SERICUL TURE AND THE PROCESS OF CHANGE - Institute for ...

living, of the vast majority of the population, instead of rise confmed to
only one sector'. She continues to say that 'the Indian villages are still
populated with most weaker sections who hardly gain anything from
most of the development programmes'. In the present context, the
concern of mobility then, becomes more relevant and significant for
three dlsadvantaged categories, one based on class, another based on
caste and the third based on sex. It would be worth understanding the
role of sericulture, in the process of mobility of these categories. This
would enable the developers and researchers in gauging the social
relevance of sericulture
The term 'poor' basically refers to the economically vulnerable
section of the society. Within these strata, there could be varying
categones depending on the level of accessibility to property and
resources. In a village context, the poor mostly comprise of the
agricultural wage labourers who would include most of the landless,
marginal and a section of the small landholders. How could sericulture
become relevant to them? What role does or can sericulture play in
facilitatmg the social mobility and thereby enhancing their social
identity'} Sericulture could become relevant to the poor either directly by
becoming sericulturists themselves, or indirectly by involving
themselves as lessee, shareholders or labourers.
More than 50 per cent of the sericulturists in Seripura belong to
the marginal and small land-holding category. In the case of K K Pura
and M R Pura, they form more than 75 per cent while they form only
one fourth of the sericulturists in EN Pura. How have they fared in their
social mobility? The impact of sericulture is definitely manifested
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