An approach to people-centred design : A case study on Charki Village

This is a two-part Article that throws some lights on our observations and problem findings. The first part deals with the complex problems that the villagers are facing whereas the second part deals with how a people-centred approach in problem-solving can design a good ecosystem that can thrive on its own

About Charki :

During the visit, we found dense forests and small villages in the middle. The road has been constructed to some areas proceeding with Kaccha roads using mud but was sufficient for a four-wheeler to reach the place. Fewer vehicles run in the area, the least means of transport- a few buses run daily and the village is a minimum of 20 km away from Adhaura block which consists of a small market area. Indicating the fact that they need to travel 20 km even for their basic needs and requirements. To connect with the general population, these people have to travel 70 km. The houses are mostly the kaccha houses built with mud and wood, only a few Kaccha brick constructions were visible at the place. We were made to sit at a home which seemed to live a lifestyle better than others as they had a good number of lands, water supply at their home, washroom, their small diesel generator for the production of electricity and a family with some literate men and women. We met Suman there, the daughter of the family, nearly 17 years old completed her matriculation with first division. She is the youngest among her siblings. She has three elder brothers and sisters-in-law, a father, an ill old mother and a little nephew-niece. We got to know from suman that a major part of the village depends on agriculture or labour to meet their financial needs.

At first, we were looking for women who know knitting**.

Suman learnt knitting in her school, and she took me to Pushpa who shifted to Charki post-marriage and she learnt this skill from her parent’s place in Rajasthan. Due to the unavailability of wool and distant market, Pushpa hardly knitted sweaters. We met Sunita, the young girl from Dehri who studied till class 8th from a CBSE school and appeared smart in understanding things. Sunita was recently married and she couldn’t resume her studies after marriage. When we say communication, we can define it with various interactions in the group, inter or intra-cultural interactions, communication within the village or outside the village. The village is very much disconnected from the outer world. They are dependent on each other for food, there is hardly any flow of information from the outer world. The world here doesn’t symbolize the international, it talks about the world outside this small village. Until and unless, you have any medium to connect and communicate with the public or happenings outside, the development dearth and people miss out even basic amenities. They have no media to inform and be aware of, no television in a single home. The reason is not just a shortage of finance, but an absence of proper market and transport to carry such goods. Suman told me that her brothers have completed their intermediates but inappropriate connectivity from the outer world made their education useless. No job scopes in the area and fewer daily transport systems couldn’t fetch them jobs, villagers have many things to blame on, but these problems aren’t as simple as it seems. People of charki haven’t updated their skills in a long time, they are still dependent on the ancient skill of making baskets. Some people are willing to invest in the development of the village but long term plan is missing. As it is said, we can’t end world hunger with plenty of food. Similarly, providing daily wage works, temporary employment or giving money directly won’t improve the scenario of the village, all the stakeholders should consider developing an economic ecosystem that is very people-centric.