INDEPENDENT UNIVERSITY, BANGLADESH

Spring 2013

Live in Field Experience (LFE)

Venue: Bogra ( TMSS )

TOPIC: Education and Women empowerment

SUBMITTED TO:

Mr. K M Ariful Kabir (Coordinator)

Mr. Obydullah Al Marjuk

Mr. Sameer Ahmed Khan Majlish

SUBMITTED BY:

Md. Arifur Rahman, Id : 1020449

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31 December 2013

Mr. Ariful Kobir

Coordinator (Bogra, TMSS)

Live-in-Field Experience

Independent University, Bangladesh

Subject : LFE Report, Spring, 2013

Sir,

It gives us immense pleasure to submit our report on Rojakpur Village, which was assigned to us

as a requirement for Live-in-Field Experience (LFE) program.

In response to the assigned group project we had a very good teamwork. Though, it was a hard

job to perform, we prepared this report comfortably and spontaneously. Now we are fully

prepared to submit the report to your opinion on work.

While working for this report we came across many hurdles and pleasant experiences and have

tried our level best to include all the necessary information. This experience will definitely help

us in the near future and assist us towards a better understanding of rural Bangladesh. This report

will try to portray our effort, observation and experiences gained during the survey and writing

of this report.

We hope that this report meets your expectations. We would take great pleasure in providing you

with clarification if required.

Sincerely Yours,

Md. Arifur Rahman

Id : 1020449

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CHAPTER: 01

1.1 Acknowledgement

This is our great opportunity to prepare a report on Rojakpur Village. The success of this report

depends on the contribution of a number of people who shared their thoughtful guidance and

suggestions to improve this report. We completed our report under the supervision of Mr. K M

Ariful Kabir (coordinator), Mr. Obydullah Al Marjuk, Mr. Sameer Ahmed Khan Majlish.

We would like to thank IUB (Independent University, Bangladesh) for having such a great and

exceptional course through which we get the opportunity to learn and experience about a rural

Bangladesh village.

We would also like to thank the TMSS personnels for their hospitality at Bogra and also for their

continuous support and guidance, which made our stay and survey fruitful and easy.

Last but not the least, we wish to thank the villagers for sparing their time to answer our

questions with patience and kindness.

Finally, we would like to thank others who have provided any kind of information about our

report. Last of all, we thank IUB for allowing us to conduct the research and write the report.

1.2 Purpose of LFE

This report is based on Live in Field Experience. Which has to be completed by every students of

Independent University , Bangladesh before graduation. Students have to stay about 12 days in

some selected place to conduct several surveys and research. About 75%-80% of the people of

our country live in village. The rest of the people of urban area depend on the village people

directly or indirectly for various purposes. But we the people who live in the urban area have a

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pre –conceived idea that the village people are “Poor”, “Dirty” and “Illiterate”. But we cannot

justify whether they are so or not.

It is a fact that nearly all the students of IUB have been brought up in urban areas and it is reality

that they have little or no idea about “Gram Bangla”. But our entire root is from “Gram Bangla”.

So, it is our duty to know about them and their life style. Development of our country is based on

our rural areas. Our politics, society, economic condition, literacy rate and health condition

depend on our village. Though we are not concern about our village and villagers that’s why

after 41 years of our independence we are still in under development country. IUB students

have an opportunity to go to the village and villagers by the help of Live-In-Field Experience

course to know about the real picture of rural life and find out our origin.

1.3 Objectives

As a part of our curricular activities known as “Live- In- Field Experience (LFE)” we the student

of Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB) visited rural development academy (TMSS) in

Bogra for eleven days and study a village the objective of this visit was to have a direct

knowledge about village of Bangladesh and study the villagers.

This report on the rural community of Bangladesh has been drawn with a view to achieve two

goals:

Firstly, as a partial requirement of the course Live in Field Experience (LFE)

Secondly, to get the information on the current condition of rural life, their economic system,

socio economic infrastructure, culture, relationship between each other, household pattern,

market and the market structure finding the intensity of the poverty in the village and different

conditions from the villagers.

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The objectives for which the report has been carried out are given below:

To familiarize the participants with real socio-economic realities of rural life by estimating

literacy rate, level of education and working status of the population.

To identify the changes that are taking place in social structure and economic development by

measuring their monthly income and expenditure, the ownership of land and occupation.

To know their agricultural method, cropping pattern, rotation of crops, their seasonal life pattern.

To find out the GO and NGO activity in the village. Are the organization really involved in

development of the village or not and how?

To get the real picture of the present environmental condition of the village, like source of water

supply, toilet facilities, and kind of fuel they use.

To reflect the state of health and health awareness, vaccination and other medical facilities are

available in the village. Do they really practice some common unscientific practices and identify

why they believe in these camouflaged truths? And what are the effect by taking these type of

practices?

1.4 Scope of the report

IUB has invested a lot of time and resources to complete a successful research in LFE. Though

our time was very short to make an appropriate report, we tried to make it successful. Our

supervisors always helped us. The effective research techniques and our sincerity have made our

scope of report appropriate. This study is likely to be conducted on assessing the infrastructure in

respect of economy, society, culture, market of a particular village setting. For the purpose of our

analysis both quantitative and qualitative data has been collected from the most important

informants of the respective village. We have included qualitative as well as quantitative data in

the present study because these days as criterion of social research, there is a growing concern

and demand for qualitative data backed by quantifiable analysis.

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1.5 Limitations of the report

This is common factor of a research work to face certain limitations. We also faced many

limitations while doing our survey as well as while analyzing data, plus while preparing our

report because this technique of research methodology is a new concept for us.

The study we conducted, suffered from some limitations as follows —

Time limitation: The time was too short to conduct the study. 11 days is not enough for the

collection of raw data in order to prepare a professional report. Which covered the orientation

for the study, selection of village, conduction of PRA, selection of respondents for informal

survey and as well as the actual condition of the research.

Difficulties of getting income related information: Some of the respondents give us wrong

information about their income. So we faced problem to find out economic conditions. Some

of the respondents also felt shy to express their economical distress.

Confusing informants: It is the most infuriating constraint that we faced. The villagers

didn’t know the actual time duration of HAT. Also, the year of established and name of

establisher of HAT is not clear because different respondent mention different information.

Also, because the designs of questionnaire survey were pre-organized and some of the

questions were made open-ended. We were faced with the problem of several vague and

irrelevant answers.

