Village study of Kuradikeri

This is my 1ST village study. I am from rural area and before I joining the DFP, I have worked in rural area with BAIF project. Even though I didn’t understand village nature properly. But in the 11th Feb village study activity is very helped to improve my knowledge and very interesting.
11th Feb 8.00am we(D B Vanagaeri, Llingraj, Malini and I) entered to Kuradikeri, which is in Hubli Taluk .On the road Open defecation was welcomed with its smell. We closed our nose and entered the village. Then we wandered whole village. While wandering, we observed and interrogated with villagers. A villager suggested to meet the Basavanneppa Angadi who well known of village. We got lot of information about Kuradikeri with interrogation. Then we continued transect walk with villagers inside the village and field.
1st day night we did PRA activities like seasonal map, trimix ranking, and social mapping 2nd also continued the PRA activities like FGI and time line. Then We met Anganavdi center and schools. Afternoon we did door to door visit interrogated and cross checked village information.

History of Village: Kuradikeri has a very interesting story behind its name. A blind women came from Unakal with her two brothers. they went to this place and started staying there. That’s way the village name was Kuradikeri, which means blind village.

Demography: Kuradideri is in Hubli Taluk and belongs to Dharwad District. It is 18km north of Hubli. The villages around Kurdikeri are Surshettikoppa, Kamplikoppa, and Karadikoppa It has a population of 3,500 and there are around 450 families. There are 334 children in the whole village. In this village, there is a total of 9 handicapped people. Also, Kurdikeri has one school and two Anganwadies.

People of the Village: Kuradikeri originated from the people of Unakal, so most families belong to this surname. People of different castes live in this village, like lingayats, vaddars, kurubas, talawars, and Muslims. They engage in different work depending on their cast, though most people are doing agriculture.
Livelihood: Most of the people of Kuradikeri engage in agriculture, and this is main source of their bread-earning. Additionally, landless people work in other people’s land. Some people are doing some other work, like tea shop business, pan shop, or carpentry work. Nowadays, most of the young generation is going to Hubli for work because they believe earnings from working in the field are not enough for their life. Rather, if they go to Hubli and work, they can earn 100Rs per day. The women’s of Kuradikeri rear cattle, and this earning is helping in their life.
Resources of Kuradikeri: The people of Kuradikeri have 2000 acres of agricultural land, some of which is irrigated. In the village, a total of 90 bore wells are there, as well as five ponds, named Hirekeri, Kirekeri , Kempageri, Unakal, and Kallanchi katti. These ponds have some water, but this water is not used for drinking. For drinking water, the village gets water by bore well, and there are ten public water taps. People make livestock for human beings and for the animal also for the animal they use to stock fodder and for human different type of grains like they are maintaining their livestock this stock they are maintaining for one year and this grains they use for next year crop irrigation.
Life of the Villagers: In Kuradikeri, some people are rich, some are middle class, and most people are poor. For the poor, their lives depend on agriculture. But women’s lives in Kuradikeri are very independent because women do some economic generating work, like buffalo rearing, agricultural work, and small business. Because the women of Kuradikeri are contributing to their own economic condition, they are becoming stronger, joining SHGs, and changing their life styles.
Social Relationships in the Village: In the village, the social relationships are very good. All people live together and help each other, but still the caste system is in the village and different castes of people live in different areas. The area names are recognized on a caste basis and some people still work according to their caste. All castes of people go to each other’s homes, but in giving hospitality, some discrimination is still going on. Overall, however, people work together for the well-being of the village. Many SC/ST women are SHG members, and they go to the homes of all people in the village, which shows the village’s good social relationships.