Association for Advocacy and Legal Initiative (AALI)407, Dr Baij Nath Road, New Hyderabad Colony, Lucknow-26007

Phone : 91-522-2782060, 2782066Website : www.aalilegal.org

A BASELINE STUDYSTATUS OF WOMEN IN DANDAWA MUSTAFABAD,

SEEDHA SULTANPUR & RAJAPUR SIKRAUR VILLAGES,IN AZAMGARH DISTRICT IN UTTAR PRADESH, INDIA

Prepared by

Iram Zaidi

Printed at : Shivam Arts, Nishatganj Lucknow Ph. : 0522-2782172, 2782348 E-mail : shivamarts@sancharnet.in

The Community Initiative Program (CIP) in Azamgarh issupported by

Oak Foundation.

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TABLE OF CONTENTSTABLE OF CONTENTSTABLE OF CONTENTSTABLE OF CONTENTSTABLE OF CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ....................................................................... 1

I. BACKGROUND ........................................................................... 1-6

1.1 ABSTRACT ............................................................................................ 4

1.2 AALI'S WORK IN AZAMGARH ........................................................... 4

1.3 RATIONALE AND SCOPE ................................................................... 6

1.4 OBJECTIVES ......................................................................................... 6

2. METHODOLOGY AND DATA COLLECTION .......................... 6-10

2.1 QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY ................................................................ 7

2.2 FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION ........................................................... 8

2.3 MEETING THE CHANGEMAKERS ..................................................... 8

3. KEY FINDINGS ........................................................................ 11-24

3.1 DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE ................................................................. 11

3.2 ECONOMIC PROFILE ........................................................................ 12

3.3 EDUCATION ........................................................................................ 13

3.4 AWARENESS LEVELS AND ACCESS TO GOVERNMENT SCHEMES,ENTITLEMENTS, AND SERVICES .................................................... 15

3.5 POLITICAL AWARENESS AND ENGAGEMENT ............................. 21

3.6 WOMEN IN SOCIETY ........................................................................ 23

3.7 MAJOR CONCERNS OF PEOPLE .................................................... 24

4. CONCLUSION ...............................................................................24

This baseline study marks a continuation of the Community Initiative Program(CIP) undertaken by Association for Advocacy and Legal Initiatives (AALI) incollaboration with Oak Foundation in Azamgarh District of Uttar Pradesh to supportwomen's empowerment.

The scope of the study is limited to three villages in Azamgarh namely DandawaMustafabad, Seedha Sultanpur, and Rajapur Sikraur. AALI conducted a baselineassessment of the villages with a view to evaluate the socio-economic status ofwomen. The objectives of the study are to highlight the status of women in the newvillages; underline the critical need to promote awareness and assertion ofconstitutional rights among the women; and lastly, to support women'sempowerment and leadership with a view towards strengthening the broadercommunity.

Primary data was collected from all the three locations using questionnaire-basedsurveys and focus group discussions (FGD). The survey respondents and the FGDparticipants represented 10% of the total number of households in their respectivevillage and belonged in the age group of 17-55 years. A total of 165 householdsacross the three villages took part in the surveys. Both the data collection processeswere led and conducted by a group of nine Muslim women from the three villages.The research was supplemented by one-on-one interviews with these women inorder to gain an insight into the factors which motivated their participation, theirexperience of conducting the survey, and their overall learning.

Key Findings were:

� The income levels in the three villages are low. Majority of the peopleearn their livelihood by working as daily labour with the average monthlyhousehold income of the three villages being INR 1,000-5,000. Manyhouseholds do not have access to basic necessities like water, electricity,and toilets.

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� Though a majority of the respondents were sending their children toschool, they faced a problem of availability of schools. One of the villagesdid not have a primary or secondary school or Makhtab1 or Madarsa.None of the three villages offer secondary schooling with the result thatmost girls discontinued their education after Class 5. The issue of noneighbouring senior schools, lack of safe public or private transport forgirls, high tuition fees, and the lack of scholarships created impedimentsfor the education of girls beyond primary schooling.

� The people had limited or no information about the various governmentschemes and entitlements and therefore were unable to access theseschemes. Most of the people knew that there was an Anganwadi Centre2

in the village but did not know what services were provided and did notsend their children to the Anganwadis. Very few people knew the amountand price of grains they were entitled to under the Public DistributionSystem (subsidised food grains/ration). Almost all the respondentscomplained that the shop would open only 2 days of the month, whichmade it difficult to get ration. They also complained of not getting theirfull entitlement of ration. Most of the people especially women did notknow about MGNREGA3 nor do they ask for work. There was noinformation amongst most women about the widow or old age pensionschemes. The women interviewed commented upon the lack of supportfrom the local Gram Pradhan4 in accessing these schemes.

� Hardly any respondents surveyed knew when the Gram Sabha5 meetingswere held or had any idea about the purpose of these meetings. The

1. Makhtab is an Arabic word referring to an elementary school which teaches reading, writing, grammar,Islamic subjects (such as Qur'an recitations), and other practical and theoretical subjects.