1.6 About TMSS Bogra

Thengamara Mohila Sabuj Sangha (Bengali: ঠে�ঙ্গা�মা�রা� মাহি�লা� সবু�জ স�ঘ) (TMSS) is a micro

credit NGO from Bangladesh. TMSS is a women-oriented leading Bangladeshi organization

working for alleviation of poverty, empowerment of women and improvement of socio-

economic infrastructure of Bangladesh. TMSS has partnered with a number of organizations,

including NCC Bank Limited to help enhance services available in more rural areas.

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TMSS has been firstly know as Thengamara Mohila Sangha from 1694 as a Social Development

Organization. On 1980 Prof. Dr. Hosne-Ara Begum reforms the organization as Thengamara

Mohila Sabuj Sangha (TMSS) and gradually emerged as the biggest national women

organization in Bangladesh. TMSS engaged in uplifting the living condition of the most

distressed poor people particularly women and children of both urban and rural areas.

TMSS has been operating different social development programs for its members with the

assistance of development partners other than PKSF. These support programs have been

implementing with the assistance of Sonali Bank, World Fish Center, USAID, ILO, OXFAM,

Department of Agriculture Extension, Fourth Fisher and other Development Partners. It is

noteworthy that the above support programs have direct favorable impact in creating an enabling

environment for operating MF programs successfully.

Some of the Social Development Programs are mentioned below:

1. Human Rights and Legal Support

2. Health and Nutrition Services

3. Women, Children and Gender Development Program

4. Human Development and Training Program

5. Education Program

6. Income Generation Activities and Job Creation Program

7. Agriculture and Para Agriculture Program

8. Environment Development Program

9. Entrepreneurship Development Program

10. Research, Planning, Documentation and Publication

11. Local Resources Mobilization and Utilization

12. Networking and Collaboration

13. Disaster Management

14. Development Program for Char Dwellers

15. Ethnic and Local indigenous Poor Population Development Program

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16. Comprehensive Social Development Program

17. Micro Finance Program

TMSS is equipped with necessary expertise and capable workforce with around 6700+. TMSS

provides its best efforts in bringing the poor women folks life/living conditions to a dignified

level in the family and society through their capacity building, adaptability, responsiveness,

optimum use of their own/available resources, participation in development activities, good

governance and fulfillment of their legitimate rights and management of their sustainability.

Happy & prosperous women and their families in the society.

1.7 Selection of the village

Selection of the village and formalities was done by the host organization TMSS . They selected

village Rojakpur for our group along with our course coordinator. There was another group

placed with us to work in the another village. It was about 4 Km away from TMSS .

1.8 Description of Rojakpur

As each group was assigned to a different para in the village, our group was assigned to the para

called Rojakpur. It is located at the north of Hazradejhi. When entering the para, the first thing we

saw a school. One of the two mosques of Rojakpur, on the left of the entrance, next to which is the

Dodidro bemochon Foundation. There are two large ponds on the east of Rojakpur, and the canal that

goes through falls on the north of Rojakpur. The Post Office of Rojakpur is on the left of the primary

school in Rojakpur, next to which is a Community clinic , and going straight towards north brings us

to a temple. Rojakpur consists of around 35 to 40 houses where approximately 150 people live.

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1.9 Selection of the Respondents

The method of selecting the respondents involves unbiased random selection. However for the

very purpose of the study respondents from different walks of life and of different age level had

been chosen for collecting information. At the time of the survey we identify the names along

with their financial and social status condition as defined by the villagers and thus we knocked at

their door for information. Consider the gender ratio; there were number of female respondents

because the time we used to survey was between 10 am to 1.00 p.m. which is the most suitable

time for men to work in their respective field of profession. In most of the cases we survey the

young people but in case of determining the past and the present condition we preferred a bit

older person, which we think is very logical. But in these cases we also crosscheck the

information with other respondents.

Fig: How we got the information

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STUDENT

AGED PERSONS YOUNG PERSONS

CHAPTER: 02

EDUCATION AND

WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

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2.1 Discussion

Education is very essential in the present socio-economic condition of Bangladesh. Education

and women empowerment are two integral part for the apt development of the country. The

education and women empowerment in the ground level of the country are disturbing. It is

really demand of time to give women education and help them out with empowerment.

Women’s empowerment is defined as the capacity of women to be economically self-sufficient

and self-reliant with control over decisions affecting their life options and freedom from

violence.

Bangladesh is mainly a rural country. It is a land of villages. More then 80 percent of population

lives in villages. The importance of villages in our life is great. The development of the entire

country depends on the welfare of these villages. So it is essential to keep the villages in a

successful condition. We the leaders of tomorrow must know how the great majority of our

people live. Otherwise we will be making decisions based solely on urban problems and needs in

mind. This will be detrimental to the future socio-economic development of this country,

because we cannot afford to have a sharp cleavage between the urban and rural populations. It is

vital that we understand and realize that the majority of the people of our motherland,

Bangladesh, live in the rural areas. This course Live-in-Field Experience (LFE) bridges the gap

between our historical knowledge and the present through an experimental study of the roots of

our culture by keeping aside our theoretical knowledge for a couple of days, ultimately to adorn

our knowledge by combining both theory and practice in the serene environment of rural

Bangladesh.

Women suffer from different types of powerlessness in social and economic sphere of life. The

lack of power or disempowerment reflects in their less education level, less income, less control

over their own income, less bargaining power in selling their own produce and labor, less

participation in decision making body, less access to production inputs and resources and

employment Opportunity than men. This vulnerable situation resulted in an overall dependency

of women on their male kin through their life cycle all over the world, particularly in developing

countries. The dependency makes them as a burden of a family and lowers their value of life in

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the society. Development practitioners are concerned to raise their empowerment level, which

make women capable to challenge their dependency or oppressive situation in the family and

society as well.

We were hardly aware of how true this claim would prove to be. We all had a preconceived idea

of rural life, our ideas purely based on books we had read and movies we had seen. So this

course was a true revelation; it was our encounter with the reality of rural life. We gained a

varied set of experiences during our visit to the village of Rojakpur . In this report we have tried

to depict the most enlightening details that these experiences have taught us .

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CHAPTER: 03

EDUCATION

3.1 Education in Bangladesh

After independence in 1971, Bangladesh became a secular state and different forms of education

were allowed to coexist. The most practiced education system in the country is the British one,

but people have the right to choose from three different options: the English medium, the Bengali

medium and the religious branch.

