Incomplete pipelines deny Madhubani in Bihar access to sufficient water

For representational purposes (Wikimedia Commons)Unfinished work on pipelines and storage tanks under Har Ghar Nal scheme in a Bihar village, forcing women to trudge miles daily in search of clean waterMuzaffarpur, Bihar: It was back in 2016 that the Bihar government started the Har Ghar Nal ('A tap in every house') scheme to ensure that people in rural parts of the state could have access to clean drinking water. However, to this day, the women of Madhubani panchayat, ward no. 9 of Musahari block, in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district are compelled to walk nearly 3 km every day to fetch water for their household chores. The sorry state of affairs isn't because the panchayat hasn't begun implementing the scheme. In fact, in keeping with the initiative, the government had installed pipelines here in 2019-20, bringing in the groundwater extracted out using submersibles pumps, stored in the Jal Minars constructed as per the scheme. However, the work on all of these lies incomplete.  Incidentally, the 2019 Niti Aayog Report on Composite Water Management Index Performance clearly states that although work had begun in 60% of the rural areas of the country, there's been no perceptible improvement in the quality of available water.Sangeeta Devi (33), a resident of this block explained that "out of 200 houses under this panchayat, almost 150 have no access to clean drinking water."Consequently, in the absence of running water, women must trudge down a few kilometres to the Tirhut canal; an irrigation canal from the River Gandak which runs from Valmikinagar and Muzaffarpur. According to local resident Mahendra Saha, “The dirty, brackish water collected from the canal is boiled and strained for drinking purposes. Many villagers often fall sick because of this.” Elaborating on the problem, Sangeeta told 101Reporters, “The taps had been installed long ago. But in the absence of connected pipelines, we have to carry bucket-loads of water home. It's a difficult situation, but we women can't do without (fetching) water. Whether it be heavy fog, biting cold or scorching sun, we women must go out to fetch water.”Pregnant women and mothers of toddlers are particularly pitiable. Neighbours have to pitch in to help them, as Uma Devi (name changed) said, “There is a pregnant woman in our neighbourhood who cannot fetch water. So we are all helping her.” Poor health due to dirty water Carrying water over long distances has ended up taking its toll on women. Local resident Urmila Devi (45) suffers from persistent pain in her hands, brought on by the need to constantly carry heavy pots and buckets. Others, like 40-year-old Uma Devi, complain of physical and mental fatigue, besides persistent stress about running out of water at home. But more than discomfort, the regular use of dirty water for bathing can particularly endanger the health of women and children, as gynaecologist Dr Kalpana Singh pointed out.“Constantly using dirty water for bathing can affect the genital areas and result in bacterial and other infections,” she said, also warning that drinking dirty water can cause diarrhoea, nausea and indigestion.In 2019, local Right to Information activist Rajesh Kumar took up the matter with the administration.“We had apprised the chief minister, district magistrate and block development officer [BDO] about the issue. But our complaint did not elicit any response,” the 35-year-old told 101Reporters.A little activity followed, but this, too, soon ground to a halt. All that Block Divisional Officer (BDO) Mahesh Chandra admitted was that there was a funding problem, claiming that work on the pipeline would resume soon. “The matter is to be investigated," he added. However, former sub-divisional officer(SDO) Gyan Prakash told 101Reporters, “There were orders issued to arrange for water tankers in Madhubani village. All hand pumps were to be restored and running until boring operations were not completed.” This is being looked as a temporary option to solve the water crisis in the region as the pipelines of poor quality remain unconnected to the taps. A technical assistant who wishes to remain anonymous explains, "Based on a model estimate, the pipelines run through 1200-1400 km stretch currently, covering only 50 houses, and must be carried on further to cover a total of 200 houses here. The work has been in a pending state, though funds of 16 lakhs were demanded from Zila Parishad when the project was initiated." In February 2022, following media outrage regarding Madhubani’s elusive water connection on some local television channels, two to three hand pumps in the village — hitherto lying in a state of disrepair — were restored. This, though, is small consolation at a time when summer loos rage across the plains of Bihar, making it difficult for women to keep running to the few hand pumps in the village for precious water.Pumping out groundwater — is it wise?Even as official papers continue moving from one table to another at a snail’s pace, and villagers attribute the deliberate delays in fixing the pipelines to “negligence and corruption”, one needs to question the government’s wisdom in pushing villagers towards hand pumps.According to a 2020 Public Health Engineering Department survey conducted in 38 districts of Bihar, 11 districts were found to be “water-stressed”, with groundwater having depleted to dangerously low levels. Given the situation, promoting hand pumps — that actually pump out groundwater to the surface — is questionable."Har Ghar Nal scheme is about providing tap connections to all the houses in Bihar, including remote rural pockets by pumping out groundwater. Madhubani region, the groundwater table is really high and there is no groundwater crisis, sometimes the water can be pumped out even with natural pressure here, but water contamination is a real issue here, especially arsenic contamination. To avoid this contamination from surface-level groundwater, they(the government) dig the borewells as deep as 300 feet, to provide water to the houses. But comparatively, in regions like Gaya, groundwater is a huge problem. There should be a policy in place for implementation of this scheme in such areas," explains Suresh Kumar, a researcher at Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), Patna. Edited by Rina Mukherji 

Girls’ education in Bihar in sorry state, harmed further by pandemic

In Muzaffarpur, the social pressure to get young women married early, in addition to lack of resources for digital learning, forced scores of female students to give up their studiesMuzaffarpur: Pooja* was a home science graduate student from Muzaffarpur, Bihar. The 18-year-old had high hopes for her life, before the pandemic took a toll on her education — as it did on the lives of millions the world over.Pooja is among the scores of other female students in Bihar who were left with no choice but to drop out of school and college. In fact, many were even fated to marry early after being forced to quit their studies due to the Covid-19 outbreak. Such is the situation in the state despite the various government schemes in place to facilitate the education of girls. Also, even though digital learning methods were encouraged, the graph of girls’ education saw a disheartening downward curve in the state.Discouraging dropoutsAccording to state government data, 24,03,526 students were enrolled in Class 1 in 2018-19, but the figures were drastically lower for Class 10(15,37,628) and Class 12(6,31,379). A glance at the data also showed a particularly alarming dropout rate among female students. While 11,52,680 girls were enrolled in Class 1, less than 3 lakh made it to Class 12. Moreover, according to a National Statistical Office of India report, Bihar recorded a dropout rate of 30.5% in 2017-18.“During the pandemic, female students constituted the majority of the dropouts,” said Shakeela Anjum, a psychology professor who’s been teaching at a top Muzaffarpur college for 10 years.Even after the spread of the coronavirus appeared to be curtailed, she added, it had become increasingly difficult for young women from villages to return to college because their guardians feared a fresh wave of cases and the hurdles it would create in getting them married. “For many modest earners who faced financial hardship during the pandemic, their primary train of thought was to figure out how to get their daughters married,” Anjum said. “Since they struggled to manage two square meals a day, they were desperate to get their daughters married. Government schemes alone cannot change people’s mindset.”The social divideDespite government-implemented initiatives such as Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, girls’ education in India is riddled with societal challenges. The pandemic added to this problem manifold.Take Pooja’s case, for instance. She lost her father; and her mother is the sole breadwinner of the family, who earns Rs 10,000 a month as a fourth grade worker at a private school. Pooja lived in a hostel while she attended college, but had to return home when the lockdown was announced. However, in addition to fluctuating electricity and lack of resources for online classes, she was pressured to get married. “People said it’d be less expensive to get girls married during the pandemic, as there was no demand for dowry,” she told 101Reporters. “My mother was influenced by their opinion and arranged my marriage. I’m now engaged in household chores instead of studies.” The social challenges in Pooja’s case run even deeper. The education of her two younger brothers was prioritised — the 12-year-old is in Class 8, and the 16-year-old cleared the matriculation examination — while Pooja had to give up her studies.Kalpana*, the 19-year-old daughter of a head mason in Muzaffarpur, is yet another example. She was just a year away from graduating with a bachelor's in arts when the lockdown was put in place. She was forced to return home and was swiftly married by her family. “I still tried to continue with my education, but my in-laws, who live in another city, didn’t allow me to complete my graduation,” she rued.A digital hindranceIn addition to the obstacle of the pandemic and societal constraints, another