CHAPTER II
PROFILE OF THE DISTRICT AND THE SII TALUKAS
The present study primarily focuses on the decade 1960-70. Kolhapur and its talukas (especially the six talukas in the sample) in Western Maharashtra are taken into account for the analysis of the rural power structure. Reorganisation of the States in India after Indepen dence has been one of the important events in the decade 1951-61. It meant complete redrawing of the political map of post British India. In Maharashtra and Gujarat the changes in these matters came in two stages. First a bilingual Bombay State (Gujarath and Maharashtra to gether) with an area of 190,66# sq. miles and a population of 4#2.65 lakhs (according to 1951 census) was created. The bilingual State Itself was a major issue in the poli tical life of Maharashtra (and Gujarat too). For the first time the opposition parties in Maharashtra were united on this issue and became an organized force against the ruling Congress. The first serious blow to the ruling Congress party was thus received during this decade. Maharashtra, otherwise, had always been regarded as a stronghold of the Congress party. This struggle for the formation of a separate state called Samyukta Maharashtra could not be ignored by the
32 33
Centre and the new State was formed in 1960 by splitting up the old State of Bombay into Maharashtra with 26 dis tricts and Gujarat vdth 17 districts. Of the 26 districts in Maharashtra, thirteen are from old Bombay State and five from old Hyderabad State, and eight from old Madhya Pradesh; Greater Bombay, Jalgaon, Kolaba, Ratnagiri, Nasik, Thane, Dhulia, Ahmednagar, Poona, Satara, Sanglii Solapur and Kolhapur are the districts from the old Bombay State* The four administrative divisions of Maharashtra are: Bombay, Pune, Aurangabad and Nagpur. Kolhapur district is in Pune Division.
Kolhapur district is located on the border of Karna- taka State on the sourth-east side. The population of the district according to 1971 census is 20,W*,049» The district has twelve talukas (tehsils) and the boundaries of the district have not undergone any change since 1961* The present sample takes into account six talulas out of the twelve. These six talukas, as we have already stated, represent both the developed and underdeveloped regions in the district. Our Indicators of development are? (1) Level of urba nization and industrialization; (2) Electrification, roads; (3) Literacy rate and U) other facilities like schools, hospitals. Table 2.1 clearly shows the rate of development in each of the talukas in the Kolhapur district. Level of 3*
H CM «n w\ o -# (7 ) 72- 7 «H road s pe r
K.M . » pe r lak h o f popu latio n 31-3-7 3 0 H
k Wfc O •P •P O «H CoK «M +u» e H OJ f^v * *f\ «o -s Q (6 ) • electri
% o f village s 31-3-7 3 u fie d u . • **4 H •p O H• c H CM -» *o M> <*% « V« a (5 ) a, e O irrigate d sow n are a t o 1971-7 2 o % o f ne t ne t are a fei 4» H X! O e P 2 TO C •P »4 to 0} «< • H CM c*\ «o tf\ •* «H H c •>. « o U ) 9 a o O •H 9 o •P (% t o tota l tur e Agricul I workers ) © Worker s i n o e •H •P U , O •3 •P CO H CO CD o •P p H CM r*\ -• «*S «o (3 ) X! •H «? O J* latio n 4» a Densit y o f popu 197 1 0 • A» Q X«! 49 •o CO § ^ » H CM f\ WN «0 * a * (2 ) fi vi e 00 0 Tota l tio n i 197 1 Popula • e XI « *> o » «H o •P en § o c «H • O a 4» o •H •o 0 • f m H • •s i n n 8. o 5 X h •OH te o Kaga l Chandga d H Karvi r Shiro l Taluk a Nam e o f th * o m x> 5 CO § S »• CM as •o • • • u o V H cos H CM c\ * WN O • JO 4» o o to 5 % 35 « g • «c\ • at a a i • h • i CM CM m «*\ g 9 «MH H «0 «***-» po si M O M O CN •: '.-, M £1 a i l s ON (XiH It o O CM rA .