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UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL,
SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION
INTEGRATING WOMEN IN DEVELOPMENT PLANNING
THE ROLE OF TRADITIONAL WISDOM
prepared by
M.A. Singamma Sreenivasan Foundation
'Tharanga' 10th Cross, Rajmahal Vilas Extension
Bangalore, India
The views expressed in this document, the selection of facts presented and the opinion stated with regard to those facts are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Unesco.
Photographic reproduction of original manuscript
SHS-89/WS-8
C O N T E N T S
Chapters Pq.No
1. Introduction and Summary Findings 1 - 8
2. Methodology 9 -19
3. Case Study 1 : Traditional Market Place 20 -36
4. Case Study 2 : Traditional Storage Practices 37 -53
5. Case Study 3 : Traditional Health Practices 54 -66
6. Technical Requirements for Application 67 -73
7. Integrating this experience to the development 74 -110 mechanism
Annexures
1. References
2. Some pictures : - Traditional Market Places - Traditional Storage Practices - Traditional Health Practices
3. Glossary of Terms
4. Producers and Projects - Almora Survey
Tables
1. Field Survey - Profile of Selected Villages(Udupi) 18
2. Field Survey - Profile of Hunsur 18
3. Field Survey - Profile of T.Bekuppe 19
4. Hosur Shandy - A Profile of Trade 26
5o Karnataka Foodgrains - A Picture-Commodity-Rice 51
6. Karnataka Foodgrains - A Picture-Commodity-Ragi 51
7. Mysore - Commodity - Rice 52
8. Dakshina Kannada - Commodity Rice 53
CHAPTER 1
Integrating Women in Development Planning
—The Role o-f Indigenous Wisdom
INTRODUCTION
It is widely accepted that, one of the key elements -for
designing and imp i binent in g development effectively, is the?
participation of those for whom it is meant. The
importance of this element increases in inverse?
relationship with, deprivation and subordination. In other
words it is more vital for those who ¿ire either poor or
invisible or discriminated against for any reason, to be
involved in the designing of their future especially
material change, than for those who are higher up in the
s cale of p o w e r a n d weI 1-be i n g.
This recognition has arisen from reviews of development
experiences; whether the experience is evaluated on the
grounds of equity or efficiency.
Obviously when choices are made of development
priorities or mechanisms by which development is
funnelled, the preferences of the class or social group
that dominates gets expressed. The importance of these
choices s<r^ greater in low resource situations. Thus
e q u i t y 5 e s pecially on t h e bo r d e r line of po ve r ty a n d
hunger cannot be achieved unless the priorities are ordered
by the most deprived.
Those who have gone beyond hunger and disease would ask
for goods and services hrî.t would be different from
j.
those who ar<s still deprived of -food. Women's collective
preferences would be different from men even within the same
class «
Efficiency can be similarily illustrated. If the
development services or input is not appropriate to the
resources, skill or environmental situation of the person
or group, its absorption and utilisation would be slow, if
not weak.
Once the recognition is made that the very initiation
of the process of economic and social change has to emerge
from those for whom it is meant, one more step becomes not
only visible but essential. In this case the further step
would not only add to the equity and efficiency but also to
maximum utilisation of available resources, and another
important element of change namely, continuity of practices.
What is this further step? This further step is
utilisation of the inherent intelligence of the local
person/groups.
By first receiving from the group not only its aspirations
but also its historical experiences in fulfilling or being
frustrated in its aspirations, a line is thrown backwards
and downwards from which the forward movement is drawn. Thus
there is cultural continuity.
The value of this additional step of receiving
indigenous knowledge especially as translated into
development practices has now been widely recognised.
International agencies whether they are specialised agencies
2
of the UN such as FAO, UNESCO, ILQ, UNRISD or whether they
are sectoral such as International Institute for
Environement & Development- London, Environmental Liason
C e n t r • e I n t e r n a t i o n a 1 -Nairo b i ., T a w a r cl s A11 o t h e r E.' c o n o m i. c
Summit or the South Commission, are seized by the
significance of this area of knowledge and the negative
implications of its neglect.
This new concern about the "loss" involved in
neglecting local wisdom has arisen, for many reasons
- Firstly, the route of economic growth and development
that has been followed by the advanced or rapidly
advancing countries has tended to destroy the very
basis of development, namely, natural resources
including air, water and earth. This has provided a
road block to those who are not yet fully advanced on
that modern path. Thus there is a search for
development or production strategies which would not
destroy the very factors of production. * (Brundtland
Report; Brandt Report Review, etc.)
— Secondly the shortage of resources especially financial
and technological which has reached crisis
dimensions - not only due to problems of the
international capital market, but also due to the
somewhat monopolistic postures of the richer countries,
the hardening of the boundaries between "North" and
"South" ; the failure of international economic
institutions such as World Bank and IMF to ease the
situation. Against this challenge or threat there is a
3
new interest in inward looking strategies especially
strategies of self reliance. And it logically -follows
t h a t self relia n c: e w o u 1 d 1 e a ci to 1 o o k i n g a t s e 1 f
reliant practices that were -followed by communities/
people before the outward looking strategy/thrusts.
- Thirdly there is also a cultural/intellectual crisis
which is expressed at all levels of society -
largely adjustment problems being faced by the
imposition of a dominant outside culture on certain
historically evolved cultures. During the phase of
imperialism this cultural oppression took one form
which even though painful and disastrous was in some
sense a crust ,which with the assertion of
nationalism in most countries of the world, was sliced
aside. But, the penetration today is of a different
kind. It is a penetration in terms of economic values
such as for example, rush for higher levels of
consumption. This demand for goods without
necessarily having the sustainable wherewithal for
supply is knocking the foundation out of many
societies. Similarily the conversion of community based
modes of social and political behaviour into
individual based modes is another such infi 1teration.
These are far more difficult influences to resist and
throw out as they get intertwined into the society
policy and programme.
Three areas were taken and case studies made, more in
the nature of indicative studies.
4
The three areas ares
1. Traditional markets
2. Grain storage
3. Trad i tiona1 Hea1th Practices
The case studies span or range -from institutions,
habitat, urban and rural planning; through an example from
the agricultural sector in a vital area such as seeds and
grains - to a health area of a sensitive and highly
vulnerable group, the Indian woman. They arts all selected
•from one State, Karnataka, though they aro practices which
arB widespread not only in India but other lold'
countries/communities. They are still in practice - showing
both stamina and practical value, though they are on the
decline.
5
SUMMARY FINDINGS
The studies emphasise that people, in this case rural,
mostly poor women are producing, storing, trading with the
use of local materials, with easy access and using local
spaces. They are in operation and achieving the very goals
development or poverty alleviation wants to achieve ; namely
less wastage of resources, better dispersal and access,
job/income earning opportunities and care of girls.
These practices can help rapid development. For
example, the weekly markets in rural areas offer an
accessible, low or zero overhead selling point for many
women producers and traders. If all markets were built up
shops, they could neither afford to buy space, nor find the
regular time to sell all week, nor have the capital to hold
stock. Further, most important of all, their clientele or
demand would be inadequate for a week. of selling. Their
clientele are usually the poor, who can afford to buy at
intervals their needs. Women often keep another occupation
alive along with the weekly or monthly vending : Poor always
have more than one source of income, it is a form of
insurance apart from indicating irregularity and under -
payment of their job.
In storing seed through use of local anti-pest and anti-
decay processes they not only avoid toxic chemicals but also
avoid expensive metal silos, avoid holding of stocks in
centralised places. Stocks are held in houses in communities
giving easy access, avoiding transport costs. Proximate
access to seeds and grains has been pointed out as one or
6
the most important measures of providing -food security to
women and -families. But these practices which also require
craftsmanship skills, fabricating skills are disppearing.
Further the change in social ethics such as shift from
community to individual has destroyed some of their
sustainabi1ity - as in the case of the underground ragi
'si los' .
While the breakdown or disappearance of ritual is
certainly emancipatory, it also has its price. Rituals
related to care of girls and women during menstruation and
child birth have also faded away along with the bundle of
traditional superstitions. Thus girls and women Are exposed
to the domination of a patriarchal society along with an
inadequate health delivery system - a double cross leading
to high rates of female mortality amongst adolscents.
By listening, adapting and absorbing these practices
into the local development design, the strength of women
would have been enhanced. Their own knowledge would have
been valued and used ; no training and "awareness" raising
would be necessary, no heavy investment in buildings or
equipment, even distribution networks.
Here are cases which reveal equity, efficiency, optimal
use of resources and developing out of local wisdom. Given
that these influences are being recognised and given also
the earlier recognition that equity, efficiency and
optimisation of available resources is better achieved
through understanding and acknowledging the intelligence of
the community of poor and deprived, is leading to a sincere
7
quest to listen and record the existing knowledge and to
attempt then to evaluate it against its equivalent in modern
knowledge and then to recycle it into our perceptions and
consciousness at all levels
To
- Those who already have it but who ¿\re being deprived by
the domination of the outside knowledge.
- Those who a.r& teachers and partly to be de-schooled and
re-schooled to have the humility to "acknowledge"
this new knowledge.
- Finally to those involved in theories of knowledge;in
the realm of ideas who in many ways are those who
finally influence change.
Against this background, the M.A Singamma Sreenivasan
Foundation decided to initiate a process of knowledge
seeking. The aim of the exercise is not only to find some
locally designed development practices but also to assess
these practices against the trend of "imported
modernisation" and to further assess how far using the
traditional practices would affect the particular local
policy and programme.
8
CHAPTER 2
METHODOLOGY
Information about these practices and their existence
was collected by field visits to villages. An in-formal
questionnaire was canvassed. Collective and individual
discussion were held with persons, especially women.
Practices were observed and recorded.
The Case Studies are more in the nature of Cameos.
Greater technical documentation -further elaborated with the
help of scientific and cultural institutions would be
necessary to convert this documentation into educational
curriculum. This paper is a -first step.
In the search -for identification o-f indigenous
development practices, the -following steps were undertaken.
1. A round o-f discussions with Anthropoligists, Grass Root
Activists, Scientists and Technologists available in the
net-work o-f professionals in Delhi, Bangalore and other
clusters.
2. Reading of literature both on Tradition as well as
discussions on Tradition and Development (see list)
3. Identification of areas which could yield this
information through some quick scouting visits.
4. Discussion of results of scouting visits to see how far
practices were worth pursuing.
5. Planned field visit to rural areas.
9
Visits were planned to areas where some collaboration
with local governmental or non-governmental agency was
ensured in order to find the local associate
6. 3-4 Week's of living in, in order to move around and not
only see the practices but talk to people on their
perception o-f the practices - why they survived and why
they did not.
The -field sites selected were Hunsur taluk in Mysore
district and Udipi taluk in South Kanara (Karnataka),. Hosur
taluk in Dharmapuri district (Tamilnadu) and Kumaon in
Almora district (Uttar Pradesh).
For the Case Studies on Traditional Storage Practices
and Health Practices, Hunsur in Mysore district and Udipi in
South Kanara district were chosen.
The -former was chosen -for the following reasons:
1. Hunsur taluk is considered relatively backward;.
2. Presence o-f several tribal communities who are known
•for the richness o-f their traditions.
3. Presence of voluntary organisations like the DEED whose
contacts in the villages proved invaluable.
The region of South Kanara was chosen because:
1. South Kanara is considered one of the most forward
districts of Karnataka.
10
2. Two major studies were conducted previously in the
region regarding women and development. The studies
w e r e I n t e g r a t i n g W a m e n ' s i nter e s t s i. n t. h e 5 year plan
process, conducted in 1931 and Female Headed Households
in 1984. The data recommendations o-f these earlier
studies, it is felt would provide a context for the
recommendations o-f the present study.
A total number of 8 villages were visited during the
course of the study, four in Hunsur taluk and four in Udipi
taluk. The villages visited were;
Hunsur Taluk Udipi Taluk
4.
Dasanapura
Doddahej j ur
Chickhej jur
Neralakuppe
Subramanya Guddae
Puttur
Kadekar
Parkala
The villages were selected on the basis of a random
sample. In addition to these villagaes, Yeshwantapur in
Malur taluk and T. Bekuppe in Kanakapura taluk were also
visited. The visits to Yeshwantpur and T. Bekuppe were
essentially scouting visits to identify broad areas of
study.
At the onset of the study the researchers did not try
to be too precise about what they meant by 'tradition' or
'wisdom'. A list of practices considered
'traditional'and'excel lent' was prepared with the help of
informed people like agriculture experts, anthropologists,
sociologists,etc. The check list thus prepared was tested at
11
T . Be I< uppe , a v i 11 aq e i n k an a k a pu r a t.a 1 u k o -f Bang a lore
d i s t r i c t. On t h e o u t c o rn e o f t h i s p i a 11 s i.i r v e y , a mor e
detailed checklist. was prepared which -formed the basis -for
queries addressed to the villagers at Hunsur and Udipi
taluks. On most occasions the research team contacted the
village school or the Anganwadi personnel before approaching
the' villagers. Because of the excellent rapport that, the
Anganwadi personnel have with the vi 1 lagers,it was easy to
gather women for group discussions and interview.
In the quest for traditional wisdom, it was only
prudent to contact older people. The anganwadi personnel
helped researchers greatly in this task by not only locating
older women but locating the more locquacious ones amongst
them. The Anganwadi Centre was also most often the premises
for group discussions. Group sise varied -from three to
twenty. These discussions were always very lively with women
sometimes getting into heated arguments amongst themselves
regarding details of the practices queried on. The grdup
mostly comprised of young mothers and older women. (Young
girls (adolescents) would attend the group discussions.)
For indepth interviews and observations o-f practices
the villagers were contacted individually in thier
households or visited at thier work sites (fields).
The scope the theme "Traditional Wisdom' offers is
limitless. However it was decided to limlit the scope of
this study to the following major areas: -Traditional market
places -Traditional storage practices -Traditional health
practices especially related to the major phases in a
12
women's li-fe cycle.
These three areas have been chosen under the assumption
that they are an integral part of women's domain in India.
13
Brief background : South Kanara, Mysore and
Dharmapuri District.
SOUTH KANARA
South Kanara is one of the two coastal districts of
Karanataka and is located in the Western belt. This is
separated -from the rest o-f the South Indian peninsula by the
Western ghats which form the natural boundary o-f the
district on the East. On the West, the Arabian sea form the
natural boundary. The district covers a geographical area of
8441 Sq.Km and lies between the latitudinal parallels of 12
27 and the longitudinal parallesl of 74 35 and 75 40.
The climatic and soil conditions have all along
promoted the spontaneous growth of a variety of plants and
trees in almost all parts of the district. The slopes of the
Western ghats s.rs, in particular clothed with dense
vegetation. In the coastal belt however tree growth is
somewhat sparse.
The climatic of South Kanara is marked by high
humidities and an oppressive weather in the hot season. The
average annual rainfall is 3930 mm and the quantum of
rainfall increases as one moves from the coast towards the
Western ghats.
Cultivable lands of the district are classified mainly
into rice and garden lands. Rice lands si.re further
categorised with reference to availability of water and
fertility of the soil. The first class land, called 'bailu'
comprises of low lying fields with an abundant supply of
14
water. The best type of bai lu called Kolake-gadde yields
three crops of rice a year while the ordinary type of
*bailu-gaddae' yields two crops ot rice and one crop of
grain and the patlu gadde which remains inundated during the
first few months of the monsoon yields, only one rich rice
crop.
The second class of rice lands, called majulu, enjoy a
lesser quantum of water supply and yielded two crops of rice
or one crop of rice and another crop of pulse. The third
class lands, called bettu are entirely rainfed and yield a
good rice crop, every year. Garden lands suitable for
raising arecanut and coconut plantations a.re called bagayat
lands.
F'addy is the principle agricultural crop of the
district and is produced in all the taluks. There ars three
well defined seasons called the Yenel or Karti (from June-
July to Sep-Oct), Suggi(from Oct-Nov to Jan-Nov) and Koike
(from Jan-Feb to April-May). The crops under yenel are
raised under rainfed conditions and during the other two
seasons the crop require certain amount of irrigation.
Nearly 70 percent of the gross area sown with paddy is
accounted for by the yenel crop. The other crops raised
during the season are ragi, chillies, sweet potato, ginger
and vegetables. Horse grams, blackgram and green gram as
well as vegetables a.r<E the chief crops of the second season.
Sugar cane culivatiuon is confined to the coastal taluks,
especially in Udipi and Mangalore. The other important crops
of the district are arecanut, coconut, pepper, cashew,
15
clove, fruits such as banana and pineapple and vegetables.
MYSORE
The district is situated in the Southern part
of the Deccan Peninsula and forms the southern most part of
Karanataka State, Mysore district comprises of an area.
