Remark

1940 Dr. Laxman Jha, then a student of Calcutta University went

to London School of Economics

Students at that time had to get

their Inter, Bachelors and Masters

degree from Calcutta University. It

was not possible for all well to do

families also to send children

(invariably sons) for University

education.

1948 First High School- Gandhi Kosi Prabeshika Unch Vidayala

came up in village

Small farmers gave land for the

school, big farmers did not. Before

the high school came up in the

village children had to go to

Ghanshyampur (at a distance of

5kms and two rivers have to be

crossed) for high school.

1952 Dr. Laxman Jha returned from London. He later joined the Socialist Party

of India and also stood for

elections for Rosra constituency

but did not win. He went on to

become the first VC of the Mithila

54

University. He also wrote for the

Indian Nation a journal under the

patron of Sudeshwar Singh

Maharaj.

1952/53 Kamalkant Mishra became the first IAS officer and Ganesh

Prasad became the first Doctor from the village.

1950s Many children of the Brahmin family graduated and

bagged high positions in the government –Kedarnath Jha

(Judicial Magistrate, Upendra Mishra (District Agriculture

Officer) ), Chandra Prabha (First Lady Doctor), Manas

Bihari Verma (Scientist)

1957/58 The Kosi river Embankment was built amidst protest. Mostly the small farmers and

tenants who lived on the banks of

the river protested as the land

they inhabited went inside the

embankments.

1965/66 Naresh Shaw became a PWD Engineer. Children from

Brahmin families continued to get good government

postings.

The Shaws are the local business

community and OBCs. Educational

levels are low in the community

generally.

1972 The embankment on the Kamala river came up.

The Mithila University came up.

After the formation of the Patna

University, students had to

graduate from there until the

Mithila University came up in

Darbhanaga itself.

Location: Rasiari (Main) or the Brahmin Hamlet

Participants: Ramakant Mishra, Parmeshwar Jha, Ritesh Mishra

The Timeline with a group of people in the Rasiari Brahmin hamlet which is also known

as Rasiari within the rest of the village such as the Musahari opened room for discussion. As

one of the participants was an elderly retired school teacher it was easy to talk on the

educational achievements of the village, which he was visibly very proud of. As remarked by

him there was a time when every house of the hamlet had a son in good government post and

now many families of the Shaw community had sons in government positions.

55

Many of those who had got government jobs and postings in different parts of India

have migrated in other parts of India and outside (such as Chandra Prabha, the first lady doctor

of the region who has migrated to the United States) while some members of their family stay

on. Many come back to stay after retirement but cannot adjust with the harsh life of this flood

prone area. Annual flooding, no electricity12

, mosquitoes, no roads were some of the reasons

that deter people from coming back to the region. Incidentally, women from the Musahar

community in Kubhol refer to the region as jungle (see section 2.4. (i)).

1. Functioning of School in Rasiari-Pauni

Interactions with different groups of students and elders were held to get information

on the daily functioning of the government schools. The table below shows the same:

Properties Primary school

One

Primary school

Two

Primary school

Three

Middle School High School

Rooms 2 2 2 7 10

Anganwadi Yes Yes Yes

Toilet Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Hand pump Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Boundary No No No Yes Yes

Playing

apparatus

No No No Yes Yes

Teachers Two male One male Two male Three male, one

female

Four male, two

female

Mid day meal Yes, only

somedays,

sometimes

uncooked

Yes, only

somedays,

sometimes

uncooked

Yes, only

somedays,

sometimes

uncooked

Girls attend

school

Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes, very few,

some from

other villages

12

Electricity in the village is provided for four hours from 8 pm to 11pm in the form of one or two bulb points

depending on the cost by generators owned by locals in exchange of kerosene distributed by the PDS.

56

also

Scholarship

from

government

Not aware Not aware Not aware Some get it Some get it

Uniforms Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

Books Yes Yes Yes Yes, not all,

some had to

be bought

Yes, not all,

some had to

be bought

Table 2.1.Daily functioning of the government schools in Rasiayri-Pauni

These data give a fairly mixed idea about the functioning of the school. There were no

games or toys available in the primary schools for children. On interacting with a teacher in one

of the schools it was found out that they had not received any from the clusters. He also

claimed that there was no cook for mid day meals and teachers along with some senior

students cooked the food. It was the days they have more work they do not cook. He also

complained that there were not enough supplies to cook for all days. Sometimes they do not

have supplies on time for the meals. Also some books were not available for the middle school

and the high school and these had to be bought from shops at Ghyanshampur. There was no

boundary wall for the primary schools. They had toilets but these were not used by the

children but by the teachers.

The children received uniforms and some students from the Yadav, Ram and Nonia

community got scholarship from the government to support their studies. Girls drop out after

the middle school as they have to move out of their hamlets and have to travel through river

ferries to reach school. Almost all children, girls and boys, could row a boat as this the mode of

regular commuting.

It was also learnt from the interactions that teacher are very strict and sometimes

punish students, mostly boys for disturbing the class, not working and turning up late in class by

making them hold their ears, stand on one foot or standing outside the class.

2. Trend of Tution Classes in Rasiari

In the pilot studies in the village Rasiari the researcher came across a number of private

classes where children are taught in large numbers for a stipulated time of one hour daily.

