Observations on the Dalits in Indian Villages working paper “Observations on the Dalits in Indian Villages ... Sadhu Holy man ... prejudices towards Dalits,

Observations on the Dalits in Indian Villages—

1963-2004

Gilbert Etienne

Working Paper Series

Indian Institute of Dalit Studies

New Delhi

Contents

1. Introduction 2

Section IThe Pre-Green Revolution Period - 1963 - 1964 and 1967

2. Bulandshahr district, Unchagaon block, Khandoi village, UP 2

2.1 The Economic Background 2

2.2 The Dalits 3

2.3 Dalits and the Other Castes 3

3. Varanasi district, Pindra block, Nahiyan village, UP 4


3.2 The Dalits 4

4. Muzaffarpur district, Muraul block, Pilkhi village 5


4.2 Conditions of Living 5

4.3 Temporary Hopes 6

5. Guntur district, Tenalli block, Manchala village, AP 6


5.2 Conditions of Living 7

6. Thanjavur district, Orathanad block, Kila Ulur village, TN 7


6.2 Living Conditions and Dalits 8

7. Satara district, Koregaon block, Eksal village, Maharashtra 8


7.2 Standards of Living 9

8. Summing Up 10

Section II9. From the 1970s to 2004 10

10. Bulandshahr district and Khandoi 11

10.1 With the Dalits 12

10.2 Towards the Future 13

11. Varanasi district and Nahiyan 13



12. Pilkhi village and Muzaffarpur district 15


12.2 Summing Up 16

13. Puri district, Orissa 16


14. Manchala village and Guntur district 18

14.1 Back to the Yanadis 18

15. Kila Ulur village and Thanjavur district 19



16. Deoghar and Godda districts, Jharkhand 21

17. Keonjhar district, Orissa 23

18. Satara district, Eksal 24


19. Jodhpur district, Rajasthan 26


20. Khandoi and Mayurbhanj districts, Orissa 27

Section III21. Some Broader Comments 28

End Notes

Notes

Annexures

Annexure I

Annexure II

Foreword

This working paper “Observations on the Dalits in Indian Villages —1963-2004” is the first to in the Second Working Paper Series of theIndian Institute of Dalit Studies. The purpose of this Series is to disseminateand share the findings of the core research concerns of the Institute for awider circulation, and to facilitate informed discussions on a variety offocal issues.

The Working Paper Series disseminate both, empirical and theoreticalfindings of the ongoing research on issues pertaining to the forms andnature of social exclusion and discrimination, caste and untouchability-based discrimination, and inclusive policies for the marginalized socialgroups in the Indian society and in other countries etc.

It is hoped that the Working Paper Series will be beneficial to researchers,students, academics, and activists alike, and will also benefit policymakingbodies and civil society organizations.

This Working paper “Observations on the Dalits in Indian Villages —1963-2004” is based on surveys, which were conducted over 41 years(1963-2004). The sheer extent of time during which these surveys wereconducted makes this Working Paper of immense academic value as itgauges the relative economic conditions of Dalits over time.

The author approaches the issues from three perspectives. Firstly, economicchanges of Dalits; secondly, relations between Dalits and castes belongingto the four Varnas; and thirdly, with reference to inter-Dalit caste relations.

The Working Paper is based on extensive surveys conducted in the ruralareas of India in 1963-1964, 1967, 1978-1979, 1986-1986, 1992-1993 and2002. In addition to these full surveys, several villages and districts werealso visited in between. The detailed surveys were conducted in areasrepresenting three types of regions in India – advanced areas in the Britishdays; potentially rich, but very poor areas; and areas affected by physicalconstraints in peninsular India.

The Paper traverses the economic conditions of Dalits and concludes thatthough, the economic condition of the Dalits was diverse at the time ofIndependence; it remains heterogeneous with positive shadows andchanges.

The Indian Institute of Dalit Studies gratefully acknowledges the supportprovided by Cordaid, Netherlands, for the publication of this Series.

Sukhadeo ThoratManaging Trustee

About the Author

Gilbert Etienne is Professor Emeritus of Development Economics at theInstitute of International Studies & Development Studies, Geneva,Switzerland. He has published extensively (See Annexure) on the Asiancountries having spent over ten years in Asia, including several years inIndia from 192 till 2006. His areas of interest are North-South Relationsand Economic Reforms in Asia. He is also interested in collating socio-economic surveys of villages and districts, mostly in India and also inAfghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh and China.

He can be contacted at [email protected].

Glossary of Terms

Dabao Pressures

Adivasis Aborigine Tribe

Varnas A Four-tier classification of the Hindu social structurein which the Dalits are accorded a position outsidethe Varna system

Hindi National Language of India

Jats Important agricultural caste in North-West India

Jativs Dalits

Chamars Dalits

Bhangis Dalits, Scavengers

Dhobis Washermen, Dalits in certain states, elsewhere OBCs

Gur Locally made raw sugar

Kachcha Unpaved

Zamindars Landlords

Roti A kind of bread

Kolu Traditional system of pressing sugarcane to make rawsugar

Jajmani Artisans working for landlords and paid in kind

Charpais A kind of bed

Tal A Lock

Kuchch Nahin Nothing

Sust Hein They are lazy

Raj Rule

Rabi Crop season from November to April

Musahars One of the lowest Dalit sub-castes

Dusads Dalits from Bihar

Kurta Shirt

Dhoti Piece of clothe attached to the waist

Choli Blouse

Lathis Bamboo sticks

Pani Water

Sinchai Irrigation

Anicut Weir on a river for irrigation

Casurina A kind of tree

Bajra Millet

Jowar Sorghum

Panchayat Village Council

Pradhan Head of the village council

Kharif Monsoon season, June-July to September-November

Chaqqi Stone mill

Sarson Mustard

Patloon wala Trouser clad

Bakshish Gift or corruption practice

Chaukidar Guardian

Majburi se Out of compulsion

Sari A dress worn by Indian women

Mota Fat

Deshi Local

Ghus Corruption

Qanun The law

Sadhu Holy man

Gingelly Oilseed

Toddy Locally brewed alcohol

Biddies Local made cigarettes

Ghats Mountain ranges dominated by the coast

Pukka Houses with brick walls

Sal A type of tree

Neem A type of tree

Waderas Landlords

Laparvahi Laxism

Urdu Former Hindustani, for many words similar to Hindi,written in Arabic

Dari Persian

Brahmins Highest Varna, traditionally transmits spiritual values

Vaishyas Third Varna, traders

Lodha-Rajputs Agricultural caste of OBCs

Bhumihars High castes near to Brahmins

Kurmis Agricultural caste, OBCs

Musahars A very low Dalit caste, literally rat eaters

Kapus Agricultural caste in Andhra Pradesh

Yanadis Originally Adivasis, Aborigine tribe, settled in coastalAndhra Pradesh

Kallars Agricultural caste, OBCs, in Andhra Pradesh

Ambalallarars Agricultural caste, OBCs, in Tamil Nadu

Paraiyars Dalit caste in South India, has given the word pariah

Marathas Important caste, rulers, landowners in Maharashtra

Mahars Dalit caste in Maharashtra

Yadavs Agricultural caste, OBCs

Lohars Ironsmiths

Kalwars Traders/Vaishyas

Doms Dalits

Kelajats Dalits

Pallars Dalits from South India

Santals Aborigine tribe

Marwaris Literally from Marwar, Rajasthan, important Vaishyacaste

Sauras Aborigine tribe in Orissa

Khutia Konds Aborigine tribe in Orissa

Munda Aborigine tribe

Gonds Aborigine tribe

Orya The mother tongue of the inhabitants of Orissa

Mochis Dalits, leather workers, shoemakers

Kulhos Aborigine tribe in Orissa

Sindhi Originally from Sindh, now a Province in Pakistan

Baniya Vaishyas or trading castes

List of Abbreviations

UP Uttar Pradesh

OBC Other Backward Castes

TW Tube Well

IAS Indian Administrative Service

IFS Indian Foreign Service

ICS Indian Civil Service

Rs Indian Rupees

AP Andhra Pradesh

TN Tamil Nadu

TV Television

BA Bachelor of Arts

BDO Block Development Officer

BPL Below Poverty Line

SFP Social Forestry Programme

MA Master of Arts

STD Subscribers Trunk Dialing

NGO Non-government organization

SHGs Self-help groups

GDP Gross-domestic product

MWs Mega Watts

Observations on the Dalits in Indian Villages —1963-2004

Gilbert Etienne

Abstract∗∗∗∗∗

This working paper is based on surveys, which have been conducted in the samevillages from 1963 to 2004 with repeated visits in between. Diverse at the time ofIndependence, the picture of the Dalits remains heterogeneous with positive changesand shadows.

While focusing on Dalits (depressed castes, erstwhile-untouchables) one must brieflydescribe the economic environment of each area and its level of development. InGreen Revolution Districts, agricultural wages are roughly the double of what theyare in sluggish districts. Besides, fast moving districts offer more job opportunities.A number of Dalits, so often landless, do benefit from such developments - theirliving conditions improve, and they begin to assert themselves vis-à-vis the highercastes etc.

In slow-growing areas, poverty alleviation is much less striking. Besides, in Biharand parts of Uttar Pradesh, semi-feudal caste relations can lead to all kinds ofdabao on Dalits or, worse, to violent clashes.

The slowdown of agriculture during the past twenty to twenty five years for lack ofattention to rural India, together with the fall in public funds devoted to agricultureand infrastructure (irrigation, electricity, roads) is a matter of growing concernamong villagers, rich or poor. The various anti-poverty schemes (loans cum subsidiesfor wells, cattle or housing, and rural works etc) present a mixed picture - successstories no doubt, but also leakages, corruption, and money being channelled to therich instead of the poor. I came across Dalits who, like some of the mostsophisticated officers and experts, demand a better balancing between productive

* Many thanks to Ratan Watal, IAS and Jayant Prasad, IFS who read Section IIIand made very valuable comments. The contents remain my sole responsibility.

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Indian Institute of Dalit StudiesVolume II, Number 01

public investments in the rural sector and anti-poverty programmes. The leakagesthough, may be similar in both, but benefits from production investments arelikely to be more fruitful.

One must also refer to Adivasis. A number of tribes have been since long in contactwith Indian civilization and have adopted the agricultural practices of Hindus.They do not need special measures. The tribes, isolated since ages in hilly junglesdeserve a particular attention. A number of tribes live in conditions of abjectpoverty.

The economic progress of a number of Dalits contributes to the improvement oftheir social status. But, as Ratan Watal tells me, “Negative connotations associatedwith the Dalits cannot be ironed out by economic uplift only”. Many caste cleavages- also within the four Varnas - remain alive in villages. Endogamy still persists andmarriage relations within the same caste have hardly changed in the past fiftyyears. Even among urban upper castes/classes, prejudices towards Dalits,particularly regarding inter-marriages, will take time to fully dissipate.

The comeback of the rural economy in the development policy, promoted by theGovernment after the 2004 elections, combined with greater concern for socialprogress of the poor, could perhaps reduce the present gaps.

1. Introduction

What have been the socio-economic changes of Dalits at the village level1 over thepast fifty years or so? Quite diverse at the time of Independence, the pictureremains heterogeneous with positive changes and also serious shadows. Tounderstand them a brief account of the economic environment of each area will bementioned.

In this working paper, I approach these issues from three perspectives – firstly,economic changes of Dalits; secondly, relations between Dalits and castes belongingto the four Varnas; and thirdly, references to inter-Dalit caste relations. This workingpaper is a summary of surveys of districts and villages between 1963 and 2004.Knowing Hindi I had direct interviews in Hindi speaking areas, while I used aninterpreter elsewhere. In most cases I focused on one village, living in it orcommuting daily from the district town. I also worked at the block and districtlevels in order to have a broader understanding of the area.

Coming by my own conveyance from Europe, I made comprehensive surveys in1963-1964, 1978-1979, 1985-1986, 1992-1993 and 2002 (not in my own conveyancethat time). Such surveys lasted from 5-6 months to one year, except in 2002,

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Observations on the Dalits in Indian Villages — 1963-2004Gilbert Etienne

which was briefer. I also added a brief study of Bulandshahr and Mayurbhanj districtsin 2004. In between, I often revisited some of the areas.

The first surveys (Section I) in 1963-1964 with the addition of Muzaffarpur andGuntur districts in 1967 were prior to the Green Revolution. In the post-GreenRevolution surveys (Section II), I added Puri district and some more parts of theDeccan in order to give more attention to predominantly rain fed areas. Whilereferring to some observations made during the 1970s and 1980s, I insisted moreon the situations in the 1990s and in 2002-2004.

Section I

The pre-Green Revolution Period – 1963-1964 and 1967

2. Bulandshahr district, Unchagaon block, Khandoi village, UP

Population - 1230 in 1961

2.1 The Economic Background

The district lies in Western UP, which under the British colonial rule in India, enjoyedprogress of canal irrigation, construction of roads, market places and cities.Improved varieties of sugarcane and wheat were introduced after the First WorldWar. Some technical changes, improvements of tools, progress of the Persian wheelon wells operated by a pair of bullocks, also did spread. Animal husbandry,particularly she-buffaloes were already important.

In 1963, Unchagaon block was one of the most isolated parts of the district. Theall-weather road reached it only in 1955. Yet, it had been affected by thedevelopment mentioned above. The population of Khandoi has trebled from the1860s to th’e 1960s, concomitantly with the area under cultivation. Crops yieldsand multi-cropping had improved compared to many regions, so that economicgrowth moved ahead of population increase.

Population pressure was already relatively high with a density of 440 per squarekilometer. There were wide disparities in terms of holdings - 108 families ownedland, while 74 were landless, including many agricultural workers, and some artisans.It is a typical village of Western UP (with a lot of similarities with villages inHaryana), with the Hindu Jats as the dominant caste22, with an actual populationsize of 386 in 1961 and owning about 150 hectares of land out of the total 250-260cultivated hectares. The Jat spirit of hard and clever work was equally visibleamong the other castes, all ploughing the land themselves - Brahmins (71), Vaishyas(46) and Lodha-Rajputs (137) OBCs. The Jativs (they had given up their original

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name of Chamars in order to boost their status) were 220 in number, followed by54 Bhangis, 31 Dhobis and some other minor groups.

In 1950, starting from a relatively high level, the economy proceeded further withthe demarcation of the administrative units into blocks in 1954. Further, impetuswas provided by the advent of the cooperative system and electricity in the early1960s leading to gains in irrigation - one state TW, 2 private TWs. Some farmersalso started using chemical fertilizers. Crops yields were fairly high - 5000 kilogramsof gur per hectare and 1200-1300 kilograms of irrigated wheat per hectare. FromUnchagaon (located 2-3 kilometers from Khandoi) the kachcha road hindered smoothtraffic of bullock carts. There was practically no motor vehicle in the block except,the jeep of the BDO and one or two cars, including my own.

The 3 ex-zamindars owned 10-13 hectares of land each. 30 landholdings werebelow 1 hectare, 37 ranged between 1 and 2 hectares, while the rest 49 wereabove 2 hectares.