11,954 Sq. Kms, lies between 11 30' and 12 50' Northern
Latitude and 75 45' East longitude» The extreme South forms
a terrain of dense forests and a major portion of the land
here is uniformly covered by red loamy soil. The Western
taluks are bounded by the lofty mountain ranges of the
Western ghats. The soils of the district are predominantly
red sandy loams dervied from granite and gneiss and vary
from pure sand soils to typical black cotton soil. The
taluks of Periyapatna, Heggadadevankote and Hunsur are hilly
in terrain and contain red shallow soils. The climate of the
district is moderate throughout the year. Rainy season
extends from May to October with a maximum annual 1 rainfall
ranging between 620mm to 880mm at Hunsur, Periyapatna and
Heggadadvanakote taluks and also in parts of Chamarajanagar
and Ko Ilegal taluks.
The normal annual rainfall is around 760mm spread over
a period of about seven months, from the later half of April
to October. About 17 percent of the area is sown more than
once every year. A considerable proportion of the land is
thus being intensively used to produce two crops a year
under irrigated conditions. Irrigation by canals is a
charac:ter 1 istic feature of the district. About 18 percent of
16
the net area sown is irrigated.
Land holdings in the district are characterised by the
predominance of small holdings as more than 70 percent of
the holdings are less than two acres in size. Thus small and
marginal farmers are seen to be predominant in the district.
DHARMAPURI
Dharmapuri is located between 11 46' to 12 52' North
Latitude and 77 88' to 78 46' East Latiltude. The area of
this district is 9643 Sq. Km of which roughly 3200 Sq. Km
are coverd forests. The main water sources in the district
are the Cauvery and the South Pennar. The river Cauvery
enters the district at its Western fringes and runs along
with Western and Southern border. The district can be
divided into three natural tracts namely, the Balaghat,the
Baramahal and Talaghat. The Balaghat comprises the Hosur
taluk and the North-eastern portion of Krishnagiri taluk.
The Baramahal consists of an extensive basin with an
elevation of 1300 ft. It consists of the entire taluk of
Dharmapuri, greater part of Krishnagiri and Hosur Taluks.
The remaining eastern and southern portions, are called
Talaghat. Dharmapuri district consists of eight taluks-
Dharmapuri, Harur, Pennagaram,Krishnagiri, Uthanagarai,
Palacode, Hosur, Denkanikottai. The total cultilvable area
is 4,98,223 Ha of which the sown area is 4,77,640 Ha.
17
FIELD SURVEY
PROFILE OF VILLAGES
Table 1 : U j j U P I
1.
2.
7
4 .
Nawi& of place.
Subrawanya, Gudda
Puttuï
KadeXar
ParKal^.
the Populati
1012
1101
1313
720
on Male
501
494
557
354
Female
511
507
651
.Households
130
150
162
177
Table. 2 : HVflSUft.
1 .
i
4.
N a m of the Place
Dasajjpura
podda, Hejjur
Chick Hejjur
J/exalakuppe
Pc >pulati
205
511
191
127
©7J Male
10 2
*"* — •—
100
72
Fewsie'
103
256
91
55
Houi beholds
37
55
34-
32
18
PROFILE OF T.BEKUPPE Table 3.
Vi 1 lags
Taluk
District
: T. Bekuppe
: Kanakapur
: Bangalore
Population 809
Male : 421
Female ÜS8
No. Of Households : 144
19
CHAPTER 3
CASE STUDY 1
The Role and Value of Rural Market Places
INTRODUCTION
In most of the regions o-f the geographical south, we
find bazaars or as it is called in India, "Haats" and
Shandies. These are markets which emerge either once a week,
or month or during festivals. They usually occupy an
established place whether it is pavements or squares or
streets. Their prevalence, appearance and disappearance are
known to the community which often waits for that market.
Sometimes they are specific to a commodity such as cattle or
wool or festival and ritual needs. Most of the time they are
not specific to a commodity but often a veritable super
market.
The characteristics of such markets which brings them
their popularity is that their prices are often lower than
the prices in built-up markets. This lower price is possible
because of low overheads in terms of building space and also
because often the producers themselves a.re the traders.
Most of those who sell in these markets have other
occupations and therefore the income on "market day" is
supplementary income.
An additional aspect of these traditional cultural
markets is that they have provided the opportunity tor-
socialization and therefore pol i ticization of dispersed
20
communities. It has been suggested by social scientist
Luc i 1er Mair that resistence movements including the freedom
struggle ; voting patterns apart from the -fixing of
marriages if not the sharing of new knowledge is achieved in
these markets.
Modernization, however, including the planning of
development of Urban areas extinguishes these markets. Area
planners especially city planners think of built-up markets
with permanent trades people ie. , shop keepers. Vendors are
considered a hazard, a traffic menace. Small towns emerging
in the midst of rural areas also imitate the city in
replacing the open markets by built-up permanent shops. The
word 'informal'further adds to the trend to negate this form
of marketing as worthy of being supported as it stands or as
a model for planning of future habitats.
Yet inspite of these onslaughts these traditional
markets persist. They persist because basically they provide
the best trading grounds for the poor. Their demand is met
by these markets and market places.
There are many notable experiences of women who have
resisted programme and policy attacks on these markets. They
see the built-up market not only as a threat to their daily
bread but also a replacement of their place in the "Job
Market" by men. Thus it is resisted by them both on grounds
of class and gender. Africa, the Carribean, Pacific abound
in such markets.
Of course there are the negative "formal" hierarchical
21
aspects of traditional markets. They i?.re not as innocent as
they look. Vendors are often'held' by larger suppliers,
money lenders and so on. But inspite of the prevalencR of
these shortcomings, they offer a. larger space for the
atomised population to make a living.
The Hosur shandy held on Wednesdays draws an average
of 10,000 customers from about 10 neighbouring villages. The
shandy is held on government land spanning an area of 4.5
acres. The shandy plot is auctioned every year to bidders
who then recover the money by charging a levy on all those
who wish to operate within the shandy. The range of products
at the shandy is such that it caters to every single need of
the villager. But unlike, in the past, shandies are no
longer a conglomeration of producers and rural consumers.
Instead the producers have been replaced almost enmasse by
merchants and middlemen/women.
Fortunately, poor women especially those with no land
holdings or other definite means of livelihood seem to have
reaped the most in this transaction. Shandy day implies a
shade more money than on other days. For some women, it is
the shandy day that has to see them through the rest of the
week. There are other women who make a living by selling at
atleast four to five different shandies a week. Of course,
one does come across the odd women who finds the shandy an
ideal outlet for her home made products. Of a total of 117
women vendors at the Wednesday shandy at Hosur on 1.2.89,
there were only 8 women who were selling wares that they had
prepared themselves. Some of the items they prepared were
rather innovative but ar(2 yet to find favour with a wider
22
market„
For instance. Mi raba i sells little balls made -from a
mixture of crushed onions, garlic, mustard, urud da I, curry
leaves and oil. These a.r<s essential ingredients used in the
seasoning of Indian curries. These pre-prepared balls could
save the Indian housewife a great deal of time. Another
young girl, hardly 20 deserted and with a two year old baby
makes beautiful pot holders from ropes. She also makes
intricate designs on coloured ropes. This is used to tie up
calfs. She learnt the art as part of the family trade but at
present is the only female exponent in her family. Another
woman comes all the way from E<angalore to sell másala,
curry, dhanaya and turmeric powder. She prepares these
powders by buying the necessary ingredients and getting them
powdered at the local mill. She also sells kumkum powder
which is prepared by her uncle in Madras. She visits four
shandies a week and prepares her powders on Mondays and
Fridays,
Vijaya along with her husband, makes wooden combs.
These arts easy to make and can be made at the shandy site
itself. Her husband claimed that he is sure to get Rs.200/-
if he made an initial investment of Rs.100 on wood.
It's the 'kumbharas' who are the traditional pot
makers. This art is now mechanised leaving the kumbharas
frantically looking for other means of livelihood. Thus at
the Hosur Shandy we came across just one woman who was
selling pots that were made by members:; of her family. Her
róle in production is confined to making small items like
23
%hundis' and 'deepas'. There were other women who sold pots
b u t t h e s e were p u r c hi a s e d ir o m me r c han t s , T hey sol d p ots
i- a t. h e r t h a n o t h e r item s , b e c a u s e , t h e y bel o n g t o t h e
community Kurnbhara and hence were not permitted to dabble in
o t her commodi t i es.
Of the half a dozen people? who sold bambooware, only
one was a woman whose family trade this is. Her role was
again confined to making only small items like fans and
moroms (used in cleaning grains, cereals, etc). Other women
who had some role in producing the commodities they sold
were vegetable sellers. Their number is not very significant
(around 3 ) . Of these, two owned small holdings (40 cents and
four acres respectively). The third woman together with her
family members have taken a lease on a drumstick plot for
one season at a cost of Rs. 40(30/-. None of the eight women
mentioned above are aware of any schemes nor have they
availed of any loans (i.e., government, bank, etc.) A
majority of the other women are vegetable vendors. Other
products that women are involved in selling are:
1. Dry fish
2. Tobacco and betel leaves
3. Items of clothing (mostly second hand clothes that are
given to them at the shandy site by merchants to sell)
4. Eatables like pori mixture
5. Fancy items like bangles, hair pins, flowers, etc.
Some of the women run shops in towns selling the same
item but on shandy day, they either close shop or let one of
their family members in charge of it and settle down with
24
t h e i r w a r e s on so rn e p 1 o t i n t h e S h a n ci y . T h e v o 1 u. m e o f
transaction on shandy day definitely compensates the; lower
prices at which they may have to sell (e;-;: vegetables a.rB 5id
p s . to 1 Re. che a per in t h e s h a n d y t h a n i. n t h e 1 o c a 1
market). Other women, who do not have any such established
shops in the town, conduct business only on shandy days and
probably the day after that, in case they have any unsold
goods. They have no money to start with but the merchants at
the local mandi loan them goods worth a certain amount
either on a daily (shandy days) or on a weekly basis. This
money will have to be returned in the evening, once the?
day's transaction are over or when next she approaches them
for more goods. Though they claim the money they make
(ranging from Rs.10 to Rs.35 per day) is a pittance, this is
the maximum they will ever earn during the week.
Though the Tamil Nadu Government has set a minimum wage
for labour (Rs.12), it is only Rs. 6-7 that they will earn
if they Are hired by private contractors, whereas the wages
for men are much more higher. This could be one of the
reasons why the shandy draws a number of women to it. Also,
there are many women who are too old or weak for hard labour
and the shandy is their only chance for making a few rupees.
Most of these women sell atleast at two shandies a week -the
one at Hosur and the other at either Bagelur or
Karamangalam. But there are others (like the bangle seller)
who is at one of the other shandy everyday of the wee!:: -
25
TABLE 4
H03UR SHAllüY r A Profile of Trade
iîarrie of the Panchayat Union
H a ¡ne of Shandy
Panchayat Union (or) Panchayat Shandy
Category of Shandy
C ommon/Cattle
Total Vendors
No. of women vendors transacting business in the shandy
Total No. of Customers
Population covered by the shandy
Day of the shandy
Classification of the Land at which the shandy is located according to notif icacion
Hosur
Hosur Tov/n
Hosur selection grade tov/n poini
Common
240
117
14,500
10,000
Wednesday
Point land
Location specified
'Whether road point or street point
Survey No. exten for Col.8
'Whether notified or not
Average income of the shandy for the year
Rayakotta Road
Road point
4.5 acres
Notified
Rs.1,69,000/-
26
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Almora Markets and Producers
A n o t h e r R u r a 1 H a a t S u. r v e y w a s> u nder t a k e n i n A 1 m a r a.
district of Uttar Pradesh for the purpose of studying the
activities and problems of hill women of Kumaon, who are
engaged in a variety of cottage industries and other
occupations. The area is mountainous and the villagers led a
fairly isolated life until recently. As a result, they were
largely self-sufficient and their limited needs were
satisfied by the products of their traditional cottage
industries. The survey of local markets and traditional
melas reveals the changes that have taken place with the
opening up of the area to urban influences.
Marketing Systems in Kumaon
Local permanent markets surveyed: Almora, Garud,
Bageshwar, Someshwar, Channauda, Kausani.
Me las surveyed: Bageshwar, Jauljibi, Kausani, Kot,
Almora.
In kumaon, there is no tradition of weekly village
haats. There are only the local permanent markets in the
towns, and the traditional me las held through the year in
various places. A survey of these? markets and me las revealed
the same trend as above, that is, the increasing influence
of urban markets in big cities, and the inflow of thier
products into the? local markets and melas. In the markets in
Almora,, Garud and Bageshwar, a variety of factory-made goods
28
are on sale, from stainless steel utensils and stationery,
t. o m i 1 1 - m a de c l o t h a n d c: o s m e t. i c s ; a n d , e v e r y w h e r e ., t h e r e a r e
plastic and other synthetic goods available including
s1 ippers, bags, toys and cloth.
There are several instances where the products of
traditional cottage industry are displaced by products -from
outside. For instance, locally made woollen shawls and
sweaters are often rejected in preference for the modern
designs and bright colours of machine-made woollen garments
from Ludhiana. Similarly, women and girls 1 increasingly
prefer to use plastic bags in place of traditional ringaal
baskets which are often cumbersome, especially when
travelling by bus. A further instance is that of the Tamta
community, where copper vessels are too expensive compared
to cheaper utensils available from city markets.
Although the process of change cannot be reversed
it is necessary to help traditional cottage industries
retain their position, by providing support wherever
possible, to ensure that thier products remain competi1tive.
For instance, local woollen garments could also adopt new
designs and colour to suit different tastes. Similarly, in
the various melas of the region, the local authorities could
provide a stall for traditional cottage industry products
where the ringaal artisans, the wool workers, and others,
could display and sell thier products. This would be of
great help to the local people who suffer considerable
harassment when they attend these meals.
Apart from the local markets and melas, products such
29
Í as ringaal goods and chillies are also sold by going from
village to village, while others are sold directly from
homes, as in the case of woollen shawls and sweaters.
This village was included in the survey because the
women, whose primary occupation is agriculture, would like
to take up an income-generating activity in order to earn
some money. This activity would be a subsidiary one, which
they can do in thier spare time, after -finishing thier work
in the fields and forests. At present, whatever spare time
available, is spent in collecting more wood from the forest,
and the women feel that if they have some other occupation
to pursue during this period, this will keep from collecting
fuel wood in excess of thier needs; and in the long run,
this will prevent over-cutting in thier forest.
The women have learnt how to knit sweaters on knitting
machines and would now like to make and sell sweaters
locally. They can get additional training in making carpets
at the proposed unit for woollen products in Kausani, from
the Bhotiya women who are skilled in the art, and market
thier products jointly from this unit. Apart from this , we
can consider the feasilbility of other activities such as;
making and selling of potato chips locally (potatoes ar&
grown farily abundantly in the village), and bee-keeping.
Lakshmi Ashram.
In the course of the rural haat survey, we have seen
that the traditional cottage industries of the region are an
important part of the lives of the local inhabitants
especially the? women, who play a major role in these
30
industries. These women are highly skilled and very hard
working. They, and thier -families, depend on these
activities for thier livelihood. Thier problems are many but
they themselves have suggested the kind of assistance and
•facilities they need to s love these problems. Our task is to
help provide them with assistance and support, to increase
thier awareness, and to help them gain strength through
collective action. This rural haat survey is the first step
in this direction.
There are many voluntary groups in India that are
trying to help poor women by introducing income-generation
training schemes. Thier hope is to give a little more
confidence and a little more power to the women.
Unfortuntely they do not always first study the market
properly, and therefore become dependent on market support
agencies.
Most of these items are export-oriented and therefore
the poor women producer does not really comprehend all the
intricacies and remains dependent on either the voluntary
agencies helping with marketing or the exporter.
If the market she seeks is within her grasp i.e., very
localised, she would immediately pick up confidence and
knowledge-perhaps it would be a clearer step towards
empowerment of women.
Rural women producers are extermly vulnerable if they
are selling in national(city) or export markets. In the
export market, the producers are completely dependent on
either an exploitative exporter, or a voluntary agency, and
31
also completely dependent on the designer; the export: market
is completely removed -from the procducers vision. In the
n a t i o n a 1 m a r k et also , t h e m a r k e t i s r e m o v e d -from t. hi e
producers vision, though to a lesser degree. The markets
like Central Cottage Industries have severe limitations.
But, almost in every village in India, there is a rural
haat (weekly or bi-weekly). This is a great resource.
Unfortunately, this resource is not at present under
utilised by women producers, but is being -flooded with a lot
o-f second-rate,low-qua1 ity,but low priced goods made by big
industires in metropolitan cities. The means o-f production
have become so diverse and divided that the crafts
person/producer is no longer in control.
This is the first rationale -for a local traditional
market which women can control; they will not be affected by
fluctuations of national or export markets; also, they do
not become dependent on voluntary agencies either.