These classes were being conducted in the Yadav and Brahmin hamlets, where parents who

57

could afford a basic monthly amount of Rs.30 to Rs.50 could send their children to learn basics,

alphabets, numbers and simple sentences and sums. These classes catered mostly to the

children of the hamlet where they are located.

Picture 2.2.Children in a private tuition in a Yadav hamlet in Rasiari village

58

Picture 2.3.A mother teaches her son as the grandmother looks on in a Yadav hamlet

In the Brahmin hamlets also, there were tuition teachers but there numbers were less as

most parents were educated and could cater to the education needs of their young children

themselves. In Brahmin hamlets there were tuition classes even for middle and high school as

most children, both girls and boys, from these locations continue schooling after primary and

middle school till school completion.

3. Why tuitions did not work in Musahar hamlets of Kanki, Kubhol and Sirniya?

In these tuitions the unsaid rule is that the lower caste people such as Doms and

Musahars cannot study. First, they do not have the capacity to pay the money for monthly fees;

secondly, the teacher would not hold their hands to teach them the alphabets. This was one

reason parents in Kanki, the Musahar hamlet in Aasma, complain their children learn nothing in

schools even if they send them to the government schools. These very parents were happy with

the teachers, from the upper castes, in their MGVP supported community run school who

would not deter in holding the hands of their children to teach them to write.

59

They support these three teachers, two young ladies and a young man, rather than a

retired school teacher from the neighbouring school who is more qualified and renowned as a

teacher and wants to bag this job. This was the only school in all the Musahar locations in the

four villages. According to the people a primary school was allotted to their hamlet some years

back but the Panchayat relocated it near the main village so that “everyone” could access it

(the higher caste would not send their children to a school in a Musahar hamlet) and thus they

were left out of the definition of “everyone

In a focused group discussion in the Musahar hamlet of Kubhol women narrated the

experience of starting a community tuition centre. They had all collected funds to get a Yadav

caste teacher who would come and teach their children in their community hall. They realized

that the teacher was not ready to hold the hands of their children to teach them letters and

would complain of their general untidiness and personal hygiene. Finally they had to give up

their effort as many were not able to pay for the teacher’s fee. Similarly, in the Musahari in

Sirniya, older women complained that they have been sending children for tuitions for over six

months but they have not learnt to write a single letter.

4. Education of Girls in Rasiari

In Rasiari village parents from the higher caste felt that it was unsafe for girls to go out

of there hamlets in the higher secondary school across the river and there were cases of

Brahmin boys eloping with Muslim as well as Brahmin girls. According to a group of elders there

were such cases in the past too, however, with the coming of mobile phones and easier modes

of communication without being found out these cases have increased. And the rises in

frequency of such elopement deter parents to send their daughters to high school, for which

they have to cross the Geunha river to reach the high school outside the embankment. Some

Brahmin families also send their sons to study in private day and boarding schools located in

Ghanshyampur.

In the Yadav hamlet in Rasiari village the researcher came across a mother running a

small tea shop teaching her son alphabets. A brief interaction with the mother and her mother-

in-law revealed that only a handful of women who had been married into the hamlet could

read and write. Most men could read and write but most of them were first generation learners

and their own sisters could not study as there was no school in the hamlet then.

60

Now since there was a school in the Yadav hamlet parents would send their daughters

to study too. Only two girls of the hamlet have completed schooling and one is admitted in

college now and she also teaches in the MGVP supported community tuition classes. The other

has been appointed as a teacher in the government school but is married and relocated to her

husband’s village while another person teaches in her place. Some parents were not happy with

this arrangement as this person was not regular to the school and students suffered because of

it.

Girls in the community felt that school was a space and time period everyday which was

their own, as they met friends and learnt new things. They have seen two girls from their

community becoming teachers and felt that it was through education alone that they have

been able to reach there. They had to be stay inside their house during the floods. There are no

friends and no games that could play. There was no work to be done too and that was period

they missed their school.

5. Perception about education in Rasiari-Pauni and Kanki

The researcher had asked met a group of youngsters who go out to work and had a

discussion with them about the way they perceive education after going outside the village. The

boys mostly working in cities of north India such as Banaras, Allahabad and Delhi were of the

view that they could have fared well if they could read and write. Sometimes they are fooled by

others because they cannot read and have to wait for months to send money home with

someone as they cannot send money home through post initially. It is only after they meet

someone trustworthy that they can send money through draft or post.

61

Picture 2.4.A private residential school in Ghanshyampur

Box 2.2 Larger overview on the meaning of education in the village:

Education as a mean for government job and hence mean to a source of livelihood.

The government job is the end; education is just a mean to achieve it which falls in line with the view of the

larger community towards education.The job/post is a basis for pride within the village.The job ensures

better living conditions in a city or town which is not flood prone.It also ensures further educational and job

opportunities for future generations.

The education for girls generally is seen as a requirement for their marriage to boys living in cities and

ideally in a government job.

For the boys belonging to poor Musahar, Muslim, Nonia and Ram households:

Education as numeracy and literacy for basic transaction such as payments, letter writing, bank

transactions.

Education not for livelihood options in the present conditions where boys as young as 10 go out for work

and girls of the same age help in farm and food/firewood gathering.