2. Anganwadi, which means "courtyard shelter", is a government sponsored child-care and mother-carescheme by the name of ICDS wherein the child care centres provide nutrition to children in the 0-6 agegroup.

3. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, a law which entitles each household inrural areas to 100 days of work per year.

4. Gram panchayats are elected local self-governments bodies at the village level in India mandated by theConstitution and the head of the body is called the Gram Pradhan or Sarpanch.

5. Gram Sabha means a meeting of all the adult (18yrs) members of the village wherein the GramPanchayat has to report about its functioning, beneficiaries of government schemes are chosen andfuture development activities are approved.

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survey recorded negligible attendance of the people at the Gram Sabhameetings. The majority of them had no information about the GramPanchayat members. Very few respondents reported to ever having visitedthe local Block Office.

� The lives of women are governed by the patriarchal gender norms andthey remain confined to the private sphere of their homes in theirtraditional roles as homemakers and child-bearers. From the FGDs andthe questionnaire it emerged that the majority of the women are unableto work because of social and cultural constraints hence rendering themeconomically dependent upon men.

Conclusions:

� The research findings highlight the apathy on the part of the local, districtand state administration towards facilitating awareness and access to thegovernment schemes among the people. Not only are there no steps takento disseminate information among the villagers about the variousentitlements, schemes, and services, but the system in place to ensureimplementation of these schemes is ineffective or does not function.

� There is negligible awareness about government entitlements, schemesand services among the people. The women are the worst sufferers asthey lack both the awareness and access to the diverse governmentschemes. Women are unaware about their rights and entitlements.

� Among the few people who have some awareness about the governmentschemes and entitlements, there is deep-rooted cynicism, apathy, anddistrust of the government administration. Issues of corruption, nepotismand caste politics have made the local people "lose their faith in thegovernment". They feel very frustrated with the ineffective and inefficientpolitical machinery. Even if people are aware of the schemes, theirperception and association with them is more as "non-working" than"working" schemes.

� There is negligible information and participation in panchayat system,Gram Sabha, and Gram Panchayat.

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� In the case of young girls, there are reportedly multiple systemic and socialbarriers which prevent them from accessing higher education as opposedto the boys.

� Patriarchal and socio-cultural norms dictate the lives of women in thevillages. Most of the women are confined to their homes and not allowedto step out to study, work and/or earn a living.

� The immediate priority for both government and/or communityorganizations is to promote awareness and assertion of citizenship rightsamong the women as a first step towards their empowerment. Context-specific, sustainable, and innovative leadership and capacity-buildinginitiatives are the way forward to elevate the status of women.

1. Why the study? A Background

1.1 Abstract

The following report represents a baseline study of three select villages in theAzamgarh District of Uttar Pradesh, India, namely Dandawa Mustafabad, SeedhaSultanpur, and Rajapur Sikraur. The report aims to assess the socio-economicstatus of women in the three villages through an analysis of the survey data. Itconcludes with a summary of the key findings and a brief synopsis of the emergingdirections for future action.

1.2 AALI'S work in Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh

The baseline study represents a continuum of advocacy and intervention workundertaken by AALI in the Azamgarh District in order to support its Muslimcommunity following the oppression and stigmatization faced by them in theaftermath of the bomb blasts in Delhi in September 2008 and the Batla Houseencounter6. A large number of Muslim youth from Azamgarh were arrested fromacross the country after these incidents. There was a deliberate targeting andsystemic profiling and branding of Muslim men in general by both the governmentand media. This led to an overall atmosphere of fear, insecurity, helplessness andanger in the Muslim community in Azamgarh.6. Following the bomb blasts in Delhi on 13th September, 2008, two Muslim students from Sanjurpur,

Azamgarh, studying at Jamia Millia University, Delhi, were killed in a police encounter on September 18thon charges of terrorism".

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Given AALI's vision and mandate to support and empower marginalized women,the team was concerned about the impact on the women in Azamgarh especiallyin view of the fact that they were already marginalized in society. The patriarchalgender norms defined their place in the private sphere of home as homemakersand child-bearers. Added factors like poverty, illiteracy, lack of access to medical/health services, social justice, and the purdah (veiling) system had rendered themhighly vulnerable to the human rights violations being committed against their menand their families in Azamgarh. What made matters worse is that they had no orlimited awareness about their citizenship, legal, or human rights and hence wereincapable of defending either themselves or their men. Moreover, they had lost theirfaith in the government. Some had no knowledge about the whereabouts of theirson/s, whether they were arrested, had disappeared, or had gone underground.Many women had even recalled their sons back home claiming that it was betterto go without food than to lose their sons or brothers

Even though AALI's work in the past has focused on supporting existingcommunity initiatives, the organization realized the value of acting as a catalyst fora grass-roots initiative that would develop women leaders by empowering them toassert their citizenship rights. AALI began working in 2009 in 3 villages and 3municipal areas of the Azamgarh District namely Saraimeer, Sanjarpur, Fariha,Mubarakpur, Mangrawan, and Bilariyaganj.