The second set of reasons for supporting such an
institution are the characteristics of the local rural haat:
-The women producer has first-hand knowledge of the market
-The rural haat. is an important starting place for hesitant,
inexperienced women producers to come out of old
exploitative market patterns; it is right near her home
-She can educate herself, learn pricing, learn about
perferences and requirements of her customers, and about the
market
32
-She can easily plan and cater to seasonal demands
-She can introduce new products along with old, exhibit
them., create demand
-She is taking much less ot a risk, She
can take orders
-She can develop services (e.g. Mehendi
application, bicycle repair)
-she has low establishment
costs, space is not a problem, transport is not a problem
-She gets over the problem of mobility; she can keep in
touch with her chi Idem
-Her skills get improved;(since
earlier she has been working on a small part of a product,
her skills would have deteriorated). Thus, the marginal
producers are assisted
-She can eliminate middle men, o-ften
the product -for local market is low priced, but take up a
lot ot space, which is uneconomical -for middle men to invest-
in .
The third set ot reasons -for supporting such an
institution is that it can bring together and build up
strong women producers and haatwalis
group/associations/cooperatives. Thus, a diverse group of
women of different religions/castes can come together. They
can then
33
-lobby -for protective legislation
-buy from each other
-can develop combination-products
-can encourage dialogue between panchayats, producers,
he*atwalis, designers
-can lobby -for inf restructure or build up their Own
infrastructure:
- space
- electricity
- in-formation-giving (publicity)
- technological services
- design and product innovation
- -frontage access, gates
- storage space
- cleaning the surroundings
- shades or trees
They can also develop creative and -flexible services,
-for their own, local-specific needs,
- Design cell for stronger, longer—lasting, more attractive
higher quality, low-cost products
- Mobile bank counters
- Off-season advance assistance, e.g., warehouses where 80"/.
of price of products can be given as advance and stored
till harvests, weddings
34
- Test marketing
- Rural marketing centres where products can be sold on
instalments
- Mobi le creehes
Training in pricing and account-keeping
The fourth, and compelling reason is the size of the rural
weekly or bi-weekly haats. One guess estimate is that
there are 75,000 village haats in the country, with a
turnover of Rs. 7,500 crores per year.
But a large share of this turnover is, at present
captured by city-made products.
35
Local Consumer
City products
backed by
\ Local Products
advertising
radio
T.V
Film
Magazines
Newspapers
There seems to be a concerted advertising of city-made
products which create a demand -for these products even
though they are o-ften inferior to local products. Rural
produce is going to urban centred -factories, rural money
and rural labour are also going to cities. Hence rural
surplus is being siphoned away into cities and towns.
Rural Urban Converted Rural produce —» centres —» into —^ sold -^ centres
•factories products
Consequently, the rural artisan -finds herself in an
impossible situation - see d-iagram below:
Gets her loom/ Buys cotton on funds for repair {—[Village weaverj-*^-credit of loom (Source:Wholesale
dealer Sells to
(Source : Wholesale dealer)
Wholesale dealer
Turned into ready mades
Sold at village
Bought by weaver
36
CHAPTER 4
Case Study 2
Traditional Storage Practices
The State of Karnataka spans an area of 1.92 lakhs
sq.Km and has a population of 371.36 lakhs with more than
707. living in villages.
The gross area under fopdgrains crops targetted -for
cultivation during 1988-89 is around 56.22 lakh hectares and
anticipated production is put around 66.45 lakhs M.T. Among
•food grains rice, jowar and ragi BVB the most important
crops both from area and production points of view.
The food grain production in our country has
considerably increased over the last few decades (refer
Table). Actually the area under cultivation has fallen
drastically but the yield per acre has more than compensated
for this decline in total land area sown. This upward trend
in production is a result of adopting intensive agriculture
with adequate supplies of fertilisers, pesticides,
irrigation facilities and the introduction of high yielding
varities. But while production has increased in arithmetic
progression, our population increase is in geometric
progression thus throwing at us the challenge of further
increasing our food grain production to feed the hungry
masses. This also implies cutting down our losses in
production which at the moment is estimated at 10-12"'.
occuring at various stages such as harvesting, thrushinq,
37
drying , transporting, storing, handling etc. * Of this loss,
in storage alone accounts -for about 5 - 67. of the actual
p r o d u c t i o n ., ( E sima t ion o -f c o r r e c: t q u a n t i t a tive and
qualitative losses are complicated by a large number of
variables such ¿is different modes of weighing, variation in
moisture content of grain, mode of storage etc.).
In India, out of the total grain production, 707. remain
in.the villages with grain stored in traditional ways, the
marketable surplus of the remaining 307. is handled by
traders and governments. Grain is stored for the following
major reasons:
1. For consumption
2. For seed purposes
3. To create buffer stocks in order to stabilise prices
of the commodity in the market
4. To tide over national calamities
like flood, draught etc.
More specifically efficient grain storage techniques
are essential for the following reasons as well:
1. There will be more food to eat for the rural population
2. Nutrition status will improve
3. Farmers will have more food to sell
4. Standard of living of the farmer will improve
5. More quantities of wholesome food will be available to
38
n o n - f a r m i n g pop u 1 a t. .i. o n
6. Quality of agricultural produce will go up even to
compete with other countries in the export market
7 . E c o n o rn y o f t he c o u n t. r y w ill ta e s o u n cl e r
Grain during storage is attacked by insects, rodents, birds
and micro-organisms. Their activities result in not only a
considerable loss in quantity but also result in
quaiitative deterioration.
Storage period amongst small and marginal farmers vary
from .6-12 months. Factors inf luencing grain storage are both
scientific and socio-economic in nature. The scientific
factors are physical, biological, zoological, chemical and
engineering factors where as the socio-economic factors are
finance, marketing, methods of farming and technical
know-how. All these factors must be borne in mind while
structuring the ideal storage system.
Temperature and moisture are two important factors
affecting storage which are inter—related. The tropical
climatic conditions are conducive for the activities of
living things including insects and micro-organisms whose
optimum temperature is in the range of 20-45 C. Moisture
content is an important factor that limits the activity and
development of insects, mites and micro organisms. Varietal
characteristics ai agricultural commodities play an
important role in storage. For- example, finer varities ai
paddy are more susceptible to insects and pests compared to
the coarse varieties. Grain can also be contaminated by the
39
excreta of the insects, hairs, urine and pellets of the
rats. Insects and microorganisms can produce toxins which
are care inogenous. Thus the -functional and structural
requirements o-f grain storage can be broadly categorised as
fol lows :
Capacity and strength
Weather tightness
Protection -from rodents
4. Insulation efficiency
5. Loading and unloading arrangements
6. Economics of the structure
Traditional storing techniques described in the pages to
follow as observed in the regions of Hunsur and Udipi taluk
may not fulfill all the above requirements but these are
methods that have been in vogue since time immemorial, their
construction reveals the ingenuity of the farmer. They are
extremely cost efficient. With some technical genius these
may become "ideal" systems for dispersed farming.
HUNSUR belongs to the sub-sahayadri sector of Karnataka
whereas UDIPI falls under the coastal belt. These
geographical differences play a vital role in determining
the cropping patterns and associated traditional practices
prevailing in these regions.
In the Hunsur region Rag i is the staple crop, in Udipi
it is rice. Ragi, paddy and co peas are the chief items of
40
storage.
Ragi was traditionally stored in huge granaries dug
into the earth in the open -fields. The mouth of the granary
was just enough for a person to lower himself in and out of
it but the sise inside varied according to the needs of the
-farmer. The walls and the -floor were plastered with cowdung .
In some cases ragi husk is used to plaster the insides of
the granary. A fine layer of sand is spread on the floor and
ragi poured into this almost to the very brim. The top layer
consisted of either ragi straw or earth. The opening is
sealed with a slab of stone. Grain stored thus can be
preserved for years at a stretch. In other places, earthern
pots over 6 ft high are used to store ragi. The process
calls for the addition (that too, not necessarily) of only
that which is available in the vicinity and at hardly any
cost. For instance, neem leaves a.r<3 mixed along with ragi to
keep it free of pests. Cowdung coated on the floor and the
sides of the Gudana also serves the same purpose. Cowpeas, a
rich source of protein is either stored by itself or
together with ragi. The outer covering is removed and the
beans 3.r& dried well in the sun. This is then coated with
red mud and stored in gunny bags. Other methods of storing
cow peas include soaking it in water for a few days at a
stretch and then drying it in the sun before storing it.
This is done so that the beans do not sprout. Mixed
granaries were also a papular form of storage. Gudanas
mentioned above were used to store tooth ragi as well as cow
peas. Such granaries held alternate layers of ragi and cow
peas upto the very brim, the top layer comprising of ragi
41
hay- The practice of storing rag.i in gudanas is being
adandoned not only because o-f the changing value system in
the villages today, but also because o-f new problems that
are cropping up with the times. Gudanas built in open fields
gradually became lucrative * targets -for theives and vandals.
Secondly, with increasing ground moisture due to better
irrigation -facilities there was the danger of water seepage
into these granaries leading to irreparable damage to the
stored grains. Thirdly the quantity of ragi that need be
stored has dropped drastically not only due to lesser output
but also because villagers tend to sell it to the open
markets tor whatever price it fetches, rather than store it
over the next few years for their own consumption. With
growing consumerism the villagers prefer cash to ragi in the
gudanas.
PADDY
Storage of food grains like paddy revolves around the
principle that as long as grains remain air tight and are
not exposed to the elements there is no reason why they
should deteriorate/spoil. Thus most of the grains are
packed tightly in hay and left undisturbed until required.
The growth of paddy requires alluvial soil and
adequate rains. The sub--sahayadri region to which Hunsur
belongs cannot boast of these two features and hence paddy
is grown only to a limited extent. Provision for storage of
paddy is made in every house in the villages. Either entire
rooms are alloted to paddy storage or corners are earmarked,
using wooden partitions running from the floor to the
42
ceiling with a small wooden door close to the ceiling to
fill in or remove paddy.
Paddy is the staple crop of South Kanara. Ragi is
hardly grown in these regions. South Kanara has interesting
paddy storage techniques. EJ.oth paddy and rice are stored,
but using different techniques. Paddy is grown both for
consumption as well as -for the market. Immediately after the
harvest, paddy is stored in constructions called ganajas. In
most cases, the entire output is stored in these ganajas
except in rare instances where the -farmers would sell it
immediately -for cash. Most of the farmers we contacted
claimed that they wait for the prices to climb before they
sell their output. Thus they have to necessarily resort to
efficient storage techniques.
Ganajas are attractive constructions built entirely of
ropes hay, bamboomats and cane for support. These ganajas
are temporary constructions and adorn the courtyards of most
farmers. The farmers construct these after every harvest,
the size varying according to the amount they want to store.
Thus the height varies from 2- 3 feet to over B feet.
Ganajas are of two kinds. 1. Galagae, constructed using
bamboo mats placed side by side to form a circle.
2.'Thirrikattudu', constructed using coir ropes and straw.
The? base on which the ganaja is built is available ready
made, the size varying according to the quantity that has to
be stored.
In the case of the Thirrikattudu gsmaja thick coir ropes
are wound spirally to form a cylinder. A layer of husk is
43
spread at the bottom and as each ring is -formed paddy is
poured in to occupy the space thus created. The top most
layer comprises of hay. This is -further covered with hay
arranged in a conical manner. Thirrikattudu ganajas are
popular since the size * can be varied according to the
quantity that has to be stored. Its construction requires
skill and practice. The construction of çalagaes arc
relatively easier since it only calls for ¿arranging bamboo
mats in a ring above the base. Again the bottom layer
comprises of husk. Paddy is poured to the very brim of the
cylinder, topped with hay and further protected with hay
arranged conically. Cow dung is smeared on the outside of
these ganajas to seal any holes that may be there and also
ward off pests. A small opening is created at the base to
remove paddy whenever required.
The process of packing in hay calls for skilled hands.
The villagers call it ""Muddi Kattodhu" and is the most
popular form of storage in most of South Kanara. When rice
is stored "Umi or Husk" is mixed with it in order to keep it
free from pests. A "mudi" can hold only upto 40 Kilos of
rice. It is sometimes quoted with cowdung on the outside? not
only to prevent pests from getting in but also to make it
more airtight. Most of these Mudis are stored in some corner
of the house, but some people prefer storing it in the
kitchen or more precisely just above the Chula on the house.
The smoke and the warmth from the chula will ensure better-
preservation. This is so especially in the case of pulses
like Horse Gram. Either the Mudi is suspended above thi?
Chula using a rope or placed on a specially constructed
44
shelf just above the Chula.
Mudi Construction
The process is very interesting and calls -for great
skill and practice. First of all the person preparing the
mudi takes a bundle of hay and ties it together at one end
about 6 - 12 inches from one edge. The bundle is held at
this end and using both hands is swirled over head so as to
spread the hay out in a circle. Before this is done, a loose
ring is made from a rope and placed on the floor. The hay
thus spread out is placed in the middle of this ring so that
the stump created from the end that is tied is facing
upwards. The stump is flattened by stamping on it. Next a
lot of loose hay is sprinkled on top. This is also well
stamped upon to flatten it. Next standing in the middle of
the circle thus formed all the hay is pulled by the person
creating a cylindrical structure. The rope on the floor is
drawn upwards to keep the hay in place. Rice or the pulse
that needs to be stored is poured into the cylinder along
with other additives like husk etc. , Now the top is well
sealed by tying together opposite strands of hay. The whole
bundle is now tightly bound together with rope thus making
it secure and compact. Cowdung is then smeared on the
outside. The bundle then is left outside to dry in the sun
for a day or two and then stored wherever convienent.
This method is extensively used not only to store rice
but also urud, hesaru, hurl i, red chilli etc.
45
Tamarind and Vegetable Storage
The fruit is collected from the tamarind trees and dried
well in the sun. The seeds are then separated -from the pods
and this is once again dried. The pods then are beaten well
together with salt and coconut oil to -form a homogenous
mass. This is shaped into balls and wrapped in Doopada
leaves. These are then stored in gunny sacks and placed just
above the chula in the kitchen. Tamarind stored thus remains
•fresh for almost two to three years. Vegetable storage
preservation techniques in South Kanara are unique, simple
and extremely effective. Most houses in the villages visited
had bamboo rods running close to the ceiling. These rods are
used to support rings made -from coconut leaves. Vegetables
like cucumber and pumpkin are suspended in these rings.
Vegetables suspended thus remain -fresh tor 4-6 months. The
idea is to ensure that the vegetable does not come in
contact with any surface and hence the -free suspension.
Similarly bulbs like onions and garlic are uprooted along
with their stems. Bunches of onions and garlics are stored
•for months by suspending them -from beans running close to
the ceiling with the help o-f these stems.
Major advantages of these structures can be summed up as
follows:
Paddy stored in the ganajas described is removed before
the onset of monsoons. Besides the advantages of low cost of
constructions and storage because of the ventilation through
46
the structure, the grain is well aerated retaining its
original appearance and thus -fetch a better price, than
grain stored under airtight conditions. Other structures
like the mud i are also -favoured because of the low cost in
construction and the material used is available in
abundance. Construction techniques are well known and the
structure is easily transportable. Placing these above the
chula has the three-fold purpose o-f avoiding the menance o-f
rats, discourages insects and pests and the warmth provides
ideal temperature conditions. This is so in the case o-f
grains/cereals that are stored -for consumption. The very
same mudi is also used for grains that are used for seeding
purposes. These grains require the passage of air to retain
its viability and hence instead of placing them indoors a
bamboo and hay construction is prepared outdoors. A raised
platform is constructed with bamboo rods, the mudis are
placed on these and then well covered with hay as depicted
in the photographs. This sample construction satisfies all
the required conditions of an effective storage system,
especially for seeding purposes in that
1. Viability is ensured
2. Since the grains are placed on a raised platform,
rat menance is avoided.
3. Coating the mudi with mud acts as a sufficiently
efficient insect repellant.
4. Construction is very cheap and uses only local materials.
5. Cowdung mitigates fire hasards
47
Grains stored in earthern pots are known to retain
their viability. Also these structures ar<3 not susceptible
to attacks by mice.
A prime advantage of the 'Ganaja' is that the size is
determined purely on the requirements and convenience o-f the
farmers- In the case o-f Thirrikatta ganajas, the inner
diameter goes on increasing with height. The structure is
constructed in such a way so as to withstand hoop stresses.
The conical shape adopted results in the usuage of
relatively lesser floor space.
A major source of contamination is when permanent
storage systems are not thoroughly cleaned before the
introduction of fresh stocks. This problem does not arise in
the case of temporary structures like the ganajas and mudi
which are constructed afresh after each harvest.
Another advantage of these structures are that they can
easily be improved upon to suit modern requirements. Since
the storage principles adopted by the farmers are basically
sound, improvements need aim at only reinforcing these
structures so as to increase their capacity and strengthen
them, make them more air tight, moisture proof and insect
proof, increase insulation efficiency and devise practical
loading and unloading arrangements.