2.2 The Dalits

While medium landowners (owning about 1.5-3 hectares of land) were still leadinga very frugal life in terms of food, clothes, semi-durable goods; the conditions ofmost of the Dalits was abject. Only a few Jativs owned some land, often, less than1 hectare. Some were running tiny shops and earning their livelihoods sellingmatches, salt, and biscuits. The majority were employed as casual agriculturallabourers. The incidences of malnutrition were widespread among many of them,including children. In a number of families there was no consumption of milk. Dailywages amounted to Rs 1, with an incentive of roti sometimes. The other source ofincome included working at a kolu where sugarcane was transformed into gur –herein, though there was a possibility of the workers being paid daily wages of Rs1.50 per day, but the same was not the case always.

While conversing with the Jativs, one gathered the impression that their poverty(physical, mental and spiritual) was such that they were just surviving, withoutthe will or the ability to live better. In addition to their abject poverty was their lowcaste status. Among the Bhangis (scavengers or sweepers), while the conditionseveral was miserable, but some were more enterprising than the Jativs in spite oftheir lower caste status. Under the jajmani system, some women worked for theBrahmins, Jats and the other castes. They were paid in grain. They also earnedsome money, operating as midwives. They were quite alert and argued loudly withtheir employers about their wages. In addition to working as agricultural labourers,some Bhangis were also found to be raising pigs for a military farm. Saggan, a

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Bhangi was in fact, prospering rearing pigs and being one of the very few inhabitantsto own poultry.

The Dhobis subsisted by combining the washing of clothes of higher castes underthe jajmani system and working in the fields as agricultural labourers or at thekolus. On the whole, they enjoyed a relatively higher social status and were lesspoor than the Jativs or the Bhangis.

2.3 Dalits and the Other Castes

The Dalits did not complain of actual abuses or physical bad treatment, or dabaofrom higher castes. Abuses due to pollution seemed to have disappeared. An oldJativ narrated that as a boy, he had inadvertently touched the shirt of a Jat, forwhich he was beaten up and his father made to replace the shirt. On the contrary,there was no inter-dining among the different castes in the village. Also, segregatedseating arrangements were visible during village meetings, wherein, the Jats,Brahmins, Lodhas and others were found to be sitting together on the same charpais,while the Jativs and other Dalits were found to be squatting nearby.

One of the Jativ leaders, a tailor by profession and not too poor, when asked iftheir living conditions had improved since Independence responded by noting that“there is only one change, we have no more a tal on the mouth”. The similarquestion when put to a number of other Dalits, got a response of “kuchch nahin”.However, Saggan, the Bhangi rearing poultry responded in the affirmative andnoted that his living conditions were indeed better than what they were ten yearsago.

To sum up, even if some Dalits had become less poor, the majority of them remaineddepressed, both, physically and psychologically.

When the question of Jativ poverty was put to the Brahmins, Jats and Lodhas, theyresponded by an oblique “sust hein”. The Brahmins, Jats and Lodhas were of theopinion that when they needed extra labour, the Jativs would not turn up. TheJativs, on the other hand, responded by saying that working for only Rs one per daywas hardly worth while. The Jativs also said that while working their bodies neededextra nourishment, which meant that they needed to eat more. Therefore, theyfelt that instead of working for less wages and eating more food, it was better thatthey stay idle. The explanation is not entirely convincing, because, I observed thatthere were instances when Jativs could have earned Rs two per day for light work,and yet, they did not turn up. Should one think of a kind of lethargy, as a consequenceof acute poverty then?

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3. Varanasi district, Pindra block, Nahiyan village, UP

Location - 28 kilometers from the holy city of Varanasi and 4 kilometersfrom Pindra block on a kachcha road



Eastern UP, including Varanasi district had remained, like the plains of Bihar, dormantduring the British Raj. Population densities in the region, already higher in the 18th

century than in Western UP, kept on increasing (the population density of Nahiyanwas 600 per square kilometer in 1961). The population increase, however, wasaccompanied by little development on ground - hardly any canal irrigation wasvisible, partly due to technical reasons as the region was not fit for gravity canalsas in Punjab or Western UP; stagnant crops yields; lack of new techniques; and lowprogress of wells etc. The region, however, had rainfall higher that Western UP,which enabled it to grow rain-fed paddy. The need of irrigation to complement themonsoon especially for rabi crops cannot be negated.

In addition, the village displayed a markedly different spirit from the dominantcastes (the Jats) in Khandoi. On the contrary in Nahiyan, the dominant castescomprising of the Thakurs (the dominant castes in the village), the Bhumihars andthe Brahmins stuck to the taboo of not ploughing land and often did not do anymanual work, even when they owned small tracts of land. Evidently, the warning“Purbi log dhile hein” (the Easterners are easy-going) of our friends in Khandoiwas true to some extent. Interestingly, this comment was already appended in theBritish Gazetteers of the 19th century.

Paddy remains the main crop with a low yield (primarily due to it being rain-fed) of1000 to 1350 kilograms per hectare (700 to 900 kilograms of clean rice), a level,which has not much increased for the past 100 years. The other crop being grownwith the help of well irrigation is wheat with a yield of about 700-900 kilograms perhectare. The village was also producing Gur in the range of about 2000-3000kilograms per hectare. Unlike Western UP, the farmers in the village were using oldand low yield varieties of wheat and sugarcane. Two state TWs were also operatingin the village since 1963, though poorly. However, there was no private TW. Also,there were not many cattle in the village. With such a poor economic performancesince atleast one century, combined with an exponential rise in population, povertywas bound to increase, especially, among the landless peasants and small cultivators.Even the high caste landowners owning about 2-3 hectares of land were much

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worse-off than the Jats in Western UP owning similar tracts of land. Only a few bigThakur landowners (owning 10-15 hectares of land) enjoyed a good standard ofliving and were developing their land.

The Kurmis (OBCs) were already better off. They were enterprising and did not letgo any opportunity to earn, a number of them (owning 1 to 2 hectares of land)were improving their living standards, reaching better crops yields, pushingvegetables, and some handicrafts. They were also assertive politically and sociallyvis-à-vis their dominant twice born caste counterparts.

3.2 The Dalits

The daily wage earnings of the Dalits in Nahiyan were the same (Rs 1) as in Khandoi,but the incidence of misery among them was more acute. The Chamars (still calledas such) represented the largest group of Dalits in the village. A few among themmanaged not too badly. One of them, with 0.75 hectares of land, practiced doublecropping, and grew paddy, wheat and sugarcane. He also owned two bullocks, butno cow, and hence, did not have access to milk. He subsisted through cereals,some spices and very rarely got some goat meat. Others from his community weremuch worse off. One landless Chamar aptly put it by observing that “misery doesnot leave the poor”.

The Musahars, at the abyss of the Dalit ladder, were the worst-off, looked down bymost castes and subdued under the weight of their misery.

It is evident that such poor agricultural practices could only offer limited jobopportunities in agriculture. Further, there was not much evidence of any ancillaryactivity being undertaken in the village. Therefore, the incidence of poverty andits prevalence was on the higher side. In addition, to these poor economic conditions,the word dabao from the high castes often came in discussions with the Chamarsor other poor people. In fact, I was just settling down in Nahiyan, when some Bhars(OBCs) came to me bleeding from their heads, after being beaten up by Brahmins– the cause of the altercation was a mere square meters of land.

I left Nahiyan with an impression of near despair. What could one do in such anarea weakened by so many evils? I could now understand and reflect on the feelingof helplessness expressed by senior officials whom I had interacted with in Lucknowregarding the Eastern districts.

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4. Muzaffarpur district, Muraul block, Pilkhi village

Location – On a district asphalted road, 20 kilometers from Muzaffarpur,Bihar

Population - 2471 in 1961,


The population trap with very low economic growth was even more striking inPilkhi village than it was in Eastern UP. Irrigation was quasi-inexistent – with hardlyany wells and no canals. A state TW had been installed in 1964, but it was non-functional due to the non-availability of electricity, either for technical defects ordue to poor maintenance. Further, the low lands of the village were inundated dueto lack of proper drainage even in normal monsoons having a direct impact on theagriculture of the village. It was not surprising that under such conditions, eitherno paddy was cultivated or there was a very poor harvest. Floods, on the otherhand, did considerable damage. Though, some embankments were constructed,but then again, they were very few in number and were hardly sufficient to curbthe extent of damage by floods. The techniques of cropping patterns had remainedunchanged since decades, except that some farmers had taken to indigo cultivation.Overall, farming techniques were crude and there was no evidence of usage ofhigh-yield and disease resistant seeds. The output of rain-fed paddy ranged between1000-1500 kilograms per hectare (two thirds in terms of clean rice), but this wastrue only if the rains were not deficient. Also, the agricultural fields were notproperly levelled and the paddy nurseries were unkempt. Correspondingly, somerabi maize cultivation was doing quite well. The other crops being grown in thevillage included tobacco, chillies and vegetables, fairly well tended. The populationdensity of the village was 525 per square kilometer.

4.2 Conditions of Living

Small and medium farmers (owning land between 0.5 to 2 hectares) faced a hardlife. As in Nahiyan, high caste landowners (Bhumihars and Thakurs) did not indulgein manual labour. They relied on casual or permanent labour to till their lands or domanual labour. It was in this block and the only time in all my surveys that I chancedupon really big landlords with more than 350 landlords owning more than 20 hectaresof land. The Panchayat Pradhan of Pilkhi, a Bhumihar, owned 40 hectares in thevillage and 80 elsewhere. The paddy yield from his lands amounted to 1000 to 1500kilograms per hectare. Surprisingly, he had not set up his own TWs, perhaps thenhe could have trebled his produce. Other Bhumihars or Thakurs who owned 50 to100 hectares of land did not fare as well as their Panchayat Pradhan.

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Though, the city of Muzaffarpur was not so far away, it however, had limitedimpact in terms of employment. The town and the bazaar are no doubt growing,but not in a manner, which was significant to either give gainful employmentopportunities to people or effectuate a process of urbanization. Perhaps, theexistence of a few industries was a reason for the same.

The Chamars, Dusads and other Dalits lead a very frugal existence, often subsistingin small huts devoid of any amenities. In some cases I noticed them living in nearlyempty huts, without even a charpai. Some men have only one set of clothes, whichthey were wearing, a shabby kurta with an old dhoti. Many women could not evenafford a choli. Several people complained that they were worse off than twentyyears ago. Their diets were deficient, practically no milk and no money to buymeat, and fruit. Such food intakes, in fact, had a direct impact upon the infantmortality rates as the incidence of infant mortality was higher here compared tohigh caste medium and upper farmers.

Another contributive factor having an impact on the household incomes of Dalitsand OBCs was related to restrictions being placed on their women to work as wagelabourers. Though, the women were not altogether restricted to work as wagelabourers, but they could do so only in the company of their husbands. Such apractice is in direct opposition to South India. I observed that a few odd maleswere transplanting paddy, whereas, in the south, one would come across lines ofwomen and men at work.

The conditions of the poor were made worse by exploitative landlord-tenant relations– the wage labourers were often abused by their landlords and the use of lathis bylandlords’ retinue was not so rare. The word dabao came more often in interviewsthan in Nahiyan and social barriers were particularly rigid.

4.3 Temporary Hopes

At the time of my visit (August 1967), Bihar had narrowly escaped a massivefamine following two consecutive years (1965 and 1966) of devastating drought. Itwas saved by American grain and the ability of the administration to distribute it,thanks to some first class ICS/IAS officers and to the voluntary agencies workingunder Jay Prakash Narayan.

The words “pani, sinchai” were heard from the Secretariat in Patna down to thevillages. Some farmers were starting to set a TW with the help of the government.Some were experimenting with the new seeds of the Green Revolution released bythe Department of Agriculture. Unfortunately these efforts quickly tapered off(See Section II).

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5. Guntur district, Tenalli block, Manchala village, AP

Location - 20 kilometers away from Guntur on an asphalted district road



Just before visiting Muzaffarpur, I did similar enquiries in Guntur. I never saw sucha deep economic and social contrast as between these two districts, though boththe districts enjoyed rather similar geographical conditions, that is, good soils andplenty of water.

The delta of the Krishna was developed through a network of canals in the 1860-1870s by Sir Arthur Cotton. Poor rain-fed coarse grains were replaced by irrigatedpaddy, followed by some pulses to be sown during rabi. Tobacco also expanded on alarge scale in parts of the delta, but not in Manchala. Roads, markets and citiesgrew concomitantly with the transformation of agriculture; promoting classicalpush and pull effects between agriculture, industries (tobacco factories, rice millsand others) and services (trade and transport).

Starting from a fairly high level in 1947, the region kept on forging ahead. Extensionservices introduced chemical fertilizers, pesticides and some improved varietiesof rice (not to be confused with the high yield varieties of the Green Revolution).On the whole, there had been further progress in the standards of living sinceIndependence in spite of a population density of 467 people per square kilometer.

At the time of my visit, paddy yields were about 2800-3500 kilograms per hectare(two thirds in terms of clean rice) versus 1000-1500 kilograms per hectare inPilkhi. Pulses sown in the rabi would yield 500 kilograms per hectare (the canalsare closed in January). Some shops had appeared in the village. Unlike Pilkhi,paddy fields were properly levelled and even the nurseries were carefully tended.Weeding was done a few times. The Kapus, the dominant caste, are good farmersby tradition. Though, there were still some Brahmins not ploughing themselves,but they were supervising with attention and ability the work of their labourers.The landless people comprised of the Yanadis, a scheduled tribe, settled long agoin Manchala.

5.2 Conditions of Living

The two biggest Kapu landowners owned 12 hectares of land each. Thereupon, theland ownership ranged between 9 holdings of 4-8 hectares, 23 of 1.6 hectares, and140 below 1.6 hectares. Interestingly, even farmers of 0.6 hectares managedreasonably well, having some surplus paddy for sale. Added were some ancillaryjobs, also possibly remittances from a kin working in Guntur.

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The Yanadis were living in separate hamlets. Both, men and women were busyduring the paddy cultivation period - ploughing and puddling, transplanting, weeding,harvesting, and threshing among other activities. They also had other sources ofincome, which included making bamboo traps to catch rats/rodents in the fields.They usually caught about 15 rats/rodents per day and earned about Rs 3 percatch. They also recovered paddy stored by the rats/rodents in the field bunds, apractice quite common in many areas including Bihar and brought about 75 kilogramsof paddy in one season. Apparently, the Yanadis also ate rats. Some of the menalso collected hair to make chignons, which were later sold in the bazaar. In off-season, they subsisted by earning their livelihoods by performing repair work onthe canals.

Daily wages for the same work amounted to Rs 3-4 in contrast to Rs 1.50 in Pilkhiand most women were also busy in the fields unlike in Pilkhi. Adding the ancillaryactivities to the work in paddy fields, the community ignored acute poverty. Menand women were smart and lively, not at all subdued as their landless Dalitcounterparts in the Ganges basin. I may add that Daniel Thorner (See Economicand Political Weekly, Coastal Andhra towards and Affluent Society) who madeenquiries in coastal Andhra and the plains of Bihar, one year before me, reachedsimilar conclusions.

Finally, inter-caste relations appeared to be in transition. Brahmins were beginningto sell their lands to Kapus and were migrating to cities, a trend already quitecommon in South India. The Kapus also did not make abuses of the Yanadis.

