It was the beginning of a two-day visit to various parts of Mathurapur Block 2, which covers Khari, Radhakantapur and a small part of Gilarchhat gram panchayets of South 24 Parganas, West Bengal. We were received at Mathurapur Road station by Mr Kallol Ghosh and Mr Saidul from Samaj Unnayan Kendra. Our real journey began with a bumpy ride on two cycle-driven carts on a narrow brick-paved road running through green fields. After travelling for about 4 km, we walked the last part of the road a soft brickless path as the vans couldn t proceed because after rains the road had become very slippery.

We reached the first village: Bhadrapara. There is a lot of greenery, and there are a lot of dry or partly-dry ponds. But clean water is scarce. There are only 3 deep tubewells for drinking water, out of which one has been installed by the Samaj Unnayan Kendra with help from CAPART (Council for Advancement of People s Action and Rural Technology, an autonomous body under the MRD which promotes rural development efforts). One such tubewell costs Rs 80,000. The entire village has a population of 400-odd people.

As we started getting to know their problems, we sat down to talk to the women of the community, who are about to be organised into self-help groups (or SHGs in short). The first question asked was what they have in mind as activity for their self-help group. It turned out that they don't have much of an idea. But they are ready to do whatever generates money, as they are convinced by the concept of SHGs. They have no activity apart from their daily chores. One of them even confessed: it is always better to do something and earn money than to be beaten by our husbands . This is pretty common in those areas. Most of the men are busy only for about three months a year, when they do jobs like digging, pulling vans and cultivation work. For the rest of the time they are jobless. So the eagerness in these women to engage in any income generating activity is really high. This was the first SHG we met in our trip. This group consists of 15 women. And nearly all of them are skilled in sewing and embroidery work. They showed us a sample of their work: a cotton punjabi on which a design was being embroidered. The standard of their needle work was really professional. This work is commonly called Kantha Stich. Embroidered punjabis like this one are sold outside at much higher prices than what these women get for them. We discussed how this activity could form the basis of the planned self-help group. Many new ideas came up from our end as well as from theirs. They can be trained to make papads, jam, jelly, pickles, dhups (scented sticks for religious purposes). The villagers told us about the plethora of problems they have: lack of sanitary latrines, lack of drinking water, lack of and poor quality of primary education (the nearby primary school has only 3 teachers for more than 200 students), lack of income generating activities, lack of doctors (most of them are quacks), lack of proper roads and what not. Later on, while interacting with other groups, we found these to be common in every village. Their eagerness to improve their own dismal condition was very prominent in their eyes.

Leaving Bhadrapara, off we went to meet one member and one ex-member of the local administration, in order to get an overview of the problems in the entire Mathurapur block 2 region. Our mode of transportation was the same, and the condition of the road and the scenes on either side of it remained the same as well. We saw mostly mud houses with straw roofs and without any latrine, ponds nearly without water.

First we met Anjalidi, a member of the Panchayat samiti. She is well-known as a very active worker in the 11 areas allotted to her (each area has nearly 25 villages). She explained her work in the fields of education, cultural activities and sports. Anjalidi works with health camps as well, and is concerned with the state of education around her. The highest educational qualification seen is Madhyamik (secondary), and kids usually study no further than class 4. And again a major drop out happens at class 8.

After taking leave from Anjalidi, we met the ex-Pradhan of the region, Gunasindhu Halder. He had worked actively for the most significant problems of the region water, and sanitation. He told us about the 14 spots which he had identified as needing potable water most urgently. Out of them 3 had received deep tubewells but the rest had not. He even gave us the list of the remaining 11 spots. He also spoke about the need of setting up sanitary latrines. Tackling the problem by installing latrines in individual homes would involve a mammoth amount of expense. He suggested setting up community latrines at places like markets. The cost of an individual latrine varies from Rs 400 to Rs 4800, the latter version being the most lasting. The latrines costing Rs 400 have major problems - they stink, they often collapse if the soil is loose (since they are not built upon a cement chamber) or if big rats make holes through them. Setting up a community latrine was estimated to cost above Rs 50,000. He also told about other problems - lack of electricity, education and health. After the sun sets the whole area is immersed in darkness. Kerosene costs Rs 35 per litre which most of the people can not afford. The primary schools don t have enough teachers. There are not enough schools. There's only one government hospital at Raidighi. The need for proper doctors nearby has been there for years.

After a long discussion with him we headed towards the village of East Mahamaya. We started our discussion with plans of self-help groups, and here we found that the villagers were ready with the concept. It was decided to start off with two groups: one for men and one for women. The men's group was very enthusiastic about getting started with their SHG. They came up with the idea of husking rice. Paddy yields rice after a number of steps involving husking and separation, and the by-products of the process include husk which serves as fuel and food for hens and ducks, and broken rice which is enough to feed the family. We worked out the rate at which this needed to be done, the amount of paddy needed to be bought, and the amount of the initial loan to be taken in order to make the activity profitable and sustainable. The womens group was shy at first in speaking out, but a young woman was found out quick enough who knows how to make papads. She explained the process in brief to the other women of the region and to us as well. Enthusiastic discussions followed. The villagers also spoke of other problems water, and primary education. There was only one deep tubewell in the village, and the only primary school was far away enough.

