The School of Petroleum Technology
SUMMER RURAL INTERNSHIP 2009
SESSION: 2008-09
FINAL REPORT
Prepared by: Ankit Avasthy 08BT01010 1
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT We are thankful to the officials of ‘The Young Citizens of India Charitable Trust’, and their director Mr. Amar Vyas, the founder of the NGO for their constant help and support throughout the internship. Though our academic knowledge was of limited use, we have gained a lot from this experience which will certainly help us further in life. We are also thankful to the college authorities for organizing such a wonderful programme. The entire experience was delightful and we recommend sending future batches of our college to this NGO for Summer Rural Internship.
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LIST OF CONTENTS TOPICS
PAGE NO.
INTRODUCTION
1
ABOUT THE NGO
2
OBJECTIVES
3
STRATEGIES
4
IMPLEMENTATION
5
ACHIEVEMENTS
6
LEARNING
12
3
INTRODUCTION Rural internship is a work based activity designed to render practical experience in rural areas. In India, rural population comprises of nearly 70% of the country’s total population. We know that the young generation is going to lead the India in near future in various perspectives. Therefore, it is necessary for every young future engineer, doctor, scientist and of other professions to feel the status, the lifestyle of this majority portion of society and to understand the problem they face and how they cop up with them despite of having less resources and facilities. As the title of our Summer Rural Internship programme 2009 suggests,
”To lead India, I need to feel India”
We the group of 20 students went to the Mehsana district to coordinate with the NGO- The Young Citizen of India Charitable Trust to understand the various problems prevailing in that area. We visited various villages and had direct interaction with the local people on the issues concerning to the HIV/AIDS and female foeticide. We found that the sex-ratio in the villages was very low, thus, we tried to investigate the root causes behind it and tried to spread awareness among local people by informing them about the dire consequences of it in near future. Overall, we had a multi-dimensional learning experience. Also, we had a glimpse of the lifestyle, customs and rituals of the rural part of the society. 4
ABOUT THE NGO: The Young Citizen of India Charitable Trust is a non-government organization founded by Mr. Amar Vyas. The NGO works on three main issues/projects in Mehsana district: Control and prevention from HIV/AIDS Curbing Female Foeticide Water management
The NGO has chosen three talukas in Mehsana district which are the most infected ones, namely: 1) Mehsana 2) Visnagar 3) Unjha
Form each taluka, twenty five most prone villages have been selected. Thus, total seventy five villages in Mesana district are being covered under the three projects.
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OBJECTIVES
To find and study the reasons contributing to decreasing sex ratio in Mehsana district.
To spread awareness in people regarding curbing female foeticide and its vulnerable consequences.
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STRATEGIES The strategy implemented by the NGO for effective working of project includes the following steps: STRATEG Y
RESEARC H
IMPLEMENTA TION
ADVOCAC Y
Research includes need assessment. Before embarking on any project, need assessment is done. Need assessment is done to identify the target groups and to understand the social and economic conditions of the village. It also helps in acquainting oneself with the religious cultures, practices and mentality of the people of the region. Implementation
includes
execution
of
the
measures
coming out from intensive research. Advocacy includes debate being carried out with local people and authorities regarding the policies. 7
IMPLEMENTATION To carry out the research in fifteen villages, we were divided into three groups and then assigned one of three talukas. Two NGO volunteers were placed in charge of each group.
After
these preparatory steps, five villages from each taluka were identified in which surveys would be conducted. We prepared a questionnaire which was a useful to interrogate the target groups. Our group was given Visnagar Taluka to carry out the research work.
1.
2.
Villages Assigned to us were :i.
Bhandu
ii.
Savala
iii.
Kamana
iv.
Valam
v.
Kuvasna
Student Members in our group were :8
i.
Ankit Gupta
ii.
Ankit Avasthy
iii.
Unnat Singh
iv.
Aarshavi Shah
v.
Udayani Makwana
vi.
Sneha Nair
ACHIEVEMENTS As a result of our extensive research work, we could draw following conclusions: • Even the educated portion of the society gets the gender test done. • If the first child is a boy, then people opt for the family planning operation, and if the first child is a girl then go for second, third…….until a boy is born. • In general, people were unaware of the laws concerning foeticide. • Today there is a need, to educate the educated. • The villages became male dominated, when the women ceased to practice their freedom of speech in their presence and continues to remain so.
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• The authorities in the concerning villages are found to be quite ignorant. • Majority of the answers on liking of girl child were biased and designed to please the interviewer. This can be clearly seen from the graph below and the present sex ratio in the villages.
The general information of the five villages of Visnagar taluka are shown below.
BHANDU
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• The sex ratio of Bhandu is 667 females to every 1000 males. • Approximate Population: 7500. • Majority of the answers given were biased and designed to please the interviewer. •
We met a 19 year old newlywed boy, who despite having knowledge about foeticide, was reluctant to speak.
• The Sarpanch was ignorant about the low sex ratio in his village.
SAVALA 11
• The sex ratio of Savala is 563 females to every 1000 males. • Approximate Population: 3500. • Morally foeticide is a sin, but considering the condition of the family and social pressure, foeticide need not be considered as a sin. • While a Daughter in Law was speaking against her Mother in Law, her six year old daughter tried to stop her.
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AMANA
• The sex ratio of Kamana is 710 females to every 100 males. • Approximate Population: 6000. • The mothers want daughter, but the family wants son. • The Sata-Pata system is prevalent in this village. 13
• They told for the boys that “We get interest and interest from them.”
VALAM
14
• The sex ratio of Valam is 703 females to every 1000 males. • Approximate Population: 7100. • Though the Sata-Pata system is present, it is not prevalent. • People are willing to send their daughters out of village for higher education. • They generally take their admission in PTC.
