Village Fieldwork Segment (VFS)

PRM 2018-20

VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT REPORT

Village: Uniyana
Gram Panchayat: Uniyana
Block: Ukhimath
District: Rudraprayag State: Uttarakhand

Prepared by:
Bhruguraj Hemant Pandya (P39015)

In partial fulfilment of the requirements of the VFS

Of the
Post Graduate Programme in Rural Management

INSTITUTE OF RURAL MANAGEMENT ANAND

November 2018

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Table of Contents

1. Identification of the village and households………………………….1

2. Brief history of Settlement Patterns……………………………………4
3. Street-Wise Facilities Village Institutions……………………………5
4. Employment…………………………………………………………..
5. Agriculture and Livestock……………………………………………
6. Financial Institutions…………………………………………………15
7. Education and Schools……………………………………………….16
8. Health Services and Hospitals……………………………………….21
9. Governance and Welfare Programs…………………………………..23
10. Shocks and Coping Mechanisms…………………………………….25
11. Climate change and village and household response………………...26
12. Income and Consumption……………………………………………26
13. Conclusion……………………………………………………………28
14. References……………………………………………………………31

Summary of Rural Action Component……………………………….31

References.............................................................................................40
Annexure...............................................................................................40

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The Village Fieldwork Segment has been a great opportunity to understand the rural life of
India. This experience would have not been possible without the support from IRMA. We
would like to thank the VFS Office especially to Prof. Satyendra Pandey and Alpesh
Macwan Sir for putting their efforts for providing all the resources required to complete our
project.

We would also like to acknowledge the role of Awadh Research Foundation for assisting us
on the ground.

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to our NGO, People’s Science Institute,
Dehradun who provided us complete support in this research project. A special gratitude to
Mr. Debashish Sen, Director, People’s Science Institute and our Reporting Officer, Mrs.
Roshan Rathod whose contribution in helping us collecting data from the different
institutions of the village has been vital for our fieldwork segment.

Lastly, we would like to thank the people of Uniyana village for their kindness and
cooperation for successful fulfilment of our study.

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 ABBREVIATIONS

ANM - Auxiliary Nurse Midwifery

ASHA - Accredited Social Health Activist, Accredited social health activists
LPG - Liquid Petroleum Gas
MGNREGS – Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee
Scheme
NGO – Non-Governmental Organization
PHC – Primary Health Centre
RTE – Right to Education
UJALA – Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA)
SMC – School Management Committee
MMPS – Madhyamaheshwar Paryatan Samuh

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 LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURE
Name Page Number
Figure 1 Land-Owning and Land-less Households 1
Figure 2 Land Owning and Land Less Households in 3
the Village
Figure 3 Village Map of Uniyana 6
Table 1 Street-Wise Households and Road Type 7
Figure 4 Percentage of Households using Clean Energy 9
for Cooking
Table 2 Number of Non-Panchayat Government 11
Officials in the Village:
Table 3 Land Distribution within the Village 13
Figure 5 Land Usage Distribution in the Uniyana 13
Village
Table 4 Interest Rates of the financial institutions 15
Figure 6 Classroom 1 of Government Primary School, 17
Poldhi
Figure 7 Classroom-2 of Government Primary School, 18
Poldhi
Figure 8 Gender Ratio in Schools 19
Figure 9 School-Wise Gender Ratio Break-up 20
Table 5 Data of Deliveries in Hospital and 22
Immunisation of Child and Mother in last one
year
Table 6 Street-Wise break-up of Households benefited 23
through MGNREGS (Since 2014)
Table 7 Budget Allocation to Various Issues by 24
Current Panchayat (Graph may be)
Table 8 Amount Allocated to Green Governance Task 25
Table 9 No. of Toilets installed in the Current 25
Panchayat

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1. IDENTIFICATION OF VILLAGE AND HOUSEHOLDS
The village is located in the Himalayan Mountains of Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand
State. The region is known as ‘Garhwal’; the local language is ‘Garhwali’. The sub-region of
Uniyana village is known as “Madhya Maheshwar Ghati” due to presence of the famous
“Madhya Maheshwar” Temple. The height of the village above the sea level is 1800 metres.
Population of the village is 822 people. All the people belonged to the same caste and had the
surname ‘Panwar’.

The village was located 62 km from the district head quarter Rudraprayag and 25 km from
the Block Headquarter Ukhimath. Most of the institutions and services were located in
Ukhimath. Few services like Post office, Anganwadi, Middle School, PDS, etc were available
in the village. The nearest railway station was in Rishikesh Town. It was located at a distance
of 210 km from the Uniyana village. The nearest police station and primary health centre
were located in Ukhimath town. There was just one informal training centre run by the NGO
People’s Science Institute (PSI) in the village. PSI performed tasks like Self-Help Group
Creation, disaster management, and livelihood creation in the village. Currently, PSI is
working on providing agricultural inputs like training about seeds and farmer schools to the
local farmers.

The households had variable sizes ranging from 1 to 7. Most of the households were
dependant on their own farm for food and livelihood. Majority of the households had
members who had currently or previously served in the army.

Currently, there are 183 households in the village. Out of those, 182 are land owners. The
remaining one has a small-scale welding enterprise. All of the land-owners are marginal
farmers; the individual owning highest area of land was one Acre.

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Figure 1
Land-Owning and Land-less Households

Total Households: 183

Land Owning: 182, Landless : 1

Land Owning Land Less

2
Impressive Gender Ratio
The gender ratio is impressive in the village. Out of 822 people, there are 431 women and
391 men. The women had active participation in the activities of village. The ‘Mahila Mangal
Dal’ of the village participated in the Natural Resource Management. While the occupational
work and government services had major participation from the male members.

Figure 2
Land Owning and Land Less Households in the Village

GENDER DIVERSITY IN
VILLAGE

52% 48%

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2. BRIEF HISTORY OF SETTLEMENT PATTERNS
The village is more than 500 years old. It was initially part of the village Ransi but now it is
considered as a separate village. As per the popular belief, the villagers are the direct
descendants of the ‘Pandavas’. During ancient times, many sages stayed for meditation and
offering prayers to god.

At times, there have been floods in the area; however there have been no major episodes for
change in demographics of the village. In 1998, there were huge landslides in the region.
These landslides affected the neighbouring revenue village of ‘Pondar’, killing 30 out of a
total population of 50 people. However, Uniyana village was not affected and there were no
major change in the demographics as well.