Termed the "Azamgarh Community Initiative", the programme's key focus areasincludes developing women leadership at the grass-root level amongst the Muslim,Dalit and other marginalised communities, through empowerment andparticipation in local governance. An underlying purpose of the program is tochange the common perception of Muslim women in Azamgarh, typically seen aspurdah-clad, backward, and oppressed by socio-cultural norms. Pending the eventsof 2008, the women were further stereotyped by the government and media asbelonging to terrorist families. The project aims to help women break away fromthis stereotype by projecting them as empowered citizens of their country, who areaware of their rights as citizens, and able to exercise them towards their securityand betterment. Furthermore, the organization lends its legal and technical expertiseto support the collective process initiated by the local Muslim community in theface of the human rights and police violations.

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1.3 Rationale and Scope

The baseline study is part of a natural progression of the work accomplished byAALI in the Azamgarh District in the last three years. The positive response by thelocal women towards the Azamgarh Community Initiative Program (CIP) led AALIto contemplate undertaking similar work in the other neighbouring villages.

The focus was on villages which faced similar socio-economic, gender, cultural, andhuman rights issues. The scope of this particular study is limited to the threevillages of the Azamgarh District which fall under Mirzapur Development Blocknamely Dandawa Mustafabad, Seedha Sultanpur, and Rajapur Sikraur. A majorfactor behind their selection lay in the fact that some women from these villageshad attended the AALI meetings and workshops conducted in the six villageswhere AALI is carrying on advocacy and intervention work. These women hadconsequently expressed a keen desire to have AALI carry out similar interventionwork in their respective villages as they felt that the campaign would greatly benefittheir community especially its women.

1.4 Objectives

The broad objectives of the baseline study are:

� To highlight the status of women in the new villages.

� To underscore the need for promoting awareness about constitutionalrights among the women.

� To build a case for women's empowerment, leadership, and capacity-building in the three villages with a view towards strengthening thecommunity as a whole.

2. How did we do this? Methodology and Data Collection

The primary tools for data collection included questionnaire-based surveys andfocus group discussion (FGD) carried out in the villages of Dandawa Mustafabad,Seedha Sultanpur, and Rajapur Sikraur.

What was unique about the data collection process was that both the surveys andthe discussions were conducted and facilitated by a group of Muslim women fromthe surveyed villages. It was a group of nine women, three from Dandawa

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Mustafabad, four from Rajapur Sikraur, and two from Seedha Sultanpur, whoconducted the surveys in their respective villages. It was these women again whofacilitated and moderated the focus group discussion in their respective villages.The women were selected for their familiarity with the social and cultural context.More importantly, for AALI, these women represented the future leaders in themaking. The organization members saw this as a wonderful opportunity to providethem hands-on training in awareness and assertion of their citizenship rights. It tooka lot of effort, subtle persuasion, and encouragement on the part of the AALI teamto convince the women to come on board. The women were apprehensive aboutthe reaction of their family and the community towards their participation fearingboth judgment and hostility. AALI organized briefing meetings about the project atits local office for the women and even did a pre-testing session in order tofamiliarize them with the technique and process of conducting the survey and FGD.

For the AALI team7, which has spent the last three years tirelessly championing thecause of women's empowerment in Azamgarh, this engagement and leadership roleof the local women was nothing short of a success story. The fact these womenfound the courage to step out of the confining walls of their homes and take chargeof the research initiative aimed at the empowerment of the women in theircommunities was something to be celebrated. Even though the women werepersonally recruited by the Project Coordinator of the Azamgarh CommunityInitiative, who informed each one of them about the research study and elicitedtheir interest, it is to be noted that the women joined for their own personal interestand/or motivation which included (as the following interviews will testify) supportingthe cause of women's empowerment. Their participation marks the first of its kindin an area, where women's mobility is restricted by both the visible purdah and theinvisible socio-cultural and patriarchal norms. For each of these women it was anovel experience as none of them had done this kind of work before.

2.1 Questionnaire Survey

The survey respondents were roughly in the age group of 17-55 years, whorepresented 10% of the total number of households in the new villages.

A total of 165 households across the three villages participated in the surveys.These included 20 households from Dandawa Mustafabad, 45 from SeedhaSultanpur, and 100 from Rajapur Sikraur.

7. The AALI team in Azamgarh consists of Tariq Shafique, Anshumala, Shabeena, and Shiva.

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The open-ended questionnaire featured 21 questions assessing the status of womenusing the standard parameters of social demographics; resource mapping of basicnecessities and infrastructure i.e. education, employment, medical and/or healthservices, law and social justice services; awareness and access to governmentschemes, entitlements, and services; and women's engagement and participation inthe political process.

2.2 Focus Group Discussion

The focus group discussion (FGD) was conducted and facilitated by a group ofnine Muslim women from the villages selected for several reasons one being theirfamiliarity with the social and cultural context of their respective villages. The FGDfocused on the relevant needs and issues faced by each community.Representatives from AALI were present at the discussions in the three villages foran overview of the methodology and issues. The objective of the FGD was to ensurethat the voices and experiences of the local village women inform the researchfindings.