6. Thanjavur district, Orathanad block, Kila Ulur village, TN

Location - Fifteen kilometers away from Thanjavur



The old delta of the Cauvery has been the rice bowl of TN since two thousand yearsprimarily due to the construction of the anicut, which runs a network of canals.The south-east part, the so-called new delta had access to irrigation following theconstruction of the Cauvery Mettur dam in the then Mysore State in 1935. Therewas a similar shift, as in Guntur, from rain-fed coarse grains to irrigated paddywith a complex pattern - two short paddy crops, named kuruvai and thaladi werecultivated on the same soil, while another long duration paddy crop, named sambawas cultivated on other soils. From June until January, the canals are closed andduring this time irrigation is substituted by releasing water from the Mettur dam.In the dry season, some farmers grow groundnuts on small tracts of land aided by

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irrigation from temporary wells, while the others resort to green manure. Othersources of income included casurina wood and a fishpond. Many farmers alsocultivated a few coconut and banana trees. Animal husbandry and milk played buta minor role. Some people also raised chicken and sold eggs to substantiate theirincomes.

Until the advent of irrigation, population was very low, so much so that even in1961, the population density was as low as 262 people per square kilometer. Theaverage yield of paddy amounted to 2000 kilograms per hectare, but a few farmersreached nearly 3000 kilograms by using chemical fertilizers.

On the whole, the living conditions had improved since the construction of theMettur dam providing impetus to the economy.

6.2 Living conditions and Dalits

The Kallars (OBCs) are the dominant castes, the largest group owning the major ofthe land. They are clever farmers, ready to use all available means to improvetheir crops. They are followed by the Ambalakkarars, other OBCs of a lower status.The 15 largest landowners had 4 to 6 hectares of land, followed by 35 with 2 to 4hectares of land, 100 with 0.4 to 2 hectares and 70 below 0.4 hectares. Landownersand their families comprised about half of the population, the landless (comprisingthe Dalits) about 35 percent and the rest tenants.

Families owning 0.8 hectares of land managed frugally. Out of 0.2 hectares of landsome Ambalakkarars harvested 560 kg of paddy. They also substantiated theirincomes by working as casual labourers, selling coconuts from their trees and eggsfrom their few hens.

The Paraiyars were the main Dalit caste. There were also some dhobis under thejajmani system. The wives of the small landowners and of landless labourers werevery active in the fields for paddy cultivation. The Paraiyars were clearly better offthan the Chamars of Nahiyan or Khandoi. Daily wage earnings amounted to Rs 1 or2 (only 1 in the two other villages in 1963-1964) and the wage labourers had moreworking days in agriculture, thanks to the intensity of cropping and relatively highyields. During the off-season, the Paraiyars made mats; buying the fibres locally,dying and weaving them. They could earn Rs 50 to 100 per year and family. Theyalso caught fish, cut out some casuarina or worked on canal maintenance in winters.

The population pressure, lighter than in the Ganges basin, the availability of varioussmall odd jobs, in addition to agricultural work, enabled the Paraiyars to be rarelyas poor as the poorest in other areas. Yet, they admitted that their material

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conditions had hardly improved in the previous fifteen years. On the other hand,however, caste relations had improved - they could now bathe in the Kallar pond,walk with their shoes on in their streets, the temple of the latter was open to themand when riding a bus they would not be ejected from their seats if sitting next toa twice born (something still prevalent in Bihar in 2000). The hamlets of the Paraiyarswere well kept. More of their children were attending the local school. Their foodwas a little more diversified than in the north - some fish, occasionally meat andcoconuts in addition to rice. Sumptuary expenditures among the Paraiyars seemedless common than in the north. Landless Chamars in Nahiyan could spend up to Rs800 for a marriage versus 100 among the Paraiyars, while the upper-medium Kallarswould spend about Rs1000.

Finally, although modern family planning was still absent as in the Hindi belt, thefertility of the women, poor or less poor, was substantially lower than in the north;a trend widespread in TN. Between 1951 and 1961, the population of the stateincreased by 1.4 percent per year versus 2.15 percent as national average. Thegap with the Hindi belt has increased further since then, primarily due to thefaster progress and acceptance of family planning in the south.

All these factors combined, fairly advanced agriculture, relatively low populationpressure, diversity of the economy, odd jobs opportunities, cleverness and hardwork of both, the Kallars and the Paraiyars explain a lower incidences of poverty.

7. Satara district, Koregaon Block, Eksal village, Maharashtra

Location – 30 kilometers away from Satara, a few kilometers away fromKoregaon, on a small road


7.1 The economic background

In the areas visited so far, the geographical milieu is favourable to agriculture -good alluvial soils, large irrigation potential, utilized or not. In peninsular India,agriculture faces severe constraints - often poor and eroded soils, low and erraticrainfall, except in the north-eastern corner of the peninsula, where the monsoonenables rain-fed paddy. Irrigation potential – both, surface and ground water - islow.

Population densities are much lighter than in the plains, but crop yields are low.Already in British days, as well as after Independence, migrations of men to citieshave been prominent in Maharashtra, with its expanding cities - Bombay, Pune andlater on smaller towns like Satara, Sholapur, Nasik etc.

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Several parts of the district face adverse conditions, with hardly any irrigationpotential and unavoidably very low yields of rain-fed coarse grains. For instance,Phaltan area is classified as “a permanent scarcity area”. Soils are very poor, lessthan 10 percent of the cultivated area is irrigated, and often unreliably. Suchconditions facilitate large-scale migrations to urban centres in search of livelihoods.

Eksal is in a relatively favourable situation, but with a higher population density of175 per square kilometer (1961). Out of 606 hectares, 92 were irrigated, 32 doublecropped, 232 hectares had mediocre soil and the rest 97 hectares were extremelypoor on slopes furrowed by erosion, bearing only sparse bajra. In case of insufficientrains, upto 70 hectares fell out of cultivation. There were 200 agricultural holdings.To subsist on the promontory, one would need 3 hectares, which were rain-fed andabout 0.8 hectares, which were irrigated. 80 families owned hardly more than 1hectare of land, that too un-irrigated. The Marathas, 80 percent of the population,comprised the dominant caste. A few Brahmin landowners were selling their landsand migrating to the cities.

As in many other villages, there were few totally landless people. The Maharsrepresented the major Dalit caste. There were also 50 Muslim small landowners.

The Marathas are tough farmers in a rather unfavourable physical milieu. Majorcrops, coarse grains, groundnuts depend on the monsoon with unavoidably lowyields unable to feed the population - 330 to 460 kilograms per hectare of jowar,rarely 300 kilograms of bajra. Improved groundnut seeds have given encouragingresults were being increasingly used and the area under their cultivation wasproportionately increasing.

On irrigated crops, one came across potatoes, chillies and vegetables. With thegrowing number of wells, area under sugarcane cultivation increased from 3hectares in 1952 to 11 hectares in 1964. Grapes giving a very high profit had justbeen introduced on a few hectares, more so due to the efforts of the largestlandowner, chairman of the panchayat, the only rich man who even had an old Fordmotorcar.

Wells used the mot system, that is, a bucket pulled by bullocks, but 10 of them hadbeen replaced by a pump and an oil engine, which considerably improved irrigation.Yet, the scarcity of groundwater could be a severe constraint towards the end ofthe dry season. Some wells got dry, having a direct impact on the crops. One mustalso bear in mind the high cost of digging a well in these rocky terrains, comparedto TWs dug in alluvial soils deprived of any stone.

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7.2 Standards of living

Upper and medium Maratha landowners managed reasonably well, much due totheir small landholdings being irrigated. A number of medium and small farmerslived not too poorly, whenever one or two of their sons had found a job outside.Out of 200 families, 125 men were working in cities, the police and the army.

Agricultural labourers, often Mahars, much less numerous than in plain areas,earned daily wages of Rs 2 per day, the double of what their counterparts earned inKhandoi and Nahyian. A number of Mahars were also in towns or had joined theMahar regiment (one of the few Dalit regiments). Since ages, the Mahars havebeen known for their enterprising spirit. They also enjoy one of the highest socialstatuses within the Dalit castes.

Govin Pandurang Sawan is a fine example of the Mahar spirit. Owning 0.8 hectaresof land, he grew jowar and groundnuts in the kharif, some wheat in the rabi. Hewas working 8 months for the main Maratha landowner, from whom he learned howto cultivate grapes. That he cultivated on 0.1 hectares of his land, which is irrigatedby a well he managed to dig with a cooperative loan. He owns one bullock, a smallcow, two hens and one goat. His wife, himself and their four small children areproperly fed and dressed. Although, all Mahars did not succeed as well as Govin,they were not subdued either and asserted themselves suitably. I did not recordserious tensions between them and the Marathas, but caste distinctions (restrictionsof inter-marriage, inter-dining, etc.) were as strict as in the other villages.

8. Summing up

Already advanced areas in British days (Bulandshahr, Guntur and Thanjavur) kepton moving further. Agricultural castes by tradition played an important role. However,traditional techniques were reaching their upper limits. As to Dalit castes, theirstandard of living remained more precarious in Bulandshahr than in the other twoareas, where they were less poor and on the whole, more active than the depressedJativs in Khandoi.

Varanasi and Muzaffarpur offered a depressing picture - very limited developmentduring the Raj and equally slow progress after Independence. With an exponentialrise in population, overall poverty was bound to increase and hit particularly tinylandowners and agricultural labourers, many of them being Dalits. Further, thedominant castes, who were not agriculture-oriented, contributed to slow growth.On top of that, in both cases, but more so in Muzaffarpur, pressures on and badtreatment meted to Dalits by high castes added to their misery. As to the OBCs(Kurmis and Yadavs), in both cases, they were quite dynamic and improving theirconditions of life.

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Satara gives us an instance where the physical milieu represents a major constraint.Smart Maratha farmers and clever Mahars struggle against nature. Substantialprogress was appearing since the early 1950s with the wise concentration of effortson irrigated cash crops, giving a high return in contrast to poor rain-fed crops.This enabled a number of farmers generate enough resources to purchase thegrain which was lacking.

A number of cities in Maharashtra offered an important outlet to the villagers whowould send their remittances home, thus, in a number of cases avoiding acutepoverty. One must, however, remember that much larger parts of peninsular Indiado not enjoy similar outlets, as will be evident in the second section of this workingpaper.

Section II

9. From the 1970s to 2004

Some basic institutional differences (often forgotten nowadays) between the north-west of India and other parts of the country must be mentioned at the outset.From the early 1950s until the early 1970s, the consolidation of holdings has beena crucial attributing factor in the growth of Punjab, Haryana and UP. It paved theway for the explosion of private TWS, stimulated also by the progress in electricity.The TWs were used either to complement the canals or to replace less efficientPersian wheels moved by bullocks. These changes were already visible and in fullswing, when the high yield varieties of wheat appeared between 1965 and 1970.This was very important because new seeds needed more water than traditionalvarieties (See annexure on Green Revolution).

The Green Revolution in wheat spread from the north-west to the whole of UttarPradesh. Later on, new varieties of paddy replaced coarse grain during the monsoon,first in Punjab and Haryana, and after some years in Western UP, again a consequenceof the progress in irrigation. The yields were now higher than coarse grains. InEastern UP, new varieties of paddy tended to replace old seeds.

Animal husbandry expanded sharply from Punjab to Western UP. Cultivation ofvegetables and potatoes made some headway. Trees, first eucalyptus and nowpoplars are more common near houses.

Progress in roads, of local bazaars, small industries and workshops servicing thegrowing number of tractors, flour mills replacing the chaqqi (liberating womenfrom long and tedious work every morning), threshing machines, large-scalereplacement of mud houses by brick walls contribute to the diversification of the

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economy and create more jobs. They are prominent in Punjab, Haryana and WesternUP, developing more slowly in Eastern UP.

In the south-east deltas, canals remain the main source of irrigation, although,some filter points (small TWs) are constructed for rabi crops, when the canals areclosed. Paddy remains the main crop with new high yield varieties. More ancillaryjobs have come along with the progress in roads, electricity, small industries,market places, and plenty of construction of new brick houses.

Green Revolution districts illustrate what one can term the global process of ruraldevelopment, that is, a breakthrough in the main crops, diversification within theagricultural sector - animal husbandry, poultry, fish, orchards and vegetables, alsodiversification outside agriculture - rural construction, services, small industriesetc. The whole process leads to poverty alleviation through increased wages andmore job opportunities. During all our surveys, in the Green Revolution districtswe came across daily agricultural wages amounting roughly to the double of non-Green Revolution districts and the differences would have been wider if we hadincluded Punjab.

The slow growth in the eastern plains, with the partial exception of West Bengal,results in an equally slow fall of poverty, if any, as illustrated in Muzaffarpur districtand, to some extent in Puri district.

Surveys in the plateaus of Deoghar and Keonjhar illustrate how physical constraintsprevent the Green Revolution, but do not exclude some progress, although, outletsin cities are limited compared to Maharashtra. In the latter, Eksal becomes aninstance - not so common in Peninsular India - of irrigated crops becoming dominant.Finally, Jodhpur district is an instance where physical constraints reach a peak interms of water and soils, but where the diversification of the district economy, toa large extent outside agriculture, has been a kind of safety valve to alleviatepoverty.

At the all-India level and in most states, from the 1980s onwards, agriculturalgrowth has slowed down, largely because of a fall in public investments and recurrentexpenditures. As a result, electricity and roads, which had been the two majorengines of growth, have become stumbling blocks to further development withlack of power supply and deterioration of the new roads built after Independence.Poor maintenance of canals, weaknesses of extension services and basic researchalso affected agriculture. All these factors naturally have a negative impact onpoverty alleviation.

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On the other hand, one observes a growing diversification of the rural economy(into animal husbandry, vegetables, fruit, poultry, fish and even floriculture),especially in Green Revolution districts, which lead to the creation of jobs, with apositive influence on the poor. Such a welcome current does not, however, fullycounterbalance the slowdown of major crop growth especially in the eastern plains,and it remains weak in many parts of peninsular India.

10. Bulandshahr district and Khandoi

Population - About 2500 in 2002

Between 1965 (the end of the consolidation of land holdings) and 1971, all the areaunder cultivation (250 hectares) became irrigated versus 191 in 1964 and it wasalso better irrigated thanks to the proliferation of private TWs. 25 units appeareduntil 1971, rising further to 70. The widespread and improved irrigational facilitiescoincided with the increased needs of water of the new seeds of wheat and later onof paddy in the monsoon. After some highly positive experiments on small plots in1966-1967, most cultivators adopted the new varieties, so that in a few years, theaverage yield of wheat rose from 1200-1300 to 2000 kilograms per hectare. Lateron, it grew up to 3200 to 3500 kilograms per hectare. This enabled farmers to livefairly decently out of 1 hectare, versus 1.5 to 2 hectares in pre-Green Revolutiondays. As to owners of 0.5 hectare, they became less dependent on buying extragrain. As to coarse grains, they have been increasingly replaced by paddy in the1990s with a much higher yield of 3000 to 3200 kilograms per hectare (two thirdsfor clean rice.) Sarson, cultivated with wheat also made some progress. Theincreases in sugarcane yields (the main cash crop) have been moderate. Since the1990s, potatoes are growing in importance. Animal husbandry, comprising mostlyof she-buffaloes and in the 1990s, crossbred cows have considerably expanded. Noless striking is the replacement of mud walls by houses in bricks, which meansmore brick kilns, more transportation of bricks and more construction works. As aresult of all these activities, job opportunities are increasing in the village and inits surroundings. Unchagaon’s bazaar keeps on increasing with all kinds of shops,workshops, barbers, photographers, carpenters and mechanics, and finally, thevillage also boats of a cinema hall. Several men commute every day from Khandoito Unchagaon. Others go to Bulandshahr or even as gar as Delhi. Bus services areexpanding. Carts on tyres pulled no more by two bullocks, but by a buffalo are theonly remnants of the earlier times that are still competing with motor vehicles.Transport, obviously, creates other outlets for jobs.