There are some famous tourist locations present near Uniyana village. All of these have either
historical or mythological importance. Some of the most prominent ones are
Madhyamaheshwar Temple, Kali Shila, Deoriya Taal, Kaachni Taal, etc.

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3. STREET-WISE FACILITIES
The village is spread all across the mountain. Any basti or street in the village is known as
Tonk. Each Tonk had a unique name and located at different height all along the mountain.
There were 7 tonks in total in the village.

The names of the Tonks are as under:

1. Uniyana
2. Dhar
3. Tiwaar
4. Poldhi
5. Dhoni
6. Kirmodiya
7. Arshandhi

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Here is the Map of the Uniyana Village:

Figure 3
Village Map of Uniyana

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Street-Wise Number of Households and Road Type
Here is the data regarding the number of households in each street along with type of road
present in the street.

Table 1
Street-Wise Households and Road Type
No. of Households in
Sr. No. Street/Basti Name Road Type
Each Street
1 Uniyana 48 Pucca
2 Uniyana Dhar 12 RCC
3 Tiwaar 18 Steps
4 Poldhi 25 Steps
5 Dhoni 28 RCC + Steps
6 Kirmodiya 13 RCC
7 Arshandhi 39 Pucca

There was only one Pucca road in the village. The road was passing through two Tonks. For
rest of the Tonks, there were Kacche or RCC or stone-steps. As mentioned, the Pucca Street
passed through Uniyana and Arshandhi Tonk. Tiwaar was situated on the slope below the
main road while rest of the tonks were situated above the road. Poldhi, Dhoni and Kirmodiya
were located near the mountain-top.

All the streets had decent presence of basic facilities. Street lights, railings, taps were preset
even on the households. All the households had private toilets. Each household had their
toilets outside their houses. They did not build toilets inside the house because of the popular
belief of not keeping unclean things inside the house premises. There were average 2 solar
panels in each household.

Electricity was available in the village for average 22 hours a day. Each household had at
least one mobile phone. No Landline phones are present in the village as mobile phones are
prevalent. Availability of network was an issue in the village. One had to travel to certain
hotspot places in the village to have the network. Only Airtel and BSNL networks had a good
range in the village. That too not at all places in the village. At certain places, JIO network
had a decent presence.

All the houses were pucca; few were Multi-Storey as well. No irrigation facilities were
available in the village. The village had one tank on the mountain-top for supplying water to
the whole village. The construction of this tank was assisted by the NGO People’s Science
Institute.

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The public distribution store, post office, Panchayat building and main bus-stop were present
in the main Uniyana Tonk. The main Anganwadi centre was also located in the Uniyana
Tonk. Its sub-centre was located in the Poldhi Tonk.

The water in the village was pure, natural and odourless. It came directly from the glaciers.
The water was safe for drinking in its natural form. There was no water borne disease
reported in the village in last few years. Drinking water is not a problem in the village. One
can drink water from any taps installed in the streets or outside the house.

The temperature was usually very cold there. Air-coolers and fans were not required in the
village. As a result of which only 10% of the household and only one out of three schools had
fans.

ANM and ASHA behen worked actively in taking care of the women and children of the
town. The activities like chlorinating wells, Malaria eradication blood slides, immunisation of
mother and pregnant women, supplements for breast feeding women, for babies, etc were
performed actively by them.

MNREGA scheme was working effectively in the village. It had active participation from
men and women both. Many railings, Gaushalas, toilets, drainage roads, solar light panels,
and home repairs were constructed during the MNREGA.

However, in the village, some of the basic facilities were missing. There were no bore-wells
or government canals in the village.

There were no Common Service Centres or Kiosks in the village. There was no agricultural
market in the village as well. Most of the output from the crops of the farmers was consumed
by the family themselves only. Hence, there was not much output left to be sold in the
agricultural market.

The usage of vehicles was very less in the village. It was not feasible to have vehicles for all
the households. There were only two tonks with Pucca road. The village was located at a
remote place. Also, due to sloppy roads, the parking was difficult in the streets. Hence the
households preferred public transport and walking as a mode of transportation.

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Figure 4
Percentage of Households using Clean Energy for Cooking

Households using Clean Energy for

Cooking

Not Using
LPG
38% Using LPG
62%

Using LPG Not Using LPG

There was high usage of unclean energy sources in the village. Only 62% of the households
used the LPG cylinder for cooking purpose. The figure is low as compared to national
average of 80% households using LPG cylinders. This data of national average is as per
March, 2018. Since, wood was easily available in the vicinity, it was quite common amongst
the villagers to use wood as an energy source. They did not have to pay for the energy. Even
the households that had LPG used wood for purposes other than cooking like heating of
water, generating warmth, etc.

Most of the houses owned pressure-cookers. However, only few people used pressure-
cookers. Most of them went ahead with the traditional technique of using Pan for frying food.

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4. EMPLOYMENT
The village had few opportunities available for employment. There were 19 enterprises in
total; the major ones being Tea Shops, Rice Hullers and Tailors. In recent times, there has
been increase in out-migration, especially the employable youth. The major reasons being
aspirations and lack of source of fixed income within the village.

Simpson’s Diversity Index

Simpson’s Diversity Index (SDI) measures community diversity. In our case, we have used
the Simpson’s index for knowing the employment diversity in Uniyana Village.

The range is from 0 to 1, where:

 High scores (close to 1) indicate high diversity.
 Low scores (close to 0) indicate low diversity.

Calculations:

Where:
 D = Diversity Score
 n = number of individuals of each species
 N = total number of individuals of all species

Here the total number of individuals in all the enterprises within the village is 19 people.

Considering the same, we get the Simpson Index Score equal to 0.91. The score is high which
indicates high diversity in employment opportunities within the village.

There are certain limitations regarding this score of Simpson’s Index. Here only the people
working in the enterprises are taken into consideration. Major part of the earning members of
the village was not involved in an enterprise. Either they were serving in the army or
government job or in any enterprise outside the village. Also, there were many who relied on
the home-produce of farms and animal husbandry for livelihood. Excluding these 19
enterprises and a few government service occupations like Post-Master, Anganwadi Sevika,
School Teacher, etc there was no major source of income for the individuals.