* WN 0) i a a *» U H 4T*» ft IV ON CM -* w\ f \ «0 u a a 0v »•»* ©H+» H >* a a H a fi H *~ CM «o ITS e ON w 3 CM h O H CM t*\ ITS CO 55 36 urbanisation and industrialization is indicated by the number of workers engaged in occupations other than agriculture. The development in agriculture is indicated by the percentage of irrigated area to the net area sown. On the scale of development other indicators like literacy rate, percentage of school-going children, hospital beds, transport facilities like roads per 100 Kms, etc. clearly show that tehsils like Karvir, Hatkanangle, Shirol, Kagal are developed while Chandgad, Ajra, Bavda and Shahuwadi are underdeveloped. Gadhinglaj, Bhudargad, Eadhanagari 1 and Panhala are also less developed. In the present sample we have selected three talukas viz., Karveer, Shirol and Kagal to represent the developed regions of the district while the other three talukas viz., Chandgad, Bavda and Shahuwadi represent the underdeveloped part of the district. In l&Bk Kolhapur State had the following six sub divisions viz., Karveer, Panhala, Shirol, Alta, Gadhinglaj and Bhudargad. In addition, Raybag under Shirol and Katkol under Gadhinglaj were the two Petas. Many changes have taken place in the State and the district boundaries since 1901. After the merger of the Princely State following independence, Kolhapur got the status of a District in the former Bombay State. The 956 villages which constituted the former Princely State together with five villages from the former State of Kurundwad and one village from the Stats of Miraj (Senior) and seven villages 37 from Belgaum district were included to form the new district of Kolhapur. Kolhapur along with some other districts in Maharashtra has undergone major changes at the time of reorganization of States in 1956. For instance, Raibag and Katkol were transferred to Belgaum district and Chandgad taluka was transferred to Kolhapur district.2 Geographically, Kolhapur district can be divided into three zones: (1) Western zone constituting the mountaineous tract comprises a part of Karveer, a part of Panhala, Bhudargad, Ajara, Shahuwadi, Radhanagarl and Bavda. The area is hilly and in some parts receive heavy rainfall. A large area is naturally under forest. On the whole, therefore, the zone remains relatively underdeveloped due to some of these natural conditions. (2) The fertile central zone comprises Panhala (part), Karveer (part), Kagal (part) and Gadhinglaj. (3) The dry Eastern zone (Desh tract) consists of Hatkanangale, Shirol, a part of Karveer and a part of Kagal. The lands in the Central zone are ouite fertile and rich in phosphorous content. In this part sugarcane is grown with lift irrigation. The divergence of the geographic and climatic condi tions in the above three zones account for the economic variations in these tracts. The peasants in the Central and Eastern zones with deep black or brown soil, moderate rainfall and ample irrigation facilities are better off than their less fortunate counterparts in the hilly areas. 1* Some Demographic Features According to 1971 census the density of fhe popula tion is 254 per sq.km. for the district. In the urban areas it is 2295 per sq.km. whereas in the rural areas the density is 204 per sq. km. Barring Greater Bombay district, Kolhapur has the highest density of population. During the decadal period 1961 to 1971 the population of the district increased by 2#.2d per cent. The decadal growth rate of the population is more than the State arerage. This is due to the concentration of big towns in four talukas. Table 2.2 shows the summary of figures from the three censuses—1951, 1961 and 1971. The urban population of the district forms 21.15 per cent of the total population (1971). The percentage of