Upper and medium farmers are not the only ones to manage fairly well, especiallyif one or two sons work outside in businesses and services. Many small farmers do

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the same. Thus, the remittance of various sources of income enables a number offamilies to live on a shrinking agricultural land holding following the death of thefather and the division of his land between his sons according to the tradition (135holdings in 1965 and 213 in 1991).

Other changes that were noticeable since the 1970s included - better dresses forwomen, increasing use of trousers and western style shirts, while in 1963 my Jatfriends were sarcastic about the “patloon wala” from cities. Fruits and vegetablesare no more a luxury, though not consumed every day. Beer and hard drinks haveappeared. In the 1960s, semi-durable goods of medium and upper farmers wereconfined to the bicycle, possibly the watch and the radio set. In 2002, there are 50motorcycles, 5 vans, 1 car, 7 fixed telephones and plenty of TV sets.

10.1 With the Dalits

Since the 1970s, one could perceive changes in the Jativ quarters. They werebeginning to benefit from the economic growth, agricultural wages were also risingand there was more work in agriculture due to higher cropping patterns. A numberof educated Jativs, even upto BA found a job in the administration. In the middleof the 1980s, the BDO of Unchagaon block was, for the first time a Jativ. Constructionof houses and transportation of milk on a bicycle from Khandoi to the collectingunit in Unchagaon widened the sources of income. In village meetings, Jativs nowsit on charpais next to the upper castes, instead of squatting at their feet’s. Nodoubt, many of them are still quite poor, but a growing number of them are assertingthemselves, are more educated, better fed and drinking some milk.

Dev Karan, a Jativ earns Rs 50 to 60 per day as an agricultural worker (2002) orreceives 10 kilograms of wheat at harvest time compared to 5 kilograms in the1960s. His two buffalo’s give 5 to 7 liters of milk each per day (still a low output,more often, 10 liters). He manages to sell half of the milk and his family consumesthe other half. Everyday he transports atleast 50 liters of milk to Unchagaon forwhich he is paid Rs 50. “Life is better now and I have been able to rebuild myhouse in bricks”. Another Jativ, Ram Nivas is only seventeen years old. He went tothe town of Harpur to learn tailoring. Back in Khandoi, he opened his workshop,buying an old manual sewing machine. He brings some additional income to hisfamily. Jativs own 3 of the 12 small shops and one of the four flour mills (the use ofthe chaqqi is over).

The Dhobis have by now given up their traditional work under the jajmani system,an indication of their improved standard of living. Some have a cart and a horse ora buffalo and are engaged in transportation of goods and passengers upto

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Jahangirabad (15 kilometers away). Some are busy as agricultural workers orengaged at the kolu making gur.

Some Bhangis have benefited a brick house through a government grant of Rs20,000, but they are only granted a loan after a bakshish (gift or corruption practice)of Rs 4000 has been paid to the local officials. Others are in trouble. 25 of themused to work for one of the landlords. In exchange they could use some of his landas grazing ground for their pigs. This arrangement came to the end with the deathof the landowner and now the Bhangis do not know what to do. Some others complainof heavy rains affecting their mud walled houses - two typical cases of thevulnerability of the poor to unexpected events or just bad luck. Several Bhangiskeep on complaining - being more subdued than the Jativs, perhaps they are paidlower wages than the usual rates for agricultural work. One of them asked me in2002, “Have you ever seen a Bhangi in the police or in the administration?” Here,as in the other villages, relations within Dalit castes are limited and hierarchicvalues are far from disappearing.

On the other hand, Dalchand a rising Bhangi had been working in Bombay, now he(2002) is employed as a chaukidar of the brick kiln near Khandoi. He is quiteoutspoken about his own community and feels that they are not energetic enoughand that they should push more of their children to get educated. As to the Jatsthey are critical of the Bhangis, sometimes with odd arguments - the two blindBhangis of the village are in such condition because of their sins in a previous life.

No matter the explanations, it is clear that the Bhangis remain the poorest group.Positive changes in their material life and their social status are much more limitedthan in the case of the Jativs or the Dhobis.

10.2 Towards the future

In the past ten years, farmers have expressed growing worries about the future.Yields of the major crops have tended to level off. There are problems with theusage of chemical fertilizers (see annexure). Electricity is a constant matter ofcomplaint - often erratic and limited in supply, breakdowns are common and lowervoltages cause concerns of damages to motors. The theft of electricity by farmersis common and it happens that transmission cables are stolen. This situation inducesfarmers to over-invest in the TWs in order to get enough power when the currentis on. Yet, on a number of occasions, the lack of power damages crops yields. Therecharge of groundwater could become a matter of concern, as it is in the otherparts of the district.

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The new roads, after stimulating development, are hindering it, due to poormaintenance, at a time when the traffic of motor vehicles is growing. As to thecarts pulled by animals, they have to be half loaded on bad roads.

The diversification of the economy could be enhanced by better post-harvesttechnologies, cold chains, more cold storage houses in the neighbouring smalltowns and better fruit conservation facilities or technologies.

It is obvious that if these trends are not corrected in the near future, the worstaffected will be the landless labourers and tiny landowners, particularly the Dalits.

Finally, the complaints on corruption and leakages seem to be on the increase,although they were already prominent in 1963-1964.

11. Varanasi district and Nahiyan


In 1964, I had left Nahiyan with a feeling of near helplessness. What could be donewhen poverty was rampant and farmers were following antiquated techniques offarming? Also, the high caste landowners had extremely myopic mindsets. When Isubsequently returned first in 1975 and then again in 1978, Varanasi district likethe other eastern districts, was beginning to change, a reality which was confirmedby later visits until 2000. The end of the consolidation of landholdings, around1970, had boosted private TWs, replaced the low productivity of the mot system.The area under irrigation had also increased, though less than in Khandoi, thanksto 41 units. New seeds of wheat and rice supported by chemical fertilizers hadfollowed, so that average yields of irrigated wheat rose from 900 to 2000 kilogramsper hectare with several farmers also reaching 2500 to 3000 kilograms per hectare.As to paddy, the major crop, a sizable part of the fields is still rain-fed with a yieldof 1200 (rain-fed) versus 2500-3000 kilograms per hectare (irrigated). Thecultivation of vegetables, potatoes and fruits (mostly mangoes) are on the increase.Animal husbandry and milk remain much behind Western UP. Tractors are morecommonly used for land tillage and as elsewhere, are intensively used fortransportation, although, in 2000 I still came across caravans of camels loadedwith fodder.

The Thakur and Brahmin landowners have become more enterprising. They are themain owners of TWs and tractors, which they may rent to other farmers. The smallhigh caste landowners have broken the taboo (so common in the 1980s) and startedploughing their lands themselves “majburi se”. The Kurmis are particularly activein cultivating vegetables and orchards, benefiting from the growing demand inBenares.

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While the pace of agricultural development in the Western districts is not asimpressive as the one in the Eastern districts, it nevertheless, is quite encouraging.

The road from Mangari (the block headquarter) is now asphalted and in fairly goodcondition. Lines of small shops have grown along the road near the village, sellingtextiles and semi-durable goods - one also comes across workshops servicingthresher machines. Lohars, traditional blacksmiths, have set upto 15 workshopsproducing agricultural implements. There are now 29 workshops making saris orcarpets, which are bought by merchants in Benares.

In 2000, the wages were more or less equivalent to the ones in Khandoi. There arenow more people working in the holy city – coolies and rickshaw pullers of lowercastes. A number of Thakurs and Brahmins are also working in Indian cities or inthe United States of America as professionals. Some of their brothers run the farmfor all of them, as a joint family. In other cases, the landholdings are divided afterthe death of the father.


As in Khandoi, the Chamars have not been left out from the process of development.There are about 200 families, one thirds of the total population. 100 men workoutside and send remittances to their families left in Nahiyan. Others commute toBenares daily. A number of them are employed in local workshops or create theirown workshops. Here are 7 couples, 50 adults and kids who jointly own 0.2 hectaresof land. With 3 handlooms, they are making the famous brocade saris, which arelater sold in the town. Their conditions of living have substantially improved in thepast ten years. Bipat Ram has 0.4 hectares of land and two bullocks. From June toSeptember, he grows bajra, used or sold as fodder. Then he manages to have acrop of potatoes, followed by wheat on the same land. These remarkably intensivepractices, strengthened by the Green Revolution enable him to have a decentstandard of life. He also augments his income by working as a casual agriculturallabourer. His five children go to school and have access to milk from the two cowshe owns.

Talking to several Chamars, it is apparent that the depressing scene observed in1964 is in transition, especially in the past ten-fifteen years or so. People arebetter dressed and housing has partly improved. Many more children now attendschool. They are much less subdued and one hears much less stories of dabao andother abuses by the high castes. However, caste relations are not much changing.Unlike in Khandoi, Chamars still cannot sit on the same charpai with a twice born.There are also instances when the latter would not let a Chamar use his well.

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The Musahars (270 people) face much greater difficulties. Their status is amongthe lowest. They live in slightly distant hamlets. Some have received aid to build abrick house from the government. They also raise pigs, but complain that themarket is not so good. Further, they also make baskets out of leaves, which maybring them Rs 10 per day in 2000. As agricultural workers, they are not always paidat the standard rates, getting Rs 40 instead of Rs 50 as in the case of the Chamars.Being weaker, it is easier to exploit them. In several huts, there is not even onecharpai and clothes are scarce. Infant mortality rates are also very high amongthem. One couple had 7 dead children versus six alive. When one discusses thefate of such depressed people with villagers or small officers, the reply is, “theyare lazy and spend their money on drinks”, a rather simplistic explanation, although,it can be heard for similarly poor people in other regions as well.


The end of a long period of sluggish development in Eastern UP as seen in Nahiyanis no doubt very encouraging, both, economically and socially. However, as inWestern UP, alarm bells are ringing. The supply of electricity is as bad, if not,worse than in Khandoi, so much so that the farmers have to resort to oil engines,more costly in terms of investment and operations. Besides, wide tracts, whichcould be irrigated, are still rain-fed. In Nahiyan, as in the other villages, there are,still low lands suffering from lack of drainage. Problems with seeds renewal andchemical fertilizers do occur. All these factors accumulated together explain why,as in Khandoi, the yields of major crops tend to level off, while the diversificationof agriculture should expand faster. Finally, in spite of growing migrations, thedensity per square kilometer has reached around 1000.

Under such circumstances, it is obvious that, if the rural economy does not expandat a faster rate, the first groups to suffer will be the Dalits. Within their castes,one could take special measures to assist the Musahars, whose lot has hardlyimproved over so many decades.

12. Pilkhi village and Muzaffarpur district

Population - Nearly 5000 in 2001

The hopes felt in 1967 of a breakthrough in irrigation with the Green Revolutionhave not materialized. The situation is, no doubt, not static and in 2002, onecould notice some more positive indications of growth, but it remains slow, whilepopulation pressure keeps on increasing - 525 in 1961 to around 1000 per squarekilometers in 2002. Landholdings are shrinking and not enough people find jobsoutside the village settings.

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Electricity being practically non-existent or very unreliable as elsewhere in thedistrict, the farmers rely on TWs fitted with an oil engine, which adds to theircultivating costs. Due to the lack of consolidation of land holdings they have yetanother handicap to overcome - in order to irrigate their separate plots, they digdifferent borings and displace their motors. 22 units have been introduced between1970 and the 1980s, but since then, only a few more have come so that, by 2002only one third of the land is irrigated, while it could reach 90 if not 100 percent.Out of 340 hectares of cultivated land (net) 25 hectares are not cultivated in themonsoons or give a very poor yield of paddy because of water logging, a situationunchanged since my first visit in 1967. In addition, occasional severe floods fromthe rivers originating in Nepal inundate the lands, form which protection is uneven.All these defects are widespread in the district. When we add weak agriculturalservices, lack of public money and finally, often poor roads (though not near Pilkhi)one understands why progress is limited. Irrigated paddy (90 hectares) has reached2000-3000 kilograms per hectare in the mid-1980s and since then has levelled off.Rain-fed paddy (50 hectares) remains around 1000 to 1500 kilograms per hectare.Irrigated wheat in the rabi (52 hectares) has progressed to 2500 to 3000 versus2000 kilograms per hectare in 1985. As in other parts of North Bihar, rabi maizewith high yield varieties is doing remarkably well - 50 to 60 hectares are irrigatedgiving a yield of 4000 to 5000 kilograms per hectare. Chillies, tobacco, vegetablesand some orchards, very well cultivated on small-irrigated plots are progressing.Lichees (for which Muzaffarpur is famous) and banana groves are moderatelyexpanding. The number of shops in the village is on the increase. Tractors, busesand trucks are more common.

Over the past forty years, one feels a gradual shift of power from dominantBhumihars (some selling their lands) in favour of the Kalwars, a more enterprisingtrader caste. On the whole, Bhumihars, Thakurs and Brahmins have become moreactive on their lands. Some have invested in tractors and in a TW. The small oneshave given up, as in Nahiyan, the taboo on ploughing. As to the Yadav and Kurmismall and medium farmers they are asserting themselves, which leads to tensionswith the upper castes.


During my visits in 1978, 1985 and 1992, I recorded constant complaints from theDalits, mostly Chamars and Dusads – “The mota sit idle, we do all the work”.”Dabao came up often. While I was interviewing Chamars, some young Bhumihars,in spotlessly clean dhoti and kurta, passing by leisurely on their bicycles stopped,making ironic comments about a foreigner speaking to Chamars. I reacted bypouring on them my worst Hindi abuses. They did not even react. In 2002, I had

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the feeling that the situation was less bad, but this should be confirmed, and castebarriers remain intact, as they have been for so long.

As a result of slow economic growth and abundant population, daily agriculturalwages, in all my surveys have been about half of Green Revolution districts - in2002 Rs 30 versus Rs 60 in Khandoi. Job opportunities for ancillary activities arelimited. Outlets in Muzaffarpur are not so wide and not many people migrate forwork in Punjab.

Most of the Dusads and Chamars live in huts covered with a thatched roof, whichdoes not stand a very strong monsoon. Many huts are near empty, not everywherewith charpais. One comes across some earthen pots storing water and a few oddclothes, if any. Several people own only the shabby set of clothes that they arewearing.

Here and there, some Dalits have crossed the poverty line thanks to their abilityand possibly luck. Ram Chandra Paswan, a Dusad, is proud of his two crossbredcows and one deshi cow. He sells milk on his old scooter and works as an agriculturallabourer. One of his sons, a painter with a contractor in Delhi, sends some moneyhome. The other one keeps the fair price shop selling subsidized grain for BPLpeople. He says, unknowingly with a Weberian touch, “I do not drink, I do not eatmeat in order to save as much money as possible” unlike, he adds, other Dusadswhom he criticizes.

12.2 Summing Up

In spite of some development, wherever one looks at, one faces all kinds of obstaclesto faster progress, which, in particular could favour the poor - lack of public moneydeeper than in many other states, a shaky law and order situation, acute castetensions, although, they seem worse in South Bihar and delays of all kinds. Commentson ghus are more even more widespread than in UP. The poor are often sufferingmore than upper castes and classes. “Qanun is for the rich, we have to use ghus”was the comment of a Chamar.