Apart from this, a major part of population was involved in transportation service through
animals. There were remote places nearby wherein there was no motor able road. Hence,
animals like mules, donkeys were used to carry weights for business purpose. Also, the mules
were a major resource for income in nearby tourist destinations like Kedarnath,
Madhyamaheshwar, etc. The mules were used in carrying the tourists from Gaurikund to
Kedarnath.

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Here are the details of the earning members of the household working in the government
services occupation:

Table 2
Number of Non-Panchayat Government Officials in the Village
Sr. No. Post No. of Workers
1 Self Help Groups 7
2 NGO Workers 2
Government Officials Working Outside
3 55
Village
4 VDO 1
5 BDO 1
6 ANM 1
7 LHV 4
8 Mukhya Sevika/Supervisor (ICDS) 3
9 Other ICDS Functionaries (CDPO/DPO) 5
Functionaries of Water Works/Jal Nigam (such
10 1
as – Junior Engineer, Executive Engineer)
11 District Inspector of Schools (DIOS) 1
12 Banking Correspondents 1

In total there were 82 non Panchayat government officials in the village.

The NGO PSI had provided support to the local people for empowering them to do poultry
farming. However, due to lack of awareness about the importance of chicken and its future,
the households sold them instead of nurturing.

5. AGRICULTURE AND LIVESTOCK

All the farmers were marginal ones. These farmers practised farming in only two seasons:
Rabi and Kharif. The crops were completely dependent on rainfall. The weather conditions
were quite unpredictable. At times, one could experience rainfall, winter and summer in a
single day. Also, there were no irrigation facilities available in the village. This made
cultivation zero in the Zaid season i.e. from April to June. The crops that were grown over
there were taken up on the basis of what was consumed in the village. Due to continuous
division of land during inheritance from for-fathers to father and from Father to son, the
villagers had very small pieces of lands handed over to them. The local distribution unit was
‘Nali’. 1 acre of land was equivalent of 20 Nali. The village has 34 acres of land as cultivable
land that was being used by villagers to cultivate crops. There was no form of plantation or
contract farming in practice in the village. The main crops taken up by the farmers during the
season of Rabi were wheat and barley. During the season of kharif villages grow Paddy, Ragi
and Corn.

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The district Rudraprayag is a declared organic district of India. Only organic farming was
practiced in the village. Here people used the cow dung that was produced by their animals
they had in the village as their manure. No farmer in the village used fertilizer or pesticides
other than the bio fertilizer that was produced by their own animals. A big part of the village
was dependent on the crops grown in their lands. Not only the group grew it for themselves
but also grew it for their animals. Even during the non cultivable Seasons, the farmers left a
land for grass to grow over there so that they can be harvested and use it as fodder for the
animals.

The nearest government Mandi was situated in Dehradun and was over 200 km away from
the village. There was a trader who traded into crops and farm produce that was daily use.
His shop was situated in Mansuna, 16 km away from Uniyana. The prices at which he traded
were wholesale prices. The villagers had very less opportunities to sell their crops. Also, they
were not willing to sell the crops even if anyone approached them for the same.

The villagers came up with an indigenous idea of planting apple trees in the higher altitudes
of their own village so that they can reap benefit of growing fruits as they were having high
altitude cold temperature and fertile land that were required for the growth of apples. The
village had a fair distribution of orange trees throughout the village. They bloom and
produced a variety of orange known as Malta. The villages were ready to sell a part of these
and gain some profit. Malta juice was also readily available in the houses and was served to
the guests visiting them.

The village was fertile and produce good amount of crop per unit area of land. Sometimes
their crops even crossed the national average output expected out of rain fed land. The village
has limited number of bulls available in the village that were used for the farming operations
like ploughing.

The villages had no mechanised assets available for farming and they relied heavily on non-
mechanical farming instruments available to them. Since step farming was in practice and the
steps were too small for any sort of tractor on machinery to work on it also the land size
being very small uses of mechanized assets was not feasible for the farmers. Nearly every
household in the village had an iron plough. They had sickles cultivators etc. They also work
actively taking part in animal rearing. Most of the households in the village either had a cow
or a buffalo. Most of the households in the village had cows. Indigenous cows being lighter
were easier to rear on the mountains. Buffaloes, being the heavier animal, were at a higher
risk of falling down and getting injured. Also, Buffalo was at a higher risk for the villagers as
it was more costly.

Some villages even had beehives and their houses where they reared bees. The beehives were
used for extraction of honey and wax. The village had a very huge diversity of sheep and
goats. A lot of houses in the village either had a goat or sheep with goat being more in
number. The goods were used for transportation of small loads on the mountains as they were
very efficient in carrying weights and could climb the mountains easily. Also the gods here

12
was used to make a special kind of fibre that was used to make local coats that was very
efficient and provided heat during winters.

The village had a very rich practice of offering tea and food, especially rice and Dal, to any
traveller who was passing by. They did not have huge amounts of money or resources
available to them but they were readily helping out anyone in need.

Land Usage Distribution in the Village

Table 3
Land Distribution within the Village
Type of Land Area in Local Unit (Nali) Area in Acres
Area under Cultivation 2227.4 111.37
Area Under Forest 1778.95 87.92
Extent Of Pasture And Grazing Ground 1778.95 87.92
Area Under Inhabitation 978.35 48.36

Figure 5
Land Usage Distribution in Uniyana

Land Usage Distribution

(Acres)
9.49
48.36

111.37

87.92
Cultivated forest Inhabited Water body

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14
6. FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
There was a void in terms of financial institutions in the village. The nearest Grameen Bank
was located 5 km away in the village of Raunlenk. Apart from that all the private and
government banks, ATMS, non-banking financial institutions, formal bank were located 25
km away in Ukhimath Block. The nearest Micro-Finance institution was located in Raunlenk.
The nearest marketing and consumer cooperative were located in Mansuna village (16 km
village from Uniyana).

Most of the financial institutions provided the facility of deposit lockers and loans. Here are
the interest rates of some of the financial institutions.

Table 4
Interest Rates of the financial institutions
Name of the Institution Rate of Deposit Rate of Interest
Formal Bank 7.25 8.5
Cooperative 7 10
Private Money Lenders - 12
Private Bank 7.5 9
Grameen Bank 7 10
Post Office 8.2 -
Multipurpose Co-operative 7 10
Agricultural Credit Societies 7 10
Micro-Finance Institutions (MFIs) 7 10

Distance location of institutions reduced the feasibility of availing these financial services.
Time and cost of travel to these locations increased the cost of availing these facilities. This
added to the difficulty of receiving the benefit of the government schemes.

