MUALCHENG VILLAGE PROFILE

MUALCHENG VILLAGE PROFILE

Written by

Daniel Lalawmpuia

Cluster Co-Ordinator, NRLM

East Lungdar R.D Block

(Click here to download Mualcheng Village Profile in PDF)

Introduction:

Mualcheng is one of the villages in Mizoram in the District of Serchhip sharing borders with N.Vanlaiphai in the south, E.Lungdar in the east and Chekawn and Khawlailung Village in the west. The village is not very far from Aizawl, the Capital of Mizoram; it is only about 160 kms from Aizawl and can be reaching within 6 hours from the capital. It has a mild climate, comfortable in summer as well as in winter and never freezing during winter, with moderate temperatures throughout the year. The village is influenced by monsoons, raining from May to September with little rain in the dry season. According to Village Council (VC) report, at present there are 274 houses with a population of 1474 in the village.  All the approach road is blacktop and easy to reach from the east and west of Mizoram.

             Pic: Mualcheng Village

History of the Village:

A place of Mualcheng which is good for growing any kind of fruits and vegetables was given to Mr Saihnuna Sailo by his father Mr Lalbuta Sailo, the Chief of Lungchhuan Village. The settlement has been stared from 1923 at Bawkzawl place, after one year staying in Bawkzawl, they were shifted during the summer in 1925 to Lalthueva Place. They were staying for around 8 years in Laltheuva place and moved out to a new Mualcheng in the year 1933-34.

 

Timeline of the Village:

Some of the major events of the village are highlighted below:

1924:  The village settlement was started under the Chieftainship of Mr Sairuma    Leilet.

1925: They shifted from Mualcheng Bawk to Laltheuva place, Kangzang, the old name of the village was changed to Mualcheng by Evangelist Taichhuma.

1928: Primary School was established in the village; Mr. Tawna was the first teacher.

1929:  Pu Saihnuna Sailo was the new chief of Mualcheng, they exchanged their province with Pu Sairuma.

1933: They shifted to a new village.

1935: Pu Saihnuna became the first villager to have a Gun; he was awarded a gun by the British government in reward for his outstanding rules in the village.

1938: YMA (Young Mizo Association) was formed in Mualcheng, the first President was Pu Hrangchhunga.

1940: Mualcheng Zawlbuk (a village dormitory) was destroyed.

1944: Rev. Saitawna became the first Pastor from Mualcheng.

1946: Mizo Union (the first political party in Mizoram) was established on 5th May, Pu Hrangchhunga was the first President.

1950: Lalthuama Sailo S/O Saihnuna Sailo passed Matric Examination.

          MGSA (Mualcheng Games & Sport Association) was formed in the village; the first President was Pu Hrangthanga.

1951: Aizawl-Lunglei road was made by order of the Government; Mualcheng Village was given a ‘Mithun’ by Superintendent Barkataki in reward for their best work and accomplishment of their work in time.

1954: Village Council (VC) has been established from 24^th August to replace the role of village chief. The first VCP was Pu Saikunga. 

         UPC (United Pentecostal Church) was established.

1955: Pu Lalthuama Sailo passed BA.

1958: Bunghuai road was started digging.

1963:  Post Office was opened on 1^st March, in the same year MNF (Mizo National Front) party was also formed; Pu Chhawnliana was the first President.

1966:  20^th November, burning of Mualcheng village owing to insurgency of MNF     against the Government of India.

1973: Pu Keihawla Sailo became the first MCS (Mizoram Civil Service) from   mualcheng.[2]

1974: Middle School was established on 23^rd May.

1977: Mualcheng Community Hall was set up.

        4 Cement fountains were constructed in the village. MHIP (Mizo Hmeichhe Insuihkawm Pawl) was also formed in the same year; the first                 President was Pi Rengluti.

1986:  MUP (Mizoram Upa Pawl) was established, Pu Saikunga was the first president.

1987: Mualcheng Electric Consumer Union was formed under the leadership of Pu Chalhnuna.

1989: R. Lalzawnga passed MA.

1991:  R Lalzawnga became the first to get M Phil (Master of Philosophy) from Mualcheng Village.

1992: Mualcheng High School was established on 2^nd February.

