Samruddha Jana Parishad, at present, works in the Marathwada region. This region is situated in central-south-eastern part of Maharashtra and comprises 8 districts. More than 4/5^th population of the region resides in villages. Population of these villages ranges from 350 to 12,000 with majority villages’ population being 1500 to 3500. All these villages are “TYPICAL” i.e. Traditions’ bound; Youth disoriented; Politicization of every thing; Income dependant upon monsoon; Caste / Creed-based social dealings and overt and covert conflicts; Agrarian economy and Languid pace of life. Some of the central issues affecting villages in this region are:

Non-fulfilment of even the basic necessities of life.

These are the broad issues being tackled in the villages by Samruddha Jana Parishad.

Village profiles

(1) Wahad

Wahad, a “typical” Marathwada village with a population of 2800 is situated in the interior regions of Kandhar tehsil (18 km) of Nanded district (50 km). Since past 8 years, the village requires 4 tankers to supply water for household purposes, everyday from middle of February to middle of June. Traditional sources of water like well and modern sources of bore-well dry up at the beginning of every summer and thus the villagers are dependant upon tanker water. Quality and punctuality of tanker water is not guaranteed. In 2006-06, the village was included in a multiple-village water supply scheme with a stated aim of assuring the villagers of regular supply round the year by December 2008. However, this guarantee has still not materialised though the pipeline has been laid and water storage and distribution tanks have been built in all villages. There are doubts regarding water availability and storage capacity of the reservoir, from which water is to be supplied to these multiple villages. Villagers of Wahad opine that water in the reservoir is insufficient to meet their daily water need of 330,000 litres {210,000 litres (2800 population * 75 litres per person per day) for humans and 120,000 litres (2000 cattle * 60 litres per cattle head per day)} for the four months of summer. There are no alternative sources of water except those few in the farms owned by some of the villagers, but are situated at least couple of kilometres from the village habitat. This issue of water scarcity and dependency upon outside water supply has not been resolved till date due to internal village politics and non-management of natural resources as well as government apathy towards finding out a permanent long term solution to this issue.

(2) Dagadsanghvi

Dagadsanghvi, a “typical” Marathwada village with a population of 3500 is situated in the interior regions of Loha tehsil (25 km) of Nanded district (45 km). The river, which was the main source of water for household and irrigation use, flowing along the boundary of this village became a seasonal river gradually over the last decade due to construction of a dam upstream. From 2007-08 onwards, the villagers have started experiencing water scarcity during the summer months while irrigation was affected after construction of the dam upstream. Since last couple of decades, around 40% of the village populace migrates every year in search of employment. This seasonal migration starts around the time of Diwali i.e. in October-November and people return by end of May or early June for the agriculture season. Villagers work as truck-drivers, construction site labourers, stone-breakers and sugarcane cutters. This menial labour helps them to sustain themselves round the year however this not only affects their health but also disturbs their and their family’s routine, especially throwing in disarray the school education of their children. Seasonal migration has completely altered and affected the migrants’ lifestyle with practically zero ownership about Dagadsanghvi and its development. Migrating youth have become attracted to a materialistic but unaffordable lifestyle.

(3) Rajura

A small yet “typical” village with 400-odd population, Rajura is situated in Manvat tehsil (20 km) of Parbhani district (40 km). Practically cut off from the big and important villages as well as the tehsil place, no government official except the ones working at village level have visited Rajura till date. Rajura together along with three other villages make one Gram Panchayat (due to population less than 500). This had resulted in hardly any government scheme being accessed by the villagers till 2006-07. More than 50 youth have migrated out in search of employment and have no plans of returning back due to the lack of civic amenities and facilities in the village. The village gets islanded when there is heavy rainfall and access to the village is cut off because of flooding of the river flowing on two sides of Rajura. Despite having a river flowing on two sides, there is scarcity of water for drinking as well as irrigation purposes due to the peculiar location of the village. Rajura is habited on an elevated piece of land while the river flows from the lower two sides.

The drinking water issue was successfully resolved by the villagers last year through pooling in of resources, voluntary labour, negotiations with elected representatives and regular facilitation. In December 2008, Rajura village has accessed the Bharat Nirman Yojana (flagship programme of the Union government meant to resolve water scarcity and civic amenities related problems) and leveraged more than INR 3,500,000 through it for taking up civic amenities related work in the village.

However, the issue of lack of water for irrigation in nearly 90% agricultural land is still unresolved apart from education and health access for all.

(4) Phulwadi

A small yet “typical” village with 1800-odd population, Phulwadi is situated in Partur tehsil (30 km) of Jalna district (70 km). The location of Phulwadi is peculiar since for villagers of Phulwadi, Pathri tehsil place is nearer (14 km). This village is the outermost village of Jalna district on southern side. This water-scarce village became water-surplus due to the passing of a sub-minor canal of the Jayakwadi dam, after 1980s, resulting in cultivation of water-intensive crops like sugarcane, banana and vegetables. There was a phase where even flowers were cultivated in the village and supplied to urban markets of Mumbai and Pune. This most probably got the village its name however now no one cultivates flowers these days. There are only two toilets being used in the entire village despite being water-surplus. Sanitation is a major issue and this affects the women of the village most. Apart from working in family–owned farms or working as labourers on others farms, the youth have no alternative means of employment and income. The potential of agro-processing and animal husbandry has not been utilised by the villagers.

(5) Vana Hipparga

A small yet “typical” village with 1000-odd population, Vana Hipparga is situated in Chakur tehsil (40 km) of Latur district (75 km). Access to water, for drinking as well as irrigation purpose, becomes a problem in the village after end-February till mid-June every year. Couple of government schemes were implemented in the village, prior to 2007-08, but without any lasting success. This has severely affected the number of cattle and quantum of milk production in the village. There is no school in the village after the 4^th Grade and students have to walk for more than 3 km one way to reach a middle school in the adjacent village. Strong political factions between two community groups within the village have hindered development process till date. 

(6) Phularwadi

A small yet “typical” village with 600-odd population, Phularwadi is situated in Pathri tehsil (25 km) of Parbhani district (65 km). Phularwadi is the farthest village of Pathri tehsil and Parbhani district on the western side and discreetly located with no all-weather road connecting it to either the main road or any big village. There is all-round the year access to water for domestic purpose but not more than 40% agricultural land is irrigated. Sanitation was a major issue till 2007-08 when the villagers decided to make the village 100% open-defecation free. After intense facilitation and various community processes, Phularwadi became open-defecation free and was awarded the first prize by President of India, under the Sant Gadge Baba Swachatha Abhiyan, for securing the first place in Parbhani district.

There are still other issues like connectivity by all-weather road and irrigation, all round the year, for entire agricultural land in the village.