Urban Field Exposure: A
Practical Laboratory of Rural Managers
Behind
the façade of development conclaves and smart cities gimmicks, there lies an
abysmal truth of Ranchi, the progressive capital city of Jharkhand state. The
ugly picture painted by the congested localities in the periphery of the city.
These are often termed as slums. Characterised by poorly ventilated and compact
housing settlement, slums are generally considered as blots on any aspiring
superpower.
In
Ranchi, slums are marred by various health and sanitation challenges which are
posing a serious threat to the health of local residents. Firstly, the drains
in the slums are fully clogged with plastics and other garbage. These open
drains develop into a breeding ground for mosquitoes, flies, viruses and
plethora of other harmful microorganisms. Secondly, there is an absence of
waste management. The garbage is either littered in the slum or dumped at a
place in open. There is a serious dearth of dustbins. Thirdly, the water from
hand pumps or wells is not suitable for drinking purposes. Very few of the slums
are connected to tap government water supply. Because of which children
especially minors suffer from stomach aches and Jaundice. Fourth, mostly the
children are found barefooted. This makes them vulnerable to diseases caused by
the tapeworm, hookworm etc. Lastly, adding to this miserable state, alcoholism
is highly prevalent among the men. The men are addicted and their habits are
having an adverse impact on the lives of their families.
Under
such challenges, it is obvious that people are going to get seriously infected
by multiple diseases. And since most of these diseases are communicable like
Malaria, their impacts are deadly on the public health. The vulnerable groups
i.e. women and child are worst affected by these diseases. Families are forced
to spend their entire savings on curative measures. And since most of the
residents are manual labourers, their livelihood takes a serious hit.
Witnessing
this ugly situation, it seems that the place has been abandoned by
administrative machinery. The Municipality has turned itself into a mere
spectator. The local leadership seems to remember its people only once in five
years. Even after so many complaints, these leaders aren't doing anything to
improve the conditions.
Students Participation and 'UFE' at XISS:
For
a development professional, it becomes extremely important to be aware of this
pitiable status of cities. This is necessary to help student critically analyse
and develop proposal's to evacuate the slums. Thankfully the Department of Rural
Management at XISS has a unique distinction of having developed a course
curriculum which mandates the First Year students to visit slum three days in a
week.
For
one complete year, the students go for urban field work (UFW). In UFW, the
first year students are distributed among nine groups. Each group is allocated
a slum across Ranchi area. This group activity is scheduled after the lunch
break for two hours i.e. from 2:30 to 4:30 pm. For two hours in the slums, the
students are asked to teach kids between the ages of 5 to14 years. Apart from
teaching kids, a student's learns various facets of slum dwellers. For a
student it is a practical laboratory, wherein they can closely observe the life
of slum dwellers through interaction and non-participatory observations.
Especially for students who are oblivious of grass root problems, this one year
exercise gives them a good glimpse of social, political and economic
deprivation of slum dwellers.
The
UFE is sub categorised into themes for three trimesters. The first trimester is
dedicated to rapport building. In this students interact with slum dwellers and
develop a good relationship. In the second trimester, the students are asked to
identify a major issue persisting in the slum and after discussing this issue
with the local community, a roadmap is designed. Finally, in the last
trimester, the students organise awareness campaign and do an intervention on
the theme which they had identified in the second trimester.
For
the smooth functioning of all the activities, it is required to build trust
with slum dwellers. To develop a close relation with slum dwellers the students
organise cultural events with the help of locals throughout the year. These
events generally include Independence Day, Children's Day and Republic Day.
Even the department faculties are also part of these programmes. Apart from
this, students also celebrate major national and tribal festivals with the
locals. This way the students and slum dwellers develop a healthy relationship
of mutual trust and respect.
The
department keeps a close eye on all the activities and has a special supervisor
appointed just for UFE. This supervisor conducts surprise visits. Apart from
this, a local sevika di (guide) is
also appointed to help students in their activities.
For
students of Rural Management, UFE is a thought provoking and high enriching
experience. Here students can actually relate to the text and the context. He
can develop policies and write research papers and articles after getting
exposed to such environment. For future endeavours, UFE becomes an important
ingredient in the recipe of success. Even the alumni's have agreed and asserted
that this one-year exposure worked wonders for them in their respective
jobs.
By:
Mr.
Rajender Singh Bisht
Department
of Rural Management
(2016-2018)
