Miseries among the People of Bhojpur - A Village of Raisen District Madhya Pradesh India

Bhojpur is a village of Raisen district, situated on the river Betwa. It is 28 kms from the capital city of Bhopal Madhya Pradesh India. Bhojpur takes its name from king bhoja. The most celebrated ruler of the paramara dynasty. Local language of the people is Hindi. Total population of the village is 1158 according to the census of 2011.Village consists about 284 houses. Socially and economically it is very backward and people are living in such an unhygienic environment. There is also large no. of illiteracy in the village. There are two govt. middle schools, one anganwadi center, village panchayat and there is a famous temple in the village shiv bhoj temple were 30,000 visitors visit there every year. There is unavailability of resources in the village, Labour and agriculture is the main source of income.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

As for as approach to research in the present study is concerned, it was a case study in which an attempt was made to study the miseries among the people of the Bhojpur village. The study was conducted on the basis of random sampling. Designed question are was made besides question are interview method was also adopted. The present research contains 90% of primary data and only 10% of secondary data, which we got from different sources. During our research we took 40 families on the basis of random sampling for the study purpose.

• To find out the miseries facing by the people of Bhojpur.

• To check the socio/economic status of village.

• To check out the root cause behind the illiteracy.

• To provide some suggestions for the upliftment of the village economy.

Collection of Data: - The following data was collected from the selected 40 families of the village, which analysis the whole scenario of the village and the conditions by which it is suffering in such modern times.

1000-5000 25 62.5% 5000-10000 10 25% 10000-15000 1 2.5% 15000-20000 2 5%

20000-25000 1 2.5%

Total 40 100%

Table 1.1 indicates the monthly income level of the families of Bhojpur. which reveals that 62.5% population comes under the income level of 1000-5000, 25% population comes under the income level of 5000-10000, 5% population comes under the income level of 15000-20000 , 2.5% population comes under the income level of 10000-15000 and 2.5% population comes under the income level of 20000-30000. These figures reveal the poor conditions and sufferings of the village. The people are living under hard conditions of economy and have not much sources available for their upliftment.

Kaccha 30 75% Semi-pacca 8 20% Pacca 2 5% Total 40 100%

This table indicates that 75% of the families live in kaccha houses, 20% live in semi-pacca houses and only 5% lives in a pacca houses. This means that they don‟t have proper housing facilities, they are mostly poor and are not able to afford a pacca house.

Highly satisfied 4 10% Satisfied 6 15% Unsatisfied 30 75% Total 40 100%

Table 1.3 indicates that only 10% of the families are highly satisfied, 15% of the families are satisfied with their housing conditions and the majority of the families 75% are unsatisfied with their housing conditions and also during our research we observed that they don‟t have any sophisticated toilet facility system. Most of the families responded that they use wood for cooking purposes and can‟t afford a gas connection.

Yes 10 25 No 30 75 Total 40 100

Table 1.4 indicates that 25% people have their own land for cultivation and remaining 75% people have no land of their own for cultivation and use land of others for cultivation. Farmers of Bhojpur also narrated that Government have not provided them basic tools like proper fertilizers, pests, fungicides and proper irrigation facility, they also commented that rain and floods damaged our crop from last few years which have become a big burden on their economy.

Agriculture 7 17.5% Shopkeeper 5 12.5% Employee 2 5 Labour 22 55 Other 4 10

Total 40 100

Table 1.5 indicates that 17.5% population of the families depends upon the agriculture ,12.5% population earn their livelihood from their shops, 5% population is engaged with Govt. services, 10% population are earning their livelihood from different tasks and the majority of people 55% are labours who are earning their livelihood from working outside their locality in different sections and also they have to travel 20 miles from their residence to working site, which indicates that there are not sufficient sources available for them in their village and due to the scarcity of available resources the people become the victim of debits.

Primary 6 15% Middle 18 45% Secondary 4 10% H.secondary 8 20% college 4 10%

Table 1.6 indicates that 15% families are those with highest qualification of primary standard, 10% families are those whose highest qualified members are secondary level, 20% families are those whose highest qualified members are H.secondary level, 10% families are those whose highest qualified members are college level and the remaining 45% families are those whose highest qualified members are middle standard. It reveals the whole scenario of the village about the low education standard of village, because the reason behind such status is that, there are only two schools in the village which are upto 8th standard. Due to the poverty and unavailability of transport system, it becomes difficult for them to go outside for receiving further education.

Joint Family 31 77.5% Nuclear Family 9 22.5% Others 0 0% Total 40 100%

Table 1.7 indicates that 77.5% families are living as joint families and the remaining 22.5% families are nuclear families. It shows great solidarity among the members of the family and helps them to work for the family as a whole. People of Bhojpur are not as rich as they can afford to make single houses so, they live jointly and work jointly to maintain their economic process.