Debt was a common phenomenon in the village. Due to such difficulty in availing benefits
from the financial institutions, the village people carried out informal borrowing from their
relatives and friends within the village. Such borrowing was done without any kind of interest
rate. The person had to pay-back the borrowed amount within a stipulated period of time.

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7. EDUCATION AND SCHOOLS:
The village had three government schools:
i) Upper Primary School, Uniyana
ii) Rajkiya Prathmik Shala, Uniyana
iii) Government Primary School, Poldhi

Upper Primary School had classes’ 6th, 7th and 8th standard. The other two schools were
primary schools having classes from 1st to 5th standard. Rajkiya Prathmik Shala was located
in Uniyana and GPS was located in Poldhi. It was 1.30 hour trek route to reach GPS from
Uniyana. The school was very much needed at that location. This helped the kids from
Poldhi, Dhoni and Arshandhi Tonk. The kids were no longer required to travel on a difficult
trails and roads to reach the school.

All the schools have good facilities except the GPS. GPS had a very bad infrastructure in
terms of furniture and class rooms not being in proper ventilation. So the students were kept
sitting in the Veranda. Ventilation was decent in the other two schools.

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Figure 6
Classroom of Government Primary School, Poldhi

17
Figure 7
Classroom-2 of Government Primary School, Poldhi

These are the images of the GPS, Poldhi. Renovation is much-needed in the school. However
other facilities like water, separate toilets for boys and girls and a small playground were
decent enough.

All the schools were built on the government land. Originally, the land was privately owned
by a person from the village itself. It was then donated to the government. However, now
they are registered in the name of the government. In two of the schools, there are two
teachers each and in the upper Primary School there was only one teacher the lack of teachers
is one of the major issues in the village. Till date, there is only one teacher for two vacant
positions in the RPS school. In the RPS, Poldhi only one teacher is present for 26 students of
5 different standards. There have been no drop-outs in last 5 years in all the schools.

All the students in the school received 100% fee concession. All of them were admitted under
RTE. Also, the books were provided to the students for free of cost. School education was
available in the village only till 8 th standard. After that the students generally travelled to
Raunlenk and some even relocated to nearby districts like Srinagar, Rudra Prayag, etc for
further education. For all of these schools the teachers were qualified. They were having the
degree of BTC, B. Ed. and M.A.

Mid-Day meal scheme was regularly functioning in all the three schools. A Bhojan Mata per
each school was appointed for preparation of the meal in all the three schools. She was a local
person only. We had lunch in the all the three schools. The food had a decent taste. The menu
18
was different for different days. Total food of approximate quantity 150-200 grams was
served to each student. After the lunch was over, the remaining food was fed to the canines.
The plates had to be cleaned by the students themselves.

Overall, the schools had good facilities. Water was available in the washrooms. There were
separate toilets for male and female students. The teachers were regular and very well
qualified for teaching. Upon discussion with the parents, we received information that

The participation of female was higher in 2 out of 3 schools. It was around 60 percentage of
the total number of students in the schools. In the third School the female participation was
around 40 percentages overall it was a good number in terms of female participation. In
Rajkiya Prathmik Shala there has been a substantial increase in the number of female
candidates in the school. Five years ago there were only 16% female students, number being
4 out of 25. Currently, 59% of the students are females, the number being 13 out of 22.

Here is the data for School - Wise Gender Ratio:

Figure 8
Gender Ratio in Schools

Gender Ratio In Schools

Male - 31
51% 49%
Female - 32

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Figure 9:
School-Wise Gender Ratio Break-up

School Wise Gender Ratio

RPS Uniyana

UPS Uniyana

GPS Poldhi

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18

Male Female

The schools had a decent infrastructure however due to lack of teachers and lack of earth
infrastructure some infrastructural facilities are the students were combined in the class in
around 50 students at in the same class in the upper primary school and there is only one
features of a good teacher only one thing at a time and each and every class student was made
sit in the same classroom about from that the black boards and other furniture like table chairs
benches for students where queen in adequate amount the mid day meal scheme was
practiced in an efficient manner daily there was a different manner and every child are there.

In total there were only three Government schools. The land was owned by the government
only initially, when the schools where from the land was bonded donated by some private
owner of the village but as of now the land has been registered by the name of government
only. And the children went depending about the proximity and the registration.

We had conducted a proficiency test in the school for the students of 6 th, 7th and 8th Standard.
They were able to recognise the numbers in both the languages: Hindi and English. Out of the
11 students present that day, 6 students were able to do simple subtraction sums easily.
However, only 3 children were able to solve all the sums correctly which included division
sums as well. Overall the proficiency in terms of solving the sums was low. However, the
kids were good at general knowledge. On being asked basic questions about topics related to

20
Rudra Prayag district, Uttarakhand, Chief Minister and Prime Minister Name, they were able
to answer those questions.

Functioning of the School Management Committee (SMC):

The School Management Committee of the Village was formed by the Management
Committee of the school and the parents to students for studying in the school. The number
of students that studied in the school accounted for the number of members who were a part
of the school management committee. Earlier, the Pradhan was also a part of committee.
Recently changes have been made in the laws; Pradhan is no longer a part of school
management committee in Uttarakhand. The SMC meetings were held every alternate month.
The committee members are active in participation. They have assured 100% attendance for
most of the time. The time is divided by the rule of preparing minutes of meeting for each
and every meeting. 10 questions regarding the improvement of school building success
garden playgrounds are the building in excel VBA a prominent issues that were taken since
the schools in the village had good sanitation facilities there for discussions regarding
sanitation were not taken up also in the school dropout rate was very low. The parents were
quite satisfied by the facilities that were available in the school but were always ready to
discuss about improving the status of schools and available facilities so as to improve the
educational level of the students studying in them.

In the SMC meetings, major part of the discussion focussed on vacancy of teachers in the
school and maintenance and up gradation of the school premises. Toilet and drinking water
facilities were adequately available in all the schools. Hence, these issues were not much
discussed as of now.