The lack of commitment of the political leadership and the weaknesses of theadministration because of political interferences can also be found in UP, but theirnegative impact on development is worse in Bihar, since the state is less developed.Its needs enormous infrastructural investments in electricity, roads, irrigation andflood control, which all fall under the responsibility of the state. The state has alsonot enjoyed the consolidation of agricultural holdings. Other complex factorsresorting to history and socio-political patterns should also be considered.

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13. Puri district, Orissa

Location - In the Mahanadi Delta

Visits - 1978-2002

Brahmagiri block is eastward of Puri near the sea. After 20 kilometers on thedistrict road, we drove five kilometers as far as Chandiput. In 1978, the area wasvery isolated - poor roads and no electricity. Many fields of low land suffer fromexcess water even by a normal monsoon. Either no paddy can be grown or if it is,then a floating variety sown broadcast, yielding 500 kilograms per hectare is sown.On higher ground, rain-fed transplanted paddy gives a yield of 1000 to 1500kilograms per hectare (old varieties with no chemical fertilizers). Some plots bearpulses in the rabi. Shops are rare and animal husbandry is poor. Casuarina woods,coconut and banana trees and fish in the rivers bring some additional income.Population growth is gradually overtaking the limited economic growth, so thateven landowners owning a few hectares are facing growing difficulties.

As to the town of Puri, in the 1970s, it could not attract enough workers or stimulatethe supply of agricultural commodities, even during the great pilgrimage festival.

During my following visits, the basic hydraulic constraints coexist with practicallyno drainage work. By 2002, 51 low lift pumps (pumps on rivers) have been installedin the block, but only 33 are in working condition. Otherwise, out of 20,000hectares, 8400 hectares are made of low lands. Over the past 24 years, increasesin yields are hardly noticeable, except on the limited irrigated plots bearing about2000 kilograms per hectare of paddy.

Ancillary activities have made some headway, under the growing pulls of Puri andits expansion with more pilgrims and more recently, a rising number of tourists,local or foreign. Sales of coconuts, bananas and fish are on the increase. Roadtraffic is also increasing with more and more trucks, buses, motorcycles and teastalls selling even coca cola. Some low lands have been converted in the late 1990sinto prawn ponds by local contractors. Refrigerated trucks and cold storage housesare being used. These new jobs provide high wages of Rs 70 to 80 per day (2002)for hard conditions of work. Though such ancillary activities are a welcome change,but they remain too limited to have a deep impact on large numbers of poorpeople. One must, however, underline that extreme poverty is less acute than inBihar. Low until the 1950s, population densities remain still less heavy than in theGanges basin (350 to 500 per square kilometer in 2002), even when accounting forthe low crops yields. Besides, vegetables, casuarina, coconuts, banana trees andfish play a comparatively higher role than in Bihar.

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I regularly visited a hamlet of Doms (40 people) whose living conditions were andremain bearable. Children are well-dressed and go to school. Men and women arelively and combine several activities. They make bamboo baskets, a very ancienttraditional work and sell the same in Puri, they also catch and sell fish and collectcasuarina wood near the sea. They have some banana and coconut trees. Theyfurther, work as agricultural labourers earning Rs 30 to 40 per day in 2002, anamount rather similar to Bihar. On the whole, in 1992, they were enjoying a betterlife. One of them had started to raise goats and had just bought a TV set. In 2002,some households complained of difficulties and a stagnant life. The owner of theTV has sold it following trouble with his goat business, but he still keeps twobicycles in his family.

In the next hamlet live several families of Dhobis. Since 1978, their standards ofliving have slightly improved. They gather more small odd jobs, collecting wood,doing petty trade and catching fish, but they are worried because upper casteshave stopped using their services for washing their clothes.

In the main village of Chandiput, there is no car, no motorcycle and no telephone.Small landowners complained of the lack of progress.

Pipli block is on the highway connecting Bhubaneshwar and Puri. In 1954, I wasdriving on a non-asphalted road with rare motor vehicles, occasional bullock cartsand a lone sadhu (holy man) walking in the middle. Since more than two decades,tourists and pilgrims are on the increase. Tea stalls and all kinds of shops areproliferating in Pipli, now a small town and further towards Puri or Konarak. Plentyof most attractive handicraft shops have mushroomed and become prominent.

The block suffers since ages of wide areas affected by water logging, even duringa normal monsoon, for lack of drainage, so that either, they are uncultivable duringthe monsoons or bear a poor yield of floating rice. This situation has hardly improvedover the past 40 years. Since the 1970s, medium and high lands benefit from thecanals flowing from the Hirakud dam upstream on the Mahanadi. Irrigated paddyin the monsoon reaches 2500 to 3000 kilograms per hectare in the kharif, a fairlygood yield (primarily due to the usage of new seeds and chemical fertilizers) andaround 3500 kilograms per hectare during the rabi. Rain-fed paddy remains around1000 to 1300 or 600 kilograms per hectare in low lands. Some TWs and low liftpumps bring a complement to canal irrigation, which promotes the development ofvegetables and orchards, the demand for which is felt by the pull of the holy city.While a number of medium landowners are better-off, progress of Dalits is uneven.In 2002, daily agricultural wages amount usually to Rs 40. In Raghurajpur village,

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not far from Puri, Kelajats (Dalits) are extremely poor (2002). A number of themown only one set of clothes and many women do not even wear a choli. Half-nakedchildren are dirty, many of them do not go to school and there is no electricity andno telephone. They complain of not even receiving cheap rations of rice due to theBPL people. In another village, Bohis (Dalits) are even more vocal on their miserableliving conditions, which are declining from an already very fragile level. To sum up,acute misery may be less than in Bihar, wages are slightly higher and populationdensities are lower.

In Pipli Block, there has been some clear growth and diversification of the economy,which have benefited some of the poor in terms of employment. However, overthe years, one does not feel strong currents of growth, which could have a largerimpact on poverty. As to caste relations, I did not come across tension similar tothe ones in Bihar.

Large-scale drainage, improvements of canals, additional TWs and low lift pumpswould widen the irrigated area and double cropping, leading to considerableincreases in yields. The growing flow of pilgrims and tourists (local and foreigners)to Puri and Konarak is widening the scope for services like hotels of all kinds andtransport. The demand for fruit, vegetables, milk, eggs, fish and the sale ofhandicrafts could proceed further and faster. All these factors combined could not,but contribute to poverty alleviation particularly for the Dalits.

14. Manchala village and Guntur district

Population - 2000 to 2200 in 2001 (approximate estimate due to doubtfulCensus data)

The dynamic trends observed in 1967 have kept momentum as observed throughmy subsequent surveys until 2002. All the farmers have shifted to high yield varietiesof paddy and use more chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Their average yieldshave roughly doubled to reach 5000 kilograms per hectare of paddy. Pulses sown inthe rabi have slightly increased in the past ten years to amount to 600 to 1000kilograms per hectare (the very slow progress of pulses all over India since fiftyyears has led to sharp increase in prices, so that they remain unaffordable to thepoor).

Ploughing is now mostly carried with tractors. There are not too many complaintson the supply of water through the canals.

Plenty of new brick houses have replaced old houses and several lanes have beenpaved. Drinking water is now supplied from a water tower with pipes and taps.

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Cattle are not progressing fast due to lack of fodder, only 100 to 200 liters of milkare sent to Guntur every day. There is hardly any kitchen garden. As to coconuts,most of them are consumed locally. The number of shops keeps on increasing,selling fruits, vegetables, clothes, semi-durable goods and even Limca (a softdrink), something still quite uncommon in villages. Two rice mills have been openedand hand pounding of grains at home has come to the end, much to the relief forwomen. In 2002, there was one car, 10 motorcycles, 3 tractors, 30 telephones (3cellular ones) and 50 TV sets belonging to the villagers.

Most Brahmins after fragmenting their lands into small plots and selling the sameto the Kapus have left the villages, which slightly reduces the increase of holdingsthrough division after the death of the father. In 2002, the biggest landowner had8 hectares of land and a great majority own less than 1 hectare of land. Thanks tothe Green Revolution many cultivators owning less than 1 hectare of land covertheir basic needs. Here is a Kapu owning 0.8 hectares of land. He enjoys a surplusof rice for sale, living with his wife and four children. The eldest son works in alaboratory in Hyderabad and sends some money home. The father has 3 she-buffaloesand sells a part of the milk, while consuming the rest.

14.1 Back to the Yanadis

The Yanadis keep on improving their living conditions. They have been allottedsome community lands for their homesteads, instead of having them on landbelonging to the Kapus, which reduces a possible dependence. “Now we stand onour own”, they told me in 1978. Later on, through a government housing scheme(loan-cum-subsidy), they benefited from brick houses, which created a pleasanthamlet, surrounded with flowers, coconut and banana trees. Although, the schemewas well conceived, it did meet with some leakages. After a few years, repaymentstopped to be claimed and it difficult to finance new schemes. Then, out of 85 newhouses, 15 had been sold to the Kapus. These are typical shortcomings of anti-poor schemes.

As usual women are very alert and outspoken, unlike often in the Ganges basin.Makani Kalgaiah tells me in 1992, “We now get more money as agriculturallabourers”. In addition, the husband goes fishing in the canals. They have fourchildren, one of whom (a boy) is married. The mother is proud that her youngerchildren go to school. They also have a radio set. The husband has two lungis andfour shirts. Several other Yanadis came out with similar accounts.

The latter are repeated in 2002. Daily agricultural wages have reached Rs 50 formen and Rs 30 for women. Fishing during the monsoon brings Rs 40 to 50 per day.

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The Yanadis still make traps and catch field rats, earning Rs 30 per day. They havestopped recovering paddy grains stored by the rats in the field bunds, “It is atedious and a dirty job” they explain, another indication of an improvement intheir living conditions.

Talluri, a Dhobi, is also progressing. He makes us sit in front of his house on hisfolding chairs, something unusual for poor people. In addition to his traditionaljob, he is busy in the fields or sometimes works in Guntur. He has two daughtersand one son, all well dressed and well fed. His wife has been sterilized. He hasrebuilt his house with brick walls. Borrowing some money from relatives (at aninterest rate of 2 percent per month) he has bought a buffalo, which gives 5 litersof milk per day, some of which is sold.

Traffic of all kinds of goods keeps on increasing from villages to Guntur (20kilometers) and vice versa. Although, the number of motor vehicles keeps ongrowing on a road in good condition, bicycles remain important – commuting fromManchala to Guntur and return with a heavy load costs about Rs 60. The townkeeps on expanding with industries, shops, hotels, more cars and motorcycles.More people from Manchala are commuting for daily work to the town. In theoutskirts, vegetables belt, started in the 1960s or 1970s are gaining more ground,a trend common to many medium cities all over the country.

I cannot guarantee that relations between Kapus and Yanadis are always smooth,but one does not feel the atmosphere of bitterness observed in Bihar. Besides, theoverall progress of the area from the few rich farmers to the poorest landlesslabourers is obvious.

Looking at the future, the diversification of agriculture is increasingly necessary.With the present fairly high paddy yields, it would be proper to reduce the paddyarea in favour of other crops, the demand of which is bound to increase. That iswhy vegetables, orchards and animal husbandry should be encouraged. Further,urbanization in Guntur and Tenali should also create more outlets.

Electricity plays, but a minor role in agriculture, since the bulk of irrigation comesfrom canals, but it should become urgent to improve the maintenance and operationsof canals, improve drainage and possibly encourage TWs for growing rich cropswhen the canals are closed.

15. Kila Ulur village and Thanjavur district

As in Manchala, the growth process has become wider in the past forty years, witha greater diversification of the economy, but paddy yields tend to level off as in

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Manchala after considerable increase. Thanks to the Green Revolution averageyields have risen from around 2000 in 1964 to 4000 to 4500 kilograms per hectareof paddy in the 1990s, clearly, overtaking population growth - 1444 in 1961 and2100 in 2001. Family planning, especially, sterilization of women has beenexpanding.

Animal husbandry is also progressing – buffaloes, though with a lower yield (5-6liters) than in Western UP, with a yield of 10 liters). In 2002, one counts 500crossbred cows (Jersey) versus 300 in the mid-1980s, producing 6 to 7 liters twicedaily, while local cows give a few liters only.

The number of wells equipped with a pump sets have increased from 4 in 1978 to22 in 1992. This enables farmers to start their paddy nurseries before the openingof the canals, which contributes to better yields. They can also irrigate groundnutsand gingelly in the dry season after harvesting paddy. Unfortunately, as in so manyother villages, one hears complaints of power breakdowns or lack of current. Bullocksare hardly used anymore for land tillage. In 2002, there were two tractors and 8power tillers (two-wheeled tractors). Some more tractors are rented from the othervillages. As observed in other progressive villages, new brick houses are becomingwidespread. The ones of the few relatively rich farmers look nearly like villas.

The SFP has started small tree plantations on the higher lands. There are alsomore trees (eucalyptus) around the houses, next to coconut and banana trees.

The number of shops keeps on rising, selling grocery, food, cigarettes and clothes.Two of them sell toddy since the abolition of prohibition. A shop sells subsidizedrice procured by the government. Paddy is no more pounded by hand at home. It ishusked in a mill in a village on the main road to which Kila Ulur is connectedthrough an asphalted road built in the 1970s.

The drinking water is supplied from six water towers, through a network of pipesconnected to 10 taps. Though, the drinking water supply had a difficult start in the1990s, it has now improved. Water is now available two hours in the morning andtwo in the evening.

No less striking is the progress of education. In 2002, there were 50 universitystudents. In addition to the old primary school, some relatively rich Kapus havefounded a private “Secondary English School” in 1986. While nobody had been touniversity in the 1960s, there are in 1996, 11 medical doctors, 3 engineers, 1chartered accountant and several people holding a BA or a MA degree. Most ofthem have settled in Thanjavur or other cities, but they keep close links with theirvillage and often own land in common with some brothers who cultivate it.

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Considering all these activities and the slow growth of the population, daily wagesare quite high -Rs 70 to 75 daily for men and Rs 45 to 50 for women in 2002. Jobopportunities in ancillary activities bring a complement of income especially tolandless people and small landowners - fishing out of the local ponds, petty trade,transporting goods on a bicycle (salt and milk fetching Rs 50 per day), cutting andselling wood and engaging in construction works, wherein, masons earn Rs 100 perday. In 2002, there were 6 cars, 20 motorcycles, 30 telephones (fixed lines) and agrowing number of TV sets.

There is, however, a major source of trouble - the endless dispute between TN andKarnataka over sharing the waters of the river Cauvery. The agreement on watersharing, signed in 1924, lapsed in 1974. Since then, discussions are dragging on,with often a shortage of supply to Thanjavur. Added to such dispute is the poormaintenance of the canals since atleast three decades with losses amounting to 50percent of the water entering the canals. The unreliable irrigation, thus, raisesthe importance of the rains. When the monsoon is generous, it counterbalancesthe deficient irrigation, but the reverse happens in drought years. Yield variationscan reach 10 to 20 percent, plus or minus.

Since the 1980s, Kallar owners of 0.5 - 0.8 hectares of land enjoy some surplusrice for sale. They also rely on the contribution of some cows and milk, some oddjobs here and there and often, one member of the family works outside and sendssome money home. Come also the sale of coconuts and eggs from their chicken.So far, their standards of living have improved. Out migrations are increasinglyfelt, people finding outlets in the district or elsewhere. Some Kallars have evengone to Saudi Arabia, and two Paraiyars to the Gulf.


