Impacts of Government Policies on Sustenance of Tribal ... - Samata

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emaining had worked anywhere betweenseven and 20 days in the whole year. InKarakavalasa village, among the familiesinterviewed, one job card holder hadworked for 25 days and another for 20 days;the rest had worked anywhere between 6days and 18 days. In the case <strong>of</strong> Rallavalasathe maximum number <strong>of</strong> days worked in theyear was 30 days (by four persons amongfamilies interviewed) and two <strong>of</strong> the jobcard holders had worked for 25 days andone for 24 days; the remaining job cardholders had worked between 6 days and 20days in the year. In Beespuram the dailywage paid were either Rs. 80/- or Rs. 100/-.In Rallavalasa and Karakavalasa the wagespaid were either Rs. 100/- per day or Rs.120/- per day. The kind <strong>of</strong> work undertaken,in Beespuram amongst those interviewed,included bush cutting and weeding in c<strong>of</strong>feeplantation, stone-breaking, building bundsfor tank and digging a pond. In the case <strong>of</strong>Karakavalasa and Rallavalasa, the kind <strong>of</strong>work included rock and contour bunding.In the tribal ITDAs the PDS is managedunder the supervision and control <strong>of</strong> theProject Officer <strong>of</strong> the ITDA. The GCC takescare <strong>of</strong> the retail and wholesale distribution.Essential food grains, as well as other items<strong>of</strong> everyday requirements (like potatoes,onions, soap, clothes, hair oil, spices, evencell phone recharge cards, plastic chairs,etc) are supplied to the adivasis through anetwork <strong>of</strong> 839 fair price shops also knownas DR Depots run by the GCC. In somecases the functioning <strong>of</strong> the DR Depots hasbeen handed over to SHGs, several <strong>of</strong> whichare women SHGs run entirely by women.Where no such depots are possible part-timedepots are set up by the GCC and mannedby adivasis and in the absence <strong>of</strong> both it isthe responsibility <strong>of</strong> the Project Officer <strong>of</strong>the ITDA to identify an individual to whomthe fair price shop is then entrusted. In thetribal areas it is specified that there shouldbe one ration ship for a population <strong>of</strong>thousand. Each DR Depot caters to 4–5villages. The GCC also maintains theMandal Level Stockist in the ITDA areas,that number 28 and stocks <strong>of</strong> commoditiesare stored here.DR Depots were accessed by intervieweesin all the three study sites for purchasinghousehold necessities like rice, oil, sugar,red gram and kerosene. Onion, tea, soap,peas (dried) and pulses are also purchasedby a few <strong>of</strong> the interviewees. Kerosene ispurchased at Rs. 10/- per litre and 3–5 litreswere purchased in a month by one family.Nearly 1 kg <strong>of</strong> onions were consumed insome households every month which waspurchased at a rate between Rs. 14/- and Rs.20/-. Most families consume about 20 kgeach month <strong>of</strong> rice, each kilo at a subsidisedprice <strong>of</strong> Rs. 2/- per kg. Larger familiesconsume nearly 35 kg. Red gram, 1–2 kgare consumed by the family each month; theaverage price paid for is Rs. 70/- per kg. Insome cases the interviewees said they hadpaid as low as Rs. 30/- or as high as Rs. 90/-per kg for red gram. Sugar, nearly 1 kg, isconsumed monthly by each family which ispurchased from the DR Depot for Rs. 15/-per kg. Cooking oil normally consumed is 1litre per month bought from the DR Depotfor about Rs. 50/- per litre. The number <strong>of</strong>items purchased from the DR Depots weremostly limited to those mentioned above.Migration and daily wageAbout 20 members from the entire village<strong>of</strong> Beespuram migrate for a period <strong>of</strong> 15days to one month or 50 days in a year tothe towns <strong>of</strong> Visakhapatnam or Anakapallesituated nearby and even to as far <strong>of</strong>f as thetown <strong>of</strong> Tirupathi. They take up machineryor road/soil work, masonary work orloading bricks to earn an income. The mainreason for leaving their village is the lack <strong>of</strong>work in the village and the fact that they didnot earn much from daily wage labour.Among those interviewed four <strong>of</strong> thehouseholds had migrants, one <strong>of</strong> whom wasa woman. Wage rates for the migrants50