The Bengali medium of education is offered by the government of Bangladesh, meaning that it is

public and mainly free. Still, people have to pay some fees. All the courses are taught in Bengali

with the exception of English courses and religious ones. The religious branch of the education

system in Bangladesh attracts mostly young children who are homeless. These children are fed,

sheltered and taught the paths of Islam in specialized religious institutions called madrashas.

These institutions are subsidized by the Mosques through public donations. When they grow up,

these children will become Islamic religious figures. That is why Islam plays an important role in

the educational system of Bangladesh.

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Fig: School students

The level of education has improved quite remarkably over the decades in the village of Rojakpur.

Education gets major priority over many things in the village life, this feeling is quite urban and we were

surprised to see this positive change in the village. The respondents said that till the Pre War period there

was no tone literate in the village. But after the Liberation War the situation changed and more and more

families put their children to schools and now from the mid 90s a 100% participation has been observed

in Schooling of the children in Rojakpur. What is more remarkable is there is a 100% turnover of female

students in Rojakpur. The girls are not just getting primary education, some girls follow through to high

school that is the School, and some take it even further to the graduation level. The mothers of the

daughters think that for he little daughter, education is the only ammunition against the world when

everything else fails. This was quite surprising since this sort of perception towards education is

extremely urban.

But there are cases when boys are taken off school to lend a hand to his father in the field work. The

economic situation of the village is not very promising and that means that the farmers cannot work

Kamlas (hired help) to assist with the farming. Then his son becomes the resource personnel and is taken

off of the education to be put to use for earning money.

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3.2 Conceptualizing Education in Bogra

Parents, irrespective of their socio-economic condition, are realizing the importance of

education. They are exercising choice, and propelling change by moving their children from

dysfunctional schools to ones they see as more responsive to their needs. And reassuringly, a few

shining schools continue to show the right path, despite all odds.

Fig : Class Room Fig : Reading Children

3.3 Discriminating education

There is a large gender gap in Bogra when it comes to education. The fact that women are less

educated than men is largely due to ancient tradition and common mentality. Ideas about the

appropriate roles for women in the labor market or in society, about the biological unsuitability

of women for science, and about the gender-based division of work in the household and on the

farm influence decisions about schooling.

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The rate of literacy and of educated people is increasing in this Para. Careful thinking about

children’s future career is growing increasingly among the people. So, they become interested to

get their children educated. To materialize the policy of universal primary education the

Government is giving books free to the students. The positive affect of this initiative is also

obvious in this Para. Parents are willingly sending their children to primary schools. But the

number of drop-outs after primary level is still a matter of concern. Poor guardians cannot bear

expenses for S.S.C, H.S.C or Graduation level education of their Children. We can notice the

numerical distribution of currently enrolled students in the following

Table : Educational Background of currently enrolled students

Level of Education

Male Female

No % No %

Primary 10 50 04 57

Secondary (Non S.S.C) 04 20 02 29

S.S.C 05 25 01 14

H.S.C -- -- -- --

Graduation 01 05 -- --

Masters -- -- -- --

Source: Field Survey 2013

The table reveals that the percentage of primary level education for both males and females is the highest.

This table shows that most of the students drop out education after S.S.C level.

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Table : Educational Background of Other Members

Level of Education

Male Female

No % No %

Primary 04 22 04 44

Secondary (Non S.S.C) 06 33 05 56

S.S.C 05 28 -- --

H.S.C 02 11 -- --

Graduation 01 06 -- --

Masters -- -- -- --

Source: Field Survey 2013

The Most of the adult villagers are also at least little bit educated. There are male in this village who have

completed till HSC. Most of the adult villagers at least completed their primary education. Almost all

females give up the course of education after secondary (non-S.S.C) level. This is due to poverty as well

as backward outlook of the people. The people who are literate are also very much aware about the

education of their children.

3.4 Income ranges

The survey to find the income range was also conducted on 25 families. After gathering the data the

people in the sampled data were divided into 4 categories of income ranges. These were an income of

Tk.25000 per annum and below representing the poor class, Tk. 25000 to Tk.50000 p.a. representing the

middle class, Tk.50000 to Tk.90000 p.a. representing the upper-middle class while Tk90000 p.a. and

above represents the upper class.

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Table : Total Family Income

Income Range No %

Below 25000 (Poor Class) 5 20

25000-50000 (Middle Class) 8 32

50,000-90,000 (Upper Middle Class) 10 40

Above 90000(Upper Class) 2 8

Total 25 100

Source: Field Survey, 2013

The people in the upper class are large landowners with high earning from their harvested crops, while

one of them had a son working abroad and receives healthy remittances. The people in other income

brackets were farmers and farm their own piece of land or engage in sharecropping.

In our sample of 25 families about 80% belonged to the middle class and above while only 20%

belong to the poor class. From this it can be deduced that our assigned para was quite

economically well off. Although, there should be room for disagreement since the overall picture

might have been different if a larger sample data were taken.

3.5 Changes in Education

Prophet Mohammad (Sm.) says that if you want to literate, you can go up to China.

Education is the most important thing in the life. It has the power to change the society. From the

history, we see that all developed countries or cities are developing because of education. When

King Tuglog attacked Baghdad in the mid century, he destroyed all libraries of Baghdad.

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Another great example was held in Bangladesh in 1971. When Pakistan realized their lost against

Bangladesh, they killed teachers, journalists, singers, actors and students. All examples show the

importance and power of education.

Before 1971, people of Rojakpur went to moktab for learning. Mokatb is the place where

children go for learning Quran. Only male had permission for going to school that time. Women

worked in the house. Little girls also helped their mother, aunts and sisters in house work.

Although male had permission but only for low economic condition, the number of educated

male did not increase. They mainly went to madrasha.

Situation is now changing. We see a madrasha and a primary school in Rojakpur (East side). It is

situated beside Rojakpur. Many children read in madrasha. The people of this Para are religious.

For this reason, they like to send their children (both sons and daughters) to madrasha. They can

do up to Alim from this madrasha. Some are starting to go to school. Primary school, which is

situated in this village. Some goes to college. This college is situated in Bogra city.

The change in education sector has good reflect in their life style. They are conscious about

health, environment and so on. Their economic condition also changes because of education.

Therefore, we can say that good change in education change the society.

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we see that respondents’ are interested their children will complete their education experience.

At the present, they do not divide between male and female. They realize the importance of

female in family.

