BIDANAGERE: STUDY OF A VILLAGE UNDERGOING TRANSFORMATION

Acharyas N R V School of Architecture

Contents
Introduction Bidanagere Survey Methodology Findings Inference Annexure

Introduction:
The following study is undertaken as a part of an exercise under sociology to understand the processes that the village and city areas undergo in the context of the proximity to a primate city like Bangalore and is an attempt to capture the social structure of a village, and the forces influencing the economic and physical changes in them.

Definition of a village: The census of India considers those areas as rural where the population is below 5000 and the density of population less than 400 per square Kilometer. It further provides that in such areas at least 75% of the males of the working population are engaged in agricultural pursuits. A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. It is normally permanent, with fixed dwellings; however, transient villages can occur. A village is form of community that practices subsistence agriculture and other non-agricultural activities. According to the 2001 Indian census, 74% of Indians live in 638,365 different villages. The size of these villages varies considerably. 236,004 Indian villages have a population less than 500, while 3,976 villages have a population of 10,000+.

Rural village transformation: Under the influence of urbanization, the look of many rural villages is changing. New cities continue to form as urban pockets of farmers form and merge. Former farmers and urban residents become neighbors. Farmers have started to accept urban lifestyles. Since there are great economic differences between cities and villages, a large number of farmers, especially the young and middle-aged, have migrated to the cities to make a living. Thus the population of the villages has dropped drastically. Furthermore, there are increasing numbers of unemployed and unemployable rural youth.

The mission: A team of 30 architecture students from Acharyas NRV school of architecture, left for the mission to get primary data ,in person, on the 20th and 21st of august 2011. Our objective was to do a survey of approximate 60 families. We set as our goal the study of Indias cultural heritage, the pole about which the true life of the people revolves. Our objectives and working methods are clearly of a socio-cultural nature. The further reports will lead you till the conclusion.

Objectives: To understand the social structure of the village. To identify various influences that brings about a change in the village. To understand the tradition and resilience of rural society. Explore the causative factors for shift of rural population. Analysis of information gathered from primary survey data.

Selection procedure: A village of average population size, about 1,0003,000 people was to be chosen. It was to be at a sufficient distant from all mega-cities. Significant ecological (i.e. hills and forest, riverine tracts, coastal areas), social (i.e. caste, community) and religious (i.e. Hindu, Muslim, Christian) variations of the village was also considered as a selection criteria. Uniqueness of the village in terms of ethnic, occupational (e.g. agricultural village) and cultural peculiarities was also considered.

Rural development in India: Lack of livelihood opportunities, modern amenities and services for decent living in rural area lead to migration of people to urban areas. There are wide gaps in the availability of physical and social infrastructure between rural and urban areas. To address these issues, the President of India Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam highlighted a vision of transformation of rural India through launching a mega mission for Provision of Urban Amenities in Rural Areas (PURA). During his address to the nation on eve of Republic Day 2003, Dr. Kalam visualized providing four connectivities: physical connectivity, electronic connectivity, knowledge connectivity leading to economic connectivity of rural areas. PURA was envisaged as a self-sustainable and

viable model of service delivery to be managed through an implementation framework between local people, public authorities and the private sector. The Government support would be in the form of finding the right type of management structure to develop and maintain rural infrastructure, empowering such management structure and providing initial economic support. Subsequently, Prime Minister of India also 1 announced implementation of PURA scheme in his Independence Day speech on 15th August 2003 PURA mission: "Holistic and accelerated development of compact areas around a potential growth centre in a Gram Panchayat (or a group of Gram Panchayats) through Public Private Partnership (PPP) framework for providing livelihood opportunities and urban amenities to improve the quality of life in rural areas."

BIDANAGERE:

The study was undertaken in a village, Bidanagere, near Kunigal, which lies along NH 48. It has recently come under the town municipal corporation of Kunigal. Near By towns are Kunigal (2.2 k.m.), Gubbi (32.6 k.m.) Turuvekere (33.4k.m.) Tumkur (40.2 k.m.). 600 families reside in this village.

INFRASTRUCTURE OF THE VILLAGE:

Bidanagere has both kuccha and pucca houses. It has 3 Temples and 1 Masjid. Locally available building materials are mostly used for construction purposes.

