Skip to main content

In Gujarat's Meghraj, 77% girls "missed" school to fetch water, look after siblings: Ahmedabad workshop told

An Australian government-sponsored pilot project, meant to create technical awareness for sustainable groundwater use among villagers of two semi-arid regions of Gujarat and Rajasthan, has revealed how, despite huge official claims, water scarcity continues to bog the regions, adversely impacting girl child education in a big way.
Called MARVI or Managing Aquifer Recharge and Sustaining Groundwater Use through Village-level Intervention, a study report prepared for implementing the project in a meaningful way in the two rural areas, says that whopping 77% girls “missed” school due to home duties, which included collecting water.
Carried out in Meghraj in Gujarat and Dharta in Rajasthan, the study, said a participant in a two-day national workshop in Ahmedabad on groundwater monitoring and recharge, which began on May 30, was carried out by a group of about dozen scholars led by R Kookana and published in the “International Journal of Inclusive Education” (2016).
Titled “Groundwater scarcity impact on inclusiveness and women empowerment: Insights from school absenteeism of female students in two watersheds in India”, the study is based on a survey conducted in secondary schools of Meghraj and Dharta in order to “assess students’ perceptions about groundwater scarcity issues and the impact of the scarcity on educational opportunities of school students”.
Two main types of data were used in the study; survey responses to detailed questionnaire by a cohort of students in both watersheds and school attendance records for year 8 class students (aged 13 to 14 years).
Pointing out that “responses gathered via a socio-economic survey involving 500 families in the study area were also used to interpret the results”, the study says, in both the areas, identified as “watersheds”, more 90% students identified groundwater scarcity as a major issue.”
“Approximately 94% of the surveyed students were involved in household work, with female respondents helping by fetching drinking water form a nearby well, cooking, cleaning the home and looking after younger siblings”, the survey said.
Confirming that access to water remains a pipedream for the villagers, the study, whose contents were handed over to the participants at the workshop, says, “A large number of women continue to travel many times a day to collect water for various uses. Women travel an average of three times a day for 50 to 77 minutes per trip to collect drinking water, depending on the season.”
Suggesting how the Gujarat government’s kanya kelavani or girl child education drive has failed as a result of this factor, the study says, “Approximately 68% of the surveyed students in Gujarat arrived late or left school early due to household duties while 65% of students sometimes missed school altogether.”
It underlines, “A clear link between gender and school attendance was noted. For example in Gujarat, while 40% of male students missed school, the number of females missing school due to home duties was nearly twice as much (77%).”
A Meghraj hamlet
The study acknowledges that “approximately 65% of the surveyed parents indicated that their daughters have either missed school or were late in going to school because they were helping them collect water for domestic use.”
The study comments, the “demand on students, especially females, to undertake household work such as fetching drinking water and consequent school absenteeism highlighted that groundwater scarcity in the study area is a contributing factor towards limiting educational and economic opportunities available especially to female students.”
It adds, “In general, the groundwater scarcity can be one of the key factors that can limit empowerment of women and therefore any policy changes or initiatives to improve empowerment need to consider water availability issues.” 

Comments

TRENDING

Why predictions of an imminent collapse of the Russian economy may be wrong

A veteran Canadian journalist, settled in Russia, stated in a Facebook post that President Donald Trump "is apparently listening to experts who tell him that Russia's economy is on the verge of 'imploding,' and if he just squeezes a bit harder," his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin "will fall into line."

Talking of increased corporate control over news, Rajdeep Sardesai 'evades' alternative media

When I received an intimation that well-known journalist Rajdeep Sardesai was to speak at the Ahmedabad Management Association (AMA) on February 2, my instant reaction was: I know what he is going to say—his views are quite well known; he wouldn’t be saying anything new. Yet, I decided to go and listen to him to catch his mood at a time when the media, as he (and I) knew it, is changing fast due to the availability of new technological tools that were not accessible even a decade ago.

DeepSeek censors uncomfortable queries on China, but why's Gemini so touchy on India?

The powerful Chinese AI app DeepSeek, which has taken the Silicon Valley by surprise, as it has capacities matching Google’s Gemini and Open AI's ChatGPT, is being criticised for restricting free speech, and rightly so. It is being said that those signing up for the chatbot and its open-source technology "are being confronted with the Chinese Communist Party’s brand of censorship and information control."

Gujarat a police state? How top High Court advocate stunned a senior-most journalist

Rajdeep Sardesai, Anand Yagnik This is a continuation of my earlier blog on well-known journalist Rajdeep Sardesai's lecture in memory of the late Achyut Yagnik at the Ahmedabad Management Association (AMA). I was a little surprised when I received the intimation about the venue for the lecture.

5% poor in India? Union govt claim debunked, '26.4% of population below poverty line'

A recent paper, referring to the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) 2022-23 of the Government of India (GoI), has debunked the official claim that poverty has substantially declined. Titled "Poverty in India: The Rangarajan Method and the 2022–23 Household Consumption Expenditure Survey", the paper —authored by scholars CA Sethu, LT Abhinav Surya, and CA Ruthu—states that "more than a quarter of India’s population falls below the poverty line."

Gujarat's water anarchy? 16.7% of Narmada water going to industry, 33% of targeted area irrigated: Govt insider

The Narmada project is something that has always excited me, including how much water will be distributed and to which sector. A few days ago, when I was talking to a top Gujarat government insider, I was a little surprised when I was told that it is up to the “respective states to decide how much Narmada water they would distribute among various sectors” out of the total quota allocated to the four states—Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan—as per the Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal award of 1979.

Russians at a Bali yoga camp to avoid drafting for war? Things aren't any different in Ukraine

Are people in Russia becoming frustrated with the prolonged war in Ukraine? And is the war having a similar impact on the people of Ukraine? I have no firsthand information about this, but it is well known how nationalist hysteria often seeks to conceal such frustration, particularly among the youth.

I'm flattered: A New York media house claims I was a KGB agent! Wow, I didn't know that

I was astonished, let me say pleasantly surprised, on receiving a comment by Rich TVX News  on my blog   "Why predictions of an imminent collapse of the Russian economy may be wrong" (January 28).  I don't know who wrote the strange comment from this "media house", which is based in New York, and claims to "hold sway not only among the masses but also within global corridors of power, influencing esteemed politicians and shaping international diplomacy, especially evident during pivotal events like the ongoing crisis in Ukraine."

A shocker for parents? Rush for 'prestigious' varsity degrees to reduce; instead, industry may prefer skills

Recently, I had a conversation with a senior researcher working on a project for a consumer goods multinational corporation (MNC) at one of the top institutes abroad. Insightful and articulate, he holds a PhD from a prestigious university and has a remarkable ability to analyze social dynamics. I am withholding his name because our discussion took place informally during a friend’s lunchtime gathering.