Table: Suggested minimum Level of Education for Children

Level of Education Male Female

No % No %

Primary ----- ----- ----- -----

Secondary(Non SSC) ----- ----- ----- -----

SSC 06 30 06 30

HSC 05 25 04 20

Graduation 02 10 01 05

Masters ----- ----- ----- -----

Source: Field Survey, 2013

Marriage is the part of life. It has relation with education. In society, all believe that an educated male

gets a beautiful wife. Bride family always finds an educated bridegroom. They realize that they live

happy their daughter’s life. Another side, people find an educated bride for their son. People also become

conscious about their daughter’s life. They also think that after marriage if their daughter is educated.

They can bear their family burden. Male also find an educated wife because she can job and share in

family income. We see that most of respondents’ give marriage their children above 18 years and that

their education must be above class 10.

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Table: Suggested Minimum Level of education and age at the Time of Marriage

Sex

Minimum Age Minimum Education

Below 18 18-20 20+ Class V Class 10 SSC HSC

No % No % No % No % No % No % No %

Male 02 10 04 20 10 50 00 00 03 15 05 25 06 30

Female 03 15 08 40 02 10 02 10 01 05 06 30 04 20

Total 05 25 12 60 12 60 02 10 04 20 11 55 10 50

Source: Field Survey, 2013

Fig : School’s Function Fig : School condition

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They are very much alert about female education and There is no restriction in the matter of

female education. Women in the village are co-operative as well as the men are. Women work in

the field also. The NGO has provided housewives to earn money doing hand works such as

embroidery on sari and punjubi, khata shelai etc. Educational institutes’ primary school and

madrasa of the village is helping the Primary sector education.

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CHAPTER: 04

WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

4.1 WOMEN IN BANGLADESH

Women in Bangladesh are in many ways inferior to and dependent on men from early childhood.

When the girl reaches puberty her marriage will soon be arranged and the family will pay the

husband’s family a dowry to marry off their daughter to him. The girl will thereafter pursue the

rules of Purdah and live under seclusion. Women that can obtain Purdah strictly show high social

status. Only very poor women have to go outside to work . Violence against women is common

in Bangladesh . Even if the constitution promotes equal rights to women, women still suffer from

discrimination and violence that occurs in the home, at the workplace and on the society level as

well . The women in rural Bangladesh are hard working. Foremost, they perform heavy

household work throughout the days.

Women’s contribution to the family income is not recognized to the same extent as men’s, but

they are however involved in many activities, such as post harvest activities, farming, fuel

gathering, rice husking, making and selling handicrafts, and rearing domestic animals . “A

woman’s work is never done”, a village woman says in the study of Hartman and Boyce .

Although women’s work is hard and time-consuming, such work does not provide them equal

status to men. A woman seldom earns money on her own, but is financially dependent on her

father, then husband and thereafter her son for economic security . Only one third of the women

in Bangladesh can read or write, but the school attendance have increased since the past decade.

To improve the literacy and education level among girls and women the school fee is removed

for girls the first ten years in school, twice as many years as for boys, because the families often

are reluctant to pay for their daughter’s education . Women, however, constitute only 22% of the

university students in Bangladesh .

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Our national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam wrote- the Good done by the civilization, half created by

man and rests by the women. This is an eternal statement about the development of human

civilization. From the dawn of the civilization women and men worked together to make the

future brighter.

Modern social science looked into the social disorder and termed it as gender discrimination.

This discrimination is sharply visible in our social and state level activities and attitude.

.

To ensure the participation of women in the said process they need to be empowered mentally,

economically and politically. That is why modern social science termed women development as

the Empowerment of Women. Empowerment of women is linked to the total human

emancipation.

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In true sense social empowerment of women depends on the progressiveness of state, society and

individuals. Present government is secular in nature, stronger to create progressive social

mobilization and that is the ray of hope to build a society with openness, where women will be

socially empowered.

Economical empowerment of women remains with the involvement of women in economic

activities. This initiative is also already been started in the frame of our state and society. As an

election commitment, this government is also more attentive to the women participation in

economic activities.

Employment, self-employment and entrepreneurship are the main segments of economic

activities. To encourage women for performing in economy, it is not only the responsibility of

government alone. Public-Private partnership, GO-NGO partnership and Private initiative are the

needs to make the women economically empowered.

For a digital Bangladesh, all activities related to the women empowerment are also connected to

the philosophy of digital Bangladesh Approach. So women need to be digitally empowered

4.2 Women Empowerment in Bangladesh

Women empowerment in Bangladesh means giving women of the country the power to rule and

govern their own lives, away from traditional and social constraints. The women empowerment

movement in Bangladesh focuses on giving women the power and authority they need to be

men’s equals. The structures of sub ordinance that have keep women in the dark for so long must

be eliminated. Women must have intellectual resources that can be acquired through good

education and material resources that can be accumulated with the help of a solid job. Women in

Bangladesh work in rural areas and do most of the manufacturing labor as well as most of the

harvesting. This traditional practice needs to stop. The violence against women must also stop.

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Women need to gain a lot more power over their decision making process. They should not be

seen as fertility machines that have only the goal of reproducing.

Fig : making lap Fig : Narcari

Most of the violence against women that takes place in Bangladesh is located in urban and rural

households. Violence against women is an old, patriarch practice that focuses on establishing the

balance of power in the family. The system of early marriage for girls is also a cause for violence

against women because little girls are forced into new families from an early age.

Bangladesh is a society that perpetrates the myth of the mother as a divine creature. Women who

do not get pregnant are considered inferior because they can’t bear children. This is a male

tradition that limits the mobility of women all over the country. Global NGO’s that are working

towards helping women get empowered in Bangladesh are still facing difficulties because

Bangladesh is a closed society which allows very few changes. In Bangladesh, gender

inequalities are a social construction that can be eliminated with time.

This is an eternal statement about the development of human civilization. From the dawn of the

civilization women and men worked together to make the future brighter. In a certain point of the

social development process a few socially determined factors created a cultural hemisphere,

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which pushed the civilization not to think women as equal to the men. This cultural phenomenon

changed the thought process of society and the society started discrimination between women

and men and ultimately women become a deprived part of society.

Empowerment of women is now a global issue. Although this term is usually used for improving

women’s condition, in real sense it may be applied to any disadvantaged group of society for

bringing them to the same level of advanced section. To ensure the participation of women in the

said process they need to be empowered mentally, economically and politically. That is why

modern social science termed women development as the Empowerment of Women.

Empowerment of women is linked to the total human emancipation.