Bidanagere has Government schools, of which one is an Urdu school and the other is a Kannada medium school with classes up to 7th standard. For further studies one needs to go out of the village. For small children and infants, the village has an AGANWADI (BALWADI). The presence of a brick and Mangalore tiles factory in the vicinity of the village has influenced the recent construction practices of the village.

The municipality took charge of Bidanageres domestic issues, around 15 years ago. Till such time electricity was only available in two shifts of 4hrs, once in the morning and once after 6. Water was available thrice a week; one had to depend on local water bodies for most of their work. Street lights were not fully functional nor were they present as much as today. Maintenance was very poor, because of no proper municipal body. Culverts, sewage lines, drainage were not present, making life miserable when there were heavy rains. No primary health care centre was present. These were the major draw backs which Bidanagere was facing. At Present, electricity is provided, 22 hrs and two hrs are cut each day. Water supply is provided by the municipality, each day for 1 hrs once in the morning and evening. Street lights are provided and functional throughout the night. Maintenance is promptly followed by the municipal corporation. Culverts which flow around the structure of the house have not been implemented sufficiently. Drainage and sewage facilities are still insufficient.

The village now has one post office which caters to the surrounding 5/6 villages as well. Community spaces are being built.

Improvement of sewage, drainage and water supply facilities is under implementation. Concrete roads are being constructed to provide intra-village connectivity.

Survey Methodology:
Survey methodology is the field that studies surveys, that is, the sample of individuals from a population, with a view towards making statistical inferences about the population. A survey may focus on different topics such as preferences (e.g., for a presidential candidate), behavior (smoking and drinking behavior), or factual information (e.g., income), etc, depending on its purpose. Since survey research is always based on a sample of the population, the success of the research is dependent on the representativeness of the population of concerned. There are several ways of administering a survey and the choice between administration modes is influenced by several factors including, cost, coverage of target population, flexibility of asking questions, willingness of population to participate and response accuracy. Various methods are employed for taking surveys and each differ in the type of questioning and answering and have their own advantages and disadvantages. The most common methods employed for surveying are through telephone conversations, postal methods, online surveys, personal door to door surveys, personal mall or street intercept survey and a mix of the above.

Method used to survey Bidanagere: The type of survey conducted by us was a door to door survey, so as to have an on field experience. Samples of approx. 60 families of the 600 were carefully selected so as to achieve equal representation from all communities present in the village. A common questionnaire (as in annexure 1) was prepared by us after discussing the criterias to be listed namely, the social, economical, physical and infrastructural aspects of the village. This questionnaire was used to survey each of the families and to conduct a comparative study of them. The class was divided into groups of 4 and each group surveyed 8 families belonging to different strata and communities. The statistical outcome of the survey has been annexed and the findings have been detailed below.

Findings:
The total number of families surveyed was 58 which constitute 9.6% of the total number of families that the village consists of.

Total No. of Houses vs. No. of Samples Taken

Total No. of Houses No. of Samples Taken

The following facts were deducted from the survey on Bidanagere:

90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

1. 20.69% (12 families) are joint families where as the rest 79.31 % (46 families) are nuclear families.

2. 68.96% (40 families) have a family size of 5 members and below and the rest 31.03% (18 families) have family sizes of more than 5 members. However in the sample that we studied no family had more than 12 family members. 3. 75.94% (221) are adults and 24.05% (70) are children. 4. Of these 78.57 %( 55) are school going and 21.42% (15) are not schooled. 5. 49.14% (143) are males and 50.85% (147) are females. 6. 60.34% (35families) belong to the caste Vokkaliga, 5.17%(3 families) belong to Sc/St , 10.34%(6 families) belong to Madivalru , 5.17%(3 families) belong to Padmashali, 12.06%(7 families)are Muslims, 1.72%(1 family) belong to Madigru, 1.72%(1 family) belong to Tovaishnava and 3.44%(2 families) belong to Achars. (refer pie chart below)

Caste Ratio
Vokkaliga sc/st Madivalru padmashali Muslims Madigru Tovaishnava Achars

7. 18.21%(53people) are illiterate rest 81.79% (238 people)are literate

100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Series 1 Series 2 Series 3 Series 4