The existing traditional structures can be improved
keeping these factors in mind. One has to necessarily arrive
at a compromise? between the functional ability and the
economic viability. For instance when granular material like
48
grain is allowed to -flow -freely from a point into a pile, it
adopts an angle o-f repose thus giving the farmer the
impression that the structure is full when actually there is
enough space left in the sides. Also, in the case of grain
storage, hoop stress plays a more important role than
pressure exerted by the total weight ot the grain. Wind
pressure in the case o-f outdoor structures will also have to
be taken into consideration. Care should be taken against
the -formation o-f 'hot spots' which are created due to the
accumulation o-f heat and moisture due to the respiratory
activity o-f the grains. These ' hot spots' could result in
mould growth as well as assist insect activity. Insulation
efficiency implies protecting the grain against atmospheric
heat. In designing inlet and outlet for storage structures,
the various stresses developing at these junctures should be
borne in mind.
Changes to be incorporated regarding structure
Improvement suggested are based on code of practices
drawn up by the Indian standards Institution as early as
1956. However the viability of these suggesions have to be
examined in term o-f suitability to the needs o-f the farmer
as well as adequacy and possible repurcussions on the
methods suggested.
In the case of the outdoor ganaja, the main problem are
in terms of rat control as well as moisture control arising
as a result of being constructed n the earth and outdoors.
The Indians Standard Institutions has suggested building
49
these constructions on raised, platforms. Alternatively RCC
rings or circular metal sheet metal walls can also be used.
A strong floor made up of bricks has been suggested. Also to
avoid rats getting at the grains, it was recommended that
the base thus constructed be about 61 cms in height. This is
to prevent rats jumping at the ganaja directly as a rat can
jump only upto 50 Cms. Indoor structures can also be claced
on wooden plat-form with metal cones to keep them free from
rats.
To make storage structures constructed using mud or
bricks moisture proof an application of tar and plastering
with mortar has been suggested. In the case of underground
storage structures moisture seepage and rodent problem can
be avoided by constructing a 115 mm thick brick wall.
Ordinary tar can be applied liberally on the floor and on
the walls. To avoid grains coming in direct contact with
tar, the insides may be plastered.
Other recommendations to reduce moisture absorption is
to dry the grains thoroughly. This is in keeping with the
villagers basic thinking but the mistake they most often
commit is to store the grains when they are still warm from
drying in the sun. Thus on storing this condensation of
water takes place thus leading to increased moisture. What
the villagers must do is to wait for the dried grains to
cool down to normal temperature before storing them.
50
KARNATAKA Çoop £RA»MS í A ptGTWE
I. COMMODITY - RICE TABLE 5
Year
1955
1965
1975
1985 ( in lakhs)
Area.
21,70,027
11,43,869
11,70,567
10.96
Pr oductrloin
11,65,138
12,40,106
21,6 4,174
20.23
Average-
1, 24 7
1,1236
1,94 6
1,943
II. COMMODITY - RAGI T7}£L£ 6 '
year
1955
1965
1975
(i?\9ÍÍkhsj
Area
23,01,526
12,60,065
10,73,140
11.09
Product! ©7i
8,89,112
3,33,903
13,47,665
11.28
average
921
279
1,316
1,670
Atea-in lafch hectares
P?a auction-In fcoímes
Average - yield p*r acre/
source : Department of Statistics & Economics
51
MYSORE
COMMODITY - RICE ^ T A B L E , 7
Year
1955-56
1965-66
1975-76
1965-86
Area, under cultivation
1,23,630
52 ,548
72., 053
63, 58*
Production
86,817
79,073
1,61,894
¿,76,584
Average
t,69Z
„ 1,572
2,365
4,579
Area. - i* lafch hectares
l rod notion - tn t&nnes
Average - Yield per acre
Source : JDeparbwenfc- oé Statistics & EcoTjofcacj
52
PAK5HINA K/1NNADA
COMHCUITY - RICF TABLE 8
Year
4955-5é
1965-66
4975-76
*935-8é
4rfca, uioder cultivation
4,64,05 7
2 ,09,237
1,72,450
1,55,775
Pïfoctucfciow
2,33,703
2,25,067
2,61,169
4,47,0.93
Average
1,203
1,132
l,5"94
3,021
Area - in J.akh hectares
production - ¿n tonnes
Average. - yi&ld [per acre
Source : Department of Statistics & Economics &0VT QPKARNRTflKR
53
CHAPTER 5
Case Study 3
Traditional Health Practices
The phases chosen for the study are".
1. Menstruation
2. Pre natal practices
3. Post natal practices
Menstruation practices are often elaborate with
seemingly no reasons except that this has been observed -for
generations and hence continue to be practiced to this day.
But a closer examination of these practices do reveal
reasons enough to support their continued practice.
The emotional trauma that the adoloscent girl may
undergo on menstruating for the first time is given due
consideration and hence customs have evolved to help her
accept these changes in her as well as enhance her sense of
self. Most of these more elaborate rituals pertain to the
first menstruation (menarche).
These rituals are often symbolic gestures combined with
prudent health practices. For instance in South Kanara, the
girl is made to sit on five coconuts and given a bath. The
coconuts symbolise fertility.
Special diets are observed in the belief that it will
help strengthen vital regions like the back and the uterus.
All these practices will appear meaningful only when viewed
in a rural context where a bath a day is considered a luxury
54
and two square meals is the most a villager can hope -for.
Thus traditions and customs have to intervene in order to
ensure that the menstruating girl maintains a certain
standard of hygiene and is not denied the essential dietary
intake.
Practices in Hunsur (Mysore District)
Isolating the girl for periods ranging from 3 to 10
days are a common feature. A hut like construction is built
just outside her house and she has to spend the required
number of days in there. The hut is elaborately festooned
with leaves of different varieties. In most places 5
different kinds of leaves are a must. Amongst the brahmins
there is much celebration on this occassion. Celebrations
are also directly proportional to the economic status of the
family. Amongst the poorer sections like the tribals a bath
everyday during the periods is a must. This is not the case
with some sections of the brahmins. The former consider a
bath essential because they are most probably not able to
handle the menstural flow whereas the latter avoid a bath
for fear of catching a cold. Generally the tribals cannot
afford a bath a day, not only due to the shortage of water-
but also because this implies a change of clothing which
most of them can ill afford. Thus a bath is reserved for
important occassions and is an important part of the ritual
observed on such occassions. The use of different leaves to
decorate the hut is probably to purify the air around and to
camouflage any unpleasant odour.
55
The associated diets with menstruation has no room -for
hot or spicy -food and with good reason. Hot -food can result
in increase of menstural flow and also increase the pressure
on the uterus. The girl is fed large quantities of urud dal.
This is believed not only to strengthen the back but also
reduce gas formation and helps control the spasms. Isolating
the women is one way of assuring she gets some much required
rest. A mensturating woman is considered unclean and is
therefore not permitted to cook, clean or for that matter
even touch another person. Thus she need do nothing but rest
and take good ca.re of herself.
Lot of fatty substances like ghee, sweetmeats, sesame
oil etc. is given. A mixture of jaggery and copra is given
in substantail quantities. Jaggery is a rich source of
iron, calcium and vitamin E. During her first menstural
period, the girl is given gifts of copra, dal, ragi etc., by
her relatives and neighbours. This ensures an adequate
supply of such essentials. This special diet is offered
for periods ranging from a month to a year in certain cases.
Other rituals include poojas, blessing the girl by
older women, not giving any vegetables from the mistaken
notion that it leads to increase in water content in the
body etc.
Pre-natal practices
The pre-natal period has relatively fewer rituals
associated with it. Supply of iron and vitamins is ensured
through the normal diet which comprises largely of ragi and
56
greens. The tribals of Neralakuppae consume 16 different
varieties of greens including tender bamboo shoots and
leaves almost regularly. For most women this is not a period
of rest. She is most often working until the last moment
before delivery. This is believed to be the reason why most
delivaries are quick and uncomplicated. The first delivery
is usually in the girl's mother's place. Amongst the
Brahmin's during the seventh month of pregnancy a ceremony
called the 'bangle ceremony' is practiced, wherein gifts of
bangles are given to a few elderly women and the pregnant
women is made to wear a few as well. The bangles are usually
green and this is to bless her with a son (the more sought
after sex). This practice is not common amongst the other
castes.
Delivery of the child in hospitals or maternity homes
is a fairly recent phenomenon. Most deliveries are at home
with an attending midwife, or in some cases the older women
in the family and in even some rare cases the mother herself
delivers her own baby.
Describing delivery practices, the tribals stated that
when the labour pain begin all that is kept handy is a few
rags, some hot water and a blade to severe the umbilical
cord. A quick delivery is favoured and therefore a drink
made from cummin seeds is given to the women in labour to
increase the spasms. Warm castor oil is smeared from the
waist downwards and warm water poured over it.
Contrary to the belief that a new mother must be fed
well to help her recoup from her tiring experience, in the
57
villages, the new mother is almost starved. Food provided is
at a minimum and cannot be considered very nutritive. The
idea is that if the baby is big, passage at birth is more
difficult if not risky. Pepper is a must in the curries
prepared and this is supposed to help heal the wounds.
Pulses, spices, root vegetables, sour foods etc., ara
generally avoided immediately after delivery. The main
reasons for this being that these foods are considered 'cold
producing' and could lead to stiffness of the joints and
also that they ar& hard to digest and thus could lead to
gastro-intestinal problems
Practices in Udipi (Mangalore Dist.)
Isolating the girl during menarche for periods
ranging from three to five days Bre common. The number five
seems to play an important role in the rituals practiced.
For instance, when it. is known that the girl is
menstruating, she is made to sit on a wooden plank that is
resting over 5 coconuts. Five married women in the vicinity
a.re informed and asked to give her a bath. This is done by
pouring pots of water over her head. A madiwala or a dhobhi
occupies a place of prominence in these rituals, she is
invited to take part in these rituals. The costume that the
girl happens to wear on the day she menstruated for the
first time is given away to the madiwala for her to keep.
The girls clothing for the next few days are not washed or
even touched by the members at home but is instead given to
the madiwala to clean.
58
In some places, villagers have this practice of sending
the girl away -from their homes to stay with relatives for a
•few days. The villagers could not state why they did this
except that it has always been done.
The occasion also c£tlls -for much celebration. The girl
is decked in all -finery, guests are invited and a feast
held. These guests may bring gi-fts -for the girl. Food items
rich in protein, fat and iron content comprise a major part
of the diet. Food given is of course dependent on what is
available in the region. In South Kanara, items like
coconut, milk, copra etc form an important part of the diet
whereas in Hunsur Taluk of Mysore District urud dal and
castor oil are favoured. Other items that Are considered
important in the girls diet are methi, avilaki (beaten
rice), ghee, jaggery, curds, fruits like banana etc. Spices
and hot food are avoided in the belief that they may
increase the menstrual flow due to increased heat in the
body.
These practices cannot be dismissed summarily as
outmoded. They need to be viewed in the light of the lives
of the rural poor. True, isolating the girl is uncalled for
and may even work to her economic disadvantage if she
happens to be working but it must be remembered that work, in
a rural context implies tough physical labour which is best
avoided at such times. She may in fact look forward to this
forced resting period, a welcome respite from the harsh
drudgery of everyday work.
Poor rural homes comprise of minimal living space and a
59
cooking region. Toilets a.re non existent and bathing areas
are confined to a small section a.t the back of the home with
inadequate drainage facility. Given such a set up its
prudent for the menstruating girl to confine herself to her
corner or in special constructions outside (as in some
cases).
The special dietary intake is a must. Its a proven
fact that the food items given has a positive effect on
vital areas of the women's body. The woman is duty bound to
produce more than just one off spring and these practices
are a must to help her sustain the ordeal.
Pre-natal practices:
Pre-natal practices like in Hunsur ^re not very
elaborate. The most significant event is the bangle ceremony
performed during the eigth month. This is performed both in
the husbands home as well as at the wife's place. The
ceremony at the husband's place is elaborate with varities
of sweets prepared for the occassion. Guests are invited and
a feast held. This ceremony is performed only when the girl
is pregnant with her first child and is performed just
before she leaves for her mothers place for the delivery. A
practice common in Udipi which is common in most parts of
Karnataka as well,is not to deny the pregnant woman anything
she asks for. This is in the belief that the mother's mental
and physical well being is crucial to the healthy
development of the child in the womb. Thus people do their
best not to hurt the pregnant women in any way and keep her
60
in a pleasant -frame o-f mind.
There is no special diet -for the pregnant woman except
•for a few extras like 'Kesari' in milk in the belief that it
will enhance the colour of the child or an extra helping of
greens to increase the iron content.
Delivery and Past Natal Practices:
When the labour pains begin a concotion prepared from
'jeera' in hot water is given. This is given with a dual
purpose. If the pains were a false alarm and not really
labour pains, then the drink helps subside the pain but if
they are actually labour pains then they serve to increase
the spasms and hence hasten the delivery process. Tender
coconut water is also given. When the pains begin, the woman
is given a massage with warm coconut oil. Hot water
formentation is also common in order to ease the pain a
little. After delivery, once the umbilical cord is severed,
a common way to prevent infection of the cord on the child
is to burn a dry palm leaf and smear the black residue on
the tip of the cord. Mode of delivery is also interesting.
Though the practice has been abandoned now earlier women
delivered their babies either sitting or kneeling on the
f loor.
A leading gynaecologist we contacted, confirmed that
this is a more intelligent method of delivering babies since
it increases the pressure on the uterus and hastens
delivery. Lying as.is done now, she claims in no way assist
61
the delivery process. It is a convenient pasture only for
the doctors in attendance. Another traditional mode of
increasing the pressure on the uterus is to hold on to a
rope suspended from a beam at the ceiling and sway gently.
This not only increases the pressure but is also a source of
distraction from the gruelling pain she is undergoing. This
is also a form of mild exercise that the village prescribe
that will definitely hasten/assist delivery. In some places
immedaitely after delivery neem oil or neem leaf is given in
order to reduce septic. A paste of shika (soapnut) and
turmeric is smeared on her to avoid infection. After
delivery the woman's stomach is bound tightly with a cloth.
For the first few days the cloth is wound from the breast
bone downwards and for the next few days the binding is in
the reverse order. This is because just after delivery, it
is not advisable to put too much pressure on the uterus.
A strict diet is followed by the new mother not only to
help her regain her shape but also to help her sustain the
ordeal again in future. The villagers we contacted seemed
set with the notion that 'water' needs to be expelled from
the body if the women is to return to form. This explains a
number of their practices like the use of lmethi' which
actually helps the contraction of the uterus, limiting the
use of water and avoiding taking vegetables. But the
researchers did come across a few villagers who mentioned
that water boiled with a piece of 'tile' in it was given to
the new mother to drink. This they believed will quench her
thirst. Sufficiently thus refraining her from drinking
excess of water. Their assumption or belief may be
62
scientifically correct or incorrect, but the very -fact that
water is boiled with the piece of tile acting as a -filter
will prove beneficial to the mother's health.
In Udipi, we may brie-fly describe a course of diet that
is followed in the post-natal period. It is as follows: For
the first seven days a concotion prepared from Jeera,
turmeric and pepper is given three times a day. These
ingredients are roasted well and then powdered before being
used. From the 7th to the 10th day a mixture prepared from
dry ginger, ghee and jaggery is given twice a day. After
this course, a 'Kashaya' pepared by bailing garlic and
jaggery in coconut milk is given regularly for a period of
time.
Apart from this the diet is generally bland except for
a curry made from 'pepper' which forms an important
constituent of the diet in the post-natal period both in the
regions of Hunsur as well as Udipi.
Most mothers in the neo-natal period are given an oil
massage and bathed with very hot water. This procedure is
usually followed for 21 days after delivery.
The place where delivery occurs is also significant.
Old homes have a separate annexe earmarked only for
delivery. This should be maintained scrupulously clean. Not
many ar& permitted to frequent it. This is to help the new
born to avoid catching an infection since its resistance is
very poor. But with the passage of time maybe due to
grinding poverty, lack of space, thoughtlessness or a score
63
oí other reasons dark and dingy sections of the home have
sometimes become earmarked for delivery. These sections have
become iertile breeding grounds ior innumerable micro
organisms drastically effecting the health of the mother and
child.
Practices get corrupted due to partial survival. The
real tradition "which is a package associated with belief,
deteriorates into only a practice. For instance the use of
turmeric or neem paste on the umbilical cord of the child
after the cord has been severed is commendable but often the
paste is prepared on some rough unclean surface leading to
the accumulation of tetanus spores which germinate
immediately on contact with a fresh wound. Thus modern day
development practitioners have not only to watch out for
dangers of this nature but facilitate people to return to
the track on which they originally were.