2.3 Meeting the Future Change Makers

Their journey to empowerment, in their own words

Since it was a unique experience, it was important to record the experiences ofthe women from Dandawa Mustafabad, Seedha Sultanpur, and Rajapur Sikraur,who had conducted the survey and the FGD.8 The purpose was to hear in theirown words their experience of participating in the AALI research including thesupport factors and the risk factors which impacted their involvement in theproject. We also wanted to obtain their insights on the status of women in theirvillages vis-a-vis the socio-cultural and economic issues faced by them and thesuggestions or solutions they may have to offer. Another objective was to capture,through their narrative, the process of self-empowerment which brought them outof the private sphere of their homes into the public space to embark on a journeytowards becoming active, informed, and engaged citizens of their communities.

8. The interviews with the women leaders took place on 8th June, 2013, at the AALI office in Azamgarh.They were conducted by the Project Consultant in the presence of the Azamgarh Project Coordinator.Three women were unable to make it to the meeting.

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Snapshot Profiles & Experiences

Village: Dandawa Mustafabad

Tabassum Bano: A 35-year old married woman with six children, of which five aregirls, and whose husband is a daily wage earner. Tabassum is proud of the factthat her five girls are currently studying at the primary school in the neighbouringBinapara village. Tabassum joined the survey team because she is interested thatwomen gain empowerment and get their rights.

"Only when we have the knowledge can we practiceour rights, without relying on anyone for support."

It helped that no one from home stopped her from joining the survey and wereoverall supportive. Through her participation, Tabassum got to learn about theGram Sabha meetings and when/how often they are held.

Sameena Bano: An 18-year old girl pursuing a B.A. degree at the AzamgarhMangrawan Degree College. Sameena's father runs a small business of supplyingbread and dairy products. Sameena was motivated to participate by her ambitionto become financially independent and hopes that by participating in these surveysshe may be able to gain employment in the future. Like Tabassum, Sameena'sdecision to be a part of the surveys was supported by her parents. In fact, theGram Pradhan of her village also encouraged her. Sameena's experience hastaught her that women should live life fearlessly and with courage. Initially, bothTabassum and Sameena only knew about Kanya Vidya Dhan Plan and JanniVikas Yojana and now they know about MGNREGA.

Mustari Bano: A middle-aged widow, Mustari lives with her parents in DandawaMustafabad. She took part in the survey because of her family's financial problems.Mustari wants to stand on her own feet. Also, for a woman like her who stayscocooned and cut off from the outside world for the most part, the projectrepresented an opportunity to step out of the private space of the house into thepublic space.

One of the women admitted to being very scared when going out into thevillage to conduct the surveys and claims that she would hide her face inthe fear that her neighbours would recognize her.

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Village: Seedha Sultanpur

Raunak Bano: A young mother of two children, whose is a victim of domesticabuse at the hands of her husband and in-laws. What motivated Raunak to comeon board the project was her desire to bring in some money and help out herfamily since her husband is incapacitated and not fit to work. This way, Raunakfelt, at least no one will point a finger at her husband. Raunak is typically notallowed to step out of her home. She was previously working on the Pulse PolioProgram at UNICEF but had to leave the job because of family issues. Her in-lawswere not happy about her decision to join the survey team and would often call theAzamgarh Community Initiative Coordinator to check on Raunak's whereabouts.Despite the family resistance, Raunak feels positive about her experience claimingthat she has learnt about the government schemes like MGNREGA and about theGram Sabha baithak (meeting).

Another participant by the name of Tabassum Bano was unable to attend themeeting. It was reported that Tabassum is a mother of four children, whosehusband has married five women, with her being one of them. Tabassum receivesno financial support from her partner.

The women said that they looked forward to continuing the importantwork started by the survey initiative. They were enthusiastic about gettingthings to work properly in their villages.

Village: Rajapur Sikraur

Sanobar Siddiqui: A 20-year old girl completing her B.A. 1st year at a local collegein Azamagarh, Sanobar belongs to a family of five brothers and three sisters.Sanobar's father is paralyzed and it is her mother who is the financial breadwinnerof the family having worked in the UNICEF office and having taught young childrenin the past. Sanobar's mother is a source of inspiration for her. Sanobar liked whatshe heard about the project in her first meeting with AALI and joined because shefelt that it was a step in the direction of solving the problems of women in hervillage.

Nishat Anjum: A married woman with four children, two girls and two boys,whose husband is working as a labourer in Saudi Arabia. Three of Nishat'schildren attend the primary school in Rajapur Sikraur. Nishat decided to join the

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survey team because it represented for her an opportunity to do something in life.She had always wanted to do things but never had the opportunity as she wasmarried off at the young age of 15. Nishat liked the experience as she learnt abouta lot of things such as facilities in the government hospital, ration system, BlockOffice, MGNREGA scheme, and the Gram Sabha meetings.

