Intersecting Crises in Rural India: Addiction, Caste, Gender, and Agrarian Distress through a Community-Engaged Field Study

Abstract

This study investigates the socio-economic and cul- turalchallengesofruralIndia,withafocusonvillagesinEtawah district,UttarPradesh.Unlikeconventionalresearchthatempha- sizesbroadissuessuchaspoverty,agriculture,orclimatechange, thisworkadoptsapeople-centeredapproach,groundedin fieldvisits,geotaggeddocumentation,andcommunityinterviews. The findings reveal underreported concerns including tobacco addiction among elderly women, gambling addiction among men andteenagers,caste-baseddiscrimination,genderinequality,fre- quentelectricityshortages,inadequatehealthcareandeducation, and agricultural distress leading to indebtedness. Cultural and spiritualpracticeswerealsoexaminedtounderstandtheirrolein shapingeverydaylife.Beyonddocumentation,awarenesssessions on tobacco use and caste issues were conducted with local youth. The outcome is a research paper that presents original, ground- levelinsights,contributingtobothacademicdiscourseandpolicy development for sustainable rural advancement.

Introduction

The study examines the everyday social, cultural, and economic realities of rural life in Etawah district, Uttar Pradesh, addressing gaps left by large-scale, macro-level rural research. While existing literature focuses on agriculture, poverty, climate change, and infrastructure, it often fails to capture micro-level behaviors, community interactions, and social challenges that shape daily life.

Through field-based, people-centered methods—direct observation, geotagged photos/videos, and semi-structured interviews—the study documents issues that are rarely highlighted in mainstream research. These include:

• Tobacco addiction among not only men but also elderly women

• Increasing gambling addiction among men and teenagers (including digital platforms)

• Persistent caste-based discrimination and social exclusion

• Marginalization of women, restricted mobility, and limited access to technology

• Frequent electricity failures, poor healthcare and education access

• Agricultural distress, crop loss, and dependency on informal credit with exploitative interest rates

The research also explores cultural, religious, and spiritual dimensions that influence social hierarchies and everyday decisions. It engages the community directly by raising awareness about health risks and the importance of questioning caste inequities.

The literature review shows that previous studies—surveys (NFHS, GATS), caste and gender analyses, financial inclusion reports, health studies, and agriculture reports—provide valuable macro insights but lack village-level qualitative depth. They do not capture the interconnected issues of addiction, caste discrimination, gender inequality, and infrastructure shortages as they coexist within a single community.

The study uses a multi-layered, immersive approach, including participation in festivals, interviews across caste and gender, and visual documentation. Challenges included villagers’ reluctance to be recorded, distance, limited technology access, cultural sensitivities, language barriers, agricultural seasons, and poor infrastructure.

By combining observation with small interventions like awareness sessions, the study creates a bridge between scholarship and lived experience. It offers actionable insights for policymakers and community-centered interventions.

The text concludes with recommendations for future work, including:

• Tech solutions for villages

• Expanded awareness programs

• Collaboration with NGOs and local authorities

• Agricultural monitoring

• Scaling the study to nearby villages

• Publishing findings to inform rural development policy

Conclusion

This study set out to investigate the lived realities of rural communities in Etawah district, with the aim of moving beyond surface-level analyses that typically dominate rural development research. Through immersive fieldwork, visual documentation, and community engagement, the research identifiedaconstellationofchallengesthatextendfar beyond the commonly cited issues of climate change and poverty. The findings highlighted underexplored areas suchas tobacco addiction among elderly women, the growing prevalence of gambling among men and youth, caste-based exclusion, and entrenched gender hierarchies, in addition to structuraldeficitsinhealthcare,education,transportation, and agricultural sustainability. The evidence underscores that rural problems cannot be effectively addressed in isolation; they are deeply interconnected across social, economic, and cultural dimensions. Addiction patterns, for instance, are tied to unemployment and social acceptance, while agricultural distress is inseparable from indebtedness and reliance on informal credit systems. Similarly, the persistence of casteandgenderinequalitie spermeatesallaspectsofvillagelife, shaping access to resources, opportunities, and dignity. The study makes a dual contribution. First, it generates a bottom-up, community-centered perspective that enriches academic discourse by documenting issues often overlookedin large-scale datasets. Second, it provides a practical foundation for policymakers, development practitioners, and civil society organizations to design interventions that are moreholistic,context-specific,andsensitivetolocalrealities. Importantly, the project demonstrates that any sustainable solution must account not only for infrastructural needs but also for cultural and behavioral dimensions of rural life. The researchreaffirmsthatruraldevelopmentinIndiademands a multidimensional approach—one that combines structural reforms with social transformation, and technical solutions with cultural engagement. The outcomes of this work, supported by geotagged evidence and firsthand testimonies, laythegroundworkforaforth comingre searchpaperaimed atadvancingbothscholarlydebateandpracticalpolicymaking.

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Copyright

Copyright © 2025 Mr. Bhavya Sharma, Mr. Ashish Kumar. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.