The draft questionnaire for the survey were shared with the authority of DUS-Bangladesh for comments. The questionnaires were finalized incorporating the comments reviewed received.
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Total number of households in these three villages was enumerated at 1,034 with an average of 350 per village which is 40 percent higher than the national average of around 250 households per village.
- Over-whelming majority of the households in these villages were male headed.
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Nuclear families (parents and unmarried children) shared nearly 49% of the total which is almost a common scenario of the country.
- The average household size of these villages is well above the national average
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Seventy five percent of household heads may be considered as functionally literate. However, if the upper limit is considered upto Class - V, instead of Class - III, the percentage of illiterate household heads will be as high as 36.
- Attendance of school-aged children is low in these villages because of extreme poverty and parental ignorance.
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Seventy percent of households are engaged either in agriculture or agricultural related occupation and the rest are engaged in business, service and other occupations.
- The annual per capita income of three villages was estimated at Tk. 775/=.
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The land ownership pattern of the survey villages is almost similar to other rural areas of greater Noakhali district. It is said that more than 60 percent of the rural households fall within the land ownership group of upto 0.50 acres and in these three villages it was 67 per cent.
- Per capita productive land in these three villages is around 0.25 acres which is close to that of general situation in Bangladesh .
- On an average, in three survey villages, 4.25 percent of the land was under homestead. In terms of acreage this percentage is around 0.07 acre with a wide range of variation.
- About quality of seeds 80 percent of household heads expressed satisfaction.
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On an average 14.50 percent (0.24 acre) of the total land owned by the villages and trees were planted in these lands.
- In the survey villages trees like Mango and Jack fruit, Coconut and Betel nut, Black berry and Guava and Banana and costly wood were found to have been owned by the households but no ‘Neem' tree was found.
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In the survey villages 15.57% of the households owned 603 cattle or buffalo while 3.58% households owned goats and sheep. Surprisingly 19.25% of the households did not have any chicken or duck.
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Average number of bedroom per family in the villages was enumerated at 1.51 while average family size was 6.00 which implies that on an average 3.97 persons sleep in one bed room.
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It is found that the households in the survey villages used some semi-luxury goods like cycle, radio, television, wrist watch and sewing machine etc. Wrist watch and cycle are used by relatively higher number of households.
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On analysis of institutionalized credit system it is found that the villages under survey have enough scope to be covered by poverty alleviation programmes and credit facilities through institutional facilities.
- Ninety percent of the households in the survey villages drink tubewell water but 98% of the households reportedly used pond water for other purposes which indicates that the use of tubewell water for other purposes is highly insignificant.
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Twenty five percent of the households use open spaces for toileting, nearly 24 percent use sanitary latrines and majority of the households use hanging latrines of local types in all the three villages.
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Only 12 percent of the household heads have knowledge on water contamination and 88% of the households do not have any knowledge of water contamination.
- About 15 percent households heads know reasons how air is contaminated and 85% (overwhelming majority) did not have any knowledge about it.
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Eighty percent of the household heads in the survey villages know how soil is contaminated which is a very good indication.
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About environmental degradation very few of the household heads reported to have idea and the few of those who had idea suggested good number of measures for prevention of environmental degradation.
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On an average 68% of the household heads in the survey villages reported to have idea about caring pregnant women and how to take preventive measures during pregnancy and after delivery.
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Ninety six percent household heads reported that at the village level local midwives (Dai) were most helpful for delivery. In response to a question as to who take care of the mothers and baby after delivery 88% replied that grand mothers of baby or most nearest blood relations took care of the baby and the mother.
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About health service 24 percent reported that they went to hospital for treatment, 25 percent went to qualified MBBS doctors, 22 percent to Homeopath doctors and 29 percent went to other types of non-qualified doctors, Kabiraj and others, the rest did not respond.
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Seventy seven percent of the household heads had knowledge on solid foods to be given to child upto the prescribed age.
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Over seventy five percent of children upto one year were fully immunized in the survey villages which indicates high level of awareness of the people on EPI.
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Contraceptive prevalence rate was on average 48 percent and the rate of acceptance of permanent method of contraceptive was lower than that of the rate of temporary methods.
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Sixty percent household heads opined that two children family was ideally acceptable, 35 percent opined that 3-4 children might be acceptable. Rest of the heads expressed that numbers of children even above 4 was not a problem.
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About the age at first marriage for females nearly 73% heads of households opined that the age at the first marriage should be 17-20 years, 14 percent of the households expressed the opinion that it should be upto 16 years and rest opined that it should be above 20 years. In response to similar question on the age at first marriage for males 70 percent respondents said that the age should be 25 years and 30 percent said that it should be above 25 years. The responses suggest that the people of the survey villages are aware of the consequences of early marriage.
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The villages under survey experienced a good number of dowry cases. Incase of marriage of their sons 25 percent household heads reported to have taken dowry and in 40% cases they reportedly have given dowry for daughters.
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Seventy two percent household heads reported their satisfaction about the security and law and order situation of the villages and 28 percent expressed dissatisfaction.
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Twenty five percent respondents thought that there were exploitation of different forms in the villages and 75 percent felt that there was no exploitation in the villages.
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Sixty five percent respondents reported that they get justice and 35 percent reported that they did not get justice in the villages.
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Only 3 percent of the respondents reported their involvement in divorce cases and only 6 percent reported about their involvement in litigations of other types.
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Twenty percent household heads reported that they had knowledge about family court.
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The situation relating to participation of women in decision-making, free movement and consent on marriage was reportedly well in the survey villages although there is enough scope for improvement.
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The heads of households reported number of problems identified by them like (i) poor resource base (ii) landlessness (iii) seasonal unemployment (iv) year round under-employment (v) poor wage rate and (vi) limited occupational diversification.
In comparison it seems that village Vatirtek is the largest village among the three with average bigger family size with less facilities. In view of the findings of the survey there is scope for initiating development programmes and activities in the areas of (i) women development (ii) creation of employment (iii) accelerating family planning (iv) sanitation and environment (v) awareness creation on family laws, rights of women and children (vi) provision of institutional credit and (vii) development of organizations for the poor etc.