Uzma and Amna were also part of the Sikraur survey team but were unable toattend the meeting. Uzma is a 17-year old student of high school. Her father isreportedly not keen on educating her and the only reason she was able to take partin the project was because her father was out of town on a business trip.Meanwhile, Amna is a 55-year old married woman known for her enterprising andhard-working nature. Amna feels neglected by her family and hence wanted to stepout of the house to earn some money. The woman mentioned how Amna hadtaught herself to write English and even writes poetry sometimes. Since herhusband does not earn, Amna has been working to financially support the family.

All the women commented on the hostile response from the community towardstheir participation. The women were subject to critical comments, snide remarks,and even ridicule from their neighbours. People would not say these things on theirfaces but behind their backs. Sameena mentioned how people commented on herbeing a Muslim woman who is stepping out wearing a niqab (covering). Thoughmost of the women's families were supportive, Raunak and Sanobar had to put upwith the non-supportive attitude of their family members. Despite these challenges,the women persevered as they believed in the value of their work and the benefitit would bring to their community in the future.

3. Key Findings

3.1 Demographic Profile

All the three villages form part of the Azamgarh District and come under theMirzapur Development Block.

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Table 1

The survey conducted of 20 households in Dandawa Mustafabad revealed that 18of the 20 households were headed by men. Similarly, in Seedha Sultanpur, the dataindicated that 44 out of 45 houses are led by men and one by a woman. RajapurSikraur follows suit with 68 out of 100 households headed by men and 31 bywomen. The reason for inclusion of this data is because it highlights the fact thatthe majority of women lack the decision-making power in their respective homes.

3.2 Economic Profile

Poverty is a major issue in the villages especially among the marginalizedcommunities of Muslims, Dalits9, and Nats10 with many villagers not even havingaccess to the basic necessities like water, electricity, and running toilets. Though themajority of the houses in Dandawa Mustafabad and Rajapur Sikraur have accessto electricity, the same is not the case for Seedha Sultanpur where most homes lackthis basic amenity. Water is available through hand pumps installed by the villagersin their respective houses whereas government-supplied hand pumps account forvery few. Not all homes have functional toilets. Also, most of the toilets have beeninstalled by the villagers themselves. They had not been able to avail thegovernment scheme which provides financial assistance for construction of toiletsand is sanctioned by the Gram Pradhan. The most socially backward is the Nat

DandawaMustafabad 45.337 1700 190 20 100 60 30

Seedha Sultanpur 1.5 4000 1000 100 300 200 500

Rajapur Sikraur 3.45 6081 900 45 600 300 0

Name of Village Area(hect)

Popu-lation

Total # of

House holds

No. of Households

Surveyed

Muslims SC/ST OBC/General

9. Dalit is a term for a group of people in India traditionally regarded as untouchable. This term is chosenby the group itself.

10. The Nat are a nomadic community found in North India. The word nata in Sanskrit means a dancer,and the Nat were traditionally entertainers and jugglers.

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community of Seedha Sultanpur, comprising of approximately 500-600 members,which has no access to water, electricity, and toilets.

In Seedha Sultanpur, a group of 150 Muslim families live on land donated to themby a prominent village person, whose father was the erstwhile landlord of the area.These families experience a high level of vulnerability living on land which does notlegally belong to them and which could be taken away any time.

The average monthly household income of the villages surveyed is INR 1,000-5,000with few families falling in the INR 6,000-15,000 and 16,000-25,000 incomebracket. The current per capita income for India at current prices (for fiscal year2012-13) is estimated at INR 5729 per month. The majority of the men andwomen work as daily labour for their basic survival which entails working in thehomes of other people as domestic help, helping out on farms, or doing othermenial jobs. A large percentage of the Muslim men are engaged in business outsidetheir village and/or country. This is evident in the massive work-related immigrationof Muslim men from the Azamgarh District to predominant Islamic countries like theU.A.E. (Dubai) and Saudi Arabia to work as labour. The Nat families of SeedhaSultanpur rely on their traditional professions of singing and dancing to earn theirlivelihood.

It was concluded from the FGD and the interviews that the majority of the womenare economically dependent upon the men. The baseline data highlights theirinability to work largely because of social and cultural constraints. In the case ofMuslim women, the gender norms and the restrictions placed upon their mobilitykeep them away from work. Even in extreme cases where there is no food athome, these women are not allowed to go out and earn a living. The caste systemalso dictates whether the women can work or not. Women from the high castestypically do not work fearing social stigmatism whereas women belonging to thelabour class are not bound by such concerns.

3.3. Education

Education is another key issue for the villages surveyed. Dandawa Mustafabad doesnot offer any primary or secondary schools neither does it have any Makhtab orMadarsa. Tabassum Bano, one of the survey team members, commented on howher children, like all the others, have to go to the neighbouring Binapara andSaraimeer villages approximately 3-4 km away to attend school whereas the law

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mandates that for Classes 1-5 the school should be within a range of 1 km fromthe village. Seedha Sultanpur offers primary schooling till Class 5. In the event thatchildren wish to pursue further education, they have to travel to the neighbouringvillages to attend secondary school. There are two Makhtabs in total, one for theboys and one for the girls, in keeping with the tradition of sex-segregatededucation. Rajapur Sikraur has a primary school offering education till Class 5 inaddition to two Makhtabs.