hurdle to female education presented itself during these turbulent months — lack of access to online classes. In Muzaffarpur, women from a number of colleges had to give up their studies early due to the switch to the digital mode of learning. Most households here have only one smartphone, primarily used by a male member of the family, leaving the students with no access to their online classes.Aditi*, a 16-year-old Class 12 student at a government college, said: “Even the teachers at our college had no idea about online classes. A WhatsApp group was created, and we were told that a link for every period would be sent there. But no such thing happened.” “Everything changed once colleges closed. The teachers didn’t care about our education, and we didn’t have smartphones. Our exams weren’t held on time, and now, a number of girls from my batch have got married. Perhaps I’m destined for the same, too,” added Aditi, who hopes to become a teacher one day, not get married at such a young age.Toil and travel Across the country, online classes have been far from easy for rural students. In addition to their villages lacking internet connectivity and the means to own personal smartphones — the basic requirement for online learning — the closing down of hostels was a source of great inconvenience for students who had to travel long distances for classes.“The frequent switch between offline and online classes caused them much trouble,” said professor Anjum. “It was especially challenging for those who didn’t have smartphones for online classes and had to travel great distances to college.”In Mushahari block of Muzaffarpur, a high school English teacher claimed that children did not get to study at all during the pandemic, since most of the students enrolled in government schools live in villages or distant regions where mobile network is non-existent.Twenty-one-year-old Sanghmitra was among the few fortunate ones who came from a family that valued education. A master’s student of a renowned college affiliated to the University of Bihar, she spoke of her batchmates’ fate with great despondence. “Girls here have been facing tremendous problems because of the Covid-19 outbreak. I belong to a middle-class family that understands the importance of education, but not every girl is that fortunate,” she told 101Reporters. “When the third wave hit, colleges stopped regular classes and hostels shut down. It became a very expensive affair for many girls to travel long distances every day to attend college. As a result, many of my batchmates gave up their studies.”Misuse of government incentiveAs an incentive to facilitate female education, the government of Bihar announced that it would give Rs 25,000 to girls who cleared Class 12 and Rs 50,000 to those who completed their graduation. However, the ground reality remains that this money, in a number of cases, was used to fund their marriage. One such college student told 101Reporters that her family used the money to buy gold jewellery for her wedding and for use in any other occasion required.With a seemingly snowballing crisis, the question of government intervention to improve the situation arises. To keep a check on the dropout rate, the education department of Bihar has reportedly planned to set up a database to track all students till they make it to the higher secondary level. Sanjay Kumar, principal secretary of the state education department, told a daily newspaper that he had directed authorities of primary, middle and high schools to take up the issue of high dropout rates and ensure that every child gets a complete education.Furthermore, the department has also decided to start an admission drive across Bihar from April 1 to bring school dropouts back to classrooms. And this comes at a time when it was reported, in February, that as many as 10 lakh children dropped out of schools in Bihar during the lockdown.*The names of all minors quoted have been changed to protect their identity

In Bihar, women in local politics rendered puppets by husbands

Councillor Surbhi Shikha's husband (left) dominates the workings of her ward, seen here supervising a vaccination camp (Photo sourced by Saumya Jyotsna)Despite being elected to chair wards and panchayats in Muzaffarpur, male members of their families assume power and perform their public duties. Muzaffarpur: In October last year, the plight of women in politics in Bihar was brought to light in a public court held by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in Patna. Pinky Kumari, a ward member of Khutaha panchayat in the Bhagalpur district, demanded action against her husband for hindering her work as an elected representative. “I want to implement the drinking water supply scheme under your dream project ‘Har Ghar Nal Ka Jal’, but my husband is hampering my efforts. Please take action against him for creating such hurdles in government work.” While the Chief Minister instructed panchayat officers to take action on Kumari’s complaint, hers isn’t an isolated incident. Kumari’s predicament mirrors the helplessness of thousands of women across Bihar, who—despite being elected to the posts of