8. HEALTH FACILITIES
As far as the health facilities are concerned there were not many institutions in the village.
One Anganwadi, its sub centre and a private clinic were present in the village. During
pregnancy and delivery of women day to travel to Ukhimath to a nearby town of the block
headquartered that is 25 km away from this village. They just had a private clinic that was
owned by that was owned by practitioner of Pharmacy. There was just one traditional healer
who practiced Ayurveda. Apart from that, no medical practitioner was present in the village.
The medicines were available with the Pharmaceutical practitioner.

There are frequent visits by the ASHA Worker in the village to provide supplements to the
babies and the pregnant women. The ANM worker visited the village once every month. She
handed over the supplements to the ASHA behen. ANM could not reach every Tonk of the
village. Some of the tonks were difficult to reach. Hence this process was followed by ANM
and ASHA behen.

Females were taken Ukhimath for the delivery purpose. Adequate care was taken while
taking the pregnant lady to the hospital during delivery time as there are many steps involved
in climbing up and down the mountain. Hospital was far away from the village. The

21
households in the Dhoni, Poldhi and Kirmodiya had to travel through difficult road made of
steps to reach the road. They were accompanied to the hospital by the ASHA behen. It
required ample efforts bringing them down.

Table 5
Data of Deliveries in Hospital and Immunisation of Child and Mother in last one year
No. of No. of
No. of
Name of the No. of Children Pregnant Children
Deliveries at
Tonk Immunized Mothers Vaccinated
Hospital/Clinics
Immunized for Polio
Uniyana 9 18 9 18
Uniyana Dhar 0 0 0 0
Tiwaar 2 4 2 4
Poldhi 3 8 3 8
Dhoni 1 6 1 6
Kirmodiya 2 10 2 10
Arshandhi 3 8 3 8

A part of the Debt, taken by the individuals, was utilised for paying the medical expenses.
People borrowed mostly from their relatives in the informal manner. The borrowing was done
without any interest rate. It was paid without any kind of interest within the stipulated time
period. As indicated in the table, last year 9 children were born in the village. All of them
were delivered in the hospital.

The postnatal care was taken efficiently by the Asha Worker and food supplements were
provided to the pregnant women in a regular Manna the child newborn was also weight and
check this if it is prone to any kind of disease and immunization was given to the child.

22
9. GOVERNANCE AND WELFARE PROGRAMS
Panchayat and other local government meetings like Gram Sabha and Mahila Mangal Dal
were carried out very efficiently. The attendance was almost hundred percent in the meetings.
The Panchayat meetings where conducted once in every month and Gram Sabha meeting
square consider conducted twice in a year. Fine of certain amount was imposed on the
absentees of the meeting. The elections were held every 5 years and essay in the current year
there is reservation for a lady Pradhan in the gram sabha.

The topics discovered in the meetings were mainly about distribution of government
schemes, MGNREGA, social ceremonies, installation of railings, etc were discussed in these
local meetings

The major focus of the Panchayat in the discussions was on the following topics:
 Sanitation and Sewage
 Roads
 Distribution of Government Assistance
 Employment Schemes

As far as schemes are concerned, MGNREGS and UJALA were very efficiently implemented
in the village. Under MGNREGS, many railings have been installed by the side of trails in
the current Panchayat. The trails were dangerous to walk on. There were certain incidents
where people or their live stocks died after falling from the mountain-edge. They fell while
walking on the trails. Hence, the construction of railing was important. Also drainage
systems were built. The official daily wage rate for MGNREGS is Rs 175. However, upon
asking the beneficiaries informed that the wage they received for their work was Rs. 170
only.

Table 6
Street-Wise break-up of Households benefited through MGNREGS (Last 5 Years)

Tonk Name Total No. of Households Benefited through MGNREGS

Uniyana 14
Dhar 4
Tiwaar 5
Poldhi 15
Dhoni 10
Kirmodiya 10
Arshandhi 16

Total 74 households have participated and benefited from MGNREGS in the last five years.

Under UJALA scheme, LED bulbs were recently distributed amongst the village people. The
time period was same while we were doing the survey in the village.

23
The elections of Gram Sabha are held every. The next elections are due in May, 2019. Every
alternate tenure, there is reservation for women being the Pradhan of the gram sabha.
Currently, the Pradhan is women only. However, the Pradhanpati is handling the
administrative work.

The concept of ‘Pradhanpati’ has both the sides: ‘pros’ and ‘cons’. The ‘Pradhan’ is an ex-
army service men, with a kind of celerity present in his work. He is active in getting grants
for the development work of the village. However, the flip side is during the times of
adversity. When a complaint is to be heard, he used to forward his wife to listen. As a result,
the villagers felt hesitation in putting their complaints or blaming the Pradhan due to the
‘Gender Factor’.

Panchayat was quite active in carrying out different functions. The decision was taken by the
participants after coming to consensus by undergoing many arguments and debates.

The Mahila Mangal Dal had active participation in the village-level activities. They played an
important role in conservation of natural resources like plants, grass etc in the village.

Some of the village-level decisions taken by the Gram Sabha are as under:
 Drinking Water Supply (hand-pumps and piped water supply)
 Sanitation and Sewage
 Rural Roads
 Electrification
 Street lighting
 Credit & Input Subsidies For Farmers
 Employment Schemes

As far as transportation is concerned, there was nothing much to be taken under

consideration. There was one major bus-stop in the village. However, the stops for buses and
taxis were not fixed. They stopped at any place where they saw the passengers.

Table 7
Budget Allocation to Various Issues by Current Panchayat (Graph may be)
Amount Allocated
Name of the Activity (Rs.)
Construction and maintenance of Panchayat roads 1200000
Construction of culverts 300000
Promotion of construction of toilets within houses 5,00,000
Construction & maintenance of Anganwadi and Health Sub-
Centers 800000
Construction and maintenance of distribution infrastructure
(taps, pipelines, hand pumps) building of water tanks 1000000

24
Table 8
Amount Allocated to Green Governance Task
Green Governance Task Amount Allocated (Rs.)
Cultivation of local vegetables and planting of fruit trees 10000
Installing solar lights, promoting solar energy (both in public
and private) 561000
MGNREGS works related to farm productivity 4500000

After such expenditure, some of the work was visible as of now. The construction and repair
of roads was going on currently. Sewer line was being built. Many toilets were newly set-up
under the ‘Swach Bharat Mission’. Street plays were also conducted by the gram sabha in
order to promote the usage of toilets. Solar Panels were distributed to the households. During
our transit walk we observed that there were at least two solar panels in each household. The
street lights were installed after the heavy. Each Tonk had a street-light in working condition.