Despite these challenges, the survey results point towards a heartening picture whenit comes to the total number of children in each village who are attending school.11

In Dandawa Mustafabad, 18 of the 20 households had their children enrolled inschool. For Seedha Sultanpur, the number was 44 out of 45 households surveyed,and for Rajapur Sikraur, 65 out 100 households sent their children to school(Fig 1.1).

11. It was not indicated in the survey whether the school referred to was a primary or secondary school.

Fig. 1.1

Attendance of Children in Schools

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The FGD and the interviews highlighted the gender bias prevalent in the matter ofeducation. The women commented on the systemic and social-cultural barrierswhich prevent young girls from accessing basic and/or further education in thethree villages. Firstly, in villages which do not have a primary school like DandawaMustafabad, the girls have to travel a long distance of approximately 3-5 km toattend school in the neighbouring village. Often their parents cannot afford to sendthem by bus hence they have to travel by foot which is unsafe. Girls can ridebicycles to school but the parents refrain from sending them fearing criticalcomments from the people. The high tuition fees and the lack of scholarships areadditional challenges. Many families will only spend on educating the boysneglecting their girl's education as the dominant patriarchal culture minimizes theimportance of educating the girl child. The practice of marrying the girls off youngstill prevails. The men in the families are not very favourable towards the idea ofeducating the girls, says Sanobar from Rajapur Sikraur, who claims that herbrothers are not in favour of her higher education.

Even if some parents pursue primary schooling for their girls, secondary educationis a distant dream for most. Usually, only the boys end up attending secondaryschool as it entails traveling to another village or city. Girls are typically not allowedthis privilege and hence many drop out of school after Class 5. The ones whocontinue with secondary schooling by travelling to the neighbouring villages haveto put up with disparaging remarks from the villagers. People often backbite to theirparents dissuading them from sending their daughters to school. In the absence ofMadarsas to provide basic education to the girls, the economically weak familiesare unable to hire private tutors for their instruction. Children belonging to the Natfamilies hardly go to school as they have to help out at home in the absence oftheir parents, who are out all day working menial jobs to earn a living.

3.4 Awareness levels and access to government schemes,entitlements,and services

Overall, there is limited or total lack of awareness among the women about thediverse government entitlements, social protection schemes, and services be it theration or subsidized grain distribution system, MGNREGA, Anganwadi Centres, andgovernment hospitals (Fig. 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5,1.6, 1.7). Women are not able tobenefit from the government schemes for the simple reason that they do not haveany knowledge about them. The most backward are the Nat families of SeedhaSultanpur who do not receive any government benefits.

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Access to Government Entitlements/Services

Awareness Level and Access to Government Schemes,Entitlements, Services

Dandawa Mustafabad:

Fig. 1.2

Fig. 1.3

Awareness of Government Schemes

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Access to Government Entitlements/Services

Seedha Sultanpur

Awareness of Government Schemes

Fig. 1.4

Fig. 1.5

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Access to Government Entitlements/Services

Rajapur Sikraur

Awareness of Government Schemes

Fig. 1.6

Fig. 1.7

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MGNREGA

According to the surveys, there is no awareness among the women aboutMGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act), whichprovides a guarantee of one hundred days of work in every financial year to everyrural household whose adult members are willing to do manual work at thestatutory minimum wage of INR 142 per day. Most women do not even have aMGNREGA job card and do not work. Some women claimed to have no need tobe enrolled in the scheme. Some cannot work simply because "they are women".Muslim women, in particular, are unable to participate in the MGNREGA schemebecause of the prevalent socio-cultural norms which restrict their mobility outsidetheir homes.

Ration or the subsidized grain distribution system12 (ration card)

The ration card was identified as the most widely-held government entitlement inat least two of the three villages i.e. Dandawa Mustafabad and Seedha Sultanpur.The ration card is given to families under the subsidised food distribution schemeof the government called the Public Distribution System (PDS). Most of the villagerspossess a ration card but despite that, they do not receive full entitlement of ration.Each of the three villages have one or two ration shops (where the subsidized grainis sold) which open once or twice a month to distribute ration. Though as per law,the PDS government ration shops are mandated to be open six days a week.

Women of Rajapur Sikraur complained that in the case that they are unable toobtain their ration during the two fixed days, the local kotedar13 refuses to givethem any ration on the pretext that the ration is sold out. Tabassum Bano fromDandawa Mustafabad commented on how her village kotedar had refused to giveany ration to the villagers till their new ration cards were made.

Women from the Nat basti reported that their families do notpossess ration cards.

12. This is the Targeted Public Distribution System (PDS) wherein the poor are given ration cards throughwhich they receive subsidized grains and kerosene oil.

13. Kotedar is the Public Distribution System (PDS) ration shopkeeper and/or controller. He is given a licenseby the government to sell ration.