the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in the district population is 11.35 and 0.19 respectively. There are significant differences in the rates of growth of popula tion in various talukas. The high rate of growth in Karreer taluka is mainly due to the location and the growth of Kolhapur city. In the three underdeveloped talukas the urban popula tion is close to nil. Only in Shahuwadi there is some urban population. The reason obviously is that Shahuwadi taluka has one of the few major towns, viz. Malkapur, in Kolhapur district. Malkapur has a municipality and the total urban population in Shahuwadi is that of the Malkapur § •H JS •*-*<*N f^H »IM«>» P 04W -*-* OO t0<3 H«*\ CO 1 • • • • • • • • • • • i h «s«*\ tO*0 ^•O » 4Nt N I 1 1 1 1 1 1 HtM 1 w ifar t • bO P « H «0C>*tO i£>»* too «Ofcr HOI •AfN u 4* 0 ts.t0tO "^t© •O H «\«o f\r^ £S oo *>o • • • • • • • • » • • • • • • 1 0 6 -**o .* tv^ ^4 cyto o«o tOH O ^ P V NHH fHCV » N N 1 (V H 1 iHH 1 H » Hr-4 1 u as 0 m ft« " « H a, m H «ON "\H O<0 Htp r» eg HCV Jf H m xsCO « N»AO ««CN -**0 H-* OH WNtO HO * P • • • • • • • • • « • • • * • H o• O t» O -J» «AO H«* «*N<0 OvO tOH QMf\ O Q H CSitMOJ CNC\ l CNOI 1 CMH 1 HH 1 H 1 HH 1 w H «0 o X p •H o OT *\*r\ot ototo f\HO 6 ••too HtQ *> «*MVO e T3 OiC*-0 WNHO •AO^Ot p a | • «*• « * • «- * » r^-tof• »*»•»•»•- o-*-» » • • « * « to U HHC"-. 0«0»A •* **\r\ » 50N «00- CO Pop 0 Of\0 MOO 4HN 004 CNCVlCN OH !> •H U H»Hr-l iH»H»-« IHIH»H HHH HHH rHi-tri i-t*-*t~i CO £.«©»* £.<0«N S*> «©ir\ ^.tOm twlOtf\ ts.«OW\ ISOWN § CO • 0*00 OOO ooo ooo OOO OOO H »Hr-liH «-4IHIH ^"f 1^*11™1 f""l I""! f"1 oof*"4 ^*f of* 1 HHH HHH g cc V o 1^ I a © •H P P 13 C O O CO 0 cv •H 1* H ttf x o S 3 •a « •tr l •H Ml CO « J3 CO s IO *>2 S 5 CO I o 40 town* Karveer, Hatkanangale and Shirol are somewhat densely populated* These talukaa have attained a consi derable degree of industrialization, specially the high rate of growth in Hatkanangale and Shirol may be due to the growth of small scale industries* As compared with the comparatively backward forest areas and hilly tracts of the district the social and economic aspects of central and eastern zone present a brighter picture with better avenues of employment, educational facilities and supple mentary means of livelihood. Special Features of the District Kolhapur derives its importance from its past politi cal associations and its position as a great commercial, religious and educational centre* In the Maratha history Kolhapur represented one of the major centres of Maratha power* Maharani Tarabai, second daughter-in-law of Shlvaji challenged Shahu's claim to the Maratha throne and estab lished an independent State of Kolhapur. During the British regime Kolhapur State was a premier State in the Deccan and was also the seat of the Residency for Deccan States. Shahu Chhatrapati»s period was signi ficant for the initiation of a major social reform movement in Maharashtra. Kolhapuri version of Bahujan Samaj move ment is a significant contribution of Kolhapur to the social life of Maharashtra. This social reform movement and the * Dealt with in the Third Chapter - Historical Perspective. 7h GIMS 41 movement of national independence were the two major forces *hich built the socio-political structure of Kolhapur district and along with it of Maharashtra. The Indian National Congress has firm and strong roots all over rural Maharashtra including Kolhapur. But Kolhapur is also a stronghold of opposition parties like Peasants and "Workers Party. The district of Kolhapur is known for sugarcane pro duction. It is used for production of quality gur and sugar. There are in all 12 cooperative sugar factories registered in this district besides one privately owned factory