62

6. The Kanki community school

The Kanki community school started in a shelter that the community built through

shramdaan along with the help from MGVP. There is a feeling of ownership in the matters of

the school. It is built on community land, selected by community leaders and the community

itself has worked on building it. A major reason for this is the temple for their God Raja Shailesh

in the shelter. According to elderly women it will save the shelter from calamities and will also

keep everyone interested in the upkeep of the school housed in it and help in the running of

the school in small ways.

The presence of the temple has also instilled confidence in the elderly women and men

that their children will not forget the ways of their forefathers and will have respect for them.

They fear that the behaviour and ways the children would learn in the government school

would make them look down on their own people and beliefs.

Women in Kanki said that they wanted their children (both boys and girls) to study in

the main school but there should be no discrimination with them since they cannot teach their

children to write by holding their hands as the teachers in their community school do. They felt

their children would be mistreated because of their clothes. They were not aware that the

school provides uniform for the children and thought they had to pay for uniforms. Within two

years of the school twelve boys from the community had started going to the Rasiari High

School.

The three teachers in the school, 2 female and 1 male, was initially being paid by MGVP

and later taken up by the community. Starting similar community schools within the Musahar

hamlets and other hamlets with low level of literacy has become difficult with the Right to

Education Act that apparently does not allow any such community school outside the

prescribed definition of school.

2.3. (ii) Kubhol and Sirniya

1. Schools in Kubhol and Sirniya

There is a high school in the village and two primary schools in the main village. There is

a cluster resource centre in the high school which serves as a venue for teacher trainings. These

schools, except for the primary school in the main hamlet, and the buildings are recent.

63

The people complained of teacher absenteeism. Even though the 4 teachers belonged

to their own village they would not be all present every day. They were present in rotation and

so could not teach all the classes.

Sirniya has a primary school. Boys from Sirniya go to study in the high schools at Kubhol,

Rasiari or to Ghanshayampur after primary. Some children are also sent to boarding schools at

Ghanshayampur, Darbhanga or Patna. Amongst the girls, only one Brahmin girl residing in the

village has gone to study higher than primary in a KGBV, government run residential school for

girls. Musahar children from the village do not go to school.

A forced field analysis on the positives and negatives of schools in the village amongst

the children in the main hamlet in Kubhol yielded the following result. The circles above the live

contains the positives while the boxes below the line contains the negatives.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Strict teachers

and

punishments

School timing clashes with

time of

household/agricultural

work children are engaged

Schools are closed during

floods when children do

not have work or food (mid

day meals should continue

during floods/ relief work)

Food at

school

School is now

closer to home

and girls can also

attend school in

the hamlet

New

school

building

Lack of transparency in the

provision and distribution of

mid day meal, uniform,

scholarships and text books.

Language used in the text

books not the same as that

used by children at home,

hence difficult for self study

and dependence of teacher

64

Tool 2.3.Forced field analysis in the main village of Kubhol village

Participants: Manisha, Arun, Seema, Mahendar, Gudiya

There are more number of negatives the schools need to work on the negatives. Some of the

changes that can be brought about at local level and as identified by elders in the hamlet are

1. Shifting from punishments to rewards.

2. Changing school timings to suit the needs of working children or special classes for

them.

3. Re-opening school as early as possible post floods, for that the school building has to be

made at a height and with quality material.

4. Transparency in matters of provision and distribution of mid day meal, uniform, scholarships

and text books in schools.

However, many children are left out of the school. Some of the reasons given by the

parents for their children not going to school are fear of being discriminated on the basis of

caste, inability of family to support the children for many years of schooling and poverty leading

children to work. Even after these issues certain families send their children to school and face

opposition sometimes from within the family/community and sometimes from others.

According to Daiwati Devi of Musahar tola there children are driven away during the mid day

meal. Musahar boys, according to her, are made to sit separately. Only 7 boys of the hamlet of

400 households go to school.

Box 2.3.Building at a height to fight floods

On flooding only a part of the main hamlet of Kubhol which lies in the high lying area remains

uninandated. The rest of the settlement areas of the village remains inundated for a period of 10days to 2

months. The communities affected—the Malhar, Musahar, Chamars, some yadav and muslim families—

relocate on the embankment on temporary shelters they can manage on their own. The Mallah families have

permanently build their huts of bushes and plastic sheet roof on the slop of the embankment in dearth of

resources for rebuilding a hut.

The school buildings are not made keeping in mind the needs of the place. The roof leaks during

heavy rains even if the building is a new one. Even the cluster resource centre is made in a low lying area

which becomes inaccessible on heavy rains. The schools if not inundated is used for relief distribution.

65

In a mixed group discussion, a man repeating an oft said statement of the higher castes,

asked what is the use of a Musahar child studying. Other men supported him. They gave the

example of Nathuni Sada, the only educated adult, who works as a mason even though he is a

9th

pass. Some of the women of the group negated what the men said. They wanted their

children to get educated while a group of teenaged boys working as seasonal migrant labourers

said they want an education that can help them earn as money is power and it is the powerful

who always had their say.

Given below is a table of community and gender segregated status of education:

Castes Livelihood option Education of girls

/reason

Education of

boys/reason

Common reasons

Mallah Fishing, Daily

labour, agricultural

labour

No. Girls help

mothers with house

work, sibling care.

4 boys in primary

school. Boys of school

going age go out to

work in the brick kiln.

The boys are first

generation school

goers. There is not

much motivation for

schooling.