The most stellar non-government intervention in Bangladesh, by far, has been that of

microcredit. According to the pioneer of the small loan, Dr Muhammad Yunus of the Grameen

Bank, the role of microcredit is to induce the following spiral: Low-income-credit-investment-

more income-more credit-more investment-more income. This, however, is only a partial

representation of the way it works. Differences in borrower capacities, their initial economic

endowment, social position and the wider economic environment - all play a role.

Most providers of microcredit are NGOs. Prominent among these are BRAC, TMSS, ASA etc.

Some, like Grameen Bank, although demonstrating many characteristics of an NGO, are

registered as banks. The government provides microcredit through the BRDB and also through

the RDRS. The government also has a new arrangement in association with the World Bank,

called the PKSF for providing microcredit.

4.3 DEVELOPMENT AND WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

Sex and Age based Structure of the Population Table shows that like the male population of the

Bogra district, women represent a vast resource. They must be provided equal opportunity in

education, employment and economic activities, then only this resource could be utilized

properly.

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TABLE: SEX AND AGE BASED STRUCTURE OF THE POPULATION

Age-base Group Total Population (%) Male Population (%) Female Population (%)

10-14 Years 15 8 7

15-19 Years 12 7 5

20-24 Years 15 8 7

25-29 Years 14 8 6

30-34 Years 11 6 5

35-39 Years 10 5 5

40-44 Years 9 5 4

Source: Statistical Pocketbook, Bangladesh, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, Government of the

People’s Republic of Bangladesh.

4.4 WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Women’s enterprises were confined in sectors that were dominated by traditional gender role,

such as food and beverage, health, education, webbing, tailoring and wholesale and apparel

trade. But the situation is improving slowly; today women are also in occupations, which were

solely controlled by the male before. Now, some of them possess top management post in private

and public sector enterprises, sit in the most important policy making bodies of the country, are

entrepreneurs and own enterprises . In this case the Thengamara Mohila Sabuj Sangha (TMSS)

chairman Prof. Dr. Hosne-Ara Begumis mentionable. Women are now seen also as owners and

managers of cold storage, travel agencies, interior decoration, engineering workshops and even

garment industries, etc.

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Employed Persons 15 Years and Over by Status of Employment, Gender and Locality

Employment

Status

Rural (%)

Both

Sex

Male Female

Self-employed 31.2 47.6 7.4

Employer 0.2 0.2 0.1

Employee 7.0 9.2 3.7

Unpaid Family

Helper

42.5 14.4 83.2

Day Labourer 19.1 28.4 5.6

Source: Labour Force Survey of 20011-2012 Bogra .

4.5 Role of NGO’s Programs Support Enterprises on Development

NGOs operate a number of ventures that provide both socially useful services, and generate

some profit that can be used to enhance the sustainability of the organization.

Program support enterprises TMSS , Grameen Bank and BRAC are designed to provide

essential inputs to the enterprises owned by its group members. This idea has been developed

because supply of inputs available for these enterprises from the domestic sources was not of

sufficient quantity/good quality. Moreover, timely supply of good quality inputs is the key issue

for ensuring enterprises optimum returns and their contribution towards poverty alleviation.

These enterprises are creating employment opportunities for rural people. Financial surplus of

these projects is expended for the development programs.

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4.6 Working with Government

With the first of these forms of NGO intervention, the aim is to directly improve the ability of

the relevant parts of government to hear 'voice'. This is a familiar area of technical assistance for

governance advisors in international agencies and there are ranges of recognized modes for this.

The difference for TA work in the context of a pro-poor CSO strategy, however, is that it should

focus less on technical dimensions of improving government or administration, and be more

specifically dedicated to orienting government towards eradicating poverty. For example, it is

not enough simply to address general issues of transparency; the question needs to be pushed

further to ask about transparency for the often-illiterate poor, in relation to specific policy issues

that affect them. This will entail improving understanding of the dynamics of poverty and

adapting processes of governance to address the problems identified. Government here is used

in an inclusive sense, and could involve working with elected representatives at all levels, as well

as with officials of both central and local government. Types of interventions might include

capacity building; addressing administrative processes and procedures; creating effective

linkages and channels of communication between government and CSOs (for example, in the

form of joint consultative boards).

4.7 Policies and Programs Encouraging and Supporting

Women Entrepreneurship

The importance of women entrepreneurs in the national development process has been

acknowledged by successive governments and steps initiated to realize these objectives.

Consequently, under successive Five Year Plans, women’s development initiatives have been

gradually integrated into the macro framework and multi-scrotal economy to bring women into

the mainstream of economic development and encourage potential women entrepreneurs

realizing their business plans.

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4.8 Women’s Empowerment through Microcredit

There are many NGOs that are working at Thengamara, Bogra for rural development. There is

no specific development strategy for women’s empowerment. The NGO TMSS in Thengamara,

Bogra revolutionizes the self awareness and expectations of women by offering access to non

formal basic education and income-earning opportunities through crafts, chicken rearing, and

fish pond cultivation, among others. Grameen Bank spurs the microfinance movement and

provides loans to women to support these activities, while the Bangladesh Rural Advancement

Committee (BRAC) has pioneered non formal education. BRAC is the largest NGO in the

provision of education. All have played a fundamental role in helping women to achieve

empowerment through education and entrepreneurial activities that initiated their

groundbreaking entrance into the market place. NGOs also serve to make family planning more

acceptable. In addition, they serve to encourage the political empowerment of women. The

promotional organization of the rural poor is recognized as the core activity of TMSS. Concern

for women's development occupies an important place in TMSS overall development process.

TMSS has mainstreamed women's development needs in all its programmes . Women groups

constitute 64 per cent of all primary groups and are recipients of all development services in

corresponding proportions. Women participation is also higher than men in different

programmes. The participation is 65 per cent in human development training; 62 per cent in skill

development training, and 60 percent in credit disbursement.

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4.9 DEVELOPMENT AND WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

Sex and Age based Structure of the Population Table shows that like the male population of the

Bogra district, women represent a vast resource. They must be provided equal opportunity in

education, employment and economic activities, then only this resource could be utilized

properly.

4.10 Employment Opportunities

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Employment opportunities mean the different profession or occupation available for earning income.

Employment opportunities may be used to determine the economic structure of rural societies. The more

employment opportunities exist in the rural society, the higher the economic sustainability of that society.

