Madhya Pradesh Darshan - Iii Edition Rural Immersion 2011

MADHYA PRADESH DARSHAN III EDITION
RURAL IMMERSION 2011
Group 23 - BHOPAL
Abhimanyu Malhotra
Ashish Kumar
Bhavna Sharma
Gautam Sethi
Harsimranjit Singh
Hemlata Jindal
Jashanjot Singh Shekon
Piyali Sarkar
Roopak Bhartee
Ruchika Choudhary
About The District

Bhopal is the capital of Madhya Pradesh and its administrative headquarters. Bhopal is
known as the City of Lakes for its various natural as well as artificial lakes and is also
one of the greenest cities in India. Bhopal is an important economic, industrial,
educational and political center of India and houses various institutions and installations
of national importance. Some of these include ISRO's Master Control Facility, the CSIR
Advanced Materials and Processes Research Institute (AMPRI), and Maulana Azad
National Institute of Technology. Bhopal has its own industrial area i.e. "Govindpura,
Bhopal". It has 1044 small and medium scale industries involved in various kinds of
production activities. According to the 2001 census the total Bhopal population is about
1,458,416. The chief languages are Hindi and English, but there are a substantial
number of Marathi, Sindhi, Marwari speakers as well. Shairis and poetry recitals are
popular in Bhopal. Bhopal is famous for its culture of parda and zarda.
Learning from Jan Sunvahi

Jan sunvahi in words of district magistrate of Bhopal, is a platform where the most
tedious cases end up. All those who fail to get justice end up in the office of DM. The
nature of the grievances is complex in nature as other channels of district administration
fail to deal with them. During our visit to DM office, most of the cases were either related
to land disputes or issues related to BPL status. In one case related land dispute case the
aggrieved party has been coming to the office for last three month. Another case of land
dispute was complex in nature, the aggrieved party belonged to minority group, her
property has been occupied by the local land mafia and they made it into Hindu temple
hence giving it communal colors. According to the party the district administration has
failed to provide her justice and every time they make visit several offices without any
conformity. In one case one laborer was seeking a BPL status; one case was related to
Bhopal gas tragedy, where a victim was seeking a job, it was not easy for the DM to deal
with such case the only way who could have helped him was to provide him with
alternate source of employment but the aggrieved party was not satisfied with that form
of justice. The DM was able to dispose off a minority of cases since resources are rare
and the due to complexities of cases. This helped us understand how difficult it was to
take decisions choosing among alternatives clearly keeping aside the emotional quotient.
Rural Visit A walk to remember

Various Govt. policies at Gram Panchayat Level are being implemented for the benefit of
rural and BPL (below poverty line) population. Implementation of the schemes in the
villages and appointing a Sachiv in every village is the key point in educating and
making villagers aware of Govt. policies. Moreover, Sarpanch in every village are also
aware of the initiatives which help in seeking the cooperation from the villagers and BPL
families.
As for implementation of the policies, connectivity and reach to these villages are
important, nearby villages have been connected to Bhopal via Road network implemented
under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY).
Different Govt. initiatives in action are:

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS)- under
this schemes various assets for the villages like Rain water Harvesting Ground, Wells,
Proper Irrigational canals are created which help them to improve their agricultural
produce.
Indira Awas Yojana- A large no. of house has been built for the poor under this scheme.
Govt. is providing a cash fund of Rs.45000 to the rural poor. This scheme is acting as a
counterpart in the rural area when compared to BSUP (Basic Services for Urban Poor) in
urban areas.
TSC-Total Sanitation Campaign- This is one of the major flagship programmes being
implemented in the rural areas at gram panchayat level. Total Sanitation Campaign is a
comprehensive programme to ensure sanitation facilities in rural areas with broader goal
to eradicate the practice of open defecation.
Some other interesting schemes were Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana,
Anganwadi, Mid-Day Meal, Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana, Deendayal
Antyodaya Upchar Yojana for BPL, Nirmal Vatika Yojana. Moreover, we visited to nearby
schools in villages and observed that all the teachers were present and students were
also present in the maximum strength. Mid-Day Meal scheme was implemented and food
was prepared in hygienic environment. Moreover, some of the schools have implemented
creative ways to make children learn faster so as to sustain their interest.
Urban Development ApproachLessons of management

Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) is a massive city
modernization scheme launched by the Government of India under Ministry of Urban
Development.
JNNURM essentially functions incorporating primarily two sub-missions into its program.
The two sub-missions are:
The Sub-Mission for Urban Infrastructure and Governance (UIG) administered by the
Ministry of Urban Development, with a focus on water supply and sanitation, solid waste
management, road network, urban transport and redevelopment of old city areas.
The Sub-Mission for Basic Services to the Urban Poor (BSUP) administered by the Ministry of
Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation with a focus on integrated development of slums.
Channelization of 05 Major Nallas (Storm Water Drain) in Bhopal City of Total Length of
24 Km with an investment of 30.57 Cr under JNNURM
Most people were dependent on Underground Resources. Resources were highly
contaminated. BMC facilitated alternate Supply from the tankers trucks. Poly Tanks were
procured at site. Water was available on the alternate day. People used to Temper the main
feeder pipes and fill the water from there. Now they were able to get clean water to drink.
City Life vs Village Life Reflecting on Expectations

Comfort, easy access to facilities and busy schedules describe city life. A village stands in
stark contrast to this definition. Quietude, simple living and satisfaction describe village
life.
Even though Bhopal is a developed area of Madhya Pradesh and not much of the district
is devoid of urbanization, we still could trace some areas on the outskirts of the city,
which fit the definition of a village. From our observation of villages like Rapadiya, we
could conclude that the people living there were content with their slow-paced, peaceful
lives. They did not have high demands and were satisfied to have a house (shelter under
the Indra Awas scheme), food, clothes and cattle (state-government funded). Basic
facilities like a hospital and a well-organized school were so far located that they were
regarded almost as luxuries. The nearest hospital was at a distance of 5 kms which
meant that in case of any emergency, the patient had to travel a distance of 5 kms to get
him treated. The village school was full of truant schoolchildren and the teachers did not
seem to be vexed as they had accepted the low attendance in classrooms as a way of life.
Compare this with the life in Bhopal city hospitals are easily accessible at any moment,
schools are well-developed and at accessible distances and water supply is taken care of
by the Municipality. However, when you take a micro-level view, you realize that though
the people in general do not have any problems with monetary resources, the thing that
they lack is time. Everybody is constantly moving, always in a hurry to do things. Even if
they have a hospital near their home, they do not have the time for a regular health
check-up. Even if the children go to better schools and learn more, they are so consumed
by the other distractions of the city that they do not have the time to concentrate on
studies.
Pollution is a major issue in cities, be it the water pollution of lakes, air pollution by
heavy industries or sound pollution by marriage ceremonies. Village people on the other
hand are content with their quiet and pollution-free lives. All they are concerned about is
their house, their children, their cattle and their grocery. City people are quite similar
but their lists are longer add money, property, job pressures, vehicles, electricity bills,
water bills, income tax, service tax and the list goes on.
To conclude, city people are not really different from village people. They are just highly
complex versions of the simple villagers. Both sets have the same demands or
expectations at their core, only the supply side is different in both cases. One set has a
simpler version of demand that rarely gets fulfilled whereas the other set has a
complicated version that does not get fulfilled.
Observations
The government of MP has taken many initiatives to cater to the diverse needs of the
urban as well as the rural population of the state. However problems in execution and
feedback persist. In our observation in Bhopal we witnessed that though many yojnas
existed on paper, the actual impact of these was lacking. For example, as per NREGA, a
worker could earn up to Rs. 122 for a days work. However, in villages close to the city,
villagers preferred to work in the city where they could earn more than Rs. 200. This
rendered the policy ineffective in such areas and not much development was focused on
the village. Also in one of the villages we were informed that close to 4 lakhs were spent
on the implementation of the watershed system under the flagship scheme of Rajiv
Gandhi Water Management Mission, RGWMM. Although the ground water level was
augmented and irrigation was improved, the water was unfit for consumption due to
blooming algae. We found the hygiene levels in these villages to be quite low, as despite
government initiative to help in the construction of toilets, open defecation was still
widely practiced. Another aspect where administration failed was in the panchayat
system, where the sarpanch seat was reserved for a woman. In these villages we found
that though a lady sarpanch existed on paper, she was merely the wife of the previous
sarpanch and had no say in the functioning of the panchayat. In some villages the
sarpanch himself was blithely unaware of the existing problems.
Under the pension plans introduced by the government, not many people qualified as
eligible candidates. A re-evaluation of qualifying criteria needs to be undertaken.

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MADHYA PRADESH DARSHAN III EDITION

RURAL IMMERSION 2011

About The District

Learning from Jan Sunvahi

Rural Visit A walk to remember

Different Govt. initiatives in action are:

Urban Development ApproachLessons of management

City Life vs Village Life Reflecting on Expectations

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