Chamar Leather work,

removing the dead

cattle, migrates

seasonally for work

No. No. They are not socially

acceptable and live at

one corner of the

village.

Musahar Agricultural labour,

seasonal migration

for work

No. 5 boys in the village

high school, all of them

in primary.

Completing school

takes a long duration,

parents cannot provide

for so many years.

Muslim Small farmers,

small business,

migrant labourers

Some young girls go

to primary school

close to home. No

girl has been

beyond primary

school.

Most boys drop out of

school after middle

school and high school.

Boys move out in

search of work after

some years of schooling

or help in family

business such as shops,

money lending.

Yadav Small farmers,

money lenders,

land and cattle lent

out for batai13

and

cattle rearing

6 girls have gone to

finish school. Some

families do not send

the girls to study as

they help at home.

3 boys in college.

Around 12 boys are not

going to school at all as

they help with cattle.

Two boys affected by

polio have do not go to

school.

Parents cannot afford

to have all the children

at school.

Brahmin Land owners,

money lenders

Girls are sent to

colleges. High level

of education.

Parents are

educated.

High level of education. Most families live in

Darbhanga and Patna.

Both boys and girls are

sent out for higher

education.

Dom (only 2 Bamboo weavers No No Children learn and carry

13

Share cropping and getting 1/3rd

of the selling price as payment for rearing cattles (goats and buffaloes).

66

families) the family craft, stay on

the embankment

outside the village,

parents fear children

will be discriminated/

unwelcome in school.

Table 2.2.Community and gender segregated status of education in Kubhol

2.4. Childhoods cradled in floods, poverty, caste based discrimination and work

2.4. (i) Kanki

1.Diseases, Village Godmen and PHC

According to some mothers in Kanki Musahari life due to floods and poverty in this

“jungle”, as the referred to the region14

, was drudgery for the children. The children suffered

from fevers and diarrhea. Their eyes turn red and their ears turn sore. They have no land and

nowhere else to go, whatever they get they manage to live within that.

Men narrated the injustice done to their community. They narrate how they had

opposed the building of the Kamala embankment which would leave them inside the

embankment, take away their land and obstruct the natural flow of the river. However, the big

landlords of Rasiari knew people in the government and made sure that their hamlet and land

remained outside the embankment, even if it required them to narrow the river bed and

straighten the eastern embankment (instead of a bend along with the river’s flow). This had

caused havoc for the people inside the embankment as well as outside, as the river stream in

under more pressure at this point and breaks the embankment on flooding. The Yadav’s leader

saved their own and left the poor inside the river bed. They have no land outside the

embankment to settle. Nobody disturbs them as long as they live inside the embankment.

However, if the young children try to be like the others, especially the young boys who earn in

the cities and dress like the Brahmins, they are subtly rebuked by the Brahmins and the Yadavs.

Sometimes they themselves stop these young boys as they do not want to enter into

confrontations and police cases which anyway the mightier rich people would win. Even before

building the school they had informed the the Yadav landlords about it.

14

On asking them to explain what they meant by the term, one of them explained that the water-logging, floods,

wilderness are characteristics of the place. There are no roads, services available in cities and towns which people

outside the region can easily afford. That is a reason she said people do not give their daughters in marriage in this

region.

67

They draw their courage from their mythical ancestor brothers Dina-Bhadri, who had

fought with a tyrannical foreign king. It is these stories and celebration of their glory that keeps

the community hopeful and fighting. Possession, which generally happens to women and the

godmen is a regular part of their celebrations. These possessed women and men prophecies

the good and the evil in the future. People from other communities also visit during such

celebrations and bring their family members troubled by spirits and evil eyes. According to

women, children and newly married women were the easiest prey of the evil eye and that’s

why they suffered the most of ill-health. They took the sick to the godmen for treatment and

offered goods to the gods, sometimes after the illness was over. The PHC at Ghanshyampur was

the closest, around 4 kilometers but one had to take the patient across the river and pay in cash

to the doctor to get treatment. Treatment was costly and caused harassment both to the

patient and attendant.

2.4. (ii) Musahari in Kubhol

1. Work Children Do in Musahari, Kubhol

A group of 5 children, 3 girls and 2 boys between 10 and 12 identified children of

different age group and the responsibilities handled by them. During the exercise two of the

girls had along with them there younger siblings who played or looked on. The concept of age

group was simple and devised by the children. For children who needed to be fed by the

mother (upto 2-3 years) and cannot walk there was no work, however, there older siblings had

to look after them. Once children could walk and take simple instructions they help their elder

siblings in group activities such as collecting firewood, fodder and ghongha15

. Children who had

had a tooth fall (about 6-7 years) were another group as distinct from those considered

responsible enough to be married off (13-14 years). The group just below it 11-12 year olds,

according to the children, are considered big enough to handle important responsibilities such

as cooking (girls) or going out for labour in the fields.

Work children do

At home

Girls (with age group) Both girls and boys (with age group) Boys (age group)

Cleaning utensils (6-7 to 12 years)

Collecting firewood (6-7 to 12

years, in groups, often with

mothers)

Cooking (11-12 years and above)

Looking after younger siblings (6-7

and above)

Bringing fodder (above 6-7, often in

groups)

Bringing water (6-7 and above)

Taking goats for grazing (above 7-8,

mostly in groups)

Going to the PDS in the village

(above 7-8)

15

A variety of snail that people in the region consume owing to economic deprivation.