Employment problem nowadays is a burning issue in a third world country like us. The nature and

environment have direct impact on employment opportunities. The economic condition of any area is

determined by the occupation type available within that particular area. Most of the professions in our

rural society are directly related with agriculture. And the environment and natural advantage resolves the

level of profession related to agriculture in a particular area of our country. Other traditional professions

are also available such as small Entrepreneurship, Shop-keeping, Service in any office etc. But those who

are doing job outside their own region also indirectly related to the agriculture by giving others to

cultivate their own land properties. So, everyone in the village more or less directly or indirectly related to

agriculture, though they may have their own profession to earn money.

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4.11 Income Sources of the village Rojakpur

Income source usually refers to the various ways people can earn money for their livelihood. Income

source is dependent on the profession directly, because level of profession is important determinant of

income sources and thereby it determines the overall economic structure. In the rural society, village

people usually live a very simple life, as the income sources are very limited within those areas.

Usually, within the village people have more or less same type of income sources available for them, but

those who work outside get better opportunity to earn more money. As income is the main determinant of

the wealth ranking, it is rather very important to know about various income sources available. So, there

are lots of income sources both internal that is within the village and external that is outside the village

exist for the village people to pursue. Most of the internal income sources have direct relationship with

agriculture and other small business activities. But the external income sources are either the services,

business activities connected with towns or the jobs in foreign countries mostly in the Middle East. In our

society, the bread earners are the male members of the family usually. But nowadays, for some micro

credit programs by government and some NGOs, female members are also participating in different

professions and also contributing a lot to the family like male members. As a result, the income sources

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are increasing day by day as everyone at village is coming up to earn money without some exception, the

village economic structure is changing slowly and it is a positive signal.

As we have discussed about the different profession available in the village of Rojakpur, now we can

understand what are the income sources available in the village. As we can see that the major income

source is agriculture, and it has direct relationship with the different professions available in the village.

People used to work in the fields and also work outside to earn money. Basically, if we see the class

structure, we can understand that most of the rich and middle class people have surplus money as the

members either own huge land properties or they work good jobs outside the village. On the other hand,

the poor class people are living on a daily income basis. Most of them are working as Kamla in others

village or own village. So, the income sources are the major bases to determine the village class

stratification. And with no confusion, we can say that the NGOs like Proshika, ASA, Grameen and TMSS

are playing important roles to enhance the lifestyle of the poor class people. The lower class people mean,

people who does not own enough land properties for cultivation. So, people of this class are working as

kamla or get micro credits to go for entrepreneurship in the bazaar.

Fig : working for earning

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Another trend is seen in the village that among the villagers those who are quite young are trying to get

different jobs abroad. They are looking for productive job outside just to earn more money and thus to

enhance their lifestyle. Nowadays, it is a common practice that young villagers having minimum

education are taking technical trainings to go for job outside the village or country.

So, the income sources available in the village of Rojakpur are very limited in numbers. But people are

getting engaged in jobs that are directly or indirectly related to the agriculture. As there is no industry ,

the villagers have no chance to go for diversified profession inside the village, and thereby their lifestyle

and economy is just around the land properties they own or the knowledge about the service they

perform.

The village Rojakpur is a small village . The main profession of the villagers is agriculture.

Different types of profession directly related to agriculture exist in this village. And the various

types of professions also determine the income sources available.

Now, the different types of professions are described in brief below:

4.12 Vegetables

Other vegetables like radish, eggplants, gourd, and spinaches are cultivated round the year. The soil of

Bangladesh is wonderfully fertile. In Rojakpur villagers women grow vegetables in the field or in the

place nearby there households. In the village of Rojakpur the vegetables are grown throughout the year.

Vegetables like Cabbages, Cauliflowers, Tomato, Potato, Green Leaves etc grow abundantly in Rojakpur.

Among them some are grown in winter season and some are in summer season. But in the month of

Ashar and Bhadra there are very little vegetable cultivated because of extensive rainfall and flood.

4.13 Agricultural Labor

Agriculture is the main profession of the villagers of Rojakpur. Villagers work in fields of their own or in

fields taken leased by agreement round the year. Seasonal crops are cultivated throughout the year. But

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not all the villagers have their own cultivable land. So, there are some contractual agreements on land and

the villagers make crops.

Labor works are done by most of the landless people in the village of Rojakpur. Both in-village labors are

called Kamla work together in the fields of the village of Rojakpur. It is a very common profession

around Bogra District, but this profession is done by the lower class landless people.

4.14 Small Entrepreneurship

Some villagers both male and female are doing the job of shop keeper in the village of Rojakpur. Most of

the shops are built just near the household of the shopkeepers. They bring goods from the town or hut and

sell those in their shop. They work as Vendors both inside the village and also in the Hut and Bazaar.

4.15 Animal Husbandry

Animal husbandry is another source of income for villagers. Few families in village have got their own

cows, goats, hen, and duck. They do it somewhere to meet up their family demand and in some cases they

sell it for small income. They obtain milk and flesh from these sorts of work.

FIGURE : ANIMAL HUSBANDRY

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4.16 Shopkeeper

PHOTO : SHOP KEEPER

Some women in village have taken shop keeping as their main source of income. They spend their most

time in shop keeping. They are solvent than others and they also do farming. They usually sell the daily

commodities required for rural life.

4.17 Services

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Different service sector are growing near the village or outside the village. Services may be the job of a

Teacher or job of Imam of the mosque are possessed by the villagers. Most of the service holders are not

self employed and they used to work full time. Actually, service sector is making village people more

interested about the surplus income because they are doing the job simultaneously with job of cultivation.

So, they are getting double benefit out of service sectors.

4.18 Non Farm Economy

According to our correspondence in the village , we knew that the village’s infrastructure has changed

day by day; the most interesting part is we have found some people who have participated in diversified

professions in addition to their main occupation.

From our survey we observe that there are many kind of occupation in village. Occupations could be

farmer, van-driver, , construction worker, shopkeeper etc. Many people in Burundi are mainly engaged

with brick field. Their main income source generate in brickfield. We found that rural people are engaged

in this occupation in two ways. First way is there are some families in this village who are permanently

working in the brick-field some people are still working as a temporary basis. They do not depend on

others for processing the paddy.

Overall the villagers were not very well off. Most of the villagers are middle class or poor. According to

the villagers they are quite happy as they are.

4.19 Elaborating Classes of the Village

To emphasize on our topic, we first had to find out the different classes remaining in the village. The

villagers pointed out three classes according to the resources they own. They are

Upper class

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Middle class

Lower class

The classes were differentiated on the basis of three categories of resources. These categories are-land

properties, number of domestic animals, luxury goods, income range and many other related areas.