Table 9

No. of Toilets installed in the Current Panchayat

No. of Households Where
Sr. No. Street/Basti Name
Toilet were Installed
1 Uniyana 3
2 Uniyana Dhar 1
3 Tiwaar 3
4 Poldhi 4
5 Dhoni 4
6 Kirmodiya 7
7 Arshandhi 10

10. MAJOR SHOCKS AND COPING MECHANISMS

The villages did not face major shocks like flood drought cyclone or heat wave. However,
those crops were being constantly attack after every few days by the local monkeys and wild
boars so this was an issue for the villages. Around 40 to 50% of the income was getting
wasted in purchasing the damaged things from the market and using it for their own
consumption. These events were quite disheartening for the farmers. There was no incidence
of starvations at the level of households.

Many of the households adjusted with the shocks by borrowing money from their friends and
relatives. While others suffered passively after suffering from the loss.

25
11. CLIMATE CHANGE AND VILLAGE AND HOUSEHOLD
RESPONSE
Most of the villagers believed that over the years the climate has changed. We connected
with the elderly people of the village to know the different changes being experienced in the
nature. Most of them agreed that following changes have occurred in the recent times:

1. Reduced Snowfall
2. Increase in Landslides
3. Irregular Rainfall
4. Increase in overall temperature

On being asked, most of the households showed willingness to pay their contribution to
government for planting trees and setting up of source of wind and solar energy. They were
not interested in setting up water treatment plant as they believed they already had the purest
form of water. Apart from that they believed that activities like installing of plant for
treatment of waste products should be done by the government only.

In the last three years, there have been no adverse climatic events.

12. INCOME AND CONSUMPTION

All, but one, households were dependent on agriculture as a primary or secondary occupation.
One was dependant on his occupation of welding. Most of the households consumed the
products from their own farms and that from public distribution stores. Remaining portion of
the consumption was purchased from the nearby markets. The portion of food purchased
from the market was a minor one when compared to the total consumption. The major diet
style in the village was of Rice and Dal, without Roti, in the lunch. In the dinner, they
consumed Roti, Sabji and Dal. Rice were absent from the diet in the dinner time.

Out of the 14 households, 6 households had income between 2-4 lakhs, 5 households had
income less than 2 lakhs and 3 households with incomes greater than 4 lakhs.

Here are some insights about the families in different income range:
 For families in the range of incomes less than 2 Lakhs:
Average Income: Rs. 2,81,252
Median Income: Rs. 2,61,836
 For families in the range of incomes between 2-4 Lakhs:
Average Income: Rs. 1,20,840
Median Income: Rs. 1,18,000
 For families in the range of incomes more than 4 Lakhs:
Average Income: Rs. 5,39,250
Median Income: Rs. 486000

26
The families, in the income range of less than two lakhs, were majorly dependent on farming
and their livestock. They had no regular source of income. Also, some were only dependant
on the government pension.

The families, in the income range of two to four lakhs, were involved in other activity along
with agriculture. Some were serving in a government job in nearby towns and some had small
enterprises within the village itself.

From the families, in the income range of more than four lakhs, one had a major source of
income from his clinic and interest on bank deposits. The amount, deposited in the bank by
the family, was received on retiring from the army. Same was the case of second family.
Here they invested money received upon the family member retiring from the army. The third
such family was dependent on mules for transportation service. Their mules served in
transporting goods as well as tourists on the route of Kedarnath. The main season was for six
months only wherein they earned considerable revenue.

At the village level, a large number of families had their members currently serving or retired
from the army services. There were around 65 Households out of total 183 which had
members currently serving in the army or in the last one generation. These enhanced the
income level of such families. Considerable amount of money is received by the families
when the army personnel retire. These amounts start from Rs. 15 Lakhs and then varied as
per their ranks. This amount bought in considerable interest when kept in banks. Also, many
such households received ‘Widow Pension’ after the death of the household members who
had served in the army. This amount was approximately Rs. 20000.

27
13. CONCLUSION
Major Problems at Village Level:
In all, the village was a small and remote one. It had no major employment generating
institute and network connectivity. Socially, there were no major issues as the village had no
scheduled caste or scheduled tribe households. Also, there was greater number of female
population in the village. Female representation in the school was also decent enough.

Some of the major issues concerning the village were as follows:

1. Continuous threat of Animal Attack
2. Lack of regular source of income
3. Infrequent Transportation

Solution for Animal Attacks Problem

There remains a continuous threat of animal attack on the farm. This phenomenon is quite
disheartening for the villagers. Every then and now, the Himalayan Simians or the Sus Scorfa
(Indian Wild Boars) visit the farms for consuming the food. They come, they destroy and
move away. Hence, most of the villagers are willing to move out of the agricultural
occupation. The loss is a shock and burden for the villagers. The next generation people are
also not willing to continue their agricultural population. This has also increased the
migration out of the village.

One interesting pattern that we observed was that the wild boars do not visit the fields during
the day-time. They only visit during darkness. Hence, converting the darkness into brightness
might reduce the number of visits of wild boars. This can be done by installing the street
lights or bulbs in the farms. This would remain on during the nights. The size of the fields is
small; one street light can provide coverage for three-four farms. Hence this would be one
solution.

Also, there is a proposal being circulated in the village for building a wall around the village.
Now the village is spread across the mountain. The area surrounding the village is completely
covered by trees. As of now the exact location of wild boars is not known. There is a chance
that even after constructing the wall the boars might be hidden inside the boundary of the
wall.

Instead of this, we can try building wall around a group of farms i.e. a single wall around a
group of 8 to 10 farms. In this way the area covered by each individual wall will be small.
This will make sure that at least in that particular portion of land, the boars are not hidden.

28
Solution for the Simian Problem:
Most of the households of the village have a domestic Himalayan sheepdog at their house.
They feed these canines. These canines can be deployed in the farms. These Himalayan
sheepdogs are also known as ‘Bhotia’ dogs. They are a healthy breed of dogs. Whenever
these canines are in the farm, the simians or the apes either avoid coming or prefer moving
away from the farm. There should be two to three sheepdogs together. A group of two to
three sheepdogs would be able to provide coverage to 8 to 10 farms.