sarpanch in panchayats, as members of panchayats or as ward councillors in municipal corporations—are forced to relinquish their power to the men in their family. In fact, a tour of rural Bihar will fetch you examples of husbands, fathers-in-law, brothers-in-law and other men carrying out the responsibilities that were, in reality, handed to these women, rendering them mere rubber stamps with no real authority.Reservation seemingly a farceIn an attempt to augment women’s participation in public affairs, the Bihar government implemented 50% reservation for women in panchayats in 2006, hoping to ease their access to the chair and populate at least half of the 2.6 lakh panchayat seats with women. Under this reservation, in the Muzaffarpur Municipal Corporation, 25 of the 49 wards have female councillors. However, they remain elected representatives only by name because, in reality, their roles remain restricted to their homes, while their public duties are performed by their husbands. Reduced to the stature of puppets, their significant others are called to corporation meetings and make decisions in the name of the true public representative. Nirmala Devi, the elected head of Ward 19, is one such example. A local resident told 101Reporters, “I once approached Nirmala Devi for some work, when her husband openly said he was the one who did the actual work.” Similarly, councillors Shahnaj Khatoon of Ward 12 and Surbhi Shikha of Ward 30 aren’t the ones in positions of power. Their husbands dominate the workings of the wards under their wives’ ambit. In fact, Shikha’s partner even openly shares photos of his unjustified authority on Facebook; he can be spotted at Covid-19 vaccination drives as well as at road construction projects.Such is the plight of several female ward councillors in Bihar, with local residents attesting to their situation. One Ranjan told 101Reporters that when they have issues to address, civilians are made to meet their councillors’ husbands at civic bodies, while the women stay home. Her role is reduced to merely signing papers at corporation meetings at the behest of their male counterparts.A handful in real powerWhile it wouldn’t be incorrect to say that the majority of the women, elected to municipal corporations and panchayats under the reservation, are unable to assume power, there are a select few who take charge.Ranju Sinha, the elected councillor in Muzaffarpur’s Ward 29, is well aware of her responsibilities—from taking stock of the state of her ward to overseeing Covid-19 vaccination drives and other projects.“Women get a chance to come to power because of reservation,” she told 101Reporters. “But when they do, they remain ignorant of how they must carry themselves, speak at corporation meetings and perform their duties to ensure their participation. That is lacking.”Covid-19 vaccination drive organised by Ranju Sinha (right) (Photo sourced by Saumya Jyotsna)The councillor for Ward 42, Archna Pandit, lamented how hard it is for women to shine through in our male-dominated society.“Girls are born in their father's shadow and then move on to their husband’s. They get accustomed to being dependent on others, because of which they don’t assert their rights,” Pandit emphasised. “Women have to prove their ability and raise their voice for their rights.”Reservation far from the solution“Politics has always been a male-dominated field, with the power always in their hands,” pointed out Kanksshi Agarwal, founder of the Netri Foundation, an organisation that helps train women to be better prepared for politics. “Politics involves being acquainted with the people and the social system. Given that women aren’t allowed the same freedom of movement as men, the latter develop a stronger social identity and greater affinity for politics.”While Agarwal believes that reservation offers women the first step to climb the political ladder, which, in turn, inspires other women to get involved in the affairs of the state, several experts believe that reservation alone isn’t the solution.Kundan Kumar Verma, a researcher from the University of Bihar who has studied the progress of the five-year plan and rural development in depth, said that lack of education among women was the primary reason men continue to assert their dominance in local governance.“The situation will not see any change till women are made aware of their rights and develop confidence,” he added.Additional Public Prosecutor Sangeeta Shahi echoed his views. “Most female representatives are illiterate or poorly educated, due to which they are unaware of their rights,” said Shahi, who is also the president of Muzaffarpur district’s Women’s Advocates Association “They are not well-versed with government policies and show no interest in politics. They stand for elections at the behest of their families, after which their husbands assume power.”Government officials were unwilling to share their comments on the prevalent situation in Bihar. Muzaffarpur Municipal Commissioner Vivek Ranjan Maitrey and Municipal Corporation Mayor Rakesh Kumar both declined to comment on women in politics in Bihar being pushed to the sidelines.