After grabbing a quick lunch we went to meet Father Pankaj at Khari Catholic Church. It was getting dark and we were lucky to catch hold of him. He was one of the enlightened persons of the locality. He spoke of various problems plaguing the place, and the general lack of awareness behind them all. For example, he pointed out that the problem of sanitation had to do more with people realising the risks of defecating in the open. Or, that health camps would be of no use unless villagers stop trusting quacks. At this point, Saidul and Kallol told us the story of how some educated youths of a particular village were conned by an agency which promised them jobs and robbed them of Rs 3,600/- each. Some boys even sold their mothers' gold earrings to give the money. We took leave from Father and headed towards our last meeting for the day.

The last visit of the day was to the village of West Mahamaya. It was a very initial-stage discussion there, centering on the formation of self-help groups. The villagers were new to the concept, and they did not have any skills except their main occupation: husking of rice. They are also interested in poultry and pig farming. Gautam (an SUK member who was in our team all along) gave them the idea of mushroom farming. We also discovered that most of them did not have ration cards, and those who had, did not have BPL(Below Poverty Line) status on them. And most of those who possess BPL cards really don't need them. The local people are ignorant of the fact that they have every right as citizens of India to have ration cards. Sometimes they are told that the stock of cards has been finished (as if ration cards are toys sold in a shop!) and most of the times they are shooed away from the office. We spent some time trying to motivate them to approach the BDO and demand their ration cards through constructive protest. They also mentioned primary education as one of their problems. That was the last village visited for the day, and we retired for the night.

Next morning, our first destinaton was the village of Borashi - Pashchimpara. Here again, the discussions were at a very initial stage. The villagers weren t too convinced with the idea of self-help groups. One or two women were in favour of individual loans. One elderly lady was unsure that sharing a loan among some people would work properly. But some women were ready. After this, we heard about other problems they had, including scarcity of water, absence of schools in the proximity etc.

The next village was Kowabati. Among the villages we had seen, Kowabati is in the worst condition. Lack of water and sanitary latrines are the village s main problems, there being only one deep tubewell nearby. And not a single house in that village has a latrine. Primary education is also a problem, since the nearest school is far away. This village lies near the boundary of Mathurapur Block, which is why it is neglected by the administration. We met malnourished kids, who hardly cross the boundary of class 7. Illiteracy and superstition is rampant. In the village we saw a boy less than 10 years old, who had a fractured arm. A makeshift splinter made of sticks and ropes had been put on his arm. He did not have any sling to keep his hand in a proper position, no medication but some roots tied near his elbow and waist. On questioning the villagers we found out that this was practically how the doctor in charge had treated him. The closest hospital was at Raidighi, over an hour s journey away. So for most of the problems villagers had to turn to quacks.

Here we saw some interesting handicraft items made using palm leaves and plastic balls. They get 30-50 paise per piece for these. We discussed the possibility of organising this activity and using it to sustain a self-help group. As we were leaving the place, the villagers showed us a piece of land just outside their village, where a primary school could be set up.

The last two SHGs we visited were in the village of Gajamuri. Here, we learnt that although a corporation tap had been installed, no water came out of it. The pond shown in the picture is the source of water for all needs, including cooking. And the problems are same and countless. A woman has a boy who has been promoted to class 9. She managed the entry fees but couldn't manage enough money to buy books. The most interesting things we saw in these two places were examples of embroidery. Women in the village do this work for a menial Rs 230 per saree. One saree takes 3/4 months to complete. The labour involved is far more than what they get in term of money.

At the end of two days, we could see a string of inter-related problems that were common to all the villages of the area: 1. There is insufficient drinking water. Ponds had also dried up, or their water had been used up for irrigation. We heard that the underground water level had gone down, as drinking water could not be found before a depth of 1000 feet.
2. Sanitary latrines were scarce, due to their cost. Even by official government estimates, 30,000 homes did not have them.
3. There are few schools, and the schools have few teachers.
4. There are few means of earning money round the year (most activities are confined to some months a year).
5. Most villagers do not have ration cards. Those who have and are below poverty line, do not have BPL status.
6. There are no good doctors nearby. The nearest hospital is at Raidighi, about 30 km away.
7. Roads are not smooth enough for anything other than carts to pass without jerking.
8. Low or zero awareness level, illiteracy, lack of family planning.
9. Exploitation of villagers by everyone - from local administrators to those who give them work.
10. Trafficking of children, a grave issue that has been slightly arrested due to recent government and NGO efforts.