Tata Institute of Social Sciences (Tiss) has conducted a one of its kind study, which focuses exclusively on M/East ward, which comprises Trombay Cheetah camp, Mankhurd, Bainganwadi, Shivaji Nagar, Govandi and Vashi Naka. The team of “M/Ward”, as the project has been named, enumerated 1.2 lakh families and surveyed 20,000 households, the sheer size of which makes it an unparalleled study of sorts.
The result of the survey will reveal status of women married, malnutrition among children below six years of age with anthropometric data. The institute has also done a micro-level planning exercise in 35 communities. The aim of the survey is to use the data not for academic purposes alone, but also for advocacy to change the condition on the ground. The survey results to be released in the beginning of this year, but due to enormity of the data and certain scientific hurdles it was delayed.
Speaking to The Asian Age, project director of M/Ward, Dr Leena Joshi said, “The survey has many ramifications. It is a comprehensive and yet mammoth study of the ward, we are looking at gauging the socio-economic status of communities, status of women ever married in the age group of 19-49, malnutrition among children up till the age of six.”
The project is being carried out with a team of 17 people with Dr Joshi as the project director, T. Jayaraman as the chairman of the core committee, and Amita Bede as the project in-charge. The fieldwork for the survey has been completed and is in the compilation stage.
Hinting at the findings of the to-be-released survey, Dr Joshi shared, “If I were to express my personal views about the major problems ailing the ward then it would be the water issue. Then come other things like education and a host of other problems concerning women. There is a very high dropout rate after finishing seventh grade, because one has to move to a private school where factors like transportation, affordability, safety of girl students comes in. And when we talk about girls alone, then safety during the commute, early marriage for sake of safety and security also comes in.”
The report, which is nearing completion, is expected to be out this month.