The description of each class according to these different categories of resources they own are described

in the following pages.

4.20 Upper Class

In the village Rojakpur, there are very few families who really belong to upper class. This is may be for

the limited resources and opportunities available within the village. The upper class people own most of

the land properties of the village both as dwelling place and as cultivable lands. The upper class sustains

their livelihood which derives out of interaction and that of somewhat well-built houses. Most of their

land properties are used for cultivation. In the village, the wealthiest person owns land properties of 30

Bighas. The land properties are either cultivated by the owner with the help of supervisors and labors or

these are given for lease to others. But no other villagers belonging upper class have such land properties

as the one we mentioned earlier. Basically, the range of land properties owned by the upper class villagers

lies between 7-30 Bighas.

Again, the number of domestic animals owned by the upper class villagers is high. Most of them used to

have 4/5 cows, 20-25 chickens and 8-10 ducks in their households. Basically most of the domestic

animals are bought and grown up for consuming not for doing business. But the cows used to give milks

and some of the villagers sell the milk to others. So, these domestic animals are also sources of income.

Again, the luxury goods owned by the upper class villagers are not possessed by the people of other

classes in most of the cases. The upper class people used to have motorcycle, cassette player, color

television, Mobile phone, VCD, VCR, VCP, wall clocks, radios, bicycles, and crockery, gold and silver

jewelleries etc. But the number of luxury goods held by the upper class people may vary within the class.

Most of the upper class people have their own tube wells and ponds for water supply.

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The house furnishing is an integral part of rich families’ image, such as beds, sofa sets, dining table,

wardrobe, dressing table, show cases etc. The rich being health and hygiene conscious due to their

exposure to many things through media sources are using sanitary latrines and toilets. They used to have

tin-shed kitchen, cow-shed, kachari ghar etc. They even have gardens, where they either do gardening or

plant vegetables for their own consumption. On their backyards or front yards, they plant Shegun or

Mahogony for the commercial purpose. They have plenty of trees around them such as mango, jackfruit,

banana, blackberry and so on. They have big pond in the backside of their houses where they cultivate

fishes for their daily purpose and also they earn some money by selling the fishes.

4.21 Middle Class

In the village of Rojakpur, there are quite a good number of families belong to middle class. The income

level they hold is moderately convincing as most of the middle class villagers are engaged in jobs both

within the village and outside the village. The middle class people own quite a good amount of land

properties of the village both as dwelling place and as cultivable lands. Most of their land properties are

used for cultivation. Just like the upper class villagers most of the land properties of the middle class

people are either cultivated by the owner or these are given for lease to others. Basically, the range of land

properties owned by the middle class villagers lies between 3-6 Bighas .

The number of domestic animals owned by the middle class villagers is moderately high. Most of them

used to have 2/3 cows, 8-10 chickens and 2-3 ducks in their households.

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PHOTO : MIDDLE CLASS VILLAGERS

Basically most of the domestic animals are bought and grown up for commercial purpose say cows for

Eid-ul-Azha to sell and Chickens for Eid-ul-Fitr. Also milk of the cow is sold to the other villagers. The

middle class people used to have color/black & white television, wall clocks, radios, bicycles, few

crockery items, very few gold and other type of jewelleries etc. But the number of luxury goods held by

the upper class people may vary within the class. Few middle class people have their own tube wells for

water supply. Some of them also possess Power-tillers and Water pumps for irrigation and they use these

assets mostly for commercial purpose.

As for house furniture middle class people have beds, tables, chairs, show cases, almirah etc. Most of

them have sanitary latrines and toilets. They used to have tin-shed kitchen and cow-shed. The yield in

front of their houses is basically used for vegetable plantation for their consumption and small houses are

kept for the domestic animals they have.

4.22 Lower Class

The lower class people are majority in numbers and their features and lifestyle is common for every

family, which we came to know through or research. Most of the lower class people have either very little

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land possession or no land properties at all. They used to work as labor in others field. Some of them are

also associated with other service area.

PHOTO : LOWER CLASS VILLAGERS

The lower class people earn a very meager income. Their earnings depend on their daily work basis as

they usually do not work as full time employee. But those who have very few land properties, they work

in their own field throughout the day. Usually they own land properties ranging from absolutely zero to

two Bighas.

The lower class people have few domestic animals and they usually keep those for consuming in special

occasions such as in any religious festivals. Some of them grow domestic animals to sell. Usually they

own one or two cows, four or five chickens etc.

The only luxury item they own is the radio though not all the lower class people own a radio. Their

material possession is very limited in numbers. They have minimum furniture to live like locally made

wooden bed, racks, chairs, tables etc. They live in houses made of mud with some having tin roofs and

the rest with hays.

Usually, they have no tube well or ponds for water supply. So, they have to rely on the ponds owned by

other villagers for their water supply. They used to have very unhygienic or open latrines and toilets.

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Their kitchen is usually situated just beside the house in an open area. They usually have very few or no

plants or trees around their households.

4.23 Activities of Unmarried Female

From the findings from the questionnaire survey, we found that the usual age for staying

unmarried is till the age of 18. We have divided this group of females into three categories.

Non students : girls in this group belong to the ages of 12-18 ad who have not gone to school for

their education. They usually perform all sorts of household work, and assist other female

members in the family with their work.

Girls in this category range from ages 8-12. The maximum number of unmarried girls is

represented here as most unmarried girls study till class V, and drop out of school at the age of

12. and the number of unmarried girl getting education thin out because of this.

4.24 Activities of Female Non Students

The unmarried females wake up usually at 7 a.m., this is a little bit later than the married women

as their responsibilities towards the household is less. After waking up they does the cleaning of

the house, they attend to the cattle and sweep the floors. At 8 a.m. they have their breakfast, and

after breakfast they usually take care of the siblings and doing odd household work. From 9 a.m.

when other girls her age are on their way to school she is putting fresh coats of clay on the house

walls and floors, this activity is called “Mati Lepa”. From 10-11 a.m. they do household chores.

And after that, they help in cooking by cutting the vegetables, washing them, and by keeping the

stove running by blowing on the stove hole with a pipe. At usually 12 p.m. they shower and

wash their clothes and after that they get some leisure time where they relax and wait for lunch

tome. 2 p.m. is the lunchtime, when married women staying at home and the younger children sit

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and eat lunch. Between 3-5 p.m. they visit friends and neighbors. At dusk they bring the cattle

back home and sweep the floors once again. Then at 6 p.m. they light the hurricane. They do

more chore from 7-8 p.m. Dinner is served at 8p.m. And they usually go to bed very early at 9

p.m.

