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Political System in Villages (Rajesh Krishnan)

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Political System in Villages (Rajesh Krishnan)

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Pnachayati - Raj refers to the local government in villages.
It has three levels of system.
1.Gram Panchayat
2. mandal parishid
3. Zila parishid (district level)

These panchayats help the villagers in various levels from solving any minor disputes among them, implementing the schemes announced by the central government and state government. They also help in setting up schools and help running it. They help the villagers with setting up small cottage industries.
Basically these are the local administrative offices and help in the overall development of the village.

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Environment and Bio-Diversity in Villages: (Sai Swaroop)

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Environment and Bio-Diversity in Villages: (Sai Swaroop)

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Environment:
Air:
Unlike a city, the village that I went to had a positive vibe with the fresh air, courtesy of many trees and less use of vehicles. Most of us living in cities often suffer from pulmonary diseases caused by air pollution. I would like to throw some light on the traditions that our elders have given us like treating the whole ecosystem (the rivers, mountains, trees) to be treated as god has greatly helped village retain its ecosystem and stop overexploitation of its resources at least to a certain extent .

Water:
The village that I visited was heavily dependent on rain water. I have noticed that many farmers still were using flood irrigation instead on less water intensive drip irrigation. Since, there was too much of usage of ground water the water table of the village dropped significantly and many farmers in the village are not able to get good yields as the village is water stressed.
I wish if the people in the village could be given proper education of water conservation and water management it would be good. I would also like to take an example of a village called Hiwarae Bazar which followed good sustainable practices and was one of the model village to our country.
The problem of water crisis in many villages must be addressed as early as possible.
Possible solutions for better agriculture:
1) High farm diversity will lead to more resilient crops
2) Minimum tillage which will lead to retention soil structure and porosity. Hence, helping rain water to percolate into the ground more easily which can help in rising the water table.
3) Mulching of soil
4) Organic manure
5) Rather than depending on pesticides which promote biomagnification dependence on beneficial organisms for soil fertility, pollination, pest control is better and cost saving

Biodiversity:
One thing that a village stands out from the cities is the sheer amount of diversity among the species. When I went to village I was amazed to see the various types of birds,  butterflies. I was fortunate enough to see the fire flies at night which had lit up the sky. I have also seen snakes. I feel all these beings are  intricately linked with our lives and I feel happy to spend my time at the lap of nature.

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Social Life in a village:(Sivasini Netra S A)

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Social Life in a village:(Sivasini Netra S A)

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Helping hand:
Unlike the urban people, villagers are known for their helping tendency and kindness.

Superstitions:
Village people believe in a lot of superstitions. Some may sound absurd while some actually have benefits. Some of the superstitions include
1. Hanging lemon and chili at the entrance
2. Itchy palms signaling the arrival of money.
3.Belief in witchcraft, voodoo dolls and black magic.
4.Kajal Dot On A Baby’s Forehead.
and the list goes on.

Astrology:
Villagers believe in astrology whole heartedly. Never tries to question the outcomes fearing make believe consequences, thereby allowing many so-called godmen to fool them.

Respect:
Its a word that's given heavy weightage around villages.  Unlike in cities, villagers carry it as an important task to respect elders and imbibe their children with the same lessons.

Recreation:
Even though villages lack the amenities like malls, theaters etc. present in a city, villagers enjoy their time by gathering around and sitting in 'thinnai' gossiping and children playing together outside.

Family life:
Unlike the nuclear families in cities, villagers live in joint  family and their relatives house nearby.

Village Cuisines:
They eat what they harvest. They share the goods among themselves. There are famous village cuisines like
Ulundhu Kali, Kambu Koozh,
Kootanchoru and so on, all prepared from their harvest which are also healthy.

Festivals:
Villagers are known for the way they celebrate festivals. The whole village come together to take part in the festivities and enjoying themselves.  The picture below was taken in Alanthurai last November during Surasamharam, a part of Skanda Sashti festival. On that day,  Lord Murugar is taken to travel throughout the village recreating his fight with Surapadman. The villagers including the children observe fasting the entire day.

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Financial Situation of villagers:                           (Shri Hari Nithin K M) 

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Financial Situation of villagers:                           (Shri Hari Nithin K M) 

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Most of the farmers cannot avail of electronic machines or other benefits because they are so expensive. So they have to depend on manual labor, which is pretty exhausting and tedious.

Both men and women have to work to earn a living. However, women tend to do work that requires less physical activity. But that doesn't alter the reality that work is mostly based on physical power and not mental exertions.

Yet, the financial condition of farmers is terrible in India. They do not get paid well for their produce by middlemen who sell it at a higher price. The frequent crop failures due to flood and famine, only add to the list of problems. The government also neglects the farmers to such an extent that there was a rise in the rate of suicides by farmers for the past few years.

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The shortage of professionally trained medical professionals in rural India, can come as a shock to people as most villagers have a local doctor who uses indigenous products to help cure the residents from any minor ailment for an affordable price. Being a villager would mean not having to battle with urban problems like obesity and whatnot, but when it comes to major health issues like cardiac arrests and tumors, villagers find themselves in a dilemma of being short of money or having a proper transport that would get them to a hospital situated miles away. Initiating awareness of using software /applications ,thereby ensuring a good network connectivity, establishing make-shift healthcare checkpoints with a fully equipped ambulance can help  abridge the rural-urban gap, enlighten them of the available medical options and bring them in touch with medical professionals who can engage in remote health analysis. Such centers can induce awareness on how to maintain their overall well-being, help pregnant women with their diet, teach them importance of getting vaccinated and even educate them on how to give a basic CPR.
Collaboration between indigenous medical treatment with that of state-of-the-art present day medicinal advancements can act as a catalyst to abridge the aforementioned rural-urban gap and help urbaners understand the importance of the native medical approach and help empower local doctors by approaching them for treatment.

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Education Status in Villages:(S vishal khanna )

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Education Status in Villages:(S vishal khanna )

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In an ideal village which I could imagine, people are not highly educated (formal education) but they have a lot of practical exposure in skills they need to sustain and live their life.

They usually go for physical strength demanding jobs like farming, construction etc . It is rare to see those people working in IT jobs and similar jobs which demand less physical strength and more of your intellectual ability. They are majorly fluent in their native language only.

It is rare to see people using smartphones and using them for studies. It is a harsh truth that many children had discontinued their studies due to the on-going global pandemic because of  lack of proper internet connection and access to good smartphones. Thus, it has adversely affected the education of children in villages.

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Domestic animals grazing in the field can be found everywhere in a village.