1- Joint family:-There consists joint family system because people are so poor they work together and eat together as a family. 2 - Great solidarity:- There is a great social solidarity among the people of Bhojpur village. People help each other and share their beliefs, norms, rituals and ideas with each other.

4 - Intra caste marriage:-People of Bhojpur marriage in their own caste, less number of marriages took place outside the caste. village usually plays cards for their amusement. 6 - Participating in every ones marriage:-They participate in every ones marriage and take equal responsibility in performing the marriage ceremonies. 7 - Collecting wood from forests:- They collect wood together from the forests and travel a distance of 20 kms, which protects them from the attack of wild animals. 8 - Roti chawal and Daal their main food:-These are the main food of Bhojpur village. According to them it is cheap and easy to cook on the mud Cholas. 9 - Child labour selling Prasad near shiv Bhojpur temple:- Young childrens sell Prasad outside the shiv Bhojpur mandir and earn some money from visitors and then consume them by buying food items from shops. 10- Singing song at the Monday evening:- It is a cultural part of Bhojpur women , they sing songs at the Monday evening for their amusement . It also relaxes them from over burden of work.

There is a lot of unemployment in the village and there are no other resources only casual labour is the main source of income.

There is no hospital in the village and due to which people suffer a lot, they have to travel 25 kms to checkup their patients and also there is not any facility of bus services people have to arrange private transport, which becomes burden for them.

There are two middle schools in the village up to 8th standard. After 8th it is very difficult for them to continue their study because they have to travel miles. Which is very expensive for them to go through a bus. Most of the girls left their education because of long distance, lack of money and lack of transport. They feel girls may become victim of sexual harassment.

People of Bhojpur are not satisfied with the village panchayat because panchayat is not working properly. They were promised by the panchayat to get Rs 12000 on making their wash rooms but they did not paid even single money for them. People are also so unaware about govt. schemes.

From last one year, no one has visited their village, which is very poor governance by the government. People have lost their faith on government because they are still in the same problems. According to them there is no improvement in any part of village economy.

people of Bhojpur are living in kaccha houses. During moon soon they have to face so many problems and there is no any other means of shelter for them. Excessive rain damages their property and makes their lives so harsh.

People of Bhojpur are living in an unhygienic atmosphere, because all the streets of village are full of garbage and there is not any sophisticated drainage system which is the root cause of several viral infections. People from different areas come to through the garbage in their surroundings.

Labours of Bhojpur have to travel 30 kms for the search of work. Because it is 30kms away from the near city Bhopal. Most of the women workers are not able to travel such a long distance for the search of work, which makes the women dependent on male population.

Government is not supporting them by any means. There is no any income based center in the village so, people have to stand on their own feet.

People are also backward in using modern agricultural tools and having no proper idea about the fertilizers which are used to increase the yield.

Child begging has become the cultural part of village, instead of having books and pens in their hand they sell prasaad outside the shiv Bhojpur temple. It keeps them away from the school and makes them addiction of begging.

i. Govt. should provide financial assistance to enhance self-help groups. ii. There should be regular inspection of panchayat bodies. iii. Govt. should provide health center. iv. Govt. school should be up to 12th standard. v. Gass chulaas should be provided by govt. on subsidy bases. vi. There should be regular surveys by govt. to check out their problems. vii. Proper garbage disposal arrangements should be made by govt. viii. Transport system should be provided so that they remain connected with nearby cities. ix. NGOS should play the major role in all departments of village awareness. x. Agricultural tools and proper use of fertilizers should be provided by the government.

From the above study we have concluded that in the present scenario, people of Bhojpur are still facing so many deprivation and discriminative attitude by the Government. People of the village have not got such facilities what they should have in the modern times. The dream of making (NAYA BHARAT) is so away until the Government will not sort out the root problem of the villages which are located on different far-flung areas. As for as the present study of Bhojpur is concerned, we observed and analyzed the miseries among the people by the means of education, road management, transport facility, housing, water supply, proper health and unhygienic atmosphere. The

their villages and they have to travel 25 kms from their residence to working site. Women empowerment is the need of an hour but in Bhojpur we found most of the girls stop their education, because there is not availability of school after middle standard which keeps them away from education and also people are not as rich to admit their students in private institutes. Family also did not allow them to travel such a long distance to seek the education in the nearby city because they fear their girls may become the victim of harassment. Goverment should take such initiative to create an atmosphere in which all the sections of people and all social units will be covered for the benefit of society. The above mentioned suggestions if implemented can provide the social, economic, political and moral support to the people of Bhojpur.

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Department of Sociology and Social Work, Barkatullah University Bhopal (MP)