68

Brooming (above 6-7 years) Going to the shop in the hamlet

(above 6-7)

Outside home (locally)

Agricultural labour in the fields of

local landowner (above 11-12)

At the local brick kiln (above 11-12)

At tea stall in the

As migrant labourer

Girls do not migrate. For carpet making and zari work (6-

7 and above)

Agricultural labour (above 11-12)

Construction work (above 11-12)

Village Kubhol, Musahari 9 Sept., 2010

Participants: Sumani, Lakhia, Phulia, Indal, Shankar

Tool 2.4.Work Children Do in Musahari, Kubhol

Picture 2.5.A child looking for ghongha (mollusks)

69

2. Working Children and Missing Children

In a discussion with a group of elderly women, some of them old and widowed,

lamented that their lives were cursed just like the Kosi’s. Their children had no clothes to wear,

food to eat and no education for better future. Most of the boys above 12 years migrate to

different parts of Darbhanga, Patna, Muzzafarpur and other cities of Bihar and outside such as

Banaras, Delhi and Mumbai to earn livelihoods. They come back only once in a year or two.

Some do not return for years and others have gone missing. Very few missing childrens are

traced. Some have returned home only after years with stories of their struggle to survive and

elope. Menia Mesomat (mesomat stands for widow) stands as an inspiration for many woman

in the region. She dared to go out of the village in search of her missing son on her own and

brought not only her son but other boys from the region (box. 2. Briefly describes her struggle).

Box 2.4.Children missed by the school, health services and governmental policies.

The story of a migrant worker

M is a 20-21 year old Musahar boy. He has been working in Delhi and different cities of Uttar Pradesh in

the last 7 years following the footsteps of his elder brother, who works in a chemical factory in Ghaziabad. His

brother got married a year after M started working with him. Their parents had thought that the M’s older brother

could find some work locally and M’s additional income would also help. However, there was no steady work in and

around the village. Few months at home, doing odd jobs for the landed maliks, his brother realized he had to start

regular work again to sustain the family. According to M, if they had their own land they could have had stayed

back in the village and earned their livings through farming. In the absence of their own land, they can only work as

labourers in someone’s field. However, due to flooding the land under cultivation has gone down in and around

their village and the demand for labour is very low and seasonal. Further, the wages (mostly a fixed amount of

grains) are also low compared to what they earn in the cities.

M has started as a helper with the same seth (business man, here denoting employer) as his brother

worked with at a construction site. His brother worked as a raj mistri (a mason) and would earn up to Rs.100

everyday he worked. Together they could earn within a range of Rs.150-200 everyday they worked. However, there

would be no work for some days in a week and sometimes the whole week. It was getting difficult to save anything

after paying their rents and food bills. They came to know of the availability of regular work in a factory from

another tenant in their building and have been working there for the last two years. They earn Rs. 8000 every

month between themselves which helps them to save and send money home every month. With this regular work

they get a definite amount of money every month.

Both M and his brother have completed their primary education before living the village for work.

According to him, very few boys of their age group from their hamlet could complete their primary schooling as

teachers were strict and many parents had to send their children to work. However, literacy has helped them both

survive in cities like Banaras, Delhi and Ghaziabad.

Fighting Polio, Poverty and Floods

70

Box 2.5.A mother who traced her missing son

Like many others of his age, Shibu Sada, Menia Devi’s son, went to Bhadohi with his cousins in search of work.

There he weaved carpets in a factory for some time, from where he was sent to some other factory. He did not

return home with his cousins and nothing was known of his whereabouts. His father, Binde Das died searching

Shibu. This left Menia Devi with no choice but to continue the search of their son. For years she traced his

movement from one place to another, one carpet factory to another, facing hostile cities with confusing traffic

and roads, pleading to unknown people to help her out. Many such journeys would turn out to be futile. At

places she was not even allowed to go inside the factories to look for her son. Each failure made her resolve

stronger. Seven years had passed. This time she was helped by a person called Rajesh of Mirzapur. She traced

her son to a carpet factory in Jaunpur, neighbouring Bhadohi. She recollects how she was stopped at three

different gates before she set foot in the factory premises. All her life in villages she has never seen such

amount of security. Inside she found children working under inhuman conditions, many suffering from skin

diseases. Some children came forward, they had recognized her. She rescued seven children, including her son,

who had gone missing from neighbouring villages of Soharba (Saharsa), Sitli, Sirnia, Rakhta, Katiya, Tulapati

(Ghanshyampur) and Naula. Today her son is married and works locally. She stands as an inspiration to

mothers in her community.

71

3. Analysis and Recommendations

The analysis and recommendation can be divided into 5 parts based on thematic areas

of the observations, findings and literature review as (i) what the communities do and what can

be done towards building a resilient community covering issues of shelter, food and relief

during the floods and in the post flood context; (ii) what are the specific vulnerabilities of

children during and post floods; (iii) fighting trauma on ways available and that can be

developed to tackle, overcome and recover from trauma;(iv) health care and medical facilities

available to people during/after floods and some of the changes required; (v) the effects of

education and school and what can further be done.

3.1. Building a Resilient Community- Shelter, Food and Relief

As part of building a resilient community the state and non-state support should go

towards preparing the community for recurrent floods and enabling them to bounce back. Over

72

the years communities have developed strategies to survive the floods. An important

contribution can be strengthening, understanding and helping replication of some of these.