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Anganwadi Centre

The Anganwadi Centres are the day care centres for children between 0-6, whereinalong with pre-school activity, the children are also given food. These are rununder the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) of the government andsupplementary nutrition is also provided to pregnant women and lactating mothers.Although each village offers one or more Anganwadi Centres, the majority of thewomen surveyed had no information about them- be it the services provided atthe Centre, its location, hours of operation etc. In particular, while the Muslim andDalit families claimed some knowledge, the Nat families had no knowledge. Thesurvey revealed that a very small percentage of children ever visit the Centres oravail of their facilities.

The Nat children have never visited anAnganwadi Centre.

Some women did not even know that the Anganwadi Centres offer services forwomen.

In Seedha Sultanpur, the women reported that the Centre opens only twice amonth to distribute food to the children playing outside their homes with theresult that the women associate the Anganwadi Worker with a woman "whodistributes Sattu".

Government Hospital

All the three villages lack a primary health centre or hospital with the closesthospital situated at a distance of 2-4 kilometres away. The women complained thatthe villagers end up spending the same amount of money on their medicine andtreatment at the government hospital as they would at a private doctor's clinic.Also, the medicines prescribed are usually not available in the government hospitalsand they have to purchase them from the shops outside the hospitals.

Other Schemes/Services

There is some awareness though about select schemes like Indira Awas Yojna,Janni Surakhsa Yojna, and Kanya Vidya Dhan from mostly relatives, thecommunity mobilizers working on UNICEF's Pulse Polio Programme, and in rarecases, the village Gram Pradhan. There is negligible awareness among the women

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about the government pension schemes including old-age pensions and widowpensions. Sanobar from Rajapur Sikraur informed that often the widow pensionswere allocated to the correct beneficiary but received by another woman. Womenabandoned by their husbands usually end up living with their maternal families butreceive no financial support from the latter. The Gram Pradhan never gives thesewomen any panchayat land neither does he offer them any governmententitlements like ration card or voters ID card.

Most of the women interviewed commented upon the lack of support from the localGram Pradhan in accessing these schemes. Often, the Pradhan would render anapplication redundant and turn away the people with abuses. He would let theapplication pass only if it suited his own vested interests. Sanobar from RajapurSikraur mentioned how the Gram Pradhan did not let her applications for KanyaVidya Dhan and Colony Nivas go through. The reason given to Sanobar was thatsince her brothers were earning, her family was not eligible to apply for thegovernment schemes. Tabassum Bano, another one of the interviewees, mentionedhow the Gram Pradhan of Dandawa Mustafabad was never present "on the field"even if the village faced a calamity.

For Dandawa Mustafabad and Rajapur Sikraur, the closest police station is locatedin the neighbouring village of Saraimeer. The residents of Seedha Sultanpur haveto go to the police station in Nijamabad, 8 km away from their village. Thecommon reasons which necessitate a visit to the police station are family fights,land disputes, payment of fines, and passport follow-up.

One woman respondent from Rajapur Sikraur stated that there no reasonfor women to go to a police station. "It is men's business to go there".

3.5 Political Awareness and Engagement

Most of the women surveyed knew about their local Gram Pradhan though theywere not very knowledgeable about his role and duties. Some of their families hadreportedly contacted the Gram Pradhan for various issues including the constructionof toilets, ration card, voter ID card, housing schemes, and passport application.However, the Nat families of Seedha Sultanpur do not know the name of theirlocal Gram Pradhan and claimed that their village has never benefited from anygovernment service.

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One of the women from Dandawa Mustafabad did not know whether hervillage Gram Pradhan was a man or woman.

The politics of power and money have made the people cynical about the localadministration and distanced them even further from the political process. Hardlyany respondents surveyed knew about the Gram Sabha meetings or when theywere held. The survey recorded negligible attendance of the people at the GramSabha meetings (Fig. 1.8). The majority of them had no information about theGram Panchayat members. Very few respondents reported to ever having visitedthe local Block Office. Inter-caste politics greatly influence the appointment of thevillage Gram Pradhan. One of the women from Rajapur Sikraur mentioned howtheir local Gram Pradhan, a Scheduled Caste, is a puppet in the hands of apowerful local Muslim. Dandawa Mustafabad is a stronghold of the Yadavs (SC)hence the Gram Pradhan is from the same community.

Fig. 1.8

Attendance of Gram Sabha Meetings in the Three Villages

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The percentage of people exercising their voting rights is however high as indicatedby the data. 100% of respondents use their voting right in Dandawa Mustafabad.91% of the people vote in Seedha Sultanpur and 94% in Rajapur Sikraur. Thepeople who do not vote said that there was no benefit to be gained from voting.Others who do not participate do not have their voter ID cards.

3.6 Women in Society

As indicated by the FGD and the interviews, the role of women in homes isconfined to that of the traditional homemaker and child-bearer. In somehouseholds, women do not even watch TV as it is considered haraam (prohibited)in their culture hence they have very little information or contact with the outsideworld. They are not allowed to pick up unknown phone calls. Even if some womenbrave the odds and step out into the public space, they have to be prepared toface judgment and hostility from their neighbours and the community. Only womenfrom the labour class enjoy the freedom and social mobility to go out of theirhomes and work. Consequently, the majority of the women are financiallydependent upon the men and hence lack any decision-making power in theirhomes.