anged between Rs. 100/- and Rs. 150/- perday and the number <strong>of</strong> days they migratedranged between 15 and 40 days in a year.The villagers from Karakavalasa andRallavalasa also migrate in search <strong>of</strong> workto the towns <strong>of</strong> Visakhapatnam and Jami(located in S Kota, a small town nearVisakhapatnam). The work they took upwas making cement bricks and they areusually away for on an average <strong>of</strong> 3 weeks.Financial problems are the main reason forthe migration. Among those interviewedtwo members from two households hadmigrated to Visakhapatnam and Jami;wages they received for work done wassometimes as low as Rs. 55/- per day.Four <strong>of</strong> the families interviewed inBeespuram said that members from theirhousehold went for daily wage labour foradditional income to meet financialdifficulties. The work opted for includedmasonary work, construction work andlabour in c<strong>of</strong>fee plantations. They did thisusually after the agricultural season and workin their own fields had been completed. Thewages earned ranged between Rs. 70/- perday to as high as Rs. 150/- per day formasonary work. The number <strong>of</strong> days workedvaried between the families—20 days to 60days in a year—and more than one familymember would go for such work. Daily wagelabour in works like construction, masonary,weeding and harvesting are also undertakenby the villagers <strong>of</strong> Karakavalasa andRallavalasa to earn additional income andtide over financial difficulties. One <strong>of</strong> theinterviewees from Karakavalasa said thatthey had opted for wage labour as soilfertility had decreased as a result <strong>of</strong> whichthey spent lesser time on agriculture withmore time to spare for wage labour. Mostlythe villagers went to work after theagricultural season was over. Wages earnedaveraged around Rs. 120/- per day and thenumber <strong>of</strong> days an individual went to workranged between 20 and 30 days in a year.Income and expenditure <strong>of</strong> thetribal communitiesThe expenditure for the adivasi familieswho formed a part <strong>of</strong> this study involvedpurchase <strong>of</strong> household necessities fromDR Depots, agricultural expenses andhousehold related expenditure forfestivals, household supplies, someamount for education, clothes andjewellery especially during occasions likemarriage, and some amount on furniture,travel and health. One <strong>of</strong> the majorexpenditures seen is in house repair, witha majority <strong>of</strong> those interviewed havingspent considerable sums on house repair.The different sources <strong>of</strong> income for thetribal families in the three study sites—Beespuram, Karakavalasa andRallavalasa—included agriculture, c<strong>of</strong>feecultivation (only in the case <strong>of</strong>Beespuram), income from trees on land,poultry and livestock and income fromNTFP. Other sources to augment incomewere through daily wage labour andmigration. Accessing government schemeslike the pension scheme, SHGs andparticipating in the MGNREGA alsohelped improve their living standardmarginally.A comparison <strong>of</strong> the cash income earnedand expenditure for tribal families doesnot provide an indication <strong>of</strong> pr<strong>of</strong>its earnedor losses incurred. This is because aconsiderable part <strong>of</strong> their needs are metfrom their own agricultural produce, treeson land, and the forest, be it that <strong>of</strong> food,medicines, fodder or fuelwood. Theirlivelihood basket, apart from theirtraditional activities, consists <strong>of</strong> severalsources <strong>of</strong> income including daily wagelabour, migration and access togovernment schemes that generate incomeor provide support.51
Page 4:
List of Abbreviati
Page 7 and 8: IntroductionThe Constitution <stron
Page 9 and 10: Mitra, a community-based organisati
Page 11 and 12: Table 1: Vegetation types o
Page 13 and 14: Faunal diversityFaunal records incl
Page 15 and 16: are typical of hig
Page 17 and 18: vegetables, fruits, and roots and t
Page 20 and 21: union territories in the country en
Page 22 and 23: exploitation in the Scheduled Areas
Page 24 and 25: and more than 10.13 lakh titles hav
Page 26 and 27: A coffee plantatio
Page 28 and 29: capacity building of</stron
Page 30 and 31: Rs. 40/- per kg was obtained; almos
Page 32 and 33: Table 5: Exploration data for bauxi
Page 34 and 35: Adivasi women at the public hearing
Page 36 and 37: division. The coastline is broken a
Page 38 and 39: stream. In 2007 piped water to a ta
Page 40 and 41: Table 7: Land details of</s
Page 42 and 43: improve the soil fertility; finger
Page 44 and 45: lack gram, green gram, ginger, chil
Page 46 and 47: Table 10 : Land area under c<strong
Page 48 and 49: purposes only. Wood from different
Page 50 and 51: Table 13: NTFP collection calendarP
Page 52 and 53: Orangesgrown athomeSome amount <str
Page 54 and 55: Hens are raised for meat and sold f
Page 58 and 59: Major findings and discussion• Ag
Page 60 and 61: nutrition with meat from huntingadd
Page 62 and 63: government are oft
Page 64 and 65: Forested hill slopes of</st
Page 66 and 67: supplementing the inadequate housin
Page 68 and 69: Table 15: Some data on child labour
Page 70 and 71: of a range NTFP an
Page 72 and 73: • The environment is facing sever
Page 74 and 75: Land alienation and violation <stro
Page 76 and 77: ReferencesAgarwal, A. and S. Narain
Page 78 and 79: Government Order M
Page 80 and 81: Sudhir, SNV. 2005. Nalco trip fails
Page 82 and 83: Common name Local name Botanical na
Page 84 and 85: Annexure 3: Compensation paid for l
Page 86 and 87: Integrated Tribal Development Autho
Page 88: Dhaatri Resource Centre for Women a
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