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Rural Immersion Program Brief

The document outlines the purpose and requirements for a village exposure visit. The purpose is to gain first-hand experience about the life conditions of underprivileged communities in rural India. Students are asked to interview at least 15 households to understand their socioeconomic status, livelihoods, hardships, and aspirations. They also need to observe how the village economy functions and the work of local NGOs. After the visit, students must submit a 2,500-3,000 word report summarizing their observations and insights about the key issues faced by the community, potential solutions, and how these solutions could be implemented.

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Abhinav Prusty
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24 views

Rural Immersion Program Brief

The document outlines the purpose and requirements for a village exposure visit. The purpose is to gain first-hand experience about the life conditions of underprivileged communities in rural India. Students are asked to interview at least 15 households to understand their socioeconomic status, livelihoods, hardships, and aspirations. They also need to observe how the village economy functions and the work of local NGOs. After the visit, students must submit a 2,500-3,000 word report summarizing their observations and insights about the key issues faced by the community, potential solutions, and how these solutions could be implemented.

Uploaded by

Abhinav Prusty
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Parivartan

Village Exposure Visit Brief

Purpose:
69% of India’s population lives in its 640,000 villages. Rural India also provides a paradoxical picture
with widespread poverty, inadequate infrastructure, poor connectivity, etc. on one hand, and fast
growing usage/consumption of FMCG items, durable, cell-phones, two-wheelers, etc. The purpose of
village exposure visits is to gain first-hand experience about the life conditions of people from the
less-privileged background (or an understanding of the “under-served markets”).

What you have to do:


1. During this visit, as a group you are required to talk to at least 15 households/ people from the
community you are visiting. Do this in pairs or as a group (and don’t divide the meetings – to it
together). Plan each interaction for about 45-60min.
An illustrative list of questions you can explore is as below (a suggestion: don’t try to interview
them, which would make them defensive – but just converse in normal manner to find out about
them):
 Which community do they belong to?
 How many members are there in the family?
 What “assets” do they have? What type of houses they live in?
 How many family members – and who – earn a living for the family? What occupations?
 How do they earn a living? Do they have only one source of livelihood, or more than one?
 Do the children go to school? Which ones? If not, why not? What do they do?
 Where does the major of part of the family income go? Food? Healthcare? Clothes?
Education? Energy (e.g., kerosene, electricity, etc.)? House? Repayment of debts? Income-
generating resources? Consumption activities (e.g., entertainment, gambling, drinking,
festivals, etc.)? etc.
 What are their major worries? Low employment? Rising prices? Health? Children’s education?
Debts? etc.
 Do they save money? How? What proportion of their earnings is saved? Where?
 What kind of injustices/ hardships/ discriminations/ unfair practices etc., do they face in their
daily lives?
 Do they get any assistance/ support for solving their problems? From what sources?
 What makes them happy about their lives? What are their hopes and aspirations? Etc.
2. Try to understand how the village economy functions. What are the major livelihood activities?
How is the income distributed in the community? What social institutions exist, and how they
operate?
3. What is the nature of work/ interventions made by your host NGO (and/or other agencies which
may be working in this village)? What government schemes are working in the village? What
impact have these made on the community?
4. Deliverable:
Based on the above, the group is requested to prepare and submit a report (around 2500-
3000 words) by the next Friday after your visit, to Fr Arrupe Center for Ecology &
Sustainability ([email protected]), with a copy marked to the Dean’s office
([email protected]).
The report should cover:
a. Your observation/ understanding of the village and people
b. What are the key issues/ problems which impact the community?
c. What are the likely solution(s) which can address these issues?
d. What support, resources and capacities are available, within and outside the
community, which can help addressing these issues?
e. What can be the implementation plan to realize the proposed solution(s)?
Your reports will also be shared with the host NGO, and will be of great value for them.
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