The health delivery system in India has special
extension services for rural women which come under the
category such as: 1. Family Welfare Programmes including
Maternity and Child health and Nutrition Services in the
health , institutions. 2. Medical Care including
infrastructure and Curative functions. 3. Public Health
including Primary Health Education and supply of portable
water.
64
It. has been the -finding5 of most of those who s.re
implementing as well as monitoring health delivery, that the
majority of births in India are still performed by the
t r a d i t i o n a 1 m i d ~ w i f e k n o w n a. s t h e d a. i .
It has also been the -finding o-f most of the studies
done of adolescent girls that the health system does not
take any noticie of her needs.
In analysing the reasons for this inadequacy apart -from
the usual reason of the country's own poverty, low resources
- it is also suggested that there is a built in
discrimination against the girl child -from not only birth,
but pre-birth namely, in the -foetal stage and that this is
associated with cultural and religious roots of the
civi1ization.
Strangely however, when we look at traditional health
practices we find that there has been an extraordinary sense
of protective care as indicated in the case study.
As a social endeavour, the thrust now is to make the dai
a more capable agent of maternal health, especially during
child birth. Other experiments like the Jamkhed project have
tried to educate local "illiterate" village women into
health animators. In the context of such a thrust, the
importance of traditional practices becomes evident. These
have a woman dimension where women arts projecting women.
65
The trend with the intervention of "modern" health
extension has been to dis-locate, disrupt, and further erode
the self-confidence of earlier practices. This without being
able to replace these practices with the totality of the
modern system. Tatality in' its preventive, curative as well
as sustained care aspect.
In the field work it becomes obvious that resistance to
total surrender to the modern method was possible only where
families were still linked to their own previous history or
were wealthy enough to have self management.
If traditional health practices could be documented,
assessed against alternative health services - especially in
the context of zero alternatives they could be brought into
the curriculum for the training of the dais. This idea has
been accepted by Dr.Saroj Pachori who is supporting a
programme of training of dais in three States of India
supported by the Ford Foundation.
66
CHAPTER 6
Technical Requirements For Application
Checklist inclusion:
If the argument that the planning process will improve
in its effectiveness through the inclusion of existing
"survival" strategies as practiced by women, is accepted,
then it would be useful to evolve a loose format or
guideline which would facilitate development and policy
makers (International Conference on Check-1ist and
Guidelines - Helsinky 1986). At Helsinki, during the
workshop a check-list and guidelines convened jointly by
INSTRAW, FAQ and the Institute of Development Studies, it
was recognised that pre project survey should include
listening and learning ; identifying and documenting
Traditional practices. Pre project survey, usually
determines the nature of the project and further influences
not only size of the involvement but choice of technologies
as well as the monitoring and evaluation module or indices.
Then it would be a critical input to bring into pre
project field survey, this set of information.
If there is enough record or documented experiences and
appraisal and found to be enhancing effective utilisation of
development benefits and programmes ; then it would be
appropriate to redesign the curriculum of education and
training at all levels from schools through universities and
technical institutions to include this kind of knowledge.
67
Curriculum Inclusion:
At the conference in Mount Hoiyoke in U.S.A on World
Wide Education for Women (November—1987), the issue on
redesigning curriculum to include awareness on Tradition,
cultural history and -finally women as gleaned from oral
histories, were recognised as one of the more important
needs of those engaged in development education. Calling it
" Reconstructing Women's Education From Grass roots
Knowledge". Mount Holyoke College proposes to undertake an
integrated, five-year program of curriculum development,
research, apprenticeships, conferences and materials
exchange that will have a significant impact on
undergraduate education and the nature of scholarship about
women while contributing to the formal and informal
educational development of women from around the world. Our
approach is unique on several levels:
1) it values traditional systems of knowledge as
repositories of information that enable societies to live
in balance with nature;
2) it recognizes that such traditional knowledge is now
orimarily the preserve of women in Third World countries
since men are increasingly living and working in cities
outside their local environment
3) it addresses directly the conflict between the dominant
modes of knowledge (that marginalize women, their
traditional knowledge and their contributions to life and
68
labour) and indigenous, local knowledge systems and
cosmologies which encode sustainable forms of livelihood;
4) it responds to the pressing need of women involved with
educational 5 labour, conservation, peace and other
organizations from around the world to learn from each
other's experiences and develop alternative modes of
economic growth and livelihood;
5) it acknowledges the value of including traditional
systems of knowledge in western formal education so that
future generations of leaders in the developed world better
understand the needs of women, appreciate their values and
practices, and design programs that do not marginalize women
and destroy the environmental base in the Third World.
In November 1987, 42 women from twenty one countries
came together at Mount Holyoke college for a three-day
conference, on "Worldwide Education of Women". The
conference and the papers (to be published July 1988)
prepared for it raised a broad range of issues about the
nature and purpose of women's education including: -
development as it has been designed and practiced in the
third world has been a disaster for the poorest people and
for women, and that information and ideas which are
important to the survival of these people are not considered
in development plans; - that decisions about child bearing
are rarely under the control of women and very different
considerations obtain among women than among development
planners; - that violence against women is common place and
often the cause of teenage pregnancy and women's education
69
does not address this problem ; and - that there is a
connection between violence against women, the ignorance
about women, and violence against the earth and its
resources -
A group of Mount Holyoke and -five college -faculty
responded to the clearly articulated desire of the delegates
that the conference mark the start o-f a new, more broadly
conceived examination of women's education. In particular,
we were most challenged by the concern delegates expressed
about local knowledge, development and women. We continued
to meet on an adhoc basis -from the week -following the
conference throughout the remainder of the academic year.
At. the Round Table on Survival Strategies of the poor
and Traditional Wisdom held during May 1987, an agenda of
action was determined by the group which included Alternate
Nobel Prize Winners, political leaders, diplomats and grass
root organisers which also suggests a series of books which
would systematise this knowledge. In the following section
by describing the methodology followed to net the
information given in the 3 case studies, a check list is
being described which could be tested out in the pre-project
survey. Most organisations, especially those transferring
large resources, eg., bank loan basis whether International
such as World Bank, IFAD or National such as National Bank
for Agricultural and Rural Development, Industrial
Development Bank of India, are using questionnaires for
collecting pre-finance information. These questions usually
start by identification of let us say:
70
1 . District/Area
2 . B 1 o c k / C 1M s t e r o f V i 1 1 a g e s
3. HouseHolds
4. Proximity of Schools/Hospitals
5. Availability of Governmental, non-governmental
organisations, other group institutions.
This apart -from the usual data on soil, nature o-f land,
crops, industries, water resources, etc. What is being
proposed here in the list which notes down availability o-f
Institutions and human resources which can be mobilised tor
development of local practises and experiences of land,
water and other resources management should be recorded.
Additional block namely, additional page or half page
questionnaire can be added.
The following guide line also leads to such
questionnaire which would be circulated to development
agencies who solicit ground level information for project
design.
Similar.il y in Monitoring and Evaluation it can be
assessed whether the new practices which has replaced old
practices is thereby improved either productivity or
resources utilisation or cost effective etc.
The newly constituted South Commission - under the
Chairmanship of Dr.Julius K.Nyerere, former President of
71
Tanzania is also incorporating this "inward looking"
strategy under the heading - " Systematising Indigenous
Development Knowledge"
The countries - the societies of "the South and amongst
them the poor and even amongst them the women contain
creative intelligence in handling their resources, their
bodies and their relationships. Water storage systems in the
desert -for example &r& effective against drought. The same
system is followed in the Gobi desert in China as is
•followed in the Thar desert in India. Sources of Food - its
storage, rituals associated with its use were designed to
suit geography, seasons, body cycles. Many beliefs led to a
non-waste culture ; or to put it another way a re-cycling
culture.
We need to have scientists and technologists assess and
give a scientific place to this wisdom. We need to recycle
this back to its owners as systemised legitimate modern
knowledge. Indeed it is modern ; but it often comes as a
recognition from the North.
Lourdes Arispe in her paper culture and development has
pleaded -that a society's inherited knowledge experience once
lost cannot ever be retrieved. She has also argued that the
society whose knowledge is swept away would lose self
confidence in an elemental way. Another expression of the
same concern is Dr. Nyerere's remark that "shadows have no
independent existence".
A need therefore is to give legitimacy to economic and
12
social and intellectual systems that throw up -forward
looking strategies. Since this knowledge is still largely
with women - especially poor, the creative struggles of
women, their resistance to development and its resources
would provide some ideas for "what development".
Self reliance cannot be achieved in commodities without
self reliance in intellectual foundations. These stem from
cultural histories and traditionally moulded practices.
Revival of these is not easy ; but the critical mass for
success in the other field, lies in this one. Further
revival of these cannot be done alone. They have to have
even more collective support than in the material areas.
Since such culturally significant innovative indigenously
designed development would be mocked as inward, backward
etc., it would easily be marginalised, leading to
demoralisation and abandonment.
73
CHAPTER 7
INTEGRATING THIS EXPERIENCE TO THE DEVELOPMENT MECHANISMS
An Overview
The Indian experience of planning for women has
traversed a continuum -from the 1950's to the late 1980's,
which closely mirrors the changing perceptions of policy
makers and administrators, of the location and "role" ot
women in "Development". Starting -from a purely social
security approach, we saw the ersi of Community Development
and decentralised planning pass by without any serious
effort at stimulating the active participation o-f women in
critical sectors in the economy. However, this period did
see the emergence of many new features, such as the creation
of a vast army of women extension workers at the village,
block and district level, the increasing emphasis on
training of rural women in skills relevant to her household
and "mother" role-nutrition, health care, food processing,
storage, kitchen gardening, sewing, knitting, tailoring
etc., and a rising awareness of the yawning gaps in literacy,
both in absolute terms as well as in the terms of gender
differentials in education.
This approach was severely limited by the very widely
prevalent view of the women essentially as a "maintainer", a
"nurturer" of the household, whose economic contribution, if
perceived at all, was a 'supplementary' one.
The Green revolution years also passed by with no more
than a marginal heightening of interest in women's
74
contribution to agriculture-confined to teaching women
"modern" methods of storing and conserving and saving.
Agricultural Universities set up in various parts of India
disseminated knowledge of HYV varieties and other Green
Revolution technologies-a large number of these Universities
catered to women students almost exclusively through Home
Science. These colleges taught a wide variety of subjects
ranging from textiles to child psychology and nutrition. The
few women students who took the graduate course in
mainstream agriculture subjects, either turned to teaching
or laboratory research after graduation. An infinitely small
number of women opted for field placements in extension.
The growing disenchantment with area intensive
programmes in agriculture led the major innovations of
beneficiary and household oriented programmes focussed on
small farmers, marginal farmers, artisans, and finally on
families below a nutritionally defined poverty line. While
the pre-occupation of the programme formulators and
implementers was on raising incomes through viable economic
activités and creation of durable economic assets, the
prevalent attitudes and preceptions of women's economic and
social 'roles' in the household severely restricted and
handicapped the planners' efforts at including women in
these programmes in a meaningful way. Since, simultaneously
quantitative targets for men and women were programmed, this
led to a 'crisis' situation where a few activités 'relevant
to women such as embroidery, knitting, tailoring etc., began
to be monopolised by the beneficiaries of these programmes.
75
The International Decade -for women preceded, by the
publication, in India, of a major bench mark survey on women
by the committee on the Status of Women in India entitled,
appropriatly, "Towards Equality". The most important
contributions o-f these 'two events were -findings and
revelations o-f research investigations into the condition,
characteristics and concerns o-f women. The volume, the
scope, the thrust, and the methodology o-f the research
undertaken, not only widened the knowledge base -for planners
and implementors and identified marco and mirço issues and
their linkages -for organisation and action by women
themselves, but posed challenges to the first principles and
concepts o-f social science theory.
Research on Women workers has been perspectives such
as :
(a) enumeration, rede-fining the concept o-f gainful
activity, identifying sub-occupational tasks and ensuring
that they enter the NOC (National Occupational
Classification),
(b) opening the door of the household and listing the
characteristics (especially economic) of individual members
of it and so on. Each of these efforts has directly "paid
off" in infuencing policy,influencing the statistical
system and, thereby, programmes. The attempt is not only to
net the hitherto invisible women workers through refining
wor k/economic ¿activity and using the methodology of time
allocation studies,but also to identify the characteristics
of their employment and unemployment.
76
The Planning Commission of India has given a directive
in the 1980's that all data gathered for the evaluation and
monitoring of anti-poverty programmes should be
disaggregated by gender. A technical panel has been set up
for this purpose.
The International Decade for women has succeeded in
bringing about a perceptible ground-swell of new women's
organisations at the grass roots. The growth of these
autonomous women's group is predicated by occupational work
clusters or common occupational/work distribution. Economic
activities have been seen to be the most effective entry
point for organisation.
At this time, the hitherto unquestioned acceptance of
the beneficial results/impact of planned development on
women began to give way to a more critical questioning of
development models, theories of growth etc. The large
quantities of data and information thrown up during the
decade gave evidence of considerable displacement of women
workers through new technologies, including Breen Revolution
technologies. Women's occupational patterns were affected by
marco policies and movements, especially in traditional
strongholds of women's work such as textiles. Changes in
land ownerhip and population led to migration, both seasonal
and rural-urban. It also led to a rise in the number of
women agriculture labour,looking for work in the public
sites under the various employment guarantee programmes.
The emphasis on women's productive role as an economic
contributor in her own right, led to simultaneous perception
77
of her reproductive role ¿And to the need to "mesh" both
these roles- Services such as child care, -fuel, -fodder,
water, sanitation etc., were seen as crucial inputs to
ensure this meshing. These services and inputs began to be
viewed as basic or minimum needs -for women.
The Sixth Five Year Plan document of the Government of
India,, tor the -first time, devoted a whole chapter to
women's development. It spoke of the need to imbibe women
with self-confidence and to increase their managerial and
supervisory skills. The Seventh plan document had a similar
chapter.
The end of the Women's Decade saw the setting up of
Department exclusively for the development of women and
children by the Government of India. The Department was,
appropriately,placed under the Ministry of Human Resource
Development.
Some Operational Issues
Looking back to the past 3 decades from the vantage
point of the late 8(3' s and the challenges of the present day
sitution of women, the crucial issues seem to revolve around
making polices and programmes more gender—aware. In India,
women workers are predominantly found in the unorganised or
informal sector (89 percent). The unorganised sector is
characterised by lack of supportive labour legislation in
the matter of wages, maternity benefits, child care,
illness compensation etc. It is also characterised by long
78
hours of work at comparatively low levels o-r sk.il Is,at
unremunerative wages. Women workers in the unorganised
sector BY-B mainly -found in the -following 8 sectors:
(1) Agriculture and Allied occupations
(2) Dairying
<3) Small Animal Husbandry
(4) Fisheries
(5) Sericulture
(6) Handicrafts
(7) Handlooms
(8) Khadi and Village industries
These sectors are looked after in the Government of
India and in the State Governments by large departmental
agencies with extensive field infrastructure, R&D facilities
and infrastructure. However, as a historical consequence of
perceptions of women's work referred to in the earlier
paragraphs these agencies, field machineries, R&D
institutions extension training institutions and
infrastructural facilities are not geared to serve the
production roles of women either for enhancing their
capabilities or to bring in large numbers of women workers
into the workplaces. Integration of women in these
mainstream sectors, therefore, has to be operationalised
according to the following parameters:
(1) The nature of women's work in these 8 sectors is
very different from that of men workers. The nature of
women's work is discontinuous, sporadic and does not
correspond to the normal peaking periods of labour demand
79
and supply which aro? -formulated on the basis of rua le labour.
Women, -for example, have -far loss s access to agriculture
labour than men (.100-120 days per year on an average, as
against 15EJ--200 days per year tor men).
(2) Since women workers in the unorganised sector Are
more akin to self-employed workers, they have no contact or
terms of appointment from any employer and they tend to be
isolated. Therefore, the priority programme is to group them
into homogenous producer groups such as Cooperatives, Mahila
Mandais, Trade unions, Societies, Piuichayats etc.
(3) All the 8 sectors indicated above have high to low
proportions of men workers. The existing programmes of
Government, in these sectors are mainly focussed on men,
t hi o u g h w o m e n s u p ply the 1 a b o u r i. n put in man y c o m p o n en t s o f
the activities almost cent percent. Therefore, the meshing
of women's programmes in these 8 sectors cannot be done
without keeping the total sectoral context in view.
(4) Women a.ro at their weakest in so far as managerial
and supervisory skills are concerned. Traditionally they
supply the labour input but the decisions are? taken by the
men. For-building up managerial and supervisory skills,
women need the space and the time to be alone together so
that they can build up self-confidence in themselves. This,
however, does not mean a regression to the 'women only"
programmes of the previous years where the total sectoral
context was not kept in view. The operational challenge here?
is to build up cadres and groups of women producers within
111 e t o t. a 1 i t y o f t h e w ork sector. T h i s w o u 1 d in d i c a t. e a
80
greater emphasis to be placed on training, orientation and
reorientation o-f the existing male hierarchies in the
extension, research field and implementation agencies as
well as at middle and higher policy makincj levels. It. .is
important to ensure that women ars not seen as an isolated
group o-f workers in any o-f these sectors and that "special
programmes" ars not prepared tor them at lower levels of
skill -formation, information dissemination, training,
research, etc., than those available -for men. This is very
important. "Women's programmes" o-f this type cannot be seen
merely as "sub-programmes" or "components" of bigger
sectoral programmes.
(5) The above indicates a need for greater attention
to be -focussed on designing of sectoral programmes tor women
in the 8 areas denoted above. Gender analysis appears to be
a useful tool in this context and could be of immense use to
planners, policy makers as well as to practitioners and
implementors, The basic ingredient in gender analysis is a
quantification of the differential roles of men and women in
productive activities in any sector as well as the
differential impacts of a development, programme on men and
women in the 'catchment" area. This methodology could be
usefully utilised before preparing to make major investments
in any of the 8 sectors. At present, what appears to be
happening is that investment decisions in these sectors are
taken without assessing their impact on women or quantifying
the contributions of women.
81
THE EMPLOYMENT DOMAIN OF WOMEN
Dairying
As an example, let us take the very large sector of
dairying. It is estimated that 25 million women Ar<s
employed in the dairying sector (Source - Manorama Year Book
1985). It is also a well-known -fact that the care of milch
cattle is almost wholly done by the women in the rural areas
of the country. These items of work include feeding cattle,
fetching fodder, straw etc., cleaning the cattle shed,
washing the cattle, taking care of minor ailments, mixing
the locally available ingredients of cattle feed,
supervising the grazing in nearby areas etc. The activities
normally not performed by the women include taking the
animal to the veterinary dispensary, going to the market for
purchase of animals, purchasing chemically prepared animal
feed and in many cases, visiting the cooperative society to
receive the money for the milk collected by the society. The
extension workers of the dairying departments, including
Operation Flood, being predominantly male, the new knowledge
of feeding practices, health care etc., are rarely made
available to the women. In most dairying programmes where
massive investments have been made by the Government of
India with liberal aid from the World Bank, the EEC etc.
the basic building block is the Primary Level Cooperative
Society in the village. This society acts as the collection
centre for milk and also as a conglomerate group of animal
owners of the village to whom all new knowledge about the
veterinary care, feed etc. are passed on through the field
extension machinery. The membership of the many Primary Milk
Producer Societies throughout the country is predominantly
82
male. There are, however, a few exceptions where either by
way of pilot projects supported by Government or donor -funds
or through voluntary organisations, women's empowerment
through dairying activities have been stated to which
references will be made in the -following paragraphs.
When major programmes o-f dairying in the cooperative
sector were started in the 60's and 70's in India and the
Anand-model cooperative society was conceptualised, model by
laws prepared and later on replicated throughout the country
through NDDB and IDC, the women's dimension was ignored. The
"gender—neutral" argument advanced was that, these model bye-
laws made women equally eligible to apply for membership of
the village milk producer societies. The -failure to take
into account the factors holding back women from
participation in community organisations therefore led to
women being almost marginalised from the membership of the
milk cooperative societies.
Today most of the Indian States have Ape:-: milk and
Marketing Cooperative Federations at the top, district level
milk unions and village level Primary Societies. The
operational problems today, if we want to integrate women
into the existing programmes are -
- Do we start All-Women's Cooperative Milk Societies at the
village level?
- Do we increase women's membership in the existing
societies which are predominantly of male membership?
Even if we have all women's primary societies at the
83
village? level, how do wè ensure through the process of
elections that women in adequate number are? represented in
t h e d i s t r i c t u nions ?
How do we ensure that by -forming all women's societies in
the villages, we avo not creating parallel structures where
men's societies exist?
- How do we ensure that this process does not lead to mere
cooption of women in large numbers without corresponding
involvement in genuine terms of women in the process of
decision making?
- How do we ensure large numbers o-f women in the field
extension machinery in the dairying sector while at the same
time ensuring that they form a cohesive part of the total
field machinery in the district?
Such operational problems seem to be many. While it is
accepted on all counts that women field workers a.rçi needed
to be put into position in order to bring home the fruits of
technology to the women milk producers of the villages,
there is also the lurking apprehension that having an all
women's field extension cadre in dairying will create
problems o-f lack of upward mobility, placement, coordination
with male staff etc., which might tell upon its efficiency.
These problems have already arisen in field situations where
pilot programmes of integrating women in dairying have been
tried out. Leaving the women's cooperative societies to the
women extension workers only, does appear to be sound. The
male extension machinery on the other hand is not fully
convinced of the soundness of the concepts and of the
84
participation o-f women in-cooperative management. A great
deal of healthy introspection within the milk cooperative
federations and their constituent units appears to be called
for.
The problems of dealing with large numbers of women
inevitably arises when government takes up programmes on an
area, basis. Voluntary organisations on the other hand deal
with a micro situation consisting of, say 1-5 villages at a
time. The need to learn from the micro situations for the
purpose of area planning has to be operationalised in terms
of more frequent feed backs and interactions between
government and non-government agencies dealing with the
women in the same sector. Most important, given the basic
illiteracy and cultural shyness of the women, big government
programmes should take care that women's cooperative
societies are not reduced to men operating through women,
and managing the affairs of the society. Cooperative
education for women has to precede the setting up of formal
organisations. In India, these problems are further
compounded by class and caste divisions within the village.
The need to mesh women's productive and reproductive
roles has been referred to in the earlier paragraphs. In
the dairying context, the added responsibilities falling on
women members of the cooperative societies, the office
bearers and the employees •> have to be balanced with
mechanisms to successfully manage their workload at home.
For example, the women milk testers who have to test each
sample of milk in the society premises, very often twice a
85
day, -find that their workload at home becomes unmanageable
as they have no extra help. Earlier references to child
ca.re, fuel, -fodder and water etc. as basic needs has to
move -from policy/concept to operational strategies. One
possibility which could be explored is to use the
cooperative society as the -focus -for these basic/minimum
needs programmes also. This would need a major policy
shift/review at the highest national level. There should,
however, be a willingness to look at the cooperative society
not merely as a collection centre -for milk and a
dissemination centre for knowledge about dairying but also a
vibrant focal point in the village which could evolve into
an organisation which could take on responsibilities for
other inputs as well.
Certain technology policy options have already been
accepted as sound by those responsible for Operation Flood
Programmes. Examples are (a) widespread use of chemical
feed as opposed to locally produced feed formulae depending
upon locally available fielding material in the villages and
(b) the emphasis on exotic breeds of cattle as against Desi
(local) varieties. The Desi varieties are more hardy and
drought resistant and need less food in terms of calories
and nutrients. The corresponding return of course, is
decreased since it produces less milk. But the Desi breeds
in certain areas appear to be more suitable in such
programmes and women are more familiar with them. On the
other hand, the exotic breeds like the Jersey seem to make
the women over-cautious as they are constantly told how
costly the animal is and what care should be taken in order
86
to look after it. In many places the women neglect their
own health and their children's health in order to look
a-fter the cow. Questions about availability of veterinary
discussions by women, even though health problems of the
women and their children were to be far more important in
specific situations. These are ticklish issues and raise
questions of women's traditional wisdom being superseded by
new technology and information without verifying what is
locally suitable and acceptable.
The inadequacy of veterinary care is keenly felt by
women who have been brought, for the first time, into the
cooperative fold in dairying. Existing health care
arrangements for milch cattle may be far from satisfactory,
as departments of Animal Husbandry, who have traditionally
been in charge of animal health care arrangements in
general, are not geared for giving personalised attention to
a large number of animals. Veterinary doctors working with
this Department in the field are mostly male. Their
dispensaries are widely scattered and have large
jurisdictional areas. Veterinary doctors pay house calls
very rarely, and only in cases of emergency. More often
than not, they expect the animals to be brought to them at
the dispensaries. This is a task which the women find very
difficult to carry out, on account of their work inside and
outside the home.
Some of the pilot innovative programmes on women and
dairying, have attempted to build up village based para
veterinary women workers. These women could be adult
village women or young school drop out daughters of milch
87
cattle owning women. They would need a modicum of
education/1iteracy in order to enable them to absorb the
information about common diseases affecting cattle,
physcology, remedies for common ailments etc. In one Indian
State, a well known voluntary organisation has taken up a
programme of training village women in para-veterinary
science. The experience of most programmes shows that
Agricultural Universities find it difficult to "scale down"
their veterinary training courses to suit the needs and
capacities of local village women and girls. This, however
continues to be a challenge to the educational
establishments in the veterinary sciences.
The trained women para-vets could attend to the animals
in the village for a small monetary consideration. This is
generally regulated by the cooperative society and supplies
the much needed financial incentive to the young girls and
women.
The importance of having more women in the graduate
veterinary courses run by the Agricultural Universities is
highlighted by the present situation in the field, where, as
mentioned above, most veterinarians are men. In India, this
discipline has still not found acceptance and popularity
with women. The Army, for example, has not yet opened its
doors to women vets. The enhanced focus on women in
dairying programmes in the country should also lead to an
increasing demand for women veterinarians.
The availability of good milch animals has been a
perennially critical issue in this sector. The popularity of
88
milch animals as a durable asset in the various anti-poverty
programmes such as the present day IRDP has only served to
heighten the dimensions of the problems of availability o-f
good stock. The Traditional buying and selling o-f cattle
takes place in the cattle fairs. These are held in almost
all states in India at various times, and are famous for
exhibiting the best local breeds. However, breeding
programmes run under the aegis of the government and have
not met with great success, owing to their neglect of the
locally available or indigenous breeds. One could envisage
programmes of providing incentives to local farmers,
especially women farmers, who are interested in breeding
animals to enlarge the village stock. A system of having
"registered breeders" (on the analogy of "registered
growers" of vegetable seeds) could be started.
The cooperatisation of women in dairying has revealed
certain very interesting features of traditional village
systems of "leasing" animals for a consideration. In many
villages where all-women's milk cooperatives have been set
up, the women members have revealed that they have entered
into a system of shared ownership of an animal with, say, a
well to do landlord, whereby the animal is purchased by the
latter, but given to the woman for maintenance during the
dry period. Once it calves, half the milk is returned to
the landowner. The same pattern is repeated during the next
dry period cycle. The women worked hard to feed the cattle
during these cycles, and came to regard the animals as their
own. When the cooperative society sought to make bank loans
available to them for buying new animals, the women,
89
hesitantly at -first, came out with their requests to be
allowed to "pay off" the landlords -for the "posa" animals
(as they were traditionally called) rather than buy new
animals. Most of these "posa" animals were locally available
breeds. The extension workers o-f the Women's Dairy Project
and the cooperative society officials had some difficulties
in accepting this proposition from the women, because of
laid down procedures regarding sale price of animals, mode
of purchase, approved breeds etc. A flexible and innovative
approach from those in charge of the project at higher
levels, however, did a lot to help the women to own the
"posa" animals under the cooperative programme.
A famous Indian film of the seventies showed an
enterprising and idealistic young veterinarian using his
skills to cure human ailments in a remote village, where
doctors were never heard of using the large size injection
syringe meant for animals, he administers pencil lin and
other life saving drugs to critically ill villagers, who
hail him as the village saviour. In the content of the
Technology Missions launched by the Indian Government for
universal immunisation of children, one serious snag the
Mission came across, was the lack of cold chain to store the
vaccines. The veterinary network of deep freezers (to store
frozen semen) came in handy in many palees, as a substitute.
Some managers went further, and trained the women
secretaries of the All Women's Cooperative Societies to
administer the vaccines (both oral and via the syringe) to
the village children. The women's cooperative kept the
records, and a look at some of the registers revealed that
90
not only total coverage was achieved, but also the intervals
between different doses were strictly adhered to, in
contrast to the routinely administered immunisation
programmes.
Fodder availability was another critical -factor in
many places. The focus of the women in dairying programmes
being on the more deprived categories of women, land
availability with the women members of the Cooperative was
very limited. It was important not to divert subsistence
holdings used -for growing -food, to fodder cultivation. The
Project had anticipated availability of common land in the
village, to be used as fodder plots on lease with the
cooperative society, to be used by the women to grow -fodder.
However land availability being the constraint, the
women have to be encouraged to grow -fodder plants on the
bunds and borders of their small plots of land. The common
feature in most villages of India is a wide variety of
traditional fodder plants and trees, most of which do not
find place in the list of 'approved varieties' of fodder
species of the Departments of Agriculture and Animal
Husbandry. Most of these trees, shrubs, grasses and plants
grow under drought or rain fed conditions in the villages,
and have so grown for thousands of years. Most of them
exist on village common lands, where no food crops are
grown. The collection of such fodder leaves is most often
left to the young children of the village especially the
girls. The children of the village grow up with a thorough
knowledge of the edible plants, leaves, grasses etc., which
91
grow in the villages and which could be useful ly fed to the
animals such as goats, milch cattle, etc.
On the other hand, the women in dairying programmes
which attempt to take up fodder cultivation as an activity,
the emphasis is either on demonstration plots, -fitted with
tube wells (-for the supply of water) which will serve the
entire community, and is located on government owned land,
or on encouraging poor women members of the milk
cooperatives to use -fodder mini kits on their own
subsistence holdings. The mini kits include packages o-f
seeds, small amounts o-f -fertiliser and written instructions
in the local language. The women extension supervisors,
wherever they exist, are given the task o-f propogating good
sowing practices, care o-f the seedlings and good fertiliser
use amongst the women. In some of the innovative projects,
such education is sought to be given through meetings,
posters, film shows and pictures as well as bulletins, etc.
The fodder trees, however, are most often ignored by the
extension departments as a good alternative form of fodder
which do not require irrigated land. Talking to the women
in the villages, on the other hand, can produce considerable
information about the existing trees in the village which
can produce fodder leaves.
SERICULTURE
India is a major silk producer and different varieties
of silk are produced, the main being mulberry and tassar
silk. India is the second largest producer of tassar silk,
next only to China, accounting for 11 percent of the total
92
tasar silk in the world. Tasar silk is considered" to be a
good -forest produce because of the abundance of Arjun and
Asan trees which are the host plants of the tassar silk
worm. Tassar cultivation though practised in many places in
India is yet to develop fully. Its main draw back as
compared to mulberry silk production lies in the nature of
the life cycle of the silk worm which is completed entirely
outdoors i.e. , on the host tree. In mulberry silk, on the
other hand, the crucial activities during the rearing phase
are completed indoors unde.r controlled conditions. The host
plants of the tassar silk worm grow on subsistence lands and
do not need irrigation. They can thus be grown where
competition with food crops can be avoided. Women are
involved in very large numbers in many activities of
sericulture such as rearing, reeling spinning etc. Women
arG also involved in looking after the plantations. It has
been estimated that commencing from mulberry cultivation
till harvesting of cocoons, about 360 women get employed in
one acre of mulberry plantation in one year. In rearing,
the leaves are essentially harvested by women, and the
transportation of leaves during the later stage is done by
the men. Since silk rearing is conducted indoors, the women
mainly attend to items of work such as cocoon sorting, floss
removal, cooking, reeling, rereeling, turning, cleaning etc.
Involvement of women in weaving, dyeing, printing,
marketing, etc., is on the lower side. These are value-added
activities and traditionally, women have been denied access
to skills pertaining to these items of work.
Integration of women in sericulture development,
P3
therefore postulates that the entire range of activities
•from plantation to rearing, spinning, reeling, weaving,
printing, dyeing, marketing etc., should be taken up by
women and skill development should be aimed at in all these
areas, with special attention to the value added/non-
traditional areas. Subsidiary activities such as preparation
of charkhas and looms and their maintenance could also be
taken up by women who could thereby be actively involved in
technology choices and R&D relating to improved charkas and
looms.
Substantial investments are being made in sericulture
in India by the Government as well as by donor agencies such
as the World Bank, bilateral donors etc. Inspite of the
issue of women's productivity in the sericulture system
being adequately in evidence, many of the new programmes for
sericulture being designed do not take care of all the
constraints of women workers in this sector. There is, at
times too great an emphasis on silk production or increase
in silk production as the main output of the project.
Rural employment generation and the development of women are
sometimes given a secondary place to what is mainly seen as
support to an export oriented industry. The technological
aspects are also not seen in their entirety as for example ;
whether the introduction of the bivoltine strain into India
which is aimed at import substitution, will displace labour
or not?
The trade-off between food crops and sericulture has to
be adequately explored, especially in rainfed areas. Women
have traditionally been subsistence farmers, and their
94
responsibilities -for the survival of their -families results
in their having a large stake in the cultivation of not only
cereals and staple food grains but also coarse grains,
millets and other subsistence crops. The displacement of
these traditional "women's crops" with a Cash crop like
sericulture,leads to major implications for family health
and nutrition especially in drought years when monetary
returns from cash crops still do not enable the farmer to
buy his food and other requirements from the market. The
need for more research in the drought resistant varieties of
mulberry plants, and their integration with food crops,
water and soil conservation do not at present receive
attention from the designers of sericulture development
programmes. Inter-cropping of food crops with mulberry
plants has also not been given prime attention. Better
irrigation and water shed management are allied issues
especially with the experience of dug wells in irrigated
areas going dry on account of over—exploitation of ground
water.
As in the dairy sector, one of the reasons for unequal
access by the women to the sericulture system is the unequal
presence of women in the extension and training network as
well as in programme design, administration, evaluation etc.
The programme outreach improves with the increase in women
on the extension side. It is, however, important to keep
not only gender in view but also class and caste. Being a
land based programme, those who do not have access to land
have also to be involved in various activities which are not
land based, such as reeling, spinning, manufacture of cocoon
95
rearing trays e?tc . As in the dairy sector, even while
accepting women's productivity in sericulture, the danger is
of the new knowledge? being absorbed by the male -farmers.
The occupational hazards arising from women's work requires
to be seen as a project parameter. During the rearing
season women have to be awake continously during the night
since leaves have to be chopped and fed at 3 hourly
intervals. Children also help the women in this work. There
is no respite for the women even during the day. This has
led to the women losing their health and energy and not
being able to cope with their daily tasks. The diversion of
women's labour into other activities such as supervision of
the Chawki rearing centres, marketing of cocoons etc.,
should be attempted in the interest of raising the status of
women's involvement which should not be built only around
cocoon production as a typically "-female" activity.
Many of the programmes involve centre based training in
schools/training institutions which ars situated far away
from the villages. The training periods may range from a few
days to one month, or sometimes even more. The women find
it very difficult to stay away for a month, even if there is
availability of hostel accommodation for them attached to
the training institutions, which often, there is not. Given
the factor of unequal social relations within the family and
the gender division of labour, whereby women predominate in
mulberry plantation and women in cocoon rearing, training
institutes which cater for both men and women are not ablt>
to reach out to women, even if sufficiently large numbers of
women are selected. On the other hand, since women perform
96
specific -functions in cultivation, rearing, reeling etc.,
the upgra.dati.on of these skills has to be taken up as a
deliberate planned activity, overcoming the constraints of
unequal access to training mentioned above- Some kind o-f
pre-training coaching in the villages will have to be
attempted. Mobilisation o-f workers into associations o-f
rearers, reelers, weavers etc. could also help. The pre-
training orientation should be made part of the project
design. The help of voluntary organisations for this
activity could be thought of. Other incentives could
include scholarships to be given to well qualified girls
from poor families.
97
Integrating Traditional Wisdom in
Development Projects -for Women
1. Traditional Market Places:
The information gained during the course of the surveys
of the Shandies and Haats in Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh
villages provide insights into the survival strategies
adopted by poor women, faced with inummerable problems
ranging frcm weak resources base for production of goods,
paucity of cheap working capital, dominance by traders and
merchants to sell goods on their behalf, poor marketing
outlets, discrimination in the labour wage market,
replacement of traditional wares by modern substitutes, old
age and consequent loss of energy and initiative, lack of
storage space/ processing facilities/raw material /equipment
/transport, high durdgery and lack of information about
existing facilities and infrastructure which could be os use
to them in getting a better return from their work. In each
case, the women cope with their problem at a suboptimal
level. The scope of outside interventions, through
development planning, should encompass micor—project levels,
taking occupational clusters of production, trading and
marketing as the schematic parameters.
98
The women who use the shandies and haats are, as we have
seen ,
- producers selling on their own account
- traders selling on their own account
- agents of traders/merchants/middlemen selling on
others' behalf
Looking at the pattern o-f activities, they can be
covered under primary, secondary and tertiary sectors of
economic production/activity.
There are many promising possibilities of designing an
interface between the activities in the Haats and Shandies,
on thr one hand, with programmes being implemented by
Government development agencies for women in the poverty
households, to the mutual benefit of both.
Development of Women and Children in Rural Area, or
DWCRA as it is popularly known, is the largest national
programme for poor women in the country. Aimed at women in
the poverty households, with a focus on female headed
households, it is a sub-scheme of the Integrated Rural
Development Programme, and seeks to form viable groups of
women workers and support their economic activities with
bank finance, subsidies, marketing support through working
capital grants backed with social inputs in child care. In
the six to seven years of its existence, the programme has
been able to form about 25,000 groups of women workers and
finance a large number of them.
99
One? of the biggest challenges facing DWCRA is the
choice ot economic activities, keeping commercial viability
and local relevance/needs in view. For a programme with
such a large spread throughout the country, the trade-off
between centralised supervision and micro-planning is
crucial. The produce or the activity chosen by the women has
to have local relevance by way of existing or potential
demand in the shape of a market. Owing to a variety of
factors, not the least of them being the pre-occupation with
middle-class perceptions of what constitutes "suitable"
income generating activities for women, the choices made by
DWCRA functionaries have not satisfied the tests of
commercial viability or local needs. The result, very
often, has been that women have made products which do not
sell locally, nor have they been able to link up with
markets situated at a distance, where there might be a
demand. Some of the products do not have any market at all,
being the result of undoubtedly wrong choices.
Looking at the classification of activities taken up by
the women in the traditional markets could easily suggest
ideas for DWCRA groups. Conversely, a DWCRA group could be
immensely benefitted by availability of similar information
from the nearest traditional market. The DWCRA programme
design does include provision for a village survey as a pre-
group formation activity - this could usefully include a
Haat survey.
The Hosur survey revealed that only 8 out of 117 women
using the weekly traditional market are "own account"
100
producers, the rest being traders or agents of marchants or
middlemen. The trend appears to be the gradual replacement
o-f producers by traders and agents of middlemen. We also
see that the latter i.e., the traders and agents are faced
with problems pf working capital and are exploited by
middlemen. Thus, two problems have to be simultaneously
attacked.
- a shrinking resource base that is decimating the
producers
- inadequacy of cheap and timely credit for marketing
DWCRA, being a sub-scheme of IRDP, finances the purchase
of capital assets for production as well as working capital.
Products sold in Hosur shandy, such as food items, pot
holder, condiments, pottery, bamboo ware etc., could either
be made by the women or bought from the producers by the
women, with DWCRA financing the capital goods and the
working capital. Wherever the margins are higher and the
risks a.re lower, the women could buy from bulk producers, as
for example, ready made clothes, using the DWCRA revolving
funds to finance the purchases. Successful retailing in the
shandies by the women depends on cheap capital and
availability of transport. For landless women, for instance,
retail vending of vegetables could prove viable on the basis
of cheap credit, along with other items such as dry fish,
tobacco and betel leaves, toiletry articles etc.
The DWCRA insistence of a group being the basic unit
does not postulate a common activity being carried on by all
members of the group - the cohesion and unity of the group
101
is to be ensured by a process of training and consciousness
raising, and not necessarily by -following a common activity.
The Hosur survey shows a mixed pattern of visits to the
shandies by the women - some once a week, some more often
and a few daily. The existence of a well knit DWCRA Group,
with a sense of unity and self identity, could help in
reducing these visits, which involve, a lot of hard physical
labour, by each woman. The women, and especially the group
leader, could take on some responsibilities of each other
for sale of the products.
Two items of traditional nature - Bamboo and Pottery,
Are sold by women in the Hosur shandy. With the
mechanisation of pottery their livelihood is endangered.
Similarly, though it is not explicitly stated, bamboo
availability could also be decreasing. The DWCRA
functionaries could keep a check on such declining sectors
of activity and replace them with new activities. DWCRA has
a strong linkage with a training programme termed TYRSEM -
Training of Rural Youth for Self Employment - which could be
utilised for the diversification of skills.
The.Uttar Pradesh survey shows a slightly different
pattern of village fairs - instead of markets - taking
place at different places throughout the year. The women,
besides visiting these fairs to sell their products, also
visit the villages with their wares. The terrain being
hilly and inhospitable, with villages being very far spread
out, the women find it very difficult to manage the
hazardous Journeys. In almost all the villages where the
102
survey has been conducted the demand has been either for a
shop to be set up in the village and/or -for cheap and timely
transport arrangements, so that visits to local -fairs could
be facilitated. The IRDP (of which DWCRA is a sub-scheme)
has provision for setting up infrastructure to the extent of
a certain percentage of the total project cost. This could
be utilised for subsidising the transport and for setting up
village shops for sale of woollen products, ringaal items,
grass mats etc.
Depletion of raw material, such as wool, bamboo, grass
and diminishing inputs such as fodder for milch cattle are
major problems in the Uttar Pradesh villages. Women are
able to cope with these ecological crises by walking further
and further into the jungles or by buying more expensive
wool or by accepting lower yields of milk. The solutions
lie, however, in linking up with sources of bulk supply,
i.e. , Khadi Village Industries Commission for wool. This
linkage could be forged by DWCRA.
The lack of storage or working space, equipment,
processing facilities etc. can be addressed either under the
infrastructure provision of IRDP/DWCRA or by having a common
production unit or facility centre. Where a common facility
is needed, such as dyeing, carding, storage, working space
etc. it would be cost effective to have a common facility
centre. Since the activities of the Uttar Pradesh village
groups are more homogenous, the. DWCRA model could work along
cooperative lines. The woollen product unit could have a
common workshed, with looms, storage space etc., along with
103
pre-loom and post-loom facilities. DWCRA has a provision
for the construction of community development centres to be
located at the block level. Keeping in view the importance
of some of the activities, and their spread in the ares., a
centre could be constructed at the block level.
The DWCRA revolving fund could help the women workers
in Kausani and Gwaldam to go in for bulk purchase of wool
from the Khadi village Industries Commission as well as to
hold onto seasonal inventories of finished products.
Rs.10,000/- is admissible as a revolving fund per group. In
case this amount is too small, this could be used as a
margin with banks in order to get a higher amount.
The lack of fodder in villages around Almora in Uttar
Pradesh appear to restrict the scope of dairying as an
activity by the hill women. However, information regarding
the inputs available from major programmes of dairy
development could improve the perspective Operation Flood
II operates as an national programme in all milk shed areas
of the country. Linking the micro situation of these
villages with Operation Flood II could succeed in upgrading
the cattle stock, improving the feed situation (through feed
concentrates) providing incentives for fodder cultivation,
health care facilities at village level, including
artificial insemination, etc. However, the economics of
converting fresh milk into khoya has then to be evaluated
against the returns obtained from sale of fresh milk.
Though Operation Flood II does not particularly encourage
decentralised production of milk products at village level
(the choices of milk products to be manufactured Are
104
generally made at district milk union level) the
difficulties o-f transport in rough terrain, especially in
inhospitable weather, point to a greater weightage to be
given to the traditional activity of khoya making and
preparation of sweets with a longer shelf life. With the
Operation Flood II insistence on formation of cooperatives
of milk producers at village level, the lack of access of
the women to income through sale of milk, khoya products,
sweets etc., should no longer remain a major constraint, if
the decision is taken to enrol the women, and not the men,
as members of the cooperative society on the Operation Flood
II/Anand model.
This, however, still does not solve the problems of the
drudgery the women are subjected to <the making of khoya is
a laborious process). Since fuel is perennially in short
supply in the hills, the convergence of ecological interests
with women's interests in this situation appear to predicate
the need for a programme for fuel efficient stoves. This
would reduce drudgery, health hazards from inhaling wood
smoke from open stoves and reduce the rate of deforestation
through saving on fuel. A National Programme on improved
stoves is in operation in India.
2. Traditional Storage Practices
Post harvest technologies in agriculture and
horticulture constitute an important sector in Agriculture
Extension. The extension workers in the field are mostly
105
male agricultural graduates. Women in agricultural
extension have, traditionally been from the home science
disciplines. Their entry into agricultural graduate courses
is a comparatively recent development. The curricula
obtaining in.the Home Science Colleges and Agricultural
Universities on food processing, storage, post-harvest
practices etc. tend to lean heavily on non-indigenous
knowledge. "Modern" practices of food preservation, storage
of grain, pest control etc. constitute conventional wisdom
with which these young graduates arm themselves during their
college days. Use of chemicals for rodent and pest control,
use of chemical fertilisers and modern storage bins for food
grains have all become part of this conventional wisdom.
The extension workers in the field have to build up
face to face contacts with the farmers. It is predominantly
the male farmer who is the target for extension messages,
who absorbs the new knowledge and who gets trained in the
Farmers' Training Centres.
There have been several new approaches to programming
for Women in Agriculture in India. Building on the frame
work of the T & V system, many states have experimented
with extension programmes in agriculture, directly focussed
on women, where women are trained to work at village and
block level as extension workers (they possess
qualifications either in agriculture or home science). The
face to face interaction with women farmers is ensured by
the presence of women in the extension system.
The traditional storage practices prevalent in Hunsur
106
and Udipi Taluks in Karnataka reveal their locale specific
nature - what is true of one crop in one village may not
necessarily be true o-f another village, of the same crop.
These local practices and storage models therefore need to
be documented so that their major advantages could be
quantified, and improvements suggested. The orientation of
the extension workers, both male and female to a more
receptive frame of mind, will help considerably to avoid
conflicts. To a certain extent the graduates in
agricultural sciences and home economics, will have to
'unlearn' and 'deschool' themselves, in order to convince
themselves that local relevance and low cost of construction
can ensure functional value and viability, and that use of
local materials can repel rodents and mice as effectively as
chemical alternatives.
The feedback on these traditional models should reach
not only the male and female extension workers, but also
those charged with the designing of extension programmes, as
well as the academic circles who are responsible for
designing the curricula in Home Science Colleges and
Universities.
The materials used in the models described in the two
case studies are all local and bio-mass based, as for
example, cowdung, earth, straw, sand, red-mud, neem leaves,
hay, bamboo, cane, coir husk, salt, oil, leaves, gunny bags,
etc. The interventions suggested by ISI introduce items
such as RCC rings, metal sheets, metal walls, bricks, wood,
metal cones, tar, mortar, plaster etc. Some of the local
bio-mass items such as bamboo, cane, coir etc. may be in
107
danger of short supply, as part of the overall and
widespread shrinkage of bio-mass base in the villages. Use
of traditional structures of storage, therefore,
presupposes a ready availability of bio-mass. When a strong
demand for these items exists in the villages, the contrary
pulls that takes away deprives and decimates, can also be
successfully countered.
3. Traditional Health Practices
The existence of traditional cultural practices
accompanying child birth, menstruation and pregnancy are
part of the working knowledge of the traditional birth
attendant of India called the 'dai'. She is the link between
the modern health system and the traditional health culture
of the villages. The existence of this unbroken system of
caste-based knowledge and skills has made it possible for
the modern health system to improve its outreach to women,
especially the rural poor women.
Cultural practices described in the field study are
however an amalgam of superstitions and practices based on
sound scientific theory. Personal cleanliness during
menstruation, nutritious food during adolescence, rest from
household drudgery during the menstrual periods etc., seem
to be the first principles, which subsequently, were
entrusted with traditional beliefs and practices.
Similarly, the pre-natal and post-natal practices described
are aimed at healthy and safe delivery and healthy mother
and child. However, the traditional bias for a male child
108
:?¿Md a'¡lack of; attention-tondirfc-and- infection ; are . ihterwined
••.with ithesev practices. • ¡The.; practice;.- of-; .-.starving- ;.-.. the nosw
¿mother '• appears- into:¡ ; be'1 ran :->'irrational onë,\; :•;; Traditional
."positurets adopted <during da livery.y preparations•of : -food and
bd"rink "aértiirvistered . to :l1asteni thé delivery: and the process :of
!',!noritiál isatiióníí of .the 'body ,> especially the ¡ uterus' >al 1 have
: «".scientific base';1.;;:- :;•.-'•: .........
The example quoted above underscores the need for
documenting these practices and testing them with the
touchstone of upto date medical knowledge. The dai is at
the bottom level of the maternal and child health care
system. However, the lowest fully trained functionary in
the modern system of medical knowledge is the auxilliary
nursing mid-wife ; or the ANM, as she is popularly called.
Most often, her education and training is based on the
Western model of medicine. The milieu in which she works in
the field, however, brings her into close contact with the
traditional mid-wives as well as with the rural village
women. She would therefore be an appropriate level to
"filter" away the irrational beliefs and re-inforce the
practices which are health oriented. Since all these
practices are women and girl centred, the ANM would be
facilitated in her task of reaching out to the women and
children, through them. The Indian media, especially the TV
and the Radio, are now focussing a great deal of attention
on the girl child, the adolescent and the young mother.
Messages beamed out emphasise the need to give healthy and
nutritious diets, to girls and pregnant mothers, on the
importance of goood food for a safe delivery and the need to
109
avoid discrimination between a male and -female child. The
traditional practices described in, the case study underscore
the -female psyche and -female health. Though gender, equal i ty
is not explicitly stated or unerscor^d, implicit in these
practices and rituals, is the importance of % f emaleness ' and
'motherhood'« The : areas of convergence between the new
messages o-f gender equality in health and the old practices
which bolster the ego and sel-fhood o-f women could,
therefore, be usefully explored.
110
/¡ A/M £X -d
A-
REFERENCES
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Sen, Gita and Grown, Caren : Development Alternatives with Women -for a New Era, Published by Chr.Michelson Institute, Bergen, Norway, 1985. Reprinted by Monthly Review Press, New York, 1987.
Ghosh, Shanti : Discrimination begins at Birth. Paper presented at the workshop on Focus on the Girl Child, New Delhi, 1985.
Dharampal : Indian Science and Technology in the Eighteenth Century, Hyderabad, Academy of Gandhian Studies, 1971.
Mehra P.N : Imphal's All Women Bazar, Hindustan Times, 28th Feb.1988
Khan M. E : Ghosh Dastidar, S.K and Singh Patanjeet: Nutrition and Health Practices among the rural women. New Delhi, Operation Research Group, 1982.
Shram Shakti - Report of the National Commission on Self-employed Women and Women in the Informal Sector by E1 a Bha 1t, New Delhi, 1988.
Arizpe, Lourdes : Culture in International Development. Paper presented at the 19th World Conference on Poverty, Development and Collective Survival, New Delhi, 1988.
Manila Haat, Project facilitation centre for women producers from low income households. New Delhi, ISST, 1988.
ISST: Women Producers of Kumaon, New Delhi, ISST, 1988.
Round Table on Development Survival Strategies of the poor, Traditional Wisdom - A Reflection. ISST, Bangalore 1987.
The World Ten Years after the 'Brandt Commission" Willy-Brandt, Vienna, Sept. 29, 1988 - (Meeting convened by-Vienna Institute of Development Co-operation).
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Per Lindstrup Anderson, IFPRI - Review Paper -Nutritional Impact of Agricultural Production Practices.
- V -
Julius K.Nyerere - Fourth Silver Jubilee Lecture : Africa Exists in the Economic South -for EGA, 16th April, 1988.
Alfred Maisels: The? Brandt. Report and the Present Commodity Crisis.
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Scientific Storage, Pest Control and Inspection of food grama - Vol.I and Vol. 11
Women Pavement Vendors assert their rights - Report from Ahmedabad, Voluntary Action, 1981.
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- 5 -
Paper presented at the Harvard Divinity School Course o n G a n d h i , hi a r v a r d , :L 9 8 3' „
Women in Poverty - Tyranny o-f the Household -I n v e s t i g a t i v e Ess a y s o n W o m e n ' s W o r k ( V i k a s P u b 1 i s h i n g House)
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Towards Equality. Report o-f the Committee on Status of Women in India, Govt.Of India, 1975.
Perspective Plan 2000. document prepared by Govt. O-f India, 1988.
_ À -
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TRADITIONAL STOAAGE PRACTICES
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GLOSSARY OF TERMS
Anganwadi
Charka
Chula
Cowdung
Copra
Dai
Deepas
Dhanya
Drumstick
Galagae
Ganaj a
Hundis
Hurli
Jaggery
Jeera
Kashaya
Khadi
Kesari
Koike Gaddae
Kumbharas
Kum Kum
Madiwala
Mahila Mandais
Mehndi
Child Care Centre
Spinning Wheel
Stove
Cow excrement
Dried Kernnel c£ coconut
Mid-wife
Lights
Condiments
A vegetable
A granary to store rice constructed using bamboo mats
Granary
Saving Vessel
Korse Gram
A sweetening agent prepared from cane sugar
Cummin seeds
A bitter concotion
Coarse cloth wooven on a loom. The thread is hand spun cotton or silk
Corocus Sativus
Wet lands
Pot makers
Red powder used on a woman's forehead
Washer woman
Women's Organisations
A dyeing agent (Lawsonia inerrnis)
- 2.
Mela
Muai Kattadu
Menthi
Neem
Pepper
Posa
Pooja
Pori
Ragi
Ringaal
Shandy
Shika
Taluk
Tamarind
Thirrikattu Ganaja
Turmeric
Urud
Fair
The process of paccking cereals/ pulses in hay
Fenugreek.
Azatirachta Indica
piper Nigrum
Adopted
Religious ritual
Puffed rice
Coarse cereal (E]_usinacoracana)
A type of grass
A traditional market Place
Soap nut
A cluster of villages
A fruit used as souring agent
Granary used to store rice constructed using rope
: Curcuma Longa L
: Phaseolus Mungol
.4- A • -KUMAON- SURVEY-
Sóme'Industries Production & Marketing Problems & Solutions
Wool Industry products: blankete, ehawle, kaleen (carpets), sweaters.
This is a traditional industry of the Bhotiya women for
whom it is still the mador occupation. Several other women
engaged in agriculture would also like to take it up as a
subsidiary activity (see Kheerakot village below).
PROBLEMS
Lack of Raw Materials at affordable prices:
In the past, the Bhotiyas got raw wool from Tibet, but
with the closure of the border, this supply has been cut
off. Another source of wool is from Nepal, but the wool is
expensive and the quantity available is small because of
high duties and other trade restrictions. Locally available
wool is also limited in supply and expensive.
Lack of working capital and storage space To buy wool
in bulk, and build up a sufficient stock of raw material and
finished goods to meet demand on an immediate basis.
Lack of Carding facilities : Only one carding machine
is available in the entire area, which is located at a
distance and is available only two days in a month.
Lack of high quality dyeing facilities : The dies in
use are not colour fast, and the facilities for dyeing are
inadequate.
Lack of equipment for spinning and weaving
Lack of marketing facilities : Goods are currently
being sold at home since there is no shop available
RECOMMENDATIONS
There is no immediate solution to the problem of raw
material supply. To increase the supply of locally
available raw wool, by rearing more sheep, is not feasible
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because of the lack of fodder. The possibility of using
Angora wool could, however, be considered as this is a high
value product for which there is demand, and the return may
be sufficient to cover the cost. .In order to tackle the
various problems mentioned above it is proposed that a
production cum marketing unit be set up on a small scale in
Kausani, which the women themselves would run. The
unit would have provisions for:
- bulk buying and stocking of raw wool
- spinning, weaving and carding facilities
- dyeing facilities
- storage and marketing facilities to sell to local people
as well as visiting tourists
- learning new designs
training facilities
1.MILK AND KHOYA INDUSTRY
Villages surveyed : Sialidhar, Deolikhan. villages
around Almora.
Products : Milk, Khoya (milk cake)
PROBLEMS
Lack of Fodder : The number of domestic animals is very
high in ' the region. Different animals are kept for
different activities such as bullocks for ploughing,
buffaloes for milk, dung and urine and cows to breed
bullocks. This has contributed to the problem of over
grazing and the supply of fodder is thus, inadequate. Milk
yield is also low because of the poor quality of fodder.
Lack of Veterinary facilities : Existing veterinary
centres are far from the villages, and the villagers are,
therefore, unable to avail of them.
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High cost of fuel : The making of khoya from milk is a slow
process involving high consumption of fuel wood, which is
in short supply and very costly.
High drudgery, Low returns: There is a lot of hard,
physical labour involved in this activity which is done
entirely by women. Marketing is, however, done primarily by
men, who get the income. Women, therefore, get little or no
return for their labour.
Marketing problems : There is no fixed rate at which milk
and khoya are sold, and for those women who sell their
khoya directly and do not have the time to stand and bargain
for a better rate, the return is always low. Since
marketing is done on an individual basis, the buyers are
able to dictate their own terms to a large extent.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The severe shortage of fodder is a mador problem,
because it means that the only way to increase milk
production is by increasing milk yield, since it is not
feasible to increase the cattle population further. In
order to improve the fodder situation and increase milk
yield, the local people need to be given information on new
and bettr types of fodder, and assistance in planting these
wherever there is alittle land available, for instance along
the borders of their fields, etc. Although there are
existing government schemes, in the area which seek to
provide such information and assistance, they do not seem
to have reached the villagers. Apart from this, there ar
other organisations which are doing a lot of work in this
field and could help us bring the necessary knowledge
and assistance to Sialidhar and Deolikhan villages.
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In order to deal with the problems of marketing, it is
proposed that the women of these villages 'be encouraged to
form a cooperative society so that they can sell their milk
and khoya jointly. This can help them improve their return
through collective bargaining, as well as ensure that the
income is in their hands- In addition, we may investigate
the possibility of helping the women open a shop of their
own in which they could themselves sell bal-mittai, which is
made from the khoya which they are presently selling to the
sweet-shop owners. Both these suggestions would need to be
examined further, in detail, in order to determine their
feasibility.
With regard to fuel, we could examine whether there are
any alternative possibilities.
In order to provide the villagers with better
veterinary care for animals we need to find out whether it
is posible to have these facilities nearer to the villages,
so that they are easily accessible.
JLRINGAAL INDUSTRY
Villages surveyed : Chauda, Khalpatta. Mikhila, Jhuni, Supi.
Products : daliya, doka (baskets), mosta (mats), sup
(winnower), chatyur (umbrellas)
Lack of working and storage space: This problem is faced
especially during the monsoons, when the villagers have to
manage in the cramped space available in their homes.
Marketing problems : Since there is no shop where ringaal
products can be sold, the villagers must carry them from
village to village, which is time-consuming, arduous and
costly. Ringaal goods are also sold in the various melas.
Again, the villagers have considerable problems transporting
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their goods to these melas; even when buses are available,
they are often unable to use them because of harassment by
drivers and conductors. At the mela, there is no space
available and facilities are poor; the villagers are
harassed and local bosses extort money from them.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The most urgent need is for planting of ringaal on a
wide-spread basis so that the supply of ringaal is
replenished. In addition, the villagers must be helped to
conserve the existing supply of ringaal through organised
and scientific cutting. By increasing awareness and
providing encouragement and incentives to the villagers,
this planting of new ringaal can help restore the supply of
ringaal in the forests.
In order to facilitate marketing we can consider the
possibility of setting up a local shop in which ringaal
products, along with other locally made products, can be
sold.
At present, there is no separate stall for the products
of cottage industries in the various melas. If the local
authorities could provide such a stall, the ringaal artisans
and many others would benefit considerably. In addition,
there are special buses laid on for the meals, and if some
similar service is provided for the ringaal workers, this
would help alleviate their transport problem.
Ringaal products are primarily for use in the fields
and in daily village life. In addition, however, we may
consider whether the artisans could make a few decorative
items which could be sold to visiting tourists and
outsiders.
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¿.CHILLI CULTIVATION
Village surveyed : Chauda
Product: Whole.red chillies
The cultivation of chillies is an activity performed
entirely by women, from the initial sowing to the final
marketing of the produce.
PROBLEMS
Lack of water for irrigation, especially during the
nursery , stage.
Lack of Pesticides and Fertilizers.
Problems in drying of chillies : Chillies are usually
dried on roof tops and when there is rain, a large number
get spoilt.
Marketing Problems : This is a major problem as, at
present the women have to travel very long distances on
foot, and sometimes by bus, going from village to village to
sell their chillies. Carrying the heavy loads of chillies on
their backs is very arduous, and the return journey is
equally tiring, since the women bring back sacks of rice
obtained in exchange for their chillies.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Water is a mador problem both for irrigation of the
chillies, as well as for drinking purposes. The existing
source of water is far away and we need to make some
provisions for bringing water closer to the village by
installing a pipe and building a reservoir.
At present the women use a chemical pesticide,
gamaxene, to kill insects which destroy their crop, but they
are unable to get it in sufficient quantity. They do not
use any chemical fertilizers. Both pesticides and
fertilizers can be supplied to them locally in sifficient
quantities. But, we also need to find out to what extent it
is possible to promote traditional methods of pest control,
such as using ash, and whether organic manure in the form of
gobar (cowdung) can be enriched and used as fertiliser.
With regard to the drying of chillies, we would have to
find out whether, it is possible to use some sort of
artificial drier within a shed, which would also provide
storage space.
To facilitate marketing, the possibility of helping the
women to form a cooperative society needs to be examined.
The chillies, whether whole or in powdered form, could be
marketed Jointly to local shops so that the women do not
have to travel from village to village, as they are doing
now. We would, however, need to ensure that they are able
to get a fair price from the shop keepers. An additional
possibility is to sell the chillies to the Mahila Upbogta
Bhandat (women's shop) in Almora, where the women are less
likely to be taken advantage of.
S.COLLECTION OF HERBS
Villages Surveyed : Ladhauli, Kota, Kali Ghaspad
Products: Herbs, Other Medicinal Plants, Barks Of Various
Trees, Shells Of Walnuts, Etc. Jhula ( A Kind of Fungus
On The Oak Tree) Etc.
The gathering and selling of herbs and other plants has
been going on for many years in Kumaon. In addition to
herbs, the stems, roots and barks of various plants and
trees are used for their curative properties in traditional
systems of medicine. The industry is controlled by
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Government and local agencies and, because of over-
exploitation, many herbs and plants are slowly becoming
extinct.
PROBLEMS
Decreasing supply of herbs/plants : The women have to
go long distances into the forest and spend many hours
looking for various herbs and plants, as these are becoming
increasingly scarce.
Problem of middlemen and low returns: The women sell
the herbs they collect to middlemen, who in turn, sell them
to the local agency, the wages paid to the women are very
low (between 3 to 5 Rs/ kg), and in no way commensurate with
the labour and time they have put in.
Harassment by Forest Patrols: When the contractors have
not secured a license from the forest department, the women
have to work illegally, and often have to bribe the forest
patrols .
RECOMMENDATIONS
We need to help the women form a sangathan so they can
resist exploitation by contractors, middlemen and, if
necessary, sell their herbs directly to the local agency.
We need to provide information and assistance in order
to encourage the women to grow more herbs and other plants
on existing wastelands, around the borders of their fields,
and so on. For this, they would need to learn about the
market and the prices of different varities, as well as
about the different kinds of soil and climatic conditions
suitable for various species of herbs and plants. This would
also help replenish the supply of these plants in the long
run.
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The economic status of the women is very poor and their
living conditions very difficult. We need to help provide
• basic facilities such as drinking water, as well some income-
generating activity which will provide them with a durable
livelihood, since their land is very poor.
€,MAT MAKING INDUSTRY
Area Surveyed : Sitarganj
Product : Grass Mats (Pheena)
Although this group is located in Nainital district, it
was' also included in the survey because theirs is a
traditional industry carried on largely by women. These
women are originally from Bengal, and they and their
families settled down in this region around 30 years ago.
The mats are made from paret grass found in the forests, and
are used inside the house for sitting on.
PROBLEMS
Lack of Raw Material: These women face similar problems
to those of the ringaal artisans, as the grass they use is
no longer found close by, and they must go 20 to 80 Km into
the forest in search of it.
High Transportation cost : To bring back the grass to their
homes from the forests, the villagers have to spend a lot on
transport.
Marketing Problems: There are no marketing facilities
and the women must sell at whatever price they can get.
RECOMMENDATIONS
We need to find out whether the women can be assisted
to plant more paret grass closer to their village.
At the same time we need•to examine whether the women
can transport the grass from forest to home, collectively.
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and whether this sort of bulk transport is cheaper. Since
the terrain is flat, it may be possible to use a bullock
cart in lieu of more expensive motorised transport.
We also need to look at the possibility of local
marketing through a shop.
Other Traditional Products
Brooms, ropes, halters, nets, chatyur, doka.
These are products of every day use which the villagers
have traditionally been making for their own use. They are
made'from locally available resources such as wild grasses
and the fibres of various plants and trees. Although some of
the more remote village continue to remain self-sufficient
in the making of these products for their use, many villages
which are closer to the local markets are now buying these
articles. For instance, the villagers would rather buy
cheap brooms available in the bazaar, rather than go in
search of babil grass, which is in short supply, out of
which the local brooms are made. Similarily, nylon ropes
and plastic sheets are increasingly being substituted for
the traditional ropes made from fibre and the chatyur
(umbrellas) made from ringaal fibre.
This substitution is taking place partly for functional
reasons, such as the greater durability of nylon ropes, and
partly because tastes and conditions are changing as the
villages come under the influences of city markets and their
products. Traditional products are still, however, made and
used in many villages, and these can be supported to
whatever extent possible. For instance, the making of ropes
by hand is very time consuming and, with the use of a hand-
run machine, this can be made far less tedious. In addition,
some thought must be given to the possible adverse effects
in terms of pollution, as a result of the increasing use of
plastic and nylon products.