The women interviewed recounted how some women respondents inDandawa Mustafabad and Seedha Sultanpur would ask them to wait till theirmen returned home to fill out the survey form.

The women interviewed revealed that the practice of taking up to four wivesamong the Muslim men is common and increases the financial, physical, andemotional vulnerability of the women who partake of such marriage arrangements.Cases of domestic abuse, neglect, and abandonment abound but hardly are anyever reported or brought to the public eye as the women fear that their husband'sname and reputation will suffer. Being pardanasheen (veiled) and in the absenceof any financial and/or emotional support from either their families, in-laws, or thecommunity at large, these women have no option but to suffer the abuse silently.

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3.7 Major Concerns of the People

DandawaMustafabad 20% 20% 30% 25% 30% 5% 5%

Seedha Sultanpur 18% 18% 13% 31% 7% 2% NA

Rajapur Sikraur NA 1% 19% NA NA 16% 15%

Village Water Electricity Toilets Housing Unemp-loyment

RationCard

Voter IDCard

Table 2

The survey indicated that toilets, ration card, and electricity are the common majorissues which need immediate attention in the three villages. For DandawaMustafabad and Seedha Sultanpur, water and housing are also key concerns.Meanwhile, Voter ID card was reported as an important issue by the residents ofRajapur Sikraur.

Other challenges emerging from the survey include daughter's marriage, education,and lack of transport for sending children to school. A small percentage of therespondents claimed to have no issues.

4. Conclusion

It is important to note that the following findings are not unique or specific toAzamgarh or these villages and represent a state of affairs which characterizemany economically and socially backward villages and towns in India.

Government Apathy

The research findings highlight the apathy on the part of the local, district and stateadministration towards facilitating awareness and access to the government schemesamong the people. There is no effort on the part of the local administration todisseminate information about the government schemes among the villagers withthe result that the people are unable to access the benefits from these schemes.The system in place to ensure implementation of the schemes is ineffective or doesnot function.

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Most of the women interviewed commented upon the lack of support from the localGram Pradhan in implementing the schemes. According to them, the approval ofan application for any scheme or entitlement such as widow pension or rationcard depended purely upon his discretion.

Lack of awareness of government schemes and entitlements

There is negligible awareness about government entitlements, schemes, andservices among the people. The women are the worst sufferers as they lack boththe awareness and access to the diverse government schemes directed towardseducation, employment, health, and overall welfare like MGNREGA, AnganwadiCentre, Bal Vikas Yojana, Janni Suraksha Yojana etc. The level of awareness andinformation was recorded to be the lowest in the women from the Nat families ofSeedha Sultanpur.

The women lack knowledge and information about their rights and entitlements.

Negligible information and participation in the Panchayat - village-level governance system

The Panchayat or the village-level elected body which oversee the development ofthe village is mandated by the Constitution. Only a few of the survey respondentspossessed any knowledge about the Gram Pradhan vis-a-vis his functions, scopeof work, or the frequency of the Gram Sabha meetings. Their know-how about theGram Sabha or the Gram Panchayat was dismally low.

High level of cynicism and apathy towards the government

Among the few people who have some awareness about the government schemesand entitlements, there is deep-rooted cynicism, apathy, and distrust of thegovernment administration. Issues of corruption, nepotism, bribery, and castepolitics have made the local people "lose their faith in the government". They feelvery frustrated with the ineffective and inefficient political machinery. Even if peopleare aware of the schemes, their perception and association with them is more as"non-working" than "working" schemes.

Literacy

Literacy is very low among the women. Most of the women surveyed, in the agegroup of 17-55 years, were not educated.

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In the case of young girls, there are reportedly multiple systemic and social barrierswhich prevent them from accessing higher education as opposed to the boys. Themajority of the girls are unable to pursue education after Class 5 since thesecondary schools are located at a distance of 3-5 kilometres away in theneighbouring village. Many parents are unable to educate their daughters becauseof a lack of financial means. The cultural practice of marrying off girls when youngprevails and is used as an excuse by some parents for not investing in theirdaughter's education.

Social Issues

Patriarchal and socio-cultural norms dictate the lives of women in the villages.Most of the women are confined to their homes and not allowed to step out tostudy, work and/or earn a living.

In conclusion, there is a critical need for intervention in the lives of the women ofDandawa Mustafabad, Seedha Sultanpur, and Rajapur Sikraur, who are victims ofsocio-economic, gender-based, and cultural marginalization. Issues like poverty,illiteracy, child marriage, restricted mobility owing to patriarchal and socio-culturalnorms, abandonment, and domestic violence render the women a highlydisadvantaged lot. The key focus areas for intervention, as revealed by the baselinedata, are education, employment, awareness and access to government schemes,entitlements and services, and political sensitization. As a starting point, womenneed to be made aware of their citizenship rights so that they are able to assertthem towards their safety, security, and empowerment. Leadership and capacity-building initiatives are other measures which can be adopted in order to improvethe status of women in the villages.

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Uttar Pradesh

Azamgarh

Map of Uttar Pradesh

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Uttar Pradesh

Map not Scale

N

Map of India