The other solution would be the usage of protected structure like Poly houses. As of now,
there were only two poly houses in the village. Poly house would be useful for protecting the
cultivation in the farm. The cost of Poly House unit is Rs. 1, 00,000 only. Including the
subsidy, it is available at just Rs. 16,000. Various types of crops can be grown in the poly
house.

Once people starts seeing the benefits of using structures like Poly Houses they would be
motivated to use the poly house in their farms as well.

People can be motivated to grow crops like Kiwi. Growing kiwis in the hilly areas has good
incentives. Kiwis are not sought after by the monkeys. Hence there is lesser threat of this
crop getting destroyed by the animals.

29
Regular source of Income, Irrigation and Transportation problem
The village was surrounded by some of the famous Himalayan glaciers and other places of
scenic beauty. These places have the potential to be amongst the attractive destination.
Responsible Eco-tourism can be developed at this places which would require local
participation. Hence, such promotion would provide employment to the local people. Also,
this would mean recognising and incentivising the locals for conserving the environment
around them across the centuries. This in turn would make them more aware regarding
conscious use of natural resources. Hence, this would be one source of income generation for
the villagers.

Infrequent transportation was a major hurdle in availing facilities. The village was a remote
one; it was the second last village before the glaciers begun. The motor able road ended just
two kilometres ahead of the village. This made the transportation infrequent for the village.
Most of the institutional facilities, agricultural market, ATMs, Block Head Quarters,
Hospitals, etc were situated in Ukhimath. Ukhimath was situated 25 km away from Uniyana.
It took 1 hour to travel to the place. Additional 30-60 minutes were usually spent on waiting
time for the taxis. Taxi, walking and bus service were major modes of transportation there.

Irrigation facilities are major hindrance in the cultivation areas there. Appropriate things can
be done by using the government funding for developing irrigation facilities.

30
 Rural Action Component; Oct-Nov 2018
For People’s Science Institute

Home-Stay Project Marketing Plan Report

ABOUT THE PROJECT:

As a part of Rural Action Component, I had prepared a marketing plan for the ongoing
Home-stays project in the Madhya Maheshwar Ghati. The home-stays project is project has
been started in 3 villages: Ransi, Uniyana and Raunlenk. As of now, 7 homes have been
registered for the same. We visited all these homes and stayed at four of them. The aim for
the stay was to experience the home stays ourself first, provide a feedback to the host families
and then prepare a comprehensive marketing plan for the same.

Madhya Maheshwar Paryatan Samuh has been formed by PSI for taking care of this project.
The members of this samuh are the host families of this home stays project.

We have used the 7 P’s model of marketing mix to cover various nuances of the marketing
plan.

Here is the summary of marketing plan for the Home-Stays project.

31
 MARKETING PLAN
HOME STAYS PROJECT – PERCEPTION
The perception and current status about Home Stays project in the market is as under:
 Fast-emerging tourism Concept
 Cultural Richness
 Agreeable Hospitalities
 Uplifting lives of Local Community
 Experience

MADHYAMAHESHWAR PARYATAN SAMUH (MMPS)

The objective for creating this group is local community development through their active
involvement in the home stays project and increase awareness for Responsible Tourism in the
region. The objectives of the MMPS also include:
• Ownership of the Community
• Incentive for Conservation of Environment
• Check on migration
• Ethical approach towards Ecology
• Waste Management and Cleanliness Maintenance

CURRENT SCENARIO
 The project will be starting in 3 villages: Raunlekh, Ransi and Uniyana.
 As of now, 7 houses in these three villages are ready for the home stay project. Few
tourists visit these towns.
 Not many, outside the Uttarakhand state, know about these places.

32
Sequence for Promotions for the Home Stays Project

Madhyamaeswar Product ‘Home Objective of the Outcomes for the

Region Stays’ Project Community

33
MISSION STATEMENT FOR THE HOME STAYS PROJECT
Our guests can travel in the mountains and feel like they belong here. Simultaneously,
involve local community in the project for their development and responsible use of the
resources.

Figure 1
View of Uniyana Village in Madhya Maheshwar Ghati

Credits: Abhishek Singh

HOME STAYS AS a PRODUCT

Home Stays as a product has following things to offer to the Guests:
 Experience of the mountain way of life.
 Home away from home.
 Social Cause and Contribution in improving lives of the local people.
 Eco-tourism and Responsible Travel: The project promotes and focuses on responsible
travel to benefit local people along with the conservation of environment.
 Following activities will be done in the vicinity along with the Home Stays: Trekking,
Tree Planting, Bird Watching, Organic food, Fresh air, pure water.
 A story to share for the guests.
 Serenity.
 Refreshment for recuperation.

34
USP:
Following will be the USP of the project. These experiences can be the differentiating factors
for our project from that of other home stays project.
• Experience the Rural-Mountain way of life
• Promoting the cause and what the project means for the Local Community

Figure 1
With the local Artisan for making basket

Picture Credits: Abhishek Singh

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TARGET CONSUMERS (GUESTS)
Following will be our target guests. Looking at the beauty of the Madhya Maheshwar Ghati
and surrounding Himalayas, these would be the most fruitful guests segment for us.
 Trek Lovers
 College students; especially of the development sector
 People requiring change of environment for refreshment
 Devotees
 Foreign Nationals visiting Himalayas

CONSUMER (GUEST) PROFILING

Following are some of the profiles of our target guests segment:

27-year-old Karan Sharma

 Lives in Delhi with his roommates.
 He is working as financial consultant earning 80K/per month.
 He is a fitness enthusiast and likes to visit pollution-free places.
 He loves adventure and has successfully completed several famous treks.
 He is looking for new places to explore that are less visited. Looking for change.

22-Year-Old Shikha Singh

 Studies at TISS, Mumbai.
 Eager to contribute in uplifting of different communities of India.
 Wants to experience Rural-way of life.
 Follower in Green Lifestyle.
 Planning to visit the mountains with her friends during upcoming vacations.