The community kitchen set up in Kubhol village by people of the Musashar community is

an instance that shows that such community based and transparent mechanism can work at

hamlet basis. People contributed grains, in collection of fuel, cooking and distribution of food.

Latter support was extended by local non-governmental agency.

Musahar, Mallah and minority communities in Kanki, Pauni and Kubhol build makeshift

community shelters on the raised embankment. This has been an annual event when they

elders of the hamlet select the safest location for the shelter and people volunteer to gather

money and build the shelter. Musahars in Kanki have built a larger shelter which now houses a

community run school. This shelter cum school is also use as a space for community for

meetings and celebrations. Part of the shelter houses idols of their religious heros. The

community looks after the upkeep of the shelter from regular cleaning to annual repairing.

Community/hamlet based initiatives can be used to build the resilience of people.

However, at present there is no evidence from the ground of large scale efforts in

planning or preparation with community for creating a disaster resilient community either from

the state or non-state actors except for a helipad (incurring a cost of 18 lakhs) near Kubhol in

the summer of 2007. Such helipads have been financed by the state in each block to ease the

distribution of relief. However, these have not been used since.

In fact people are left on their own to face the impending floods. There is no evidence of

governmental policy implication and provisions for children in planning, preparation, relief and

rehabilitation for the floods. There were no special plans for children, no drills in school or

guidelines of conduct/support services in times of disaster.

There were no special provisions for children of any age. There are no provisions for

children below six such as supplementary baby food, beds/mattresses/mosquito net or sanitary

provisions. Also these shelters are far and sparsely located. These are difficult to reach for the

differently abled and the old. There are no sanitary provisions and the usually over packed.

Mostly the government shelters in the block double as the relief distribution centre and people

go there to collect relief once a week or fortnightly. They prefer staying close to their houses

and belongings on the embankments.

As we found in the study the community had to depend on its own resources during the

floods and it was days before any outside relief in the form of medical support, food and other

73

supplies reached them. As observed in the narratives of the time disaster, the social tensions on

caste and hamlet lines intensify in times of disaster, relief and rehabilitation.

Further, the relief provided was haphazard. Whatever little monetary assistance was

provided during the recovery phase against damaged houses was inadequate and

uncoordinated. This is the norm whenever disaster strikes according to Perry and Lindell (2003)

as observed by Ronan and Johnston (2005). To tackle such inadequacies the sustainability

model based on the notion of local concensus building and collaborative problem-solving in

communities is proposed with the school as the center (ibid.). In view of the existing conditions

of caste/community based discrimination and the reins of control in the hands of few powerful

people in the village each community/ward should have its own relief/rehabilitation and

problem-solving team which can be ideally centred in the community/ward school.

3.2. Floods and Vulnerability of Children

Children are the most vulnerable victims in the floods, especially if they are below the age

of 6 years and/or are differently abled as they are dependent on their mothers/caregivers for

survival. Children are vulnerable to:

1. Physical injury and infections on left untreated,

2. Death due to snake bites,

3. Being washed away and lost in the currents (though put as lost, villagers believe them to

be dead)

4. Drowning and death at the time of flooding.

5. Hunger and gastrointestinal diseases such as dysentery, diarrhea for consuming infected

food,

6. Diseases and often death due to contaminated drinking water,

7. Vector–born/transmitted diseases such as kalazar, malaria, typhoid

8. Trauma due to loss of parents, siblings, friends in the aftermath of the floods. Box 3.2

briefly engages in understanding the post disaster trauma.

Box 3.1. Understanding Trauma

The experience of facing floods is traumatic for children. This is evident form the inability of the

children to act according to the known prosocial behaviour of carefreeness and mirth (Kithakye et al., as

quoted in Masten, et.al. 2010). The bleak faces and eyes are just visible outpouring of the trauma they have

faced.

The psychological trauma caused due to death of friends and family, loss of home and belongings,

drastic change in the living conditions bring out a wide range of behaviour in response. In a study of

earthquake effected children in a rural mountain region in central Italy by Galante and Foa (1986) children

were described as apathetic, aggressive, and at times even assaultive. Their behavior was characterized as

being “extreme and exaggerated” in their “now-shattered world” (Capozzoli, 2002).

According to Joseph Capozzoli the first step in providing psychosocial relief is to listen. Here is a small

incident that he recounted

74

3.3. Fighting Trauma

3.3. (i) For Children going to School

Within the existing social set-up the children are also unable to speak about their

experiences to friends and elders who have undergone the same trauma. According to Capozzoli

(2002) Normalization is [indeed] the key to recovery. The study recommends group, family, and

75

community based activities where the children are involved, are able to speak up is an effective

way to normalize a child’s environment.

In the present research we found how children in the Yadav hamlet in Rasiyari missed

going to school during floods and had to be in the house all the time. These children miss their

freedom of movement, the time they spent with friends and the sense of space and time of

their own. School emerged as the space and time for coping up with added stress and

adversity. Later readings in literature showed how starting to go back to school as soon as

possible is seen positively as it provides a sense of routine and normalcy (Capozzoli, 2002).