The above graphs read as follows: 1. 17.24 %( 10) families are dependent on a single non agricultural occupation such as: poultry, brick factory, doctor, mechanic, laborer etc. 74.13 %( 43 families) are dependant both on agriculture and other seasonal and non agricultural jobs. And only 8.62%(5 families) depend only on agriculture for income 2. 72.41%(42 families) own lands and landed properties out of which: 61.90%(26 families) own lands below 2 and 2 acre size.23.81%(10 families) own 2-5 acres of land and rest 10.34%(6 families) own more than 5 acres of land. Out of these 42 families that own land, 38.09%(16 families) depend only on rain as water source,26.19%(11families) depend only on bore wells and tube wells , 11.90%(5 families) depend only on tanks and the remaining 23.81%(10 families) depend on irrigation systems and public water supply systems The remaining 27.58 %( 16 families) do not have any landed properties. 3. 55.17 %( 32 families) have livestock out of which 40.62 %( 13 families) have only cattle. 4. 13.79 %( 8 families) are below poverty line considering their income levels. 31.03 %( 18 families) belong to low income group.36.20 %( 21 families) belong to middle income group and the rest 18.96 %( 11 families) belong to high income/well to do group. (refer pie chart below)

Economic levels
Below poverty line low Income Middle Income High Income

5. 6. 7.

8. 9.

43.10 %( 25 families) have kuccha houses and remaining 56.89 %( 33 families) have pucca house. 89.65 %( 52 families) have own houses and the remaining 10.34 %( 6 families) have rented houses. 93.10%(54 houses) are well connected with services like electricity and water supply Which 85.71 %( 18 families) have undergone physical mobility/migrated to/within Kunigal and Bangalore. The rest 14.28 %( 3 families) have undergone physical mobility within the village. 36.20 %( 21 families) have undergone physical mobility. 34.48 %( 20 families) have undergone economic mobility.

Other non- tabulated facts: 37.11%(108)are employed and 41.58%(121) are dependant out of which 62.81%(76) are dependant as they are children and 37.19%(45) are dependant as they are old age people Out of the 238 literate people,19.32%(46 people) have studied up to 5th class.29.41%(70people) have studied up to 10th class24.79%(59 people) have studied up to 12thand the remaining 18.06%(43 people ) have done higher studies/graduation. 55.17 %( 32 families) have livestock out of which 40.62 %( 13 families) have only cattle. Main expenditure of a family is: for 39.65%(23 families) food only for 10.34%(6 families) education only for 43.10%(25 families) food & education and others for 6.89%(4 families) food and other expenditures 58.62 %( 34 families) own vehicles (including bullock carts) out of which 50 %( 17 families) own 2/3 wheelers only.14.70 %( 5 families) own both 2/3 and 4/6 wheelers. 5.88 %( 2 families) own bullock carts only. In the sample we studied, there was no family that owned only a 4/6 wheeler vehicle.

34.48 %( 20 families) have undergone economic mobility.35 %( 7 families) have undergone economic mobility due to the physical mobility. The locally available materials are brick, hollow bricks, bamboo, mud blocks, Mangalore tiles, stones.

The village consists of dry and wet lands, natural reservoirs, lakes, wells and ponds. There are totally about 8 lakes and ponds are used for domestic and irrigation purposes.

INFERENCES
The collected samples, accounting to nearly 10% of the total village population, give us a fair idea about the demographics and transitional status of the village. Since care was taken to ensure that no family is surveyed twice and that all the pockets of the village have a representation, this study can be taken as the basis of determining the status of the entire village. From the facts arrived at after consolidation of the survey data the following inferences were made, SOCIAL ASPECTS The no. of joint families residing in the village has seen a fall over the years and there seems to be an increase in the number of nuclear families. This can be seen in the ratio of the joint families to the nuclear families, 6:13. The population of each family is fairly controlled with approximately 70 % of the families having 5 members and none of the families surveyed contained more than 12 members. The ratio of the number of adults in the village to the number of children is 221:70 meaning every fourth person in the village was a child. The ratio of males to females being fairly equal indicates the social improvement of the village and also indicates that female infanticide which is prevalent in many Indian villages is not practiced here. An applaudable fact about the village is that women are given an almost equal stand as men. Some families even practice the matriarchal form of society. The number of dependants in the village is however more than the in-dependent members. The categories of people falling under the dependant group are children, old aged people and handicapped people. Quite a few families had handicapped members who were completely dependent on others. While some families had admitted their handicapped members in rehabilitation centers in Bangalore, some took the burden of caring for then on themselves. The Vokkaliga community makes up the majority of the population, with Muslims , Madivalru ,Sc/St , Padmashali, Achars, Madigru and Tovaishnava filling the remaining(in descending order of their nos.) EDUCATION When it came to educating children though progress has been made over the years, the village still has a long way to go considering 3 out of every 11 children are not schooled. It is to be however noted that children who have not reached the age for schooling have not been included among the unschooled.