Like the Yanadis of Manchala, the Paraiyars have kept on moving forward. In1985, Chinaya told me, “Now we live in a civilized manner” and it was true for himand the other 28 families around, a trend confirmed in my subsequent visits.Housing is improving with brick walls and concrete roofs. Children and adults arebetter dressed and fed, more children now attend school and several people nowown a bicycle and sometimes a TV set. A number of men have found jobs outside.On his return from the Gulf, one of the Paraiyars bought 1.6 hectares of paddyland. In 2002, I met Chinaya again, aging, but still strong. With the help of one ofhis sons, a clerk in Kombakonam and of his other son working in Kila Ullur, he firstbought 0.4 hectares and in 2002 had doubled his land.

Many Paraiyars keep on combining work in agriculture to other activities, including,the making of mats. It is significant that they have stopped catching and (possibly)

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eating rats. When questioned about progress, the Paraiyars mention schools,electricity, drinking water and some increases in wages and employment.

The other major Dalit community, the Pallars were behind. Their lower status -they are not allowed in the Kallar temple like the Paraiyars - is not the sole factor.They settled, under conditions, which I ignored, in Kila Ullur only 50 years ago,rather far away from the other hamlets. 7 out of 10 of their houses have been builtand paid by the government, on lands granted to them. They have a hand pump,but no electricity.

If caste relations seem rather smooth between Kallars and Paraiyars in Kila Ullur,extreme caste rigidities can still be found in the district. Downstream in theThanjavur delta, I know a Brahmin, a former engineer in Bangalore, who afterreturning to his village would refuse (1999) to enter a Paraiyar house or to sitoutside on the same mat with them. In a Kallar village near Madurai and thenational highway, in 1985, Paraiyars had to walk barefoot in the Kallar quartersand they could not open their umbrella since it is an attribute of high castes. Manyother contradictory trends could be mentioned. Already in 1953, Brahmin railwayemployees in Madurai were telling me that “out of compulsion” they had to mixwith other castes in the canteen. In 2003, on the other hand, there are schools inKarnataka where parents prevent their children to eat the mid-day meal becausethe meals are cooked by Dalits (see The Hindu, 15.7.2003).


Progress achieved so far may increasingly depend on the improvement in irrigationin order to push richer crops than paddy all year round. That is why the Cauveryissue is becoming very crucial. As to other factors of growth, which should benefitthe Dalits, one can hope that the multiplication of jobs opportunities in the villageand outside it will continue to expand.

16. Deoghar and Godda district, Jharkhand, (A part of pre-division Bihar)

My first visit to the villages in Deoghar was in 1985, which I followed up in 1992.The rainfall (1300 to 1500 millimeter) enables the farmers to cultivate paddy inthe bottom of the valleys and on terraced fields. On higher grounds they cultivatejowar. In the mountains live the Adivasi tribes, many of them still practicing jhum,that is, shifting and burning cultivation with the hoe. The mostly isolated areashave hardly been touched by the different civilizations, which spread across Indiafor the past three to four thousand years.

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Rocky terrain and limited ground water explain why irrigation covers only 10 percentof the cropped land, mostly through dug wells, tanks and some low lift pumps onrivers.

The Santals are the predominant tribe here. They settled in the region at the endof the 13th century. Unlike Adivasis deep in the hills, like the Pahariyas (see below)they have been in contact with Hindus and later Muslims and have adopted theiragricultural practices. The Hindus are dominant in the plains of the region.

Since Independence, Deoghar city has expanded. Small and medium industrieshave appeared, often, owned by Marwaris from Calcutta. Deoghar is also animportant pilgrimage centre, which has boosted petty trade.

In 1985, agricultural change was slow. Rain-fed paddy yields, in a good year, wouldbe around 1000 to 1500 kilograms per hectare. Wheat had been introduced on alimited basis in the rabi (with a yield of 1000 to 1200 kilograms per hectare).Pulses would yield 650 to 700 kilograms per hectare, a stagnant level, as in somany parts of India. Kitchen gardens (vegetables, onions and chillies) were fairlywidespread, following probably ancient traditions far less common until recently.

In villages, twenty kilometers away from Deoghar, I came across Santals andChamars, the latter working for the former and also making biddies. Some of themwere raising pigs. Often, without land, they were very poor, but, due to the absenceof landlords in the region, they were atleast not complaining of abuses.

Potilal, a Santal had 0.4 hectares of rain-fed paddy which, of course did not coverthe needs of his household. Thanks to his well, he was cultivating fine plots ofvegetables sold in the bazaar. He had some milk from his cow. Occasionally, hewould work as an agricultural labourer. Finally, he also collected wood from theforests for sale, and sometimes went hunting. Lively and clever, he was managingrather well.

In 1992, one can notice some more development. Several low lift pump schemeshave been completed. More loans-cum-subsidy schemes have increased the numberof wells, with our without a pump. Hand pumps are now also more common. Theirrigated area has doubled to 20,000 hectares enabling double cropping. Yet,irrigation remains vulnerable to drought, which can lower the water table or leavetanks half-full or empty. In fact, the rainfall data here, as in many other districtsof the region (including Keonjhar, see below) are misleading, since rain failuresare not rare. For these reasons, average yields remain low. Animal husbandry too,remains very poor, with mostly local cows (0.5 to 1 liters a day), but poultry is

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doing better, going along sale of eggs. Forests do help - wood cutting (thoughprohibited), collection of wild fruits, medicinal herbs and cattle grazing (alsoprohibited).

Near Deoghar, I visited a large joint Santal family, comprising of eight brothers,sixty adults and children, living on 7.2 hectares of land of which 4 hectares weredevoted to paddy, 3.2 hectares to wheat and pulses. Thanks to their two wells runwith the help of diesel pump sets, they managed to irrigate 2 to 2.5 hectares ofland, yielding 2000 to 3000 kilograms of paddy per hectare. They also irrigatesmall plots of potatoes, chillies and tomatoes; all sold in Deoghar. Around finehouses are bouquets of flowers. Once again, I am impressed by the fine agriculturaltraditions, including gardening of the Santals, something also observed by L.S.S.O’Malley in his Santal Parganas Gazetteer of 1910 (Reprint, New Delhi, LogosPress, 1984). Goden Suren, one of the brothers has attended school for four yearsand says that, “We live better now, thanks to the two pumps enabling doublecropping of rice and wheat and more vegetables. We have also started growinghybrid maize. We use some chemical fertilizers”. They also augment their incomesby working for the landlord as agricultural labourers and own a few cows and goats,which supply milk. They also have two bicycles. While the brothers have beenhelped by the government, like other beneficiaries of loans-cum- subsidy schemes,they complain of ghus, bakshish to the officials.

The further we go from Deoghar, the lower become the wages. At 30 to 60 kilometer,they fall to half what Goden Suren earns. Differences are no less striking betweencommunities. We again meet miserable Musahars. They dig in the bunds of paddyfields to recover the grain stored by rats. When they catch the latter, they eatthem. They seem even worse-off than the Musahars in Varanasi district.

Although, acute poverty is comparatively less than in the plains of North Bihar,except probably among isolated tribes (see below), danger signals are obvious.Already in 1991, the district average density had reached 370 per square kilometer,a high figure, considering the available resources. Even out migrations are quitecommon since more than one century to the coal mines of Dhanbad, to Burdwandistrict for paddy cultivation and to the tea estates in Assam – but it must beremembered that all such out migrations function as insufficient safety valves.

In 1992, I moved from Deoghar to Godda district. Leaving our car, we had to walkin order to visit some Pahariyas (Adivasis) living in the hilly jungles, as there areso many in the region. They practice jhum like other tribes, but they do not evenuse the hoe. They dig a hole with a sharp stick to put the seeds, the most ancienttool still found in some parts of Africa, south of the Sahara. They use bows and

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poisoned arrows for hunting, but they complain that wild animals are becomingrare. Their crops of jowar, maize and pulses sustain them for 4 months. For therest of the year, they try to live out of forest products. They come down from theirhills to sell bamboos in the nearest bazaar and buy salt, grain and local liquor.Walking back home, some of them have enjoyed drinks in the bazaar.

As to roadside bazaars, they reflect the general poverty of the region. They arestill not very active, even fruit is unavailable. One sees few trucks and buses, andbicycles are relatively rare.

From the foot of the mountains inhabited by Hindus, one has to walk a distance of10 to 15 kilometers to reach Pahariya hamlets. The further we walk, the poorestare the villages - shabby huts, naked or half-naked children with ballooned bellies,a clear sign of malnutrition. Women wearing a cheap sari without blouse showing askinny shoulder. Many adults and children suffer from all kinds of intestinal diseasesand from a severe type of malaria. I get the impression of this inertia typical ofmiserable people, a feeling repeated in other places.

Have the conditions of the Pahariyas deteriorated in the past 50 years or havethey been always like this? L.S.S. O’Malley in his Gazetteer (op. cit, p. 30) writes,‘The Pahariyas are in a state of great poverty owing largely to their drunken habitsand idleness”. Such comments may sound partly true in spite of their puritanicalVictorian touch.

How widespread are the conditions of these Adivasis is difficult to say. In 1954, Ihad visited Sauras in Southern Orissa, who were impressive, looking fine, well-built, and singing and dancing. They were following careful agricultural practices,including irrigated paddy, although, they were deep in the hills.

In 1978, I visited Khutia Konds in Purbani district, Orissa. Though, living only 3kilometers from the road, they were hardly better-off than the Pahariyas. Theirfood reserves come to an end in the dry season and they subsist by digging outedible roots or by hunting with bows and arrows. 6 families had gone away becausewild elephants had repeatedly destroyed their crops. On top of that they wereconsistently abused the by Hindu moneylenders.

17. Keonjhar district, Orissa

Visits – 1984, 1985, 1992 and 2002

Same plains, terraced paddy fields on undulating slopes and wooded hills andmountains - the picture is not very different from Deoghar, neither is agriculturewith its slow growth, due to a weak and not so reliable irrigation potential. In

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1985, the monsoon had been rather good so that farmers had harvested 1500kilograms per hectare of paddy, which in a drought year can fall to one third. Onlya few irrigated plots bear seeds with chemical fertilizers giving a yield of 2400kilogram per hectare (Manchala, 5000).

While one does not come across major changes for the main crops, particularlypaddy, wells-cum-pump set or without, often, thanks to a loan-cum-subsidy schemeenable the farmers, as in Deoghar, to have a fine kitchen gardens, intensivelycultivated with two or three crops. In Sankarpur, 6 kilometers from Keonjhar, residesLachman from the Munda tribe who, like the Gonds, is more or less assimilated toHindu farmers in terms of agricultural techniques. For long, he was just survivingout of small plots of maize and pulses and working as a casual labourer. In 1985, hegot a loan-cum- subsidy to dig a well, bringing additional income from egg plantsand other vegetables - net income Rs 1000 per year plus Rs 5 to 6 per day, but notevery day, as a casual labourer. An Orya nearby owning 1 hectare of land has beenhelped by one of his sons’ savings as a clerk in Keonjhar. With his three bullocks,he also cultivates as a tenant 0.8 hectares of paddy, keeping half of the harvest.The father and the five other adult sons work part time as agricultural labourers,so that the whole family manages not too badly.

In 1992, at Badaneuli village, nearly half of the inhabitants are Gonds living in verywell kept houses, freshly repainted. The number of wells is also increasing withfine kitchen gardens. With small doses of chemical fertilizers, some people harvest2100 kilogram per hectare of paddy, but for the majority of farmers, yields werestagnantly below.

In Bhanka Patulli, 20 kilometers, south of Keonjhar, the contrast between mediocrerain-fed paddy and prosperous kitchen gardens near to a well is repeated. I stop ata Dhobi hamlet. Several of them have benefited from a new house from thegovernment. For their traditional works, they receive from each household about70 kilograms of rice. They have some poultry and sell eggs. As field labourers, theyreceive only-half the wages obtained in more advanced parts of the district. TheDhobis lead a hard life, without being totally destitute. Children are fairly welldressed and men rather alert.

In other places, more wells with a loan-cum-subsidy are also obvious, favouringsmall and marginal farmers. The trouble is that electricity is available only for 4hours out 24. In some villages, animal husbandry is encouraged, as well as, milksale promotion, but local cows give not more than 2 liters per day.

In November 2002, the district was suffering from a very weak monsoon. Lossesamounted from 30 to 50-60 percent. Irrigation from low lift pumps and wells is

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affected. Out of 70,000 hectares targeted, only 48,000 hectares received someirrigation and not always enough versus 192,000 hectares poorly rain-fed.

Back to Bankapatuli, I met several Gonds. Sarat Naik cultivates 2.8 hectares (jointlyowned) of rain-fed land with his four brothers, out of which they get a good yield of2400 kilograms per hectare of paddy. The fields are located in the low terracedlands and receive more rains, while on the upper terraced lands, the yields fall to1500 kilograms per hectare. Sarat has a pair of bullocks and a cow. His son worksin a garage nearby. Sarat is with his wife and a small child. Clever, helped by partof his son’s salary, Sarat’s life is improving. He owns a watch, a bicycle and aradio. His neighbour has 1 hectare of low yield paddy followed by pulses in the rabi.He must rent bullocks to plough his fields. He is just surviving. Kishor Naik wouldalso be in a precarious situation with 1.2 hectares of rain-fed paddy, but he has theluck to have two married sons, one working in Allahabad and the second being ateacher nearby. As a casual labourer, he earns Rs 20 to 30 per day. A last Gond hasno land. He looks after 45 goats, whose owner gives him 850 kilograms of rice peryear. One of the sons works as a casual labourer. The second one is a sculptormaking small statues of gods, earning Rs 400 to 500 per month.

Although the irrigation potential from ground and surface water is limited, progresscould be faster. In 1991, out of 622 low lift pumps, 97 were not operating, halfbeing “defunct”. In 2002, out of 756 pumps, 430 are “defunct” and 326 are“functionable” according to the district records. As to medium canal irrigationprojects, they do not seem to progress fast. The records look better for dug wells.The irrigable area in 2002 is similar to 1992, that is, 68 to 70,000 hectares if themonsoon is good. Extension services are increasing their efforts, particularly inthe promotion of crossbred cows.

To sum up, both districts are not static, but they face considerable physicalconstraints combined with an unreliable monsoon. It is significant to see that thedaily wages in 2002, as in previous surveys, are about half the wages in progressivedistricts. Greater efforts by the government in terms of irrigation and extensionservices could widen the process of development. The progress of wells with kitchengardens is encouraging and is a clear indication of the ability of several tribes andcastes. How far can it be expanded further considering the ground water availabilityis a key question, which should be clarified.

More worrying is the fate of isolated tribes as seen in Deogha and Godda. I did notgo to the interiors of Keonjhar, but it is quite possible, if not probable (?) thatsome of the tribes there are not better-off than the Pahariyas.

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18. Satara district, Eksal

While substantial development had occurred in Eksal in 1964, water was the majorconstraint. Since then, the situation has considerably improved. The advent ofelectricity has boosted the use of pump sets, which work better than oil engines.More importantly, Eksal was reached by a canal of the Dhom Project in 1985, whichwidened the irrigated area to 300 hectares (92 hectares in 1964). In addition, theseepage of water from the canal enriches the groundwater, thus, increasing thepotential of wells. Some farmers also improved their irrigation with the use ofpipes to reach higher grounds. Since 1995, a few farmers have resorted to the dripsystem of irrigation for their orchards, saving 60 percent of the water.