3.3.(ii) For children not going to school

According to Ronan and Johnston (2005)

Families are often a main source of support that promotes natural recovery from the effects of a

disaster for many. However, for children, they can be sources of added stress if parents are

themselves unable to regulate any of their own distress and conflict.

This observation is of special significance to analyse the interaction with the children

from the Dalit and minority community. The grimness that marks their demeanour and facial

expression speaks volumes of the trauma they have been unable to cope up.

At the same time child migrant labourers from the same locations seem to have been

able to cope better with their past and were conversant, pleasant and vocal. The difference

was marked and the reason for it seems to be their ability to have regained some control on

their lives, are able to make some decisions even in the face of economic depravity. According

to Wendy Zubenko (2002) in a tragedy or disaster, control is taken away from all of us and

helping the child to regain some sense of control over his or her environment and life is very

important. Activities in school to help the child make decisions, have a say and control on

his/her life could help them overcome their fears and insecurities. This is also supported by

Burton’s theory of child adultification, a brief explanation is given in here.

3.3.(iii)Child adultification

The dire poverty and inability of parents to provide for the children from the socially and

economically section of the villages have led the children to take up serious responsibilities of

earning and managing families at a very young age. There are certain positive aspects of this as

shown in the table below (also supported by studies such as Boyden, 1994) as well as liabilities.

It is the liabilities that has to be reduced for the child to have a healthy childhood.

76

The study recommends building a mechanism to provide additional psychosocial

support to the children and activities and exercise to revive the systems of psychosocial

adaptations and adjustments within the community. One way this could be done is by bringing

these children within the reach of a school by taking the school physically within the

community and bringing in the additional systems in the school as mentioned in this section.

Diagram 3.1.A Conceptual Model of Childhood Adultification in Economically Disadvantaged

Families.(Source: Burton, L.,2007, p.333)

ASSETS AND LIABILITIES:

EXAMPLES OF CO-

OCCURRING

DEVELOPMENTAL,

BEHAVIORAL,

AND HEALTH OUTCOMES

Assets: ~ Self Confidence ~ Responsible Behaviors ~ “Sense of Mattering” in the Family ~ Life Skills and Problem Solving Competence ~ Heightened Social Awareness ~ Empathy ~ Capable Leadership Liabilities: ~ Narcissism ~ Compulsive Caregiving; Attenuated Capacity for Intimacy in Romantic Relationships ~ Hyper-vigilance ~ Risky Sexual and Reproductive Behaviors ~ Compromised Academic Performance, Engagement, and Achievement ~ Limited Peer Relations and Engagement in Child Activities ~ Mental Health (e.g., anxiety,

worry)

FORMS AND FEATURES

OF ADULTIFICATION Forms: ~ Precocious Knowledge ~ Mentored Adultification ~ Peerification/Spousification ~ Parentification Critical Features of Adultification: Emotional and/or Instrumental Tasks Temporal and Situational Onset ~ Duration/Intensity (e.g., short-term; long-term) ~ Role Boundaries and Clarity ~Individual vs. Collective Responsibility for Tasks

FAMILY CONTEXT

Family Needs: ~e.g., Household Manager Family Capital: Parental Capital: ~ Time ~ Psychological Awareness and Reserve Physical and Mental Health ~ Parenting Skills Social Capital: ~ Number of Available and Responsible Engaged Adults and Mentors; Availability of Formal and Informal Services to Meet Family Needs Family Culture: ~ Parent/Child Relations Hierarchies; Generational Boundaries ~ Beliefs, Norms, and Expectations about Development, Gender and Children’s Roles Child attributes ~ Birth Order ~ Proclivity for Assuming Gender Roles ~ Maturity/Practical Competencies ~ Psychological and Physical Availability ~ Age Readiness ~ Health Status ~ Perception of the Situation

77

Other possible mechanism could be state and non-state outreach programmes in forms

of adult education, women’s group formation for micro-credit, as part of National Rural Health

Mission should have a component to provide interaction based psychosocial support. For

children activity based interactive sessions such as story-telling, clay modeling, role-playing,

riverside strolls could be part of government/non-government programmes aimed for them.

3.4. Health care services

The apathy of the state and the health service providers is also evident from the high

number of post flood death due to diarrhea. In Kiratpur block alone there were 32 deaths due

to diarrhea as a result of contaminated drinking water in the aftermath of the floods in the year

2006. Out of total 32 deaths, 21 were children and mostly belonging to scheduled castes and

religious minority yet again proving the vulnerability of children and the people belonging to

the socio-economically backward communities (details in Table 3.1)

Children from the lower economic and social background to be more vulnerable in

terms of ability to survive the floods and diseases in the aftermath (death due to common

Box 3.2. Gender and community segregated data on death of children post the 2005 flood in Kiratpur

block is given below (MGVP, 2006):

SN Name of Caste Child Adult Old Aged

M F T M F T M F T

1 Musahar 6 3 9 X 4 4 X x x

2 Khatabe 1 2 3 X 4 4 1 1 2

3 Mallah 3 2 5 X X X X x x

4 Chamar X 1 1 X X X X x x

5 Minority/Musalman X 2 2 X 1 1 X x x

6 Choudhary/caste not clear 1 x 1 X X X X x x

Total 11 10 21 X 9 9 1 1 2

Table 3.1. Gender and community segregated data on death of children post the 2005

flood in Kiratpur

78

preventable diseases were more amongst Dalit and minorities), as well as their ability to

overcome the trauma of the disaster and exhibit pro-social behavior (children in the Musahar

and Dom hamlets were the least conversant and had a tensed demeanor).