KUVASNA
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• The sex ratio of Kuvasna is 656 females to every 1000 males. • Approximate Population: 3200 • Though people understand that boys are useless, they are still preferred. •
Girls can also continue the family name.
• The villagers were very generous.
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LEARNING The whole internship was a multi-dimensional learning process in which at every step we had a completely new experience which is capable of modifying our behaviour towards social responsibilities. We learned about various things like: • Multitasking nature of NGO workers and the way the ‘repo build’ up takes place in the village. • How the research work is done and the process of identifying the target groups. • How the analysis of data collected is done for further interpretations. • Various
schemes
run
by
the
government
through”
Aanganwadi” which provide nutritional food to poor children in villages and takes care of pregnant women. • Customs, beliefs, rituals prevailing in the villages. • Factors behind disliking of the girl child and supporting the female foeticide. • Actual problems faced in villages.
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HIV/AIDS Project The NGO has been working on the projects related to this for the past several years. We were given information about the projects related to HIV/AIDS and were taken to different centres where treatment is done. The government has started National AIDS Control Program (NACP). Till date, there have been 2 NACP phases carried out in the Mehasana district. The third phase is currently in progress. NACP Phase I : 2002-05 NACP Phase II : 2005-08 NACP Phase III : 2009 onwards
The first phase was with regard to spreading general awareness among rural people. Infection has spread rapidly from urban regions
to rural areas. The most vulnerable
group
are
teenagers, farmers and truck drivers.
The second phase includes creating awareness among the FSW’s (Female Sex Workers) and MSM’s (Males having Sex with Males).
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The third phase which is currently in progress includes prevention and cure projects. The IRHAP (Integrated Rural HIV AIDS Control Programme) as a part of this phase in order to control the spread of AIDS from one person to another, limit its spread from one region to another and to ultimately cure all opportunistic diseases for free which the AIDS patients may be suffering from. Some features about this program are mentioned below along with information about the treatment centres. The significant achievements of NACP – II have been as follows: 1. The effectiveness of the condoms as one of the safest methods to prevent
and control the spread of HIV and other
STIs has been well established. The failures of NACP- II have been as follows: 1. Lack of investment in research on female condoms. Recommendations for NACP- III are as follows: 1. Design programmes based on the varying contraceptive needs of married and unmarried couples. 2.
Integrate
contraceptive
services
and
information
into
existing programmes that reach large number of youth. 3.
Curb
condom
wastage
and
dumping
by
peer
educators/NGOs/ others through strict monitoring and surprise audits. Reward persons and institutions suggesting practical solutions to avoid wastage. 4. Work out a norm determining the number of condoms required for demonstrations as opposed to usage. This should 19
be factored in while calculating requirements/indents at all levels. 5.
Promote
female
condoms
and
intensive
research
on
improving the quality and accessibility to the same.
The significant achievements of NACP – II have been as follows: 1. Scaling up PMTCT and VCCTC services especially in the high prevalence states. 2. Increasing access to free ARV is one of the major achievements of NACP-II. The national program for ARV provision has motivated other State Governments (Kerala and Delhi) to announce provision of free ARV from the State Exchequer which is also a good sign. 3. Recognizing the need of care and support for people living with HIV and AIDS and scaling up of Community Care Centers.
We had a brief discussion with our NGO YCICT about the project they are undertaking on HIV/AIDS, in the 75 villages of Mehsana district. The strategy they implement for effective working of project includes the following steps:
STRATE GY 20
SERVICES
PREVENTI ON
CARE & SUPPORT
Under the strategy of Care & Support, they have setup Community Care Centre (CCC), which takes care of HIV patients for whom ART has been started and initial infections due to it need to be cured. There we met HIV patients and a senior doctor who solved our various queries and gave useful information on ART. ART (Anti Retroviral Therapy): It is not a cure of HIV, but regular medication slows down the growth of the viruses. If it is possible to strengthen the immune system by making the changes in lifestyle, then there is no need to take ART. ART is needed when the immune system fails to fight against the viruses on its own. We also visited the Civil Hospital in Mehsana district where they had ICTC. ICTC (Integrated Counselling and Testing Centre) : We went inside the laboratory where HIV test is carried out. ELISA test is done for huge number of patients. Tri-Dot test is the most confirmatory test. ART (Anti Retroviral Therapy) is started when CD4 count is below 250. People having Gonolia, Syphilis and other STDs are advised to take up Tri-Dot test. Doctor told 21
us about HIV infection. ART is started when a person has no other medical options. We also participated in a seminar on counselling and testing of HIV among the local industrial workers, conducted by GIDC. GIDC (Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation) : All the
industrial
workers
came
voluntarily
to
attend
the
counselling and testing of HIV. DKT India, a company which works in the field of contraceptives, gave details on HIV/AIDS and demonstrated the use of condoms.
THE PRE-NATAL DIAGNOSTIC TECHNIQUES (PNDT) ACT AND RULES
The Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1994, was enacted and brought into operation from 1st January, 1996, in order to check female foeticide. Rules have also been framed under the Act. The Act prohibits determination and disclosure of the sex of foetus. It also prohibits
any
advertisements
relating
determination of sex and prescribes
to
pre-natal
punishment for its
contravention. The person who contravenes the provisions of this Act is punishable with imprisonment and fine. Recently, PNDT Act and Rules have been amended keeping in view the emerging technologies for selection of sex before and 22
after conception and problems faced in the working of implementation of the ACT and certain directions of Hon’ble Supreme Court after a PIL was filed in May, 2000 by CEHAT and Ors, an NGO on slow implementation of the Act. These amendments have come into operation with effect from 14th February, 2003.
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