Area under sugarcane cultivation also increased sharply with a good yield of 100tonnes per hectare, stimulated by the construction of a sugar mill at Koregaon, theblock headquarters. Pomegranates, mangoes, papaya, grapes, onions and potatoesalso bring a good return. Soybeans came in the 1980s and groundnuts gave animproved yield (both rain-fed). In 2002, one counts 80 crossbred cows (Jersey),yielding 10-12 liters of milk per day. The local cooperative arranges the transportby motorcycles or cycles to Koregaon.

Other changes occurred especially between our visits of 1993 and 2002 - by thatdate, 100 telephone connections were installed with one STD (public telephone)booth, 15 people owned a jeep or a car, 7 owned tractor, plus several dozens ownedmotorcycles. A doctor has also opened a clinic in the village. One sees plenty ofnew houses now.

The overall growth of the economy has clearly overtaken the population increase -1173 in 1961 and 2378 in 2001. In 2002, daily wages amounted to Rs 60 for menand Rs 40-45 for women. The diversification of the local economy creates morejobs for the small landowners and the landless. The latter are much less numerousthan in densely populated districts (335 per square kilometer versus 600-1000 persquare kilometer), but, as elsewhere, the number of holdings increases with smallersize. Now, about half of them are below 1 hectare and many others, between 1-2hectares. Even with 0.4 hectares properly irrigated (orchard and vegetables) and0.4 hectares rain-fed, a farmer can manage, especially if one or two members ofthe family work outside. These outlets or safety valves keep on increasing, notonly, towards big cities, but also to Satara, a modern city by now or even Koregaonbecoming a small and lively town. At the bus stand are waiting plenty of motorrickshaws, while in Patna, the capital of Bihar, cycle rickshaws are still predominantin 2002. 20 percent of the workers of the block have jobs outside.

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During each of my visits, I met Govin Pandurang, a Mahar. Although, growing old(2002) he remains fit. His two buffaloes by now enable him to sell a part of themilk. He has also set a biogas plant supplying electricity and manure. With his wifehe keeps growing grapes on 0.1 hectare, on another 0.1 hectare; he cultivatesonions and on another similar plot irrigated hybrid jowar (high yield variety) in themonsoon followed by potatoes in the rabi. His two sons, after attending schoolhave found jobs in Pune. One of them has just come back to help his father,wearing a smart shirt and trouser.

Not all the Mahars have succeeded so well, but several of them are becomingbetter-off, like small Maratha landowners.

This remarkable reorientation of agriculture (thanks to irrigation) towards orchards,vegetables, flowers and animal husbandry, combined with government subsidiesfor drip irrigation can be found in other parts of Satara and other districts of theMarathwada. It shows the way towards the future. At the same time, in spite ofthe shrinking size of farm holdings, a rich farmer in Eksal relies on 2 to 4 hectaresof irrigated land, while a man like Govind can lead a decent life out of 0.33 hectaresof irrigated land.

18.1 Towards the Future

As in the other advanced areas, one hears alarm bells - the supply of electricity isinadequate and erratic, though less bad than in UP. The canals need bettermaintenance. Marketing facilities require improvements like more cold storagehouses, better packaging and quality controls especially for exports. Extensionservices must adapt themselves to a more complex pattern of rural development.Credit is too much biased in favour of the rich farmers. In other words, we find inEksal, one image of the future of rural India - the decrease of rain-fed crops withlimited growth potential versus activities bringing a better return and offeringmore job opportunities.

Many parts of Maharashtra are much less favoured than Eksal with their low irrigationpotential. The conditions of the poor remain precarious unless they leave theirvillage. In September 2002, on a Sunday, leaving Lonavala, the small hill station inthe Ghats with its crowd of upper class young Mumbai people coming by cars ormotorcycles to enjoy some fresh air, sitting in discos or coffee shops, wearingjeans, t-shirts etc. We drove 40 kilometers on a bad road to reach extremelymiserable hamlets nested in the Ghats with hardly any sign of development, dailywages amounting to Rs 25 (Eksal, Rs 60), mediocre rain-fed paddy fields and poorcattle etc. India of the 21st century, it seems is ignoring the “other” India.

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19. Jodhpur district, Rajasthan

Few areas face so severe geographical constraints as Western Rajasthan with anaverage rainfall of 320 millimeter, which is very erratic, leading to severe droughtand soils, often, being sandy and of low quality. The water table lies deep underthe layers of rocks, which makes costly the digging of a well, often 100-150 metersdeep, and supply of water is not always sure. The lack of drinking water can beacute. Yet, the area has known substantial development with a fall in poverty,atleast, in not too isolated villages.

Passing through Jodhpur in 1959, I came across a rather dormant little town. Frommy first survey in 1979 till 2002, many changes are obvious - the expansion of thecity with growing bazaars, the mushrooming of small and medium industries and aconstruction boom with houses made out of stones from local quarries. TWs areprogressing and wheat yields have more than doubled from 1970 to 2002 (2000 to2200 kilograms per hectare). Mustard is also progressing. As to bajra, by goodrains, the yield reaches 400 to 500 kilograms per hectare - half in a bad year ornothing under drought. Low yield pulses are also commonly grown.

Following TWs, the cultivation of vegetables and chillies has become prevalent.Cattle progress, except in drought years, is striking with crossbred cows (whichgive about 6 to 8 liters per day). Every day truckloads of milk leave for Delhi orJaipur. As in other progressive areas - cars, motorcycles and telephones arespreading since the 1990s. Tractors have practically eliminated bullocks forploughing, but carts on tyres pulled by a camel are still quite common.

In Jawar, 22 kilometer away from Jodhpur, in 1992, I meet Babulla, a Bhangi withhis wife and four children. They live in a nice whitewashed brick house, which thefamily got from the government. They have a cow and fifteen goats sold, whichare sold after one year. They sell eggs out of their 15 hens. Their two bullocks pulla light cart for transport. In addition, they work as casual labourers for thelandowners. Babula, on the whole, can just make both ends meet.

His neighbour, also a Bhangi owns a few hectares of land cultivated with bajra. Hetransports and sells milk on his bicycle and does casual agricultural work. He recentlystarted a small flour mill. Smartly dressed Kanga Ram, like his neighbour, looksbetter-off - economically and socially - than many Bhangis whom I met in theGanges basin. Both have given up their “unclean” occupations of scavenging andraising pigs.

Driving towards Osian, one comes across a village of Mochis (Chamars) who havekept their traditional jobs. They make leather goods including shoes, the demand

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of which is growing (see below). They have some goats and cows, the milk fromwhich is consumed at home. They also cultivate bajra and work as labourers. Eachof them has three sets of clothes and they eat three times a day, with occasionalmeat.

Although, these surveys are more limited than the ones in the Ganges basin,several facts lead to the conclusion that acute poverty is relatively limited evenamong Dalits. In all my visits, daily wages amount to the level of Green Revolutiondistricts. In 2002, they reached Rs 50 to Rs 60 in the villages enjoying someirrigation. Deeper in the interiors, in the vicinity of the Thar Desert they can fallto Rs 35 to Rs 45 per day.

Striking is the impact of the diversification of the economy. Agricultural workers(landless) represent 5.7 percent of the active population in the district. The numberof workers outside agriculture had already reached 43.5 percent in the 1991 Censusversus 33.9 percent for Thanjavur district and 32 percent for Bulandshahr. The gapseems to have risen further, though I did not have access to the 2001 data. Quarriesand construction works and some modern industries like steel processing areimportant. Handicrafts have grown enormously - textiles, painted cloths, coffers,leather goods, pottery, jewellery, wooden boxes and furniture etc. In 2001, exportshad only reached Rs 8 billion, hundred times more than in 1991 (at current prices).Tourism, foreign and Indian, is no less conspicuous with plenty of hotels of allcategories, particularly in Jodhpur and Jaisalmer. When my wife and I first visitedthe latter in 1959, we were staying in a shabby rest house. There was only oneother visitor, a young Britisher collecting insects. Finally, both the towns havebecome important military bases, creating other sources of employment.

19.1 Towards the Future

While all these trends are encouraging, the future is not so secure. Irrigationcovers only 8 to 10 percent of the cultivated area mostly through TWs or openwells-cum-pump sets. The water table is going down due (20 meters between 1970and 1990) to excess pumping leading to lack of recharge. Overgrazing acceleratessoil erosion adding to wind effects. Population growth is one of the fastest in Indiadue to very weak family planning propaganda.

In spite of the geographical constraints, it would be possible to increase efforts inagriculture. Farmers complain of the lack of electricity for their TWs. Already in1979, I came across a few drip systems. By 2002, the increase is, however, notoutstanding. Though, late unlike Maharashtra, the government of Rajasthan isbeginning to become more active in the promotion of sprinklers and drip systems,which save a lot of water. No less important are the questions of fodder to feed the

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high livestock population and drinking water where still a number of villages arenot properly covered.

20. Khandoi and Mayurbhanj district, Orissa

Visit - November 2004

Following my visit of 2002 to Khandoi, I did not notice major changes. A newvariety of wheat has been introduced, yielding 4500 kilograms per hectare.Vegetables, potatoes and even some flowers cultivation can be noticed. One hearsthe same complaints on corruption, bad roads and erratic electricity. The lack ofthe latter coupled with a weak monsoon brought down the sugarcane yields by 30percent. Agricultural daily wages amounted to Rs 60 or upto Rs 70 around Unchagaon.The number of cars, motorcycles and vans had also not increased.

Most lanes of the village have been paved and mud walls have nearly disappearedreplaced by pukka houses. New houses in bricks have been given to the Bhangifamilies by the government. Out of the cost of Rs 20,000 per house, officials keptRs 5000 (Rs 4000 in 2002!). Some old destitute people receive by now, Rs 500 permonth for part of the year.

In Mayurbhanj district, I visited the poorest blocks in an undulating terraced plateau,bearing rain-fed paddy, above the plains also mostly rain-fed around Baripada (thedistrict town). Poor soils with low water retention capabilities, deep water table(100-200 meters), rocky terrain increasing the cost of bore wells unlike in theGanges plain and few rivers with a deep riverbeds making water lifting throughpumps expensive are some characteristics common to the region. Electricity wasnot widespread. On the roads, trucks and buses were rare, even bicycles were notso common.

Santals, Kulhos and other Adivasis are numerous, besides other Indians. There arefew landless families, but people cannot live out of 0.5 to 1.5 hectare of land witha semi-stagnant yield of paddy - 1000-1500 kilograms per hectare, rarely 2000kilograms per hectare in low lands (getting more rain water) with some chemicalfertilizers. On parts of the land, they grow low yields pulses in the rabi. Cattle andanimal husbandry do not play a large role with a low milk output. On the otherhand, one comes across fine small plots of kitchen gardens, wherever a well isavailable. Some people make Rs 200 per year through the sale of their bananasand papayas.

Acute poverty is widespread. Many people go barefoot, many women do not weara choli and dresses are shabby. Many children are obviously not properly fed. Thereis hardly any pukka house. In one village, I recorded only one motorcycle and 3 TV

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sets on battery. In several villages, daily agricultural wages amount to Rs 20 plussome food, the lowest wages I came across in 2002 and 2004. In less isolatedvillages, wages reach Rs 30-40. Many people go and work in West Bengal for paddypreparation and harvest since the crop calendar is not exactly the same as inOrissa earning Rs 50-60 per day.

Isolation can add to basic poverty. In Similal Park, a wild game sanctuary since1973, are located 65 hamlets and 10,000 people, mostly Santals. There is hardlyany school. Paddy fields are tiny, so that villagers live partly out of the forests,collecting sal and neem seeds, making and selling honey and by collecting medicinalherbs. They sell these items to Jasipur, the nearest market, after walking a wholeday or more, returning with rice, dry fish, salt and clothes. You hardly see anymotor vehicles and even bicycles are not conspicuous.

At the district level, one notices some progress in orchards and vegetables, inhandicrafts - rope making, plates and cups out of sal leaves, bamboo baskets -sold as far as Rourkela. A fine Indian NGO, DULAL, is promoting watershed develop-ment, women SHGs, health and education. The lady collector, C.T.M. Suguna, isparticularly committed to development. Besides, the public distribution systemseems to work in a satisfactory manner, as well as, the school mid-day meals.

However, population is increasing at a rate faster than agriculture - plus 60 percentfor the former between 1981 and 2001, versus semi-stagnant paddy yields and tooslow progress in other sectors. According to a survey, in 1997, 77 percent of thedistrict population was BPL. Under such conditions, it is distressing to hear thatthe major irrigation project, Subarnarekha, is still very far from being completed,although, the agreement was signed in 1978 between the governments of WestBengal, Bihar (now Jharkhand) and Orissa and works started as late as 1982. Itcould irrigate 94,655 hectares of land in Mayurbhanj district, out of its totalcultivated area of 437,000 hectares. The whole economy would be lifted along theGreen Revolution process. Instead of going to West Bengal, poor people could findmore employment out of high yielding crops in their own district, in ancillaryactivities, trade and transport. In several meetings with villagers, the prioritiesof water and irrigation were consistently mentioned.

Section III

21. Some broader comments

It has been established since ages that in most countries poor people of an advancedarea have been usually less poor than poor people in an underdeveloped area. Inthe 1930s, Jawaharlal Nehru had already noticed the gap between the prosperity of

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Punjabi farmers compared to the poverty of the eastern Districts of UP (TowardsFreedom, New York, 1941, p.318).

The links between economic growth and the reduction of poverty became evenmore obvious since the Green Revolution. In all my surveys from the 1970s till2004, like some Indian researchers, I came across differences of two to one fordaily wages between Green Revolution areas and others. Moreover, in theprogressive districts stark differences were visible in terms of many ancillaryactivities in and outside agriculture supply and additional work for the poor.

These elementary facts have been rejected by a number of Indian scholars, officials,politicians and foreign experts for atleast fifteen years following the introductionof the Green Revolution in 1964-1970 under the mantra, “In the Green Revolutionthe rich get richer and the poor poorer”. Countless books and reports from India orinternational agencies propagated these adverse comments. From the 1970sonwards, these currents have contributed to a shift in a strategy, away fromproductive investments in favour of anti-poverty programmes. As we have seen,there are success stories resulting from the new approach - new houses, loans-cum- subsidy for a well and for cattle, in spite of much leakage and abuses.Nevertheless, the achievements have not been impressive in their totality.

In recent times, peasants, including poor ones, have been asking for moreinvestments in electricity and irrigation. In January 1997, during a seminar at theRajiv Gandhi Institute, Abid Hussain, former IAS and former member of the PlanningCommission burst out, “We have enough of all these anti-poverty schemes, whatwe need are electricity and roads”. A few days later, in Khandoi, I fell upon my oldfriend Dalchand, a Bhangi. I asked his opinion on these issues. He replied, “AreSahb, nam nam hein, hamko bijli aur sarak chahiye” (These are just words, whatwe need are electricity and roads). Apparently, he does not need electricity becausehe has neither a TW nor land, and he does not need a road since he has nothing totransport. But he had understood the positive impacts of such developments forthe poor.

As we have seen, the diversification process and private investments are continuing,though more slowly in the last years. They need to be supported by considerableincreases of public funds in infrastructure, irrigation, research, extension services,credit and better post-harvest technologies. The poor, particularly the Dalits willno doubt benefit from this deeper process of rural development.