Local health care systems have to be upgraded to be able to cope with emergency and

hazard situations. There is a need to strictly follow international guidelines to avoid deaths

due to common ailments. The most basic of these is provision of hygienic drinking water

through chlorination. Areas that need to be strengthened are provision of immediate medical

attention in case of common post flood ailments such as diarrhea and gastrointestinal

infections, water borne diseases such as cholera, jaundice and typhoid and snake bites. There is

a need to implement preventive and precautionary measures against common diseases in the

area such as kala-azar and malaria in the region.

Another step towards prevention and preparation of the community to face flood could

be integrating the basic health programme with schools. This will help in covering all children

in a basic health programme. For this the school can have regular visits of a general physician

and special lessons on health and hygiene during and after the floods could be included as part

of curriculum.

3.5.School, Education and its effects

Literature in education has largely been seen as a mean:

• to socialize children,

• strengthen democracy where citizens go beyond social ties for electing their

representatives, selecting beneficiaries on the basis of objective rational

• to better earning and improved quality of life

However, in the field we found that existing social inequalities have continued in the

schools and the education system, where caste has been used to deny access to school to the

Dalits. Schools meant for their hamlet has been constructed in another part of the village.

Rather than change in the attitudes and behaviour of the educated, there has been a cementing

of these.

At the same time, the educated have continued to elect representatives and select

beneficiaries on the lines of caste and systematically curtailed the chances of the uneducated to

get education and benefit from the government schemes and services.

79

Incidents of subtle and overt caste discrimination in school such as Dalit children made

to sit separately in class, sending them off before mid-day meal. Villagers narrated instances of

discrimination in times of relief distribution and rehabilitation support.

There is a fear of retribution from the upper caste in sending children to schools as well as a

fear of losing their religious and cultural identity. Box 3.1 briefly discusses this issue.

Box 3.3.Education and continuity/ break of culture

As evident from the Kanki community school and the discussions of villagers in the other sites there

is a fear of break in their cultural and demeaning of religious beliefs through schooling. The idea of the

community school and school education has been able to work for its continiuty with the cultural and

religious belief at this initial stage. The concept of education as a tool for social development and social

change could work only when the peresent education system could give equal space to traditions of the

marginalised and the masses. The present education and schooling system under the aegisis of the

privileged sections of the society has incorporated the existing inequilities within the society, upheld the

cutural and religious beliefs of the priveleged class. This creates an inequality at the very base crippling the

children of the marginalized section.

Picture 3.1 The idol of Raja Shailesh in the community school of Kanki Musahari

80

Villagers felt that school curriculum should be made more relevant to the lives of the

children in the floods prone region. A recommendation of the study is to incorporate disaster

management curricula that included activities and discussions in school and home based

exercises and activities with parents or caregivers to involve them in the process.

The role of schools for recovery has been widely reported in the disaster resilience

literature (Masten & Osofsky, 2010). With the support of different studies they show that

schools played a key role in the rebuilding of the community and supporting recovery and

staying in school was associated with improved prosocial attitudes and behaviors in disaster

affected areas.

According to Ronan and Johnston (2005) it has been recommended as early as 1981 by

Slovic to make the school as the centre for providing hazard and risk awareness education for

the whole community little has been done in this area. Since schools, youth, and families

represent major segments in any community that have multiple links with others (Epstein,

Sanders, Simon, Salinas, Jansorn, & Van Voorhis, 2002), the school can serve as the focus of

community resilience and disaster management programs.

81

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Annex 1 Photographs

“If we don't stand up for children, then we don't stand for much.”(Marian Wright Edelman)

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Santoshia, Kaila,Babita and Nangda have never been to a school.

A fortunate meal of raw rice with water.

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Quenching Thirst. In the aftermath of floods, contaminated drinking water leads to infections and

aviodable deaths.

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In preparation of the coming floods: The children of Kosi embankment in Kubhol have learnt it young to

live with floods.

A shelter made by Musahars on the slope of the Kamla embankment and close to their hamlet at

Rasiyari in preparation of the approaching monsoons and probable floods. This has been a practice that

people have evolved on their own.

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Attending to cattles is part of everyday life of children. Sometimes the cattle are not owned by the

family but by a better off family. The caretaker family gets 1/4th

of the profit earned on the sell of the

cattle for its upkeep.

90

Children working in a tea shop losses the opportunity to attend school.

A Musahar Hamlet in Rasiyari

91

A hamlet close to the Kamla river at Rasiyari

92

The main hamlet in Rasiyari where the upper caste houses are located. The contrast between the main

hamlet and other hamlets of the village is remarkable.

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Inquisitive minds: Children invariably end up being the first and most affected by changes around them,

here the gather around to find out who the visitors are.

“There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One is roots; the other, wings.”

(Hodding Carter)

The community school at Kanki Musahari

94

A man trying to save some belongings from his house which was flooded overnight by the river Bagmati.

The place is taken at the outskirts of Darghanga city, the morning of 2nd

August, 2007.

95

An abondoned school buiding. Local knowledge in terms of building architecture, location and building

material can be used to make the school buildings more adaptable to the flood conditions. It will also

foster community participation and ownership.