The literacy rate of the village is 81%, out of which 19% have the bare minimum education of 5th standard and 18% with a proper degree or qualification. While most educated people have migrated too towns and cities in search of better livelihood, some have stayed back to continue their traditional family occupation of agriculture. ECONOMICAL ASPECTS Most families of the village depended on agriculture for their livelihood (75%) while only 17% of the families depended on non agricultural jobs, which includes brick factory, dhobis etc. the percentage of people depending on agriculture was 8%. Most families with agricultural background depended on rain for their fields and during off season worked as daily labors. Very few families depended on bore wells, public water systems and tanks. 70% of the families have landed properties, majority of the having 1 acre or less. 27.586% families do not have landed properties. 55% of the families own livestock, which include buffalos, cows and hens. When it comes to the income levels a majority of the families fall under the low income and middle income groups (combined total of approx 68 %). While 18% receive high income, mostly through agriculture, 13% fall under the below poverty line. Nearly 60% reside in pucca houses with almost 90% self-owned residences. Public services like water supply and electricity are enjoyed by about 94% of the families, while the remaining 6%, mostly belonging to the below poverty line group receive only a meager amount of services, for example, water is supplied to them for only about half an hour per day per street. The primary expenditure of the families is for food and education. While the factory workers enjoy ESI facilities and other perks provided by the factory, the others have no such facilities. 58.621 %( 34 families) own vehicles (including bullock carts) out of which 50 %( 17 families) own 2/3 wheelers only. 14.706 %( 5 families) own both 2/3 and 4/6 wheelers. 5,882 %( 2 families) own bullock carts only. In the sample we studied, there was no family that owned only a 4/6 wheeler vehicle. MOBILITY 36.207% (21 families) have migrated within and out of the village. While 85.714% have migrated to other towns and cities, mainly Kunigal and Bangalore, 14.286% have merely changed their location within the village. The people migrated from the village have migrated mainly for employment and marital reasons. Very few families of the migrated people have been economically improved from the change. However, socially their status has improved greatly due to the pride factor attached with migration of family members to towns and cities. Therefore it can be said that migration has opened its doors for social mobility while economical mobility due to migration is rare as only 7 families have

benefitted from it. Nevertheless 34.483% have undergone economical mobility due to various other factors other than migration. Therefore, it can be inferred that, Bidanagere is one of the gradually improving villages of Karnataka, which has evolved greatly in the social and economical spheres, though there is still a long way to go.

THE END

Annexure:

ACHARYAS NRV SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

SOCIOLOGY AND ECONOMICS

VILLAGE CASE STUDY/ SURVEY - BIDANAGERE

NAME OF THE RESPONDENT: AGE: RELATION TO THE FAMILY: SEX:

FAMILY DETAILS
HEAD OF THE FAMILY: NO. OF MEMBERS IN THE FAMILY: SI. NO. NAME AGE

SEX

EDU. QUAL.

OCCUPATION OTHER

FAMILY STRUCTURE (JOINT/NUCLEAR): CASTE: NO. OF EDUCATED MEMBERS IN THE FAMILY: NO. OF EARNING MEMBERS IN THE FAMILY: MIGRANTS (IF ANY): PLACE OF MIGRATED TO: MAIN SOURCE OF INCOME FOR THE FAMILY AGRICULTURE: MINING: HUNTING: TRADING: COTTAGE INDUSTRY (SPECIFY): OTHER (SPECIFY):

ANIMAL HUSBANDRY:

TYPE OF INCOME DAILY WAGE: SELF EMPLOYMENT: JOINT STOCK: EMPLOYER: MONTHLY INCOME FOR THE FAMILY: MONTHLY EXPENDITURE:

TYPE OF DWELLING KUCCHA HOUSE: PUKKA HOUSE: (SPECIFY TYPE): STATUS ABOUT THE OWNERSHIP OF THE STRUCTURE OWN: LEASE: RENT: OTHER (SPECIFY): PROPERTY OWNED LAND: BUILDINGS: OTHER:

VEHICLES: LIVESTOCK:

MAIN EXPENDITURE FOOD: SHELTER: ENTERTAINMENT: EDUCATION: OTHER (SPECIFY): FACTOR AFFECTING ECONOMIC STATUS OF FAMILY: ECONOMIC STATUS OF THE FAMILY IN YHE PAST: RATE OF IMPROVEMENT: EXPECTED OUTCOME IN FUTURE:

CLOTHING:

RESOURCES
WHAT KIND OF LAND DO THEY POSSESS? WET LAND: DRY LAND: NON-IRRIGATED: OTHERS (SPECIFY): WHAT IS THE EXTENT OF THEIR LAND? SOURCES OF WATER TO THEIR LAND/ FIELDS TUBE WELL: BOREWELL: RIVER/CANAL: WHAT KNID OF CROPS ARE GROWN? ANNUAL: HALF YEARLY: SEASONAL: SPECIFY CROP: SURROUNDING VEGETATION: SOURCES OF WATER FOR HOUSES: DRINKING: FOR OTHER ACTIVITIES: IRRIGATED:

WELLS:

QUATERLY:

ELECTRICITY
DURATION OF POWER SUPPLY: PHASE IN WHICH IT IS SUPPLIED:

GENERAL VILLAGE INFRASTRUCTURE DETAILS

HEALTH CENTRES
NO. OF HEALTH CENTRES: MAINTENANCE: LOCATION: NO. OF DOCTORS: NO. OF PEOPLE VISITING PER DAY: IS THERE A MULTISPECIALITY HOSPITAL NEARBY? HOW IS THE SERVICE PROVIDED?

SCHOOLS
NO. OF SCHOOLS TYPES OF SCHOOLS: PRIMARY LOCATION: NO. OF STUDENTS: DO THEY HAVE BASIC NECESSITIES? MAINTENANCE: SECONDARY NO. OF TEACHERS (STAFF):

SERVICE AREAS
IS WATER SUPPLY REGULAR? WATER SUPPY: MUNCIPAL BOREWELL ARE THERE ANY WATER TANKS NEARBY? HOW IS THE SANITARY SYSTEM DONE? IS IT MAINTAINED PROPERLY? WHERE & HOW ARE THE WASTES DISPOSED? IS ELECTRIC POWER SUPPY REGULAR? MAINTENANCE: SAFETY: HOW IS THE WIRING DONE? COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS: TELEPHONE BOOTHS: OFFICE BUILDINGS: ARE THE AGRICULTURAL LANDS WELL EQUIPPED? ARE EASY & ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES USED? IS THERE ANY AGRO BASED OFFICE: ARE THERE BANKS TO PROVIDE LOANS FOR AGRICULTURE?

COMMERCIAL SPACES:
ARE THERE ANY SHOPS: HOW MANY: ARE THERE ANY SUPER MARKETS: LOCATION: ARE THERE ANY BANKS: ANY POST OFFICES: REGIONAL OFFICES: IS THERE A GOVERNANCE OR PANCHAYAT OFFICE: NO. OF PEOPLE WORKING IN THESE OFFICES

OTHER COMMON AREAS

PLAYGROUNDS: LOCATION: HOW MANY TEMPLES ARE THERE: LOCATION: HOW OFTEN ARE THERE FESTIVALS CELEBRATIONS? NO. OF PEOPLE PARTICIPATING IN IT: ARE THERE ANY COMMUNITY HALLS (FUNCTION HALLS)? LOCATION: CAPACITY: ARE THERE ANY OTHER COMMON WORK SPACES: ARE THERE ANY SMALL SCALE INDUSTRIES: OF WHAT TYPE ARE THEY? NO. OF PEOPLE WORKING IN IT: IS IT BENEFICIAL: WHERE IS IT LOCATED? HOW ARE THESE PLACES DEVELOPED? WHEN WERE THESE DEVELOPED? PAST STATE OF THE VILLAGE: PRESENT STATE OF THE VILLAGE: WHAT ARE THE INFRASTRUCTURAL CHANGES AND DEVELOPMENTS IN THE LAST FEW YEARS (5 YRS)? ARE THE CHANGES FACILITATING & SATISFACTORY: ARE THERE ANY FUTURE DEVELOPMENTAL PLANS: