1. education
2. school

RURAL RESEARCH REPORT
Zunki Village, Maharashtra
SUBMITTED BY :
ANUSHREE CHINCHWADKAR (19011)
RAGHUVEER NISHTALA (19048)
SUKHADA CHAUDHARY (19072)
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Introduction
Two of the team members of this rural research team are from Nagpur, Maharashtra and one of
them is from Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. As the research was to be undertaken in the orange
belt of Maharashtra, we were very interested in knowing the problems faced by orange farmers,
especially those in Zunki – the village that we were studying. However, the problems uncovered
were more varied than what we thought they would be. The main problem of the region is
covered under the section of communications need assessment. Modernization has brought about
a lot of changes in the rural set-up. Some of them have been good, some of them bad. However,
the changes have also proved to be divisive – with very few changes resonating well with both
the young and old segments of the population. Through this report, we seek to bring forward our
myriad findings pertaining to Zunki, the life of the people, the many changes, their repercussions
and how they continue to affect life as these people know it.
Village Profile
Zunki is a small village nestled between the farmlands belonging to various adjoining villages
and talukas like Sindhi, Brahmni, and Vadora. Kalmeshwar is the taluka that is 3 kilometers
away. The villagers are dependent on Kalmeshwar for many almost all of their needs as we shall
see ahead. Nagpur, which is the second capital of Maharashtra, is about 20 km away.
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Village Climate
Zunki experiences a tropical climate. The climate is dry for most of the year. It receives an
average of 1205 mm throughout the year. Summers are extremely hot, ranging from March to
June. Winters last from November to January. The temperature ranges from 3.4- 47 degree
Celsius throughout the year.
Village Topography
Type
of
soil
–
Black
There are three types of soil found in the village 1. Highly water retentive
2. Medium retentive
3. Dry
This classification of soil according to the water content and the retentiveness is essential. This is
because the type of soil dictates what crop can flourish under the given situation. Another
important aspect is the choice of cash crop – because of a certain type of soil, only a select few
crops can be grown in rotation with the staple crops of the region.
Type of terrain
The land in the village is mostly flat and there are no natural slopes found in the village. It is
similar to the plains and flatlands found everywhere around Zunki. There is a small tributary that
flows at the outskirts of the village and is used by farmers around the water source to feed their
farms. The river is also used for domestic purposes like cleaning clothes.
Land use Pattern
Only farming is practiced on the land in the village. There is no forest cover within the village
limits. The forest is 30-40 km away from the village. The farm lands are used as per crop
rotation. The usual norm is that of two crops – one staple crop rotated with a cash crop. The most
common crop found in this region is wheat, followed by cotton, soyabean and orange. Whatever
experimental farming or technique is practiced is usually done on a small portion of the farm to
check for feasibility and efficiency before using on the entire farm.
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Village Resources
Nearest healthcare facilities, Animal husbandry centre, Post office etc are present at Vadora
which is 3km away from Zunki. Nearest Post office, PCO and Bank are at Kalmeshwar.
This is a small village. The village aspires to be self sufficient and that it should not depend on
Kalmeshwar for services like bus stop, post office, and health care.
Demographics
Number of households: 125
Number of households with electricity: 123
People mostly live in joint family.
Eighty percent of the people own land. 10% own both land are also work as laborers. Villagers
consider being poor as living in a rented house, who have migrated or laborers who live on the
farm.
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The village population is 424. 231 are males and 229 are females. The caste breakdown is as
follows OBC
SC
NT
90%
20%
10%
According to the Sarpanch (Sangita Nibalkar), one of the problem that the village faced was it
had no good roads, she got it done. She thinks that the problem facing society is that there is no
one to guide the youth. If educated youth came forth and shared their experience then it could be
better. The village could have had a school for secondary education, but due to politics, the
village did not utilize the opportunity and she regrets this. She said that at first, many
administrative leaders at taluka level used to be from Zunki, but since 10 years there has been
none. She became Sarpanch as the Govt. rule mandated a female Sarpanch from backward class.
She was unanimously elected. Gram Sevak, Ms. YogitaBalpande informed us of the various
Govt. schemes and about how they are disseminated. She informed us of the various drives.
Some of them are ‘Polio drive’, ‘MahilaBachat gat’- Women’s savings group,
‘TantamuktiSamiti’ – fights resolver group,’ VyasanMukti’- De-addiction drive.
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There are some migrants in the villages who typically work as farm laborers. They are given the
status of citizens after they stay for three years.
Ways of dissemination
Gram Sabha, Maha Sabha, Posters and Wall painting at Panchayat office and also at some
prominent places in the village. For important announcements like a polio drive, the
announcements are made at a village meeting that happens once every month. At these meetings,
a lot of villagers turn up as it is a forum to voice their concerns, state their problems and get an
update from the village administration on important things that are happening in the village.
Education Infrastructure
Zilla Parishad School
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The lone school in Zunki village was established in 1960. The classes from 1st to 7th are
conducted here. For classes from 8th td, students go the Naroda village which is 3km away.
Junior college for arts is also at Naroda. For the further education, students go to Kalmehswar.
At this school, children from the adjoining village Savali, Sindhi, Zunki are taught. They come
by cycle; walking or their parents drop them. There are 7 teachers for 7 classes.
We spoke to the teacher and the headmistress. They said that nowadays more children are
interested in Science. Increasing number of students are taking science for their secondary
studies. If they do not get the admission in science courses, then many are opting for technical
courses. They continue to consult their teachers even after their 12th.
A benefactor from Dubai, who had studied in the school has gifted them a computer. They use
the computer for educational purposes. They buy educational CDs from town and play it on the
computer.
The teacher told us some of the problems that they face. Illiterate parents even if they are rich are
unable to guide students in their studies. They are not able to tell their children the importance of
the studies. They can’t take lessons for their wards. CBSE syllabus is too vast to be covered in
school.
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Standard of living of the villagers is poor. They often fall ill and miss the classes. They are not
able to keep up with other students. The illness makes them weak and they are not able to keep
the routine. This affects their studies. The youth are all working in Nagpur and hence they are no
able to interact with the students who might need guidance.
There are Hindu and Buddhist students at the school, but no discrimination is seen between
them. All take part in celebration according to the caste at home, but there are no differences in
way of celebrations in school.
The male female ratio is almost 1:1 and there is no gender based discrimination. They freely
intermingle. Infect, on the bench, girls and boys are made to sit together.
SC/ST students receive benefits from the government which are passes on to them by the school.
Other students do not object to this even though they themselves are poor. According to the
teacher, the SC-ST students have more facilities, but they lack awareness and hence they have no
will to study further. Other castes, for example OBC, have that awareness. They think that
education is necessary for survival.
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Students do not bring lunch box from the home. School offers mid-day meals rice, curry ad some
days even lentil curry is made for the kids. On Monday, fruits are given to the children. Iron and
folic acid tablets are given to the kids regularly.
Problems faced by the school
Convents and schools run by politicians are opening up in the neighborhood villages. Politicians
who have opened the school are providing step motherly treatment to the government school and
the administration is not helping the school run as smoothly as it once used to be. Parents have
started sending their kids to the private schools even thought the fees are quite hefty. The
government school is thus losing its share of good students. The quality of teachers is good but
still there is now a perception being built which partly comes from the city-dwellers and their
reviews that government schools are not good.
If the mother has been educated from the school, then she is attached to it. In that case, she
insists that the students should b enrolled in the government school.
Culture
Views of the wise old people of the village
We interviewed Mr. Narayanrao, a 80-year-old man from the village. He thinks that education
isn’t effective anymore. According to him, previously, a 4th pass-out would become a good
teacher, and a good teacher at that. However, now he maintains that the ‘New education system’
isn’t as good to produce good citizens.
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When asked about how has his habits changed due to influence of media and peer, he gave the
example of how he cleaned teeth with coal powder, and later shifted to tooth powder and finally
toothpaste.
Some things he would want to advice strongly to the youth of village is that they should always
walk on the road of honesty, stay away from alcohol, get educated and respect elders.
He has noticed that people have begun to lie a lot. He doesn’t like lying and hence prefers to sit
in his farm rather than his village.
He said that there were hardly any caste difference when he was young .Nobody wants to turn
back now. Everybody is looking at the future which is good. He also said that villagers have
begun to save money and that it is good. He said, in his village there have never been restrictions
on women and they have equal rights. He did not understand that how can some people
disrespect women when they work so hard.
Opinion of the youth
We spoke to Nikhil, a 21-year-old son of a farmer. He has been educated in the village school
and his father owns 30 acre of farm. He is the only son.He is currently working in Nagpur for the
part time job. He is attracted by city life and if he gets a chance he would like to settle down and
work in the city. He however isn’t sure about what will happen to the farmland. He thinks that
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doing agriculture is both hectic and risky. He is sure he doesn’t want to sell it. Lot of
sentimental values are attached with the farm. It is the pride of his ancestors and also his.
Majority of his friends think in the same way. They want to go to cities but they somehow want
to manage the agriculture. The life in the city is nice, but it is always is content n coming back.
He said that the village is not a boring place to live. They have events like, ‘Navdurgautsav’
offers cultural platform to showcase their singing or dancing talent .About the sporting activity,
there is inter village cricket where the teams across villages compete.
We then spoke to a Shubhi, 22,who has done her MBA in finance. She is the only girl n the
village to have done that. She is attached to the village and she is content with the way it treats
girls. Only if people have money to spend on further education, then they would pursue courses
outside the villages too.
She was quite proud of the village and how the village was better than a neighboring village
where the womenfolk have no rights and not allowed to go out of their home.
Village Priest
We talked to Mahadev Bhagwati, who was the priest of the village. He was in-charge of
maintaining and doing the pooja at the 4 temples present in the village – 2 Hanuman temples and
2 Mata Mai temples (a regional Goddess, popular in this part of Maharashtra). When we talked
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to him, we tried to get an idea of the culture of the village and also the religious affiliations of the
people in Zunki. He told us that in a village of 125 households, there were only 10-12 regulars to
the temples and that he would not say that Zunki was an overtly religious village. He also
revealed that there was no discrimination in the temples and nobody was barred from entering
the temples or offering their prayers.
Upon asking him about the religious affiliations of people and their enthusiasm around major
festivals, he said that the enthusiasm around festivals like Ganesh Chaturthi and Nav Durga was
only increasing and there was more and more encouragement to participate in the festivities. The
interesting thing that emerged was that many traditions had remained the same and had stood the
test of time. While in the cities, the celebration time for Ganesh Chaturthi had gone down from
the customary 10 days to 3-5 days, the celebrations in Zunki still remained for 10 days – the
traditional stipulated time for Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations.
While some traditions continued, he was glad to tell us that the archaic ideas of black magic and
other symptoms of superstition had faded from the village arena. He said that the blind
superstition was limited to 10% of the current population, and he said this was a very healthy
sign.
In addition to the old festivals, the city culture had affected the residents of Zunki and newer
festivals were now added to the calendar with festivals like Durgotsav being celebrated in the
village- something that was not done earlier. He mentioned these as signs of progress and
inclusiveness.
Media Consumption
To understand the media consumption in the village, we held a FGD (Focus Group Discussion)
with the youth of the village. Since a lot of youth were moving out of the village in search of
greener pastures, the youth that stayed back in the village were an important source of
information about the impact and reach of media. In addition to the FGD, we also asked people
in various households of the village.
Television
Through the FGD and other interviews we found out that TV was a very important medium for
the population of the village. All 123 households that had an electricity connection had a TV set
with a working cable connection. Though the monthly charges for a cable connection were
Rs.115, the villagers were satisfied with the rate and willing to pay the same in lieu of
entertainment. The television consumption was largely driven by the time of the day in addition
to the member of the family consuming the content.
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While the day time was reserved for women where they watched telecasts and repeat telecasts of
shows like Saraswatichandra and Maharana Pratap, the night time watching (post prime-time)
was dominated by the young males of the village.
The late night viewing consisted mainly of music and youth channels – the channels mentioned
by the respondents were MTV and Channel V. The favorite types of shows were music shows
that played continuously for 2-3 hours post midnight, or sometimes starting from 11 pm. In
addition, reality shows were also very popular – among both males and females. MTV Roadies
was the most popular show. The reason behind the popularity was given to be the challenging
format of the show and watching people overcome the challenges. Also, the glamour quotient of
the show was high, something that attracted the youth.
Another aspect of the impact of television was also gauged in their purchase behavior. When
asked about the advertisements they remembered, the youth of the village tended to remember
the advertisements which used comic appeal in their communication. The most recalled ads were
the Vodafone Zoozoo ads and latest Docomo ad with the dancing children. They also went ahead
and tried a lot of new products after watching an advertisement on the television. They
mentioned that they tried the new beverage Pepsi Atom, solely on the basis of its advertisements.
Mobile phones
Mobile phones were an important medium for both the elder segment of the society as well as
the youth. While the elder segment used it for communication and business, the youth used it for
multiple purposes. Most of the youth in the village had tried to setup the 1Rs/ day internet on
their phone and were trying to get a hang of Facebook through their phones as there was no
internet connection (fixed-line) in their village. Apart from internet, they used their mobile
phones for listening to the radio while working in the farms or while doing their daily chores.
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Cinema
There is no cinema-hall in Zunki. The villagers go to Nagpur to watch a movie. There was a
travelling screen that visited the village some years back but it was not successful and therefore
they have no other medium to watch movies. The nearest town, Kalameshwar used to have a
theatre which has now shut down.However, the villagers are aware that all latest releases find
their way to a TV channel in a month’s time. The villagers catch these movies on the Sunday
with the entire family watching.
Newspaper
The newspapers available were – Lokmat, Sakal, Deshonnati and Dainik Bhaskar. Of these titles,
the most widely read newspaper was Dainik Bhaskar. The newspapers were obtained by a short
trip to nearby town Kalameshwar every morning as no newspaper vendor was willing to deliver
a short quantity of newspapers.
Most of the newspapers were read by the elder males and the youth (especially since most of
these newspapers had a supplement for the youth). The only segment that seemed alienated by
newspapers was the womenfolk of Zunki. They had no interest in reading the newspaper even
though they were literate and knew how to read in the regional languages and Hindi.
Brand Consumption

Telecom - Vodafone, Idea, Airtel

Cable – Only cable TV through the local cable operator

Biscuits – Marie, Marie Gold, Parle G


Hair oil – Parachute
Noodles – Maggi, Yippee

Detergent – Surf Excel, Nirma powder, Sargam

Soap – Lifebuoy, Lux

Toothpaste – Baidyanath, Colgate

Mobile phones – Samsung, Karbonn, Nokia
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Way of living
As there are only 125 households in the village, the population of the village has formed a closeknit community. The inhabitants of the village are mostly people whose ancestors too have lived
in the village. A small proportion of the dwellers are migrants from other cities and in some
cases, from across the state. The village is not very prosperous but there are a couple of families
that can be called ‘rich’ – all thanks to the money they have been able to earn through their farms
and cash crops.
The villagers come together in a lot of social gatherings throughout the year. The social
gatherings are centered mostly on the major festivals of the Hindu calendar. The biggest
celebrations are reserved for Gudi Padwa (Marathi New Year) and Ganesh Chaturthi. There are
special functions held in the village on these occasions. Especially during Ganesh Chaturthi,
there is a talent show organized in the village where kids and adults come forward to display
their singing and dancing talent. This program is enjoyed by everyone in the village and it is
something they look forward. The villagers also look at this function as an important marker for
their child as it is a great stage for his/her talent to be recognized as something substantial. The
best performers at this function gain much popularity in the social circle of the village.
The most common mode of transport in the village is the bicycle. The villagers use the bicycle to
visit their farms, haats in neighboring villages, and the primary health care center and to drop off
their children to the school sometimes. In the daytime, a lot of cycles are used by the children
themselves to travel to school and then later used by the other members of the family upon their
return in the afternoon.
The other popular means of transportation is the motorized two-wheeler. The ownership trend
shows the preference for scooters like Honda Activa and Mahindra Rodeo. The reason behind
this preference is that these vehicles can be used by both males and females as and when the
need arises. Also, it is not as dangerous to drive as a motorcycle (according to the perception of
the village-dwellers). These vehicles are considered to be a good investment by the villagers
because of their continuous usage and good mileage as parameters of return-on-investment.
To gain more insights on the general life of the villagers, we visited the lone shop in Zunki. It
was a general provisions store and was run by Diwakar Katbote and his wife. He was living in
Zunki from the last 18 years and started the shop after a failed attempt at setting up another
business.
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The visit to the shop revealed that the villagers were pretty brand conscious and immediately
noticed the difference between an original and a counterfeit, even if the fake item had the same
appearance and packaging. The margins on most of the products sold at the shop were very lowthe highest being 4%. The various types of products sold were toothpastes, hair care items,
biscuits and chocolates and also tobacco items like bidis.
There was no credit system in the village as the shopkeeper had a bad experience with the same
earlier. Now, he makes 2-4 trips a week to Kalameshwar to get refills of fast-selling items. The
most sold items are detergents and biscuits. The choice of brands and items sold is purely
economics-driven.
Communication assessment need
If someone were to visit Zunki, he/she would say that Zunki does not have a lot of problems and
is self-sufficient in its own right. However, a deep look at the village structure, the socioeconomic trends and the current behavioral trends throws up many problems. These problems are
both current and potential problems. Some of the problems facing Zunki are –
1) Shortage of labor for the practicing farmers
2) Unavailability of local health care for the villagers
3) Conveying the importance of government education to parents
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The Problem
One of the biggest problems faced by Zunki is that of conveying the importance of government
education to parents. This is the problem that we have chosen to address through the
communication assessment need of the report. The problem is a peculiar one. Parents of the
children are not aware of the advantage of sending their children to the government school and
are reluctant in trusting the system for the same. This belief has arisen from their interactions
with people who live in the city and people who have convinced them that private education is
the best way out for their children. They believe that their children can get a fair shot at the
future only if they learn at a private school and learn how to speak in English.
Most of the parents are not convinced of the competence of the system and mainly the teachers
of government schools in the area, especially Zunki. The problem at hand is to highlight all the
benefits of getting their children enrolled in a government school and encouraging more and
more parents to get involved in the process.
Communication Strategy
The communication strategy required to address this problem would have to be very wellthought because there is already an established tradition of children shifting schools to go and
study in private convents outside Zunki. This happens when they finish their primary education
in Zunki and when their parents realize that the level of education is not adequate. Or when they
perceive the level of education to be inadequate.
Our communication strategy will target the following influencers who will help us take the
message further and be the face of our communication –
Sarpanch
Headmaster of Zunki primary school
Tahsildar
Successful educated youth who have successful careers in the city
The communication will be held in two phasesPhase I
The first phase will target students who are currently studying in the Zunki primary school. An
evaluation of the school students will be held where the students will be compared to students
from other talukas around the village. As we know for a fact that the level of education at Zunki
is better than neighboring talukas because of the facilities and involvement of the teachers, this
exercise will just restate and emphasize that fact - both as a confidence boost to the students and
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a reassurance to the parents. This idea can be extended to other academic competitions between
the school students of Zunki with other schools in areas that the Zunki school excels in.
Phase II
The second phase will expressly target the parents of the children studying in the Zunki school.
This will be done by holding a fun program for everyone in the village where successful youth
from the village interact with them. For this purpose, a holiday will be chosen and the successful
youth from Zunki will be invited from the neighbouring cities.
Interspersed with performances of singing and dancing, these youth will come forward to share
their story of success and how the education at Zunki played an instrumental role in shaping their
career. We can also reach out to the Zunki resident who is now residing in Dubai and has
donated a computer for the school’s use. As such people are very influential in opinion
formation, his inclusion will be a great attraction to all the villagers.
Other requirements of the strategy :
The school administration must be more active on the social front of the village. This can range
from being seen at social functions more or giving the use of their facilities like the meeting hall
and school hall for village purposes. This will help the villagers form a more intimate bond with
the school administration and make them trust the administration more than what they currently
do. They will not look at them as someone who just comes to their village to teach and knows
nothing else.
The Rural Research Team
(Leftmost: Mr. Vinay, 21, who helped us with all the findings as a Zunki native)
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