Attitudes and behavioural patterns are important variables in development, but itis with reluctance that I have used words such as “enterprising”, “easygoing” and“subdued”. These types of judgements concerning certain communities, ethnic

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groups and tribes are common all over the world. Look for instance, at thejudgements passed even today by Northern Italians on their compatriots in theSouth. In India, these differences are complicated by the caste system.

First, we may like it or not, but when the Jats told me that ‘Purbi log dhile hein”,they did believe it. In a number of cases, such judgements, negative, as well as,positive cannot, be entirely rejected, but they do provide simplistic or inadequateexplanations of behaviours rooted in complex sets of factors involving history,social, political, economic and psychological elements.

Second, behaviours shared by a fairly large groups of people, communities, tribesand castes are not static. The rather passive ones cannot change overnight throughthe missionary zeal of native or expatriate development experts. On the otherhand, history abounds with examples of big changes coming about under variouscircumstances. During the British Raj there was a deep contrast between thegentlemen-farmers in Punjab running efficiently their estates and the Sindhiwaderas sitting idle. Since the 1970s, the latter have begun to manage their estateswith greater care. We have also reviewed the changes occurring among Jativs/Chamars in UP since the 1960s or among small Brahmin landowners breaking theirtaboos on ploughing.

One must also consider long-term changes or their late start. In Madras, castesrelations began to be questioned and partly altered since the first decades of thepast century, unlike in the Ganges basin. The gap partly explains why caste tensionsand rivalries focusing on the Dalits are more widespread in the north than in TN.The complaints of dabao heard in Bihar cannot, but affect Dalits behaviours,hindering them to aim at a better status.

Indian society is quasi unique in the world with its combination of classes asanywhere else and castes. There are upward class movements as in the west orJapan, but usually they are confined to upper castes. A poor Brahmin may succeed,thanks to his talent and ability, and perhaps with the help of other Brahmins tobecome an eminent scholar, a senior civil servant or a big businessman. The Ambaniwho created one of the largest conglomerates in India came from the family of asmall baniya teacher. As to the Dalits, they have to overcome class and casteobstacles. That is why they deserve special assistance.

Economic uplift enables Paraiyars to live “a civilized life” as one of them says inKila Ulur. It also strengthens their social status. The twice born will show moreregards for Chamars that are less poor and more assertive or for Bhangis that areable to give up their sweeper jobs or pig rearing traditions than for traditionalBhangis or miserable Musahars.

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While economic uplift is an important factor, social obstacles to progress remain.In the west, class distinctions have taken a long time to be eroded. It gatheredmomentum after the 1950s with the huge increase in the middle classes, leadingto more inter-class marriages. In India, similar inter-class marriages do occur, butmarriages between Dalits and other castes are rare. As to marriages betweencastes issued from the four Varnas, they are hardly found in the villages. Over thepast fifty years, I did not notice any change. Marriages remain arranged within thesame caste. The boy and the girl meet only when they get married.

In other fields of social relations, the picture is mixed and not always connectedwith the rapid or slow pace of development. In Khandoi, Jativs/Chamars sit nowon charpais next to Brahmins or Jats, but it is not so in Nahiyan. We have seenopposite attitudes towards the Paraiyars, some open from the Kallars in Kila Ulur,others more rigid near Madurai. In the rich state of Haryana, gruesome incidentshappened in 2002 when several Dalits were killed. In spite of substantial progress,in Chakwara village, 70 kilometers from Jaipur, Dalits are still prohibited to enterthe local temple and forbidden to bathe in the village pond (Indian Express,21.9.2002).

In North Bihar, the relationship between low growth and acute poverty is madeworse by the semi-feudal behaviours of the dominant castes. Dabao and otherabuses are combined with rigid caste relations including the arrogance of thelandlords.

The picture is less clear, at least to me, about slow moving areas in Orissa. Arecaste barriers more rigid than in advanced areas? As to the Mahars of Maharashtra,we have seen how, since long, they enjoyed a relatively high status due to theirrank among Dalits and also to the outstanding personality of Dr. Ambedkar, theirformer leader.

Caste differences within the Dalits are conspicuous as among other castes. SomeDalit castes are clearly rising, like the Chamars in UP, which may be resented byother Dalits. In some villages, the Dhobis who enjoy a higher traditional status aredoing better than others. The poorest Dalits, economically and in social status arenot all left behind, but many are. That is why special attention and efforts ofassistance should be granted to the most unprivileged in terms of education, healthand job opportunities.

Finally, come the Adivasis. The Santals, the Gonds and the others have been partlyassimilated to the Indian world, its techniques and its ways of life. They are fullyengaged in the process of development, so they do not need special measures of

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assistance. On the other hand, are the tribes who face acute poverty, inertia anddiseases as described in Pahariya villages and some places in Orissa. To help themremains a most challenging task. Several years ago, there had been discussions tocreate a special corps of officers to deal with them. They should be without prejudicevis-à-vis the “naked savages and drunkards” as they may be called by the officialsunder the influence of Victorian or Gandhian puritanism. The difficulty is that suchofficers should not only be particularly gifted and trained - they should also havestrong legs, because they will have to walk a lot in the hilly jungles through narrowfootpaths. In a way, it would be proper to restore a spirit a la Verrier Elwin (R.Guha, Savaging the Civilized, Verrier Elwin, His tribals and India, Chicago UniversityPress, 1999).

A major push to boost the rural economy would have important socio-economicimplications for the Dalits. In order to reach such a goal, one should first overcomeseveral barriers. Already in 1975, the late M N Srinivas wrote about “the emergence”of “dual cultures”, the former “based on the urban middle classes”, the latter on“the rural poor”. In between the two are “landowning families from the dominantand high castes”. M N Srinivas adds, “The ignorance of the urban middle classabout rural life, agriculture and values would not matter much but for the fact thatofficials and specialists hail from it and have an important say in decisions whichaffect villages” (M N Srinivas, On Living in the Revolution, Delhi, Oxford UniversityPress, 1992, p.79-80).

Thirty years later, the gap between the two cultures has grown enormously. Thenew rising elites are now more and more cut-off from the villages. This explainspartly why the various governments in power since the 1980s have not devotedenough public funds for the development of the rural world so that, as a result,there is a slowdown in agriculture and a deterioration of infrastructures.

To react against such currents is particularly difficult because similar mindsets arewidespread in other Asian countries, as well as in debates on North-South relations.The share of agriculture in total foreign aid has been sharply declining in the pasttwenty years. The number of foreign experts in agriculture is also shrinking as asenior World Bank officer told me in May 2004. In other words, is it not time topartly “ruralize” again the elites as Mahatma Gandhi had done in the 1920s withthe Congress leaders?

The new Central Government (2004) is emphasizing greater efforts in agriculture,rural infrastructure and poverty alleviation. Additional public funds are beingallocated to such aims, but more is needed in order to boost agriculture to agrowth of plus 3 percent per year, versus 1.5 percent during the last four years.

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Annual growth rates of plus 11 percent in industry, plus 9 percent in services andplus 3 percent in agriculture are supposed to induce 8 percent growth rate of GDP(see the article of S. Mahendra Dev in Economic and Political Weekly, 8.4.2006).

A massive mobilization of human and material resources is needed in irrigation.The instance given in Mayurbhanj is very common all over India. There is a gap of14 million hectares between the irrigation potential created and the actual irrigationpotential available. The target of 16.7 million additional irrigated hectares underthe Tenth Plan (2007), has been scaled down to 10.5 million hectares due to delaysand lack of funds (The Mid-Term Appraisal, p. 219-220, June 2005). In addition, 21million hecteres under canals need renovation. “Irrigation makes you free, irrigationmakes you rich” can be read in the Archives of Cataluna (Spain) dated 1243. Isthat an old wisdom not relevant today as yesterday?

One can make similar observations on electricity, where the already low target ofthe Plan has been also scaled down from 41,000 additional MWs to 31,290 MWs.

Money is far from being the sole factor of growth. In irrigation, roads and electricity,one comes across several weaknesses common to many countries and not only inthe South - laparvahi, lack of controls by senior officers, corruption, collusionsbetween politicians and local vested interests and lack of sanctions etc. Similarshortcomings are no less common in education and health as mentioned by AmartyaSen (India’s Poor need a Radical Package, The Hindu, 9.2.2005). When you askpeople why they do not complain the answer is, “Koi nahin sunta” (nobody listens),a comment recorded through my first to the last surveys.

One wonders whether a stronger district administration would not be more helpfulto the poor and to overall growth than strengthening Panchayati Raj3 and employmentschemes on the basis of the limited results of such schemes tried over more thanforty years. Even the Maharshatra Employment Scheme produced over thirty years“no dramatic achievements on poverty reduction in the State” (Indira Hirway inEconomic and Political Weekly, 27.11.2004). This, in spite of the fact thatMaharashtra has one of the best rural administrations in the country.

An able and committed directly recruited IAS collector (not a promoted one) withsome equally competent senior officers in agriculture, health and education could,as I have observed, make a substantial difference versus districts “led” in a routinemanner. But, in order to work, such a system needs a political commitment fromabove to avoid frequent transfers following pressures from politicians. In UP mostsenior IAS officers are transferred after less than one year and it is not an isolatedcase.

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All over the world success stories at both, national and local levels, often, follow asimilar pattern - the political will and vision at the top with some efficient andcommitted ministers and senior officers in the field. In India let us remember thesuccess of the Atomic Energy Agency, promoted by Nehru and implemented by Dr.Homi Bhabha; the Green Revolution with the will of Shastri and later on of IndiraGandhi, C. Subramanayam, Minister of Agriculture assisted by some first classICS/IAS officers and the no less efficient aid of Ford and Rockfeller Foundations;the cleaning of Surat after the plague by S.R. Rao, IAS, municipal commissioner;or more recently E. Sreedharan extending in a most remarkable way the metro inDelhi etc.

To sum up, in spite of all the stories of corruption, dubious politicians and sycophantcivil servants, there are still in India, a number of political leaders and membersof the administration whose vision, calibre and competences could improve the“delivery systems” to fight poverty, as emphasized by the Prime Minister, Dr.Manmohan Singh in his national address at the Red Fort on August 15, 2004.

One must finally insist on the fact that, “Negative social connotations associatedwith the Dalits cannot be ironed out by economic uplift only”, as Ratan Watal tellsme. A greater social mobilization will help, as well as, changes in the mindsets ofthe castes belonging to the Varnas. Recently, an IAS officer mentioned to me thathe was the only Brahmin officer to attend the funerals of one of his colleagues, aDalit belonging to the IAS cadre.

The whole process of integration of the Dalits could be accelerated by more leadersof Dr. Ambedkar’s caliber and a faster erosion of prejudices on the other side. Thetoughest challenges are in the villages, but even among the urban upper castes/classes, how many parents4 are ready to have a Dalit son-in-law, even if he hasreceived a good education and is an able professional? It would be also appropriate,possibly through special training, to increase the number of Dalits in senior teachingpositions, particularly in the universities. They would contribute to a greaterintegration of their own people and help upper castes to understand the others5.

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Endnotes1. It is beyond the scope of these surveys to tackle political issues above the village

level.

2. As analyzed by M N Srinivas, in most villages one comes across a dominant caste,that is, one of the most numerous groups, if not the largest, owning the largerparts of the land. The dominant caste may belong to any of the four Van as, whileDalits are very often landless.

3. One could remember that Dr. Ambedkar succeeded in limiting as much as possiblethe role of Panchayats when framing the Constitution for legitimate fear that theywould strengthen the upper castes. The promotion of Panchayati Raj in 1957 andlater was partly due to the concern for development, but also to a large extent topolitical opportunism of the Congress Party.

4. In most civilizations, societies have been - or remain - particularly conservativeregarding marriage.

5. In universities, out of 23% percent reserved posts for the SC/STs, only 2 percentare filled (P.G. Jogdand, Economic and Political Weekly, 24.7.04).

Notes

1. The major surveys in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan were done travelling in myown car from Europe. On several occasions, I have been living in the village studiedwith my wife, helping me and my children. Otherwise, we commuted from thedistrict town.

2. The knowledge of Hindi and Urdu and some Dari enabled me to deal directly withthe peasants in several areas, while using an interpreter elsewhere.

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Annexures

Annexure I

Exchange Rate of the Rupee

Rs 48.4 for 1 $ US in 2002

Rs 44.9 for 1 $ US in 2004

Annexure II

The Green Revolution

1. New seed s (cereals or others,) which react better genetically than the traditionalvarieties to higher doses of chemical fertilizers. Shorter or dwarf in order to avoidlodging. Often, mature earlier which facilitates double-cropping in a year.

2. Chemical fertilizers require very often, a better water supply than for the traditionalvarieties without fertilizers. Hence, water, irrigation and rain play a key role.

3. Areas with poor and erratic rainfall and low irrigation potential are not fit for theGreen Revolution.

4. Genetically more homogenous, new varieties are more vulnerable to pests,especially during the rains. Hence, the need of pest controls.

5. New seeds must be replaced after four-five years, otherwise yields decline, hence,a continuous process of research. Hybrid seeds are renewed every year.

6. The same variety does not fit to any physical milieu.

Instances -

Good traditional yields (in kilograms per hectare) per irrigated crop - wheat 1000-1300;rice* 1200-1400.

First phase of the Green Revolution for each crop - 2000-2500 kilograms per hectare

At present for each crop - 3500-4000 kilograms per hectare, or even more.

*clean rice is about 2/3 of paddy.

Traditional rain-fed crops - wheat 400-900 kilograms per hectare; rice 700-1000 kilogramsper hectare depending on the rains; and sorghum 400-700 kilograms per hectare kilogramsper hectare.

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Methodology

1. During the period 1952 to 1963, I spent nearly four years spent mostly in India andPakistan, with visits to Afghanistan and China, general economic studies, includingrural areas.

2. From 1963 onwards, detailed surveys of rural areas in India, often, focusing on onevillage and one district. Main purposes were to understand people’s developmentproblems and the views of the administration from the district to provincial andCentral governments.

3. The areas selected represent three types of regions widespread in India, that is,advanced areas already in British days as in the north-west and in the south-east;potentially rich, but very poor areas as in Bihar or in Orissa plains; areas affectedby physical constraints in peninsular India.

4. The full surveys were conducted in 1963-1964 and 1967, 1978-1979, 1985-1986,1992-1993, and 2002. The full surveys lasted from one year in 1963-1964 to 5-6months. In addition to these full surveys, several villages and districts were visitedin between.

Publications by Professor Gilbert Etienne

1. Studies in Indian Agriculture, Berkeley, University of California Press, 1968, alsopublished in India by Oxford University Press.

2. India’s Changing Rural Scene, New Delhi, Oxford University Press, 1982.

3. Rural Development in Asia (Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and China),New Delhi, Sage Publications, 1985.

4. Food and Poverty, India’s half won Battle, New Delhi, Sage Publications, 1988.

5. Rural Change in South Asia - India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, New Delhi, VikasPublications, 1995.

6. Several articles (1996 to 2006) on India’s agriculture, particularly in Tiers MondeSeptember 2005 and Sapra, April 2006, New Delhi, on poverty alleviation in Indiaand in India Rising, Singapore, M. Cavendish, 2005.

7. Similar studies, but not as detailed have been conducted in Pakistan, Afghanistan,East Pakistan, Bangladesh and China, from the 1950s until 2006.

Documents

Observations on the Dalits in Indian Villages working paper “Observations on the Dalits in Indian Villages ... Sadhu Holy man ... prejudices towards Dalits,