32-Year-Old Isabelle Clark

 A travel-lover from Belgium
 Loves the Himalayas
 Willing to experience the Indian culture along with adventures during her next vacations
 Has already visited places like Dharamshala, Dal-Housie, Shimla, etc.
 Looking for a new and quiet place for stay this time

CONSUMER (GUESTS) INSIGHT

 Before making a purchase, consumer would rely on their trek-loving friends and internet.
 The trek-loving friends can act as influencers for promoting our product.
 Money won’t be big factor; experience and willingness will be.
 Fitness conscious and Green Customers would like the product.
 People, at least from North Indian states, can be here during short-vacations.

36
CUSTOMER SEGMENTATION
Geographic:
Cities: Delhi NCR, Dehradun, Lucknow, Gurugram, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Kolkata

Demographic:
Age: 18 – 32
 Green Customers who are sincere towards greener lifestyles
 College Students
 Post Graduate Students
 Working professionals
 Foreign Nationals

Age: 48 – 60
 Working professionals
 Entrepreneurs
 Life Stage: Recuperating people requiring a fresh environment
Some would come for spending free time.

Behavioural:
Visit Pattern: Vacation Adventures
Awareness: Low
Behaviour: Looking for new places to explore along with a local experience

PRICE
 Rs. 250 per bed.
 The customers would not be price sensitive. However, comparing with the prices of
Chopta and other nearby places, the prices should not be increased at the initial stage.
 Psychological advantage for keeping rate of extras low.

Advantages over the Competitors:

 Prices as per the bed
 Not just talking, doing as well
 Authentic Gadhwali home-cooked food
 Quiet and quite unexplored place

PROMOTIONS
 Promote the whole Madhyamaheshwar region.
 Story telling about the village
 Local Festivals and Celebrations.
 Health-friendly environment
 Local Dishes

37
PRODUCT BRANDING AND TAG LINES:
 No longer newcomer
 Don’t just visit, experience it.
 Don’t just listen, do it with them 
 Enjoy the mountain way of life.
 If you’re not here to experience, you’re just amongst the audience.
 Pahadi Jeevan Dekh to har koi shakta hai, but vesa karna talent ki baat hai

COMMUNICATION MEDIUMS
 Brochures with local travel agents
 Blue, Green and White Combination in the brochure and logo: Blue means Tranquility,
Green indicates nature and vegetation and white indicates quietness. All these qualities
are visible in the Madhyamaheshwar region.
 Posting Guest stories on Social Media
 Invite a travel/Adventure blogger to experience the stay and write for the same.
 Share the pictures of trek with online forums
 Floating pins on Pinterest and Quora answers requires little one-time efforts and stays for
long.
 Billboards or banners at places like Kamlendraji’s House in Raunlenk, besides Junior
High School Uniyana, etc
 The location can be on the Chardham route, Chopta and Sari, etc. Other good options can
be Kamlendra ji’s house, besides the Uniyana upper-middle school, etc
 Local festivals.
 Word-of-mouth publicity
 March – June and September – November good time.

Keywords for Digital Platforms

• Handle Names: TrekMadhyamaheshwar, MadhyamaheshwarStays,
Communitystays_Madhyamaheshwar, MadhuGanga_Homestays, MadhuGanga_Stays,
• Hastags in posts: #Madhyamaheshwar, #madhyamaheshwarghati #rudraprayag,
#StayatMadhyamaheswar, #MadhuGanga, #uttarakhandhomestays #himalayanhomestays,
#homestaysinhimalayas #Communityhomestays #nolongernewcomer,
#mountainwayoflife, #doitinstyle, #doitlikethem, #rudraprayagtourism
• For unpaid marketing on social media handles, follow or connect with recently following
customers of similar pages like trekthehimalayas, indiahikes, etc.

Attractive Places for the Guests:

 Madhyamaheshwar Trek
 Deoriya Taal
 Kaali Shila Trek
 Tungnath Trek
 Madhuganga Riverside

38
PEOPLE
The project would help the founders earn an extra source of income. The project would help
in improving the life stage of the community and the other local traders. Interaction with the
guests will help the owners feel lively.The hosts will feel incentivised for conserving the
environment around them.

Culture
The owner should master the art of story-telling, history of the region, mythological
importance, about the culture, lifestyle and festivals celebrated by the community. The story
should be in a proper tone and should not seem inflated.

Customer service
 Compulsory Government ID
 ‘Atithi’ or ‘Mehmaan’ and not ‘Customers’
 Fixed check-in and check-out time.
 Schedule and Expectations
 Not going for an extra-mile
 Cleaning and bedding once daily. If possible, then in the morning.
 Provide them with the price rate for nearby travel destinations. Have a taxi-wala who can
ride at a reasonable rate to the customers.
 Share the maximum capacity of the rooms with the guests. Extra-Charges as per pre-
decided rules.
 Share how-to-reach via train, plane, and taxi.

PROCESS
 Book online/Offline.
 Have an email ID through which guests can get immediate response for their queries.
 Have a bank account where guests can pay online. Link that account with either of
PayTM, Google Pay or PhonePe.
 A picture of homestay houses in Brochures – ‘What you see is what you get’ concept.
 ‘Know before you go’ – Provide information to the guests about the village and
community in advance. This would make them feel more connected to the community.
 House-rules and Acknowledgements of challenges beforehand
 Advance payment for basic things. Extra things later.
 Ask for suggestions and feedbacks.

The Road Ahead:

 Our potential customers include Meditation and Yoga loving guests. Interested locals can
be trained and included in the program to provide Yoga Coaching to the hosts. Basic-
level knowledge would work.
 Link-up with home stay players like Airbnb.

39
REFERENCES
1. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/indicators/nearly-80-of-indian-
households-now-have-access-to-lpg-gas/articleshow/63224218.cms
2. https://indikosh.com/subd/44070/ukhimath
3. http://censusindia.gov.in/

ANNEXURE
1. Method used for Sampling
We surveyed 14 households in total. The technique used in the survey was Quota Sampling.
Looking at the demographics of the village, the households were categorised in the following
manner:
i) Female heads of the household
ii) Widows
iii) Medium scale enterprise owner
iv) Service in Occupation
v) Extremely Poor
vi) Migrant (That was the only migrant family in the village)
vii) Families living in the topmost Tonk of the mountain
viii) Ones dependent on the livestock for income

Since, there were no scheduled castes or scheduled tribes in the village. Hence, that factor
was not considered while categorising households for survey.

2. Measurement of Local Unit of Land

20 Nali = 1 Acre

40