Lack of sanitation a major concern for women in flood-affected Bihar

For women and young girls, the absence of proper toilets and menstrual hygiene products pose several safety threats as flood waters overtake their lands and homes. Muzaffarpur: For women like Shobha Rani, Kusum Rani and Kalavati, the tragedy of floods in their region — the Akharaghat area of ​​Muzaffarpur, Bihar — is nothing new. As a low lying and densely populated place, water-logging in the Burhi Gandak river results in dangerous flooding in the region every year. The problem is even more dire in the urban slums, where most people live below the poverty line. "Despite the flooding, it is impossible to go anywhere because this is our home," said Shobha Rani (65). She seemed resigned to her fate like many others in Bihar, which witnessed massive floods this year as well. In the state's Muzaffarpur district, rural areas like Marwan, Sahebganj, Mushahari, Paroo, Aurai, Katra, Narauli, Kanti, Bochahan, Kurhani, Minapur, Sakra, Muraul and Motipur had all been submerged due to increasing water levels in Burhi Gandak river and the terrible condition of the drains. Several people had filed complaints demanding that they be cleaned, but their voices had so far remained ignored.As a result of the floods, thousands of people had been displaced. Some sought shelter under a tarp on the highway, while others had gone to the top floors or roofs of their homes, awaiting help. Chandni Devi from Chhoti Parbatta village told 101Reporters that camps had been set up in the flood-affected areas, either by NGOs or local good Samaritans. The women, worried about their hungry children, walked submerged in water to get food — risking snake bites and infections. ''We stand in line for hours, but there is no guarantee of getting food. This is the situation in many camps, as most people cannot avail relief funds [either because most are not aware of the process or were fatigued by the bureaucratic hoops they had to jump through]. We usually leave our children at home, but we're constantly scared about them falling from the height,'' she added. In the absence of concrete government measures, several NGOs and civil societies had come to help people, providing them with necessities such as food, water, and medicines. However, some basic needs continue to be unmet. A young girl wades through flood waters to collect food aid from the camp (Picture credit - Madhav)Lack of sanitation Flood victims, more often than not, lost access to toilets and sanitation. While men could manage with temporary measures, for women the lack of sanitation posed several challenges such as safety concerns and risk of infections due to the lack of proper medical care. Sunaina Devi, Rajkumari Devi and Parvati Devi, residents of Sohansi of Chandkewari panchayat under Paroo block, echoed this predicament. They felt especially ashamed in case of infections when they were compelled to defecate twice or thrice a day, often in broad daylight. ''We have to sit on an open dam to defecate. And these issues become all the more dire during menstruation,'' they told 101Reporters. Most of these women re-use a cloth in lieu of a sanitary pad during menstruation. However, in the absence of toilets and clean water, they have to wash the fabric with dirty water, which increases the risk of some major diseases and infections.Anu Kumari, a local senior Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM) from the Government Sadar Hospital in Muzaffarpur, said that ''due to lack of proper sanitation, women in flood-affected areas are at high risk of urinary tract infections or UTIs. Also, menstruation becomes a big problem for teenage girls because they have to use the same cloth throughout their cycle. About 150 women from flood-affected areas come to the hospital every day with such complaints.'' Dr Kuldeep Kaur, who runs Harisant Matri Sadan Maternity Hospital in Muzaffarpur, told 101Reporters that most women in such conditions complain of excessive white discharge. Moreover, their hands and feet swell up due to anaemia. "One such woman had come from the Sitamarhi area. Eventually, her entire family shifted out of the region as they were financially better off than most others here. But not every woman has such options, and most turn to government hospitals," she said.Relief distribution underway in Muzaffarpur (Picture credit - Madhav)Beyond distribution of aidDuring the floods, Team Muzaffarpur, a collective with about a dozen members, had distributed two packets of sanitary napkins to households in some areas alongside food items and other relief material. However, team member Mrinal Krishna told 101Reporters that ''only distributing sanitary packages would not help. It is also crucial to spread awareness regarding its proper use.'' Moreover, facilities like bio-toilets should be made available during floods so that women do not have to worry about open defecation. Amrita Singh of Nav Astitv Foundation, who has been working on menstrual health and hygiene in Bihar since 2012, agreed that despite the challenges of installing bio-toilets in interior villages, they were a good option for women and girls in flood-hit regions who struggle to access proper sanitation. "It is also important to make people aware about the use of such sanitation facilities."