Samriddhi Journal of Development Studies

Understanding the Influence of Socio-Cultural Factors in School Drop Out of Girls: A study in two districts of Madhesh Province, Nepal

Ashika Sharma — 2022-12-31

This paper sheds light in understanding the socio-cultural determinants for school dropout among adolescent girls in Dhanusha and Rautahat districts of Nepal. This study employed a mixed method approach to explore the reasons for dropout. The finding derived a conclusion that discriminatory gender norms, and traditional beliefs and practices lead girls to drop out. The research suggests traditional beliefs regarding women as wives with majority of the domestic responsibilities and early marriage limit their educational opportunities. Additionally, restricted mobility and lack of autonomy, and menstrual stigma also leads to school dropout. This study therefore aims to illuminate the importance of understanding these underlying factors in order to work towards creating a supportive environment that promotes girls’ autonomy, and agency within their household, and communities.

What are the factors that influence saving behavior of university students?

Kavindra Bikram Thapa — 2022-12-31

This study surveys university students in Kathmandu valley to examine the impact of peer influence, parental influence and financial literacy on their saving behavior. The study was conducted among undergraduate and post graduate students in Kathmandu valley. Data obtained were analyzed using regression analysis and descriptive analysis such as percentage and frequency. It was discovered that saving behavior of students is significantly influenced by their peers, parents and financial literacy. The analysis further showed that income, age, gender and education level (undergrad and post grad) had no impact on their saving behavior. Hence, financial literacy, peer influence and parental influence were found to be most influential predictors of saving behaviors of university students in Kathmandu.

‘त्यो एउटा कुरा’ नाट्यकृतिमा विसंगतिवादी नाट्यशिल्पको प्रयोग

गोपालप्रसाद Gopalprasad गैरे Gaire — 2022-12-31

प्रस्तुत लेख नाटककार धु्रवचन्द्र गौतमको ‘त्यो एउटा कुरा’ नाट्यकृतिमा प्रयुक्त नाट्यशिल्पको वैशिष्ट्य निरूपणमा केन्द्रित छ । कुनै पनि नाट्यकृतिमा प्रयुक्त शिल्पको अध्ययन विभित्र दृष्टिकोणले गर्न सकिन्छ तापनि प्रस्तुत नाट्यकृतिमा जीवनजगत् सुन्दर, सुखद, सङ्गतिमूलक र काम्य छ भत्रे आशावादी एवं आदर्शवादी नाट्यमान्यता र शिल्पपद्धतिका विपरीत जीवनजगत् विद्रूप, त्रासद, निःसार अस्तित्वहीन छ भत्रे विसङ्गतिवादी जीवनदृष्टिलाई अभिव्यक्ति दिन कथ्य, कथानक, पात्र, परिवेश, संवाद आदि नाट्यतत्त्वको चयनमा पनि विसङ्गतिवादी शिल्पपद्धति अवलम्बन गरिएको छ । तसर्थ यस अध्ययनमा विसङ्गतिवादी नाट्यमान्यता र शिल्पपद्धतिका आधारमा प्रस्तुत नाट्यकृतिको शिल्प वैशिष्ट्यको अध्ययन गरिएको छ । प्रस्तुत नाट्यकृतिलाई शुद्ध पाठ्यविधा मानेर साहित्यका सामान्य तत्त्वका आधारमा अध्ययनविश्लेषण भएको भए तापनि श्रव्यदृश्यकाव्यका रूपमा विङ्गतिवादी नाट्यमान्यता र शिल्पपद्धतिका आधारमा विशिष्टकृत अध्ययन भएको पाइँदैन । त्यसैले यो अध्ययन महत्त्वपूर्ण रहेको छ । प्रस्तुत अध्ययन गुणात्मक पद्धतिमा आधारित छ । सामग्रीको विश्लेषण व्याख्यात्मक तथा विवेचनात्मक विधिमा गरिएको छ । जीवन सुखद, सङ्गतिपूर्ण, सारपूर्ण, सुन्दर र कमनीय छ भत्रे देखाउन नाट्यत्त्वको चयन गरी नाटक रचना गर्ने परम्परागत नाट्यमान्यता र नाट्यशिल्पका असहमतिमा जीवनको विद्रूपता, अर्थहीनता र निःसारता चित्रित हुने गरी नाट्यतत्त्वको सुविचारित छनोट र चयनपद्धति नै प्रस्तुत नाट्यकृतिको रचनाप्रक्रियाको व्याकरणसूत्र बनेको छ भत्रे यस अध्ययनको निष्कर्ष रहेको छ । विषयपरिचयआधा दर्जनबढी नाट्यकृतिका स्रष्टा धु्रवचन्द्र गौतम विसङ्गतिवादी नाट्यमान्यता र शिल्पपद्धतिका सफल प्रयोक्ता हुन् । प्रस्तुत लेख उनकै ‘त्यो एउटा कुरा’ नाट्यकृतिमा प्रयुक्त विसङ्गतिवादी शिल्पवैशिष्ट्यको निरूपणमा केन्द्रित छ । समकालीन युगसन्दर्भमा परम्परागत नाट्यमान्यता र शिल्पपद्धतिहरूको औचित्यमाथि प्रश्न उठाउँदै अभिनव मान्यता र शिल्पसौन्दर्यका उत्तमोत्तम सम्भावनाहरूको सन्धान ‘प्रयोग’ हो भने प्रयोगको नैरन्तर्य प्रयोगशीलता हो र प्रयोग हुनुको भाव र धर्म प्रयोगधर्मिता हो । पाश्चात्य साहित्य जगत्मा यथार्थवादोत्तर युगमा भएका आन्दोलनहरूमध्येको विसङ्गतिवादी मान्यता पनि एउटा प्रयोगधर्मी मान्यता हो । यसले जीवनजगत् सुसङ्गत, सुन्दर र सारपूर्ण छ भत्रे आशावादी–आदर्शवादी मान्यताका विपरीत जीवनजगत् विसङ्गत, त्रासद, दुर्बोध्य र अस्तित्वहीन छ भने कलासाहित्य त्यही विसङ्गत जीवनको अभिव्यक्ति हो भत्रे मान्यतालाई मुखरित गर्छ । त्यही मान्यताका आधारमा विसङ्गतिवादी नाट्यरचनाप्रक्रियामा पनि विसङ्गत शिल्प अँगालिन्छ । धु्रवचन्द्र गौतम पनि प्रयोगधर्मी नाटककार हुन् । प्रस्तुत लेख गौतमले ‘त्यो एउटा कुरा’ नाट्यकृतिमा पनि प्रयोगधर्मी विसङ्गतिवादी नाट्यशिल्पपद्धतिको प्रयोग गरेका छन् ; त्यो प्रयोगका मौलिक विशेषता के हुन् र प्रस्तुत नाट्यकृतिमा केकस्तो प्रयोगधर्मी शिल्प प्रतिफलित भएको छ भत्रे प्राज्ञिक जिज्ञासाको निरूपणसँग सम्बन्धित छ । अध्ययन परम्परामा केही विद्वान्हरूले उक्त नाट्यकृतिलाई साहित्यिक विधासरह सामान्य अध्ययन गरेको पाइन्छ तर विसङ्गतिवादी मान्यता र शिल्पपद्धतिलाई नै मुख्य आधार बनाई नाटक मूलतः श्रव्यदृश्य काव्य हो र यसको अध्ययन रङ्गमञ्चीय प्रस्तुतिप्रदर्शनको पक्षसँग जोडेर प्रस्तुत नाट्यकृतिको शिल्पपद्धतिको वैशिष्ट्यको विशिष्ट अध्ययन गरेको पाइँदैन । यस सन्दर्भमा यो अध्ययन औचित्यपूर्ण ठहर्छ ।

Community Health System Model to support Health Volunteers to outreach underserved population: A case study of HIV/AIDS program from Tanzania

Ram Kumar Shrestha — 2022-12-31

Major challenges for the HIV program in the Muheza district of Tanzania, East Africa were to increase HIV testing for men and retain HIV patients on treatment. The USAID funded Applied Science to Strengthen, and Improve Systems (ASSIST) project implemented the Community Health System Strengthening (CHSS) model to improve linkages between health facilities and communities to increase HIV testing and retention in care. The project formed a community team from representatives of the formal and informal pre-existing structures and their networks who worked with the local Home-Based Care (HBC) volunteers. The community improvement team members relayed information from the facility to the community households through their community group members and vice-versa. The application of CHSS model was able to increase the testing of males from 42 to 159 in one month. Over the course of seven months, the CHSS system was able to trace 39 of 44 patients who were lost to follow-up; of these, 23 went back to treatment, five had moved to a different health facility, 11 had died, and five were still unaccounted for. This case study describes the process undertaken, and perspectives of the community members and health facility personnel, who were involved in the project.

Effectiveness of Rural Cooperatives as Means to Enhance Conservation through Economic Development

Ujjwal Upadhyay — 2022-12-31

Most of the protected areas, mainly in developing countries and least developed countries (LDCs), are surrounded by people with poor livelihood and economic conditions that often tend to encroach the forest resources. Previous studies have found that community having poor access or absence of alternative means often becomes susceptible to a vulnerability that may further deteriorate their livelihood conditions making conservation activity more difficult. Since conservation is always challenging without the cooperation of the surrounding communities, it is thus important to make them more responsive about conservation which is possible if they are socioeconomically self-reliant. As the success of conservation is associated with the surrounding communities’ livelihood conditions, this study tries to understand the role of a grassroot organization like cooperatives on enhancing the prospective factors and overcoming constraints associated with the conservation.

The study conducted 23 in-depth interviews, focus group discussions (FGDs) and observations. These respondents were selected through snowball sampling method. Focus group discussions were done between the shareholders/members of Shree Dhampus Agriculture Development Cooperative Limited and the manager of the same cooperative.

One of the main factors that influenced people’s attitudes toward practicing environmentally friendly activities was the financial factor. Due to the financial literacy gained from the local cooperative, people have realized the importance of money which led them to financially evaluate whether to use cooking gas or forest resources. However, limited cooperative educations still obstructs people from realizing the importance of benefits they can derive from cooperatives as well as from the conservation of the environment. Nonetheless, the study concludes that despite various constraints, a good example and potential of clustering was seen at the study site. Clustering not only has helped the big companies in the study site but also was able to build the network among the same types of firms. This clustering of firms and the ‘we’ feeling induced through cooperative can be positively used to promote conservation and protection of wildlife and biodiversity.

Impacts of forest fire on people living in suburban Kathmandu in the buffer zone of Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park

Dipshana Dangol — 2022-12-31

The research study mainly intends to gauge the impact of forest fire in the buffer zone community of Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park, mainly in the area of Chapali Bhadrakali (ward number 2) adjacent to the sprawling Kathmandu metropolitan city. The study reflects the frequent occurrence of forest fire events happening in the area and its effects, both physical and psychological, on the local communities in the buffer zone. The locals have their work cut out due to the repetition of the incident every year leaving them no alternative than to ready themselves to face the challenges. Thus, the research paper includes both the threats caused by forest fires to people’s livelihoods as well as the local’s perception regarding the fire incidents. Ergo, this study analyzes the impact status of the buffer zone community of Chapali Bhadrakali with regard to seasonal forest fire events.