Targets

GPSVS is located in and works in Madhubani district of Bihar. Madhubani's district headquarters is 160 km from the state capital Patna in north-east direction. Sharing border with Nepal, Madhubani is one of the most soft-spoken areas of Bihar and blessed with natural beauty.  The famous Mithila Paintings have become identity of the area on the globe. 

But Madhubani has something more in its heart to share with the well wishers of the area. Modern model of development has robbed the area of self-sufficiency, beauty and ecological excellence. Madhubani district is predominantly an expanse of the deposit of Koshi-Kamla-Adhwara group river system. Because of the rivers, the land is highly fragmented and recurrent floods are a common feature. Almost all rivers originate from the Himalayas and bring sand and silt with water, to deposit in Madhubani. The slope is from north to south. Due to its low-level situation (district is situated only 45-80 in above sea level) and numerous rivers, the entire district comes under flood- affected area.

In Madhubani, all major flood-causing rivers - Koshi, Kamla, Bhutahi Balan and Bagmati - are embanked. Of the total geographical area, 45.2 per cent land is severely affected by floods and experiences floods two to 10 times between July and October, while the rest of the land is seldom flooded. About 16 per cent of the district's area faces water-logging which is either permanent or seasonal in nature.

Dams and embankments constructed on the rivers have stopped the free and slow flow of water and resulted in the rise of river water in basin areas. Embankments have also stopped the rainwater of the basin areas from getting into the river, leading to water logging in vast areas. This entire phenomenon disrupts economic, social and cultural life of the entire region.

About 40 per cent of the district's total population is classified as landless, who have less than one acre of land. Nearly 56 per cent people are below poverty line and mainly depend on daily wages for their livelihood. They do not have regular sources of employment and their income is far low to meet the most basic needs. This, coupled with recurring floods, is the main reason behind seasonal migration from North Bihar.

Marginal farmers are not in a position to meet their food requirements for more than five to six months in a year. There are no opportunities for skill development or means of employment other than seasonal farming.

Of late there is some improvement in livelihood status in Bihar, mainly as a side effect of economic improvement in states like Punjab and some industrial cities in India, where people from Bihar get jobs. But traditional agro-ecological balance of the people, crops, livestock and social forest, etc., in the farming communities is increasingly disintegrating and as a result socio-economic and environmental problems are increasing.

There is a widespread tradition of money lending by the elites to the local poor and needy. These moneylenders may not be particularly very rich, but they are clever and resourceful enough (sometimes they even borrow money themselves from other sources) to do the business like a local bank and charge very high annual interest rate, up to 60 per cent or even more. Poor people usually do not have savings to cope with domestic and farming needs such as birth, marriage, festival, disease, death, natural calamities, and loss of animal, house repair, seeds, fertiliser and children's education.