1997:  MSU (Mualcheng Students’ Union) was formed under the first President of Lalrengpuia Kawlni.2012: Nirmal Gram Puraskar Award (national level award for best sanitation) received by the village.

2013: R Lalzawnga became the first holder of PhD (Doctor of Philosophy); K Saitluanga also became the first MIS (Mizoram Information Service) from the village.

Demographic Features:

According to the VC report, the demographic feature of the village is presented in the following table.

 

Occupation and Education:

Most of the people (Around 80% of the population) depended on agriculture; the traditional system of Jhuming is still practiced by the farmers despite the cultivation system is being discouraged by the state government with schemes like the New Land Use Policy (NLUP), a Policy to help farmers move away from the traditional slash-and-burn method of cultivation. The rest of them are government employee, Carpenter and local entrepreneurs. The education level of the villagers is quite acceptable, at present there is no school drops out children and only few of them are illiterate especially among the village elders. The villages have one High school, one Middle School and two primary schools.

Health condition of the villagers:

The health conditions of the villagers are normal, only few of them are having chronic diseases like Asthma and Hypertension. According to them, the nutritional status of the children is not good as compared with urban area; there is no maternal mortality case in the recent years while infant mortality is still prevalent among infants. Most of the people opined that pneumonia is the main cause of infant mortality in the village. At present there are 4 disable people in the village. Mualcheng have only one Health Sub-centre, in case of serious health problems they went to the nearest public health centre.

Status of house:

From the village council report, the status of house in Mualcheng can be classified as below:

 

Community Infrastructure:

Among the community infrastructures, they have a good library and football playground, but the community hall is not good enough as compared with the neighboring village. Among these, Mualcheng playground is one of the best playgrounds in Serchhip district. Most of the internal roads are not blacktop while the approach road from the east and west are newly blacktop. About 80% of the household have a proper toilet (septic tank) and the rest of them are using Pit-latrine toilet in the village.

Social status:

All the villagers are Mizo clan and schedule tribe, and all of them are Christian. There is only one Non-mizo family in mualcheng, IP Sharma who is working in the department of electric.

Rules and regulation:

Rules and regulations in the village are maintained and controlled by the Village council and other stakeholders and NGOs like YMA, MHIP, MUP etc under the supervision of VC. As we all know in other village, church plays an important role in Mualcheng village. All of them are a close-knit society with no class distinction and no sexual discrimination. Marriage, and death in the village are important occasions and the whole village would typically become involved in some way. In time of death, the whole local communities, as well as all family members of the deceased, mourn together, in the residence of the deceased in a traditional Practice.

Political aspects:

Politics plays an important role in the village life and most of the villagers are really interested in politics, it is the opinion of the people that any development programmes implemented by the government is not reaching to the needy poor due to party politics and improper implementation. Some of them said that the present need in the state politics is; a young, energetic and patriotic leader to overcome the various problems.

Village Economy:

Around 80 per cent of the population depended on agriculture and they are still practicing jhuming cultivation. Their main sources of income are agricultural products like ginger, mustard, tobacco and other commercial crops. Few of them have a paddy field (WRC) and perennial crops. Major development programmes in the village are NREGS, ICDS, IAY, NLUP, IWMP etc.

 

Poverty in the Village:

Most of the people are living above poverty line, while few of the household are living below poverty line. Around 15-20 household are considered as Non-poor by the villagers because they are government employees and having a regular income, generally most of the household are not so poor and the society considered widow people are poor in the village, the main reason is that, they cannot work for their livelihoods. It is observed that there is no poorest of the poor in the village according to the villagers. Besides this the society considered widow people as vulnerable groups in the village and giving them a priority. There is no migration in the village.

Development Organizations:

Major development organizations who are working for the development of the village are VC, YMA, MHIP, MUP, VEC, MGSA, MSU and AMFU. The main activities of these organizations are given below:

VC: Monitoring and implementation of government programmes and scheme in village, maintaining of rules and regulation in the village, etc.

YMA: One of the most powerful NGO based on the philosophy of “Tlawngaihna” an untranslatable term meaning that it was the obligation of all members of society to be hospitable, kind, unselfish, and helpful to others. The main activities are to prevent the village from alcohol and misused of drugs, guiding the youth in a good way and trained for useful citizen and blessed for others.

MHIP (Mizo Hmeichhe Insuihkhawm Pawl): An association established especially for a women plays a vital role for empowerment of women as well as awareness of the women about their rights, duties, responsibilities and cleanliness etc.

MUP (Mizoram Upa Pawl): MUP, an association for senior citizens in the village is helpful in decision making and they are a very resourceful citizen for the village.

MGSA (Mualcheng Games & Sport Association): MGSA plays a vital role in the village especially in the field of games and sports and other activities for the welfare of the village like construction and maintaining of football playground.

MSU (Mualcheng Students’ Union): A students union set up for the welfare of the student also plays a very important role for the student and the village also; they have been organized career guidance, motivate the students and giving support and incentive /citation to the successful students every year.

AMFU (All Mizoram Farmers Union): A forum for farmers also plays an important role for the village farmers.

Natural Resources:

Mualcheng have a good water supply and its water supply is taking from the river head of Varhva. One represent is appointed by the VC to look after its distribution and management; the water is distributed in the public water point everyday for one and half hour. Every household is taking water from the public water point (Tuichhuak) according to their needs and availability. Land in the village is used for cultivation and it is managed and controlled by the VC, besides a good Reserve forest is also maintained by the VC. Other natural resources in the village are different forest products of Timber, Bamboo, etc and other useful forest products. The village is very popular especially in conservation and protection of natural resources and Varhva Fish.

Conflict and Mutual Support:

There is no conflict in the village in the recent years, as mentioned earlier all the villagers are Christian besides they are link together linguistically and culturally. Mutual support is very good in the village as the society is communitarian society and close-knit society with no class distinction and no sexual discrimination. YMA and VC are the main agencies to resolve the conflicts in the village. Mualcheng is a dry Village from the recent past.

Formal and Informal institutions:

The formal and informal institutions in the village are High School 1, Middle school 1, Primary school 2, Anganwadi centre 3, PDS 2, Health sub-centre 1and Church 2. All these institution plays a vital role for the development of the village. According to the village authority there are no excluded people in the village. Subsidized rice is distributed from the PDS to the population once in a week for APL, BPL and AAY family. Similarly, pregnant women and children are taking nutrition from aganwadi centre.

Self Help Group:

There are 8-10 SHG in the village; some of them are about 7 years. The study clearly reveals that they are very enthusiastic and active but they are not clear about the concept and aims of SGH till today.  They do not practice internal lending though they have a huge corpus fund; this is the weakness point of SHG in the village. The main activities of SHG in Mualcheng are piggery and farming. It has been observed that more effort is needed to make them as a fruitful self help groups and to take them out from vicious circle of poverty.

Livelihood:

Different occupations of the poor are piggery, poultry, daily wage earner, self employed in agriculture, jhuming cultivation, perennial farming etc. The villagers regarded that NREGS (100 days of employment) is vey essential for their Livelihood at present despite the State government has been implemented the flagship programme of NLUP as it is not inclusive for every household. Ginger, sugar, tobacco and orange are the most profitable commodities.  Most of their time is used for jhumming cultivation. Items traded into the village are essential commodities like Salt, edible oil, dal, petrol, sugar, utensil items etc. items traded out of the village are orange, ginger, mustard, tobacco and other vegetables products.

Financial services and institution:

There is no Bank in the village. The villagers used to saved their money to the nearest bank (i.e. Rural Bank in E Lungdar), which is about 10 kms from Mualcheng, few of them have been taking loan from NEREFS, they borrow money from their relatives in times of emergency. From the study, it is clear that there is a high demand of financial services in their doorstep from the society to make savings and investment for their development.

Market:

Market problem is the most critical problems faced by Mualcheng Village and it is regarded as the main obstacle of development in the village. The village has tremendous and quite unique potential in Banana, Orange, ginger, mango and other agriculture product that can become the livelihood for the village, if it is exploited in a profitable approach and the benefit will reap by the poor farmers. In the present situation it is very difficult to linkage market and the demand.  

Leaders of VC:

The present leaders of the Village Council are given below:

President:            VL Sawmliana.

Vice President:   H.Lalpianmawia.

Secretary:            R. Liansanga.

Treasurer:            Lalrengpuia Kawlni. 

Members:            F.Lalnuntluanga leh K.Laltanpuia.

Status of women:

The present status of women in mualcheng village is quite better as well as their health condition is good, though they have been working very hard throughout the year. It is very interesting to know that a woman plays a vital role in the society in the present day as compared with the olden days. They play an active role especially in the church and in the family.

Household analysis:

As mentioned in the checklist for village, 10 different households have been visited to understand their livelihood, sources of income and expenditure and presented them as under the following table:

Table 1

 

Table 2

 

Table 3

 

Table 4

 

Table 5

Table 6

Table 7

Table 8

 

Table 9

 

Table 10

 

 

Top Problems, Gaps and opportunities:

According to the villagers, the top problem in the village is unsustainable livelihoods (i.e. jhuming cultivation). Aforesaid, more than 70% of the populations are still engaged in the old practice of jhuming cultivation. Besides this, market problem is another top problem faced by the farmer, most of their agriculture output cannot be sale in their doorstep or at a high price due to lack of a good transportation, cold storage facilities and poor harvesting etc. So that, the present occupation pattern is very short period, unprofitable, unsustainable and harmful for ecological balance with labour intensive at a high cost with low or minimal return. It is clear that, the mismatch between the demand and supply of agriculture output can be solved with the help of government initiatives or with a middle man. Therefore, it is assumed that the marketable products can be exploited at a good return.

 

Learning Report:

From the study of Mualcheng village, I have gained a lot of information and new knowledge, besides this, it is a good opportunity for me to explore in the rural area to share and discuss my thought and ideas for the rural development. As mentioned above, the village is not far from Aizawl, the Capital of Mizoram; it’s only about 160 km from Aizawl and can be reaching within 6 hours. It has a comfortable climate throughout the year. According to Village Council (VC) report at present there are 274 houses with a population of 1474 in the village.  All the approach road is blacktop and easy to reach from the west and east Mizoram.

The geographical condition of Mualcheng is good for growing for any kind of fruits and vegetables which was given to Mr Saihnuna Sailo (Chief of Mualcheng) by his father Mr Lalbuta Sailo, the Chief of Lungchhuan Village. The settlement has been stared from 1923 in Bawkzawl place, after one year staying in Bawkzawl, they were shifted to Laltheuva Place during the summer in 1925. They were staying for around 8 years in Laltheuva place and moved out to a new Mualcheng in the year 1933-34.

Around 80% of the population depended on agriculture; the traditional system of Jhuming cultivation is still practiced by the farmers, the rest of them are government employee, Carpenter and local entrepreneurs. The education level of the villagers is quite acceptable, at present there is no school drops out children and only few of them are illiterate among the elders. The village has High school, Middle School and two primary schools. The health conditions of the villagers are normal, only few of them are having chronic diseases like Asthma and Hypertension. Nutritional status of the children is not good as compared with urban area; there is no maternal mortality case in the recent years while infant mortality is still prevalent among infants. Most of the people opined that pneumonia is the main cause of infant mortality in the village. At present there are 4 disable people in the village. Mualcheng has only one Health Sub-centre.

According to the VC the status of house in Mualcheng can be classified as paka House 10%, Semi-paka house 75% and Kacha House 5%. Among the community infrastructures, they have a good library and football playground, but the community hall is not good enough as compared with the neighboring village. Most of the internal roads are not blacktop while the approach road from the east and west are newly blacktop. About 80% of the household have a proper toilet (Septic-tank) and the rest of them are using Pit-latrine toilet in the village. Rules and regulations in the village are maintained by the Village council and other stakeholder and NGOs like YMA, MHIP, MUP etc under the supervision of VC. All of them are a close-knit society with no class distinction and no sexual discrimination.

Most of the villagers are really interest in politics, it is the opinion of the people that any development programmes implemented by the government is not reaching to the needy poor due to party politics, improper implementation and corruption. Their main sources of income are agricultural products like ginger, mustard, tobacco and other commercial crops and daily wage labour. Few of them have a paddy field (WRC) and perennial crops. Major development programmes in the village are NREGS, ICDS, IAY, NLUP, IWMP etc.

Most of the people are living above poverty line, while few of them are living below poverty line. Around 15-20 household are considered as Non-poor by the villagers because they are government employees, generally most of the household are not so poor and the society considered widow are poor in the village, the main reason is they cannot work for their livelihoods. It is observed that there is no poorest of the poor in the village according to the villagers. Major development organizations who are working for the development of the village are VC, YMA, MHIP, MUP, VEC, MGSA, MSU and AMFU. Mualcheng has a good water supply for and its water supply is taking from the river head of Varhva. One represent is appointed by the VC to look after its distribution and management; the water is distributed in the public water point in everyday for one and half hour. Land in the village is used for cultivation and it is managed and control by the VC, besides a good Reserve forest is also maintained by the VC. Other natural resources in the village are different forest products of Timber, Bamboo, etc.

From the study, there is no conflict in the village in the recent year. YMA and VC are the main agencies to resolve the conflicts in the village. Mualcheng is a dry Village from the recent past. The formal and informal institutions in the village are High School 1, Middle school 1, Primary school 2, Anganwadi centre 3, PDS 2, Health sub-centre 1and Church 2. There are no excluded people in the village. There are 8-10 SHG in the village.  They do not practice internal lending though they have a huge corpus fund. The main activities of SHG in Mualcheng are piggery and farming. Different occupations of the poor are piggery, poultry, jhuming cultivation etc. The villagers regarded that NREGS (100 days of employment) is vey essential for their livelihood. Most of their time is used for jhumming cultivation. Items traded into the village are essential commodities like Salt; edible oil, dal, petrol, sugar and utensils etc. items traded out of the village are orange, ginger, mustard, tobacco and other vegetables products.

There is no Bank in the village. The villagers used to save money to the nearest bank (i.e. Rural Bank in E Lungdar), which is about 10 kms from Mualcheng, few of them have been taking loan from NEREFS, they borrow money from their relatives in times of emergency. Market problem is the most critical problems faced by Mualcheng Village. The present status of women in mualcheng village is quite better as well as their health condition is good, though they have been working very hard throughout the year. As mentioned in the checklist for village, 10 different households have been visited to understand their livelihood, sources of income and expenditure.

According to the villagers, the top problem in the village is unsustainable livelihoods (i.e. jhuming cultivation). Aforesaid, more than 70% of the populations are still engaged in the old practice of jhuming cultivation. Besides this, market problem is another top problem faced by the farmer, most of their agriculture output cannot be sale in their doorstep due to lack of a good transportation, cold storage facilities and poor harvesting etc. So that, the present occupation pattern is very short period, unprofitable and harmful for ecological balance with labour intensive at a high cost with low or minimal return.

Unlearning Report:

The major unlearning report from the village is highlighted below:

1. Mualcheng Cooperative Society: The village has a good cooperative society and many household are member of the society and contributed for the society. At present, the society has two shops (Shop No 1 and Shop No 2), most of the essential commodities like Sugar, Salt, edible oil, soap etc and many utensils can be obtained from shop No 1 while medicine/drugs is available from shop No 2 at low cost. The society is very essential for the village and it controls the price level in the village. It was set up for the welfare of the society not only in the profit motive.

 

2. Saihuna Sailo (Chief of Mualcheng): Another important unlearning is the story of the Village chief Mr Saihnuna Sailo. He was one of the most popular Chief among the Mizo’s because of his bravery of killing 10 Tigers and 4 small tigers and intellectual chieftainship for his village.

3. Games and Sports: As mentioned in the above, the village has a good and effective organization for games and sport for the young villagers known as Mualcheng Games & sport Association (MGSA), which play a vital role especially in Football. At present 5 professional footballs player have been playing within the state and outside the state at excellent remuneration.

4. Cleanliness: The village is very neat and clean and it has a good record in cleanliness of the village. In 2012, a cleanliness award was given to the village. This is mainly because of the good cooperation and efforts given by different NGOs in the village.

5. Dry village: Mualcheng is declared as a Dry Village not only by the villagers but also from the neighboring villages. As the state government has been implemented Mizoram Liquor Total Prohibition Act (MLTP Act) in the state, it is very interesting for the villagers to say that they are a dry village.

6. Varhva Fish: Last, but not the least, Mualcheng is very popular and well accepted by Mizoram in preservation and safeguarding the river of Varhva fish. It has been observed that the fish is well protected and managed by all the villagers under the supervision of YMA.