4.25 Activities of Married Female

From the findings of the questionnaire survey, we found that the usual age for getting married is

the age of 18. We have divided this group of females into two categories.

Working: the village of Rojakpur has seen a lot of change in the role of women, because more

and more women are going out of the house for work. Most women in the village work at house,

and our analysis and study was based on these women.

Housewives: the women in this category are traditional housewives, with all the responsibilities

in the domestic front.

4.26 Activities of Working Married Women

Workingwomen wake up at 5 a.m. this group is the earliest risers in this study. After waking up

and washing up, they go to work at 6 a.m. they do not do any household chores in the morning

and do not take any part in food (breakfast, lunch, dinner) preparation. They have other family

members like mother in law or daughters or daughters in law taking care of the food preparation.

They come back home at 8a.m. and performs some household chores and have breakfast, after

breakfast they do more household chores till 10 a.m. and go back to work at 10 a.m. they stay at

work till 12 p.m. they came back home for lunch at around 1 p.m. they shower and eat lunch and

go back to work at 2 p.m. From 2-7 p.m. they are at work. After they come back they have

dinner and go to bed at 9 p.m. the women have other responsibilities, such as taking care of the

children and making sure that they are doing their school work and behaving properly, because

men are no part of the child rearing process. And even though in this case the mother is a

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workingwoman she still has to take responsibility for bringing up the children. this means extra

work o the part of the women.

4.27 Activities of Housewife

Most of the married women of village wake up between 5 to 6 a.m. and say their morning prayer.

Almost every respondent said that they say their prayers. After the prayer, women start their

routine work by preparing food for the family and by attending to their children. Then they give

food to the male members who will go to work and also pack some extra food for them to have it

for lunch in the field. After serving food to the husband they prepare the children for school and

also give them breakfast. When the husband leaves for work the wife has breakfast at

approximately between 8 to 9 a.m. this is a common practice among all the housewives, when

asked why they serve the husband first ad wait for them to leave to have their own breakfast,

they said that from childhood they are taught that husbands are the head of the family and that

one had to show them respect by giving them the first priority. The female members of the

family start their work after their husband leave home.

Fig: Housewife

They prepared t lunch because most of the household work such as cooking, clean up the yard,

washing their clothes, give food to the their domestic animals, go out to acquire firewood or

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commonly called “lakri”, or get cow dung for various purposes. These are all done within the

first half of the day. They spend approximately 1 to 2 hours for cooking and other household

activities within 9.30 a. m. to 12 p. m. From 12-1 p.m. they relax, take shower and sit and chat

with neighbors, it is what can be called the women’s hour. From 1 p.m. they start getting ready

for serving lunch for the family. If the male person comes back from the field they have there

lunch otherwise they eat lunch without them. Then from after lunch they do more light chores

and at 4-4:30 p.m. they broom the courtyard and over look the gardens if they have any. At 5

p.m. they sit child for study and does petty mending works. Then at 8p.m. they serve dinner for

their families and goes to bed at around 9:30 to 10 p.m. some watch a bit of TV before going to

bed, this is only if they have TV at their house.

CHAPTER: 05

5.1 CONCLUSION

Some memories remain ever fresh in mind. Live-in- Field Experience is such kind of course

where people are bound to make ever fresh memories. Except for the rural memories we also

experienced some memories at TMSS especially at the last night there. They were very friendly

and cordial. I was also amazed at the beauty of TMSS. It is really the best place I have ever seen

in my life.

From the overall study we have recognized a archetypal village which is the representative of all

the villages in Bangladesh. Though we have done all work together in the field but we are to

organize report on an individual theme. We got many important findings in all issue. Rojakpur is

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a very developing area. Many people have completed elementary education. So they are very

conscious about health, environment, socio economic culture and constantly trying to improve

their life styles.

Social change in our village is really incredible. They do not believe in superstitions. Media and

Education help to alleviate the superstitions. Though the people are almost educated but the

dowry system still exists. The main employment of the villagers was agriculture. But the things

are changing. The peoples are engaging in various jobs other than farming now. Even though the

villagers are conservative, but the women are bit empowered to work outside.

Most of the households are belongs to middle class income group. There are few households

from higher income group. Middle class families are employed in agricultural activities. And the

income source of higher income group is the remittance from foreign country, service, and

business.

Many agricultural products are produced in our village. Rice, maize, mustard, cucumber, jute,

potato, sugarcane, radish, vegetables are produced in our village.

In the rural market analysis, we have found that villagers depend on HAAT and BAZAAR for

their necessary products. And for many products villagers have to depend on outsourcing.

Villagers are conscious about branded products.

Our LFE was a remarkable experience. We have learnt many things through the twelve days in

our LFE. It helped us a lot to gain a vast knowledge about the village. It gave us a true

experience of rural life.

They are very much alert about female education and There is no restriction in the matter of

female education. Women in the village are co-operative as well as the men are. Women work in

the field also. The NGO has provided housewife’s to earn money doing hand works such as

embroidery on sari and punjubi, khata shelai etc. Educational institutes’ primary school and

madrasa of the village is helping the Primary sector education. We learned about some rural

traditions and social changes that have occurred in the village in course of time. LFE has helped

us enrich our knowledge of rural life. Now we believe that we need not consider us as laymen on

rural issues. We have the confidence to take part in any discussion on rural Bangladesh.

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The trip of the LFE has gifted us with a lot of experiences that we never had before about the

village. It was observed that almost all the Rojakpur villagers are very conscious and aware

about their health and environment more compared to the past.

Almost all of the villagers have taken the vaccination for them and their children for different

types of diseases. Water source that they use is tube-well for almost every type of works like

cooking, bathing, washing, drinking, etc. Gaining a lot of knowledge about family planning has

resulted into nuclear families in the para where almost all the families have 2 to 3 children,

where in the past times there were 10-15 children in a family. They visit the local pharmacy for

minor diseases or the hospital for major disease.

Lastly, we gained a lot of knowledge about village by mixing so closely and intimately with the

respondents. Most of us did not have any clue about the village lifestyle, or how village

condition regarding health, medication, education and their lifestyle . Independent University’s

effort is this regard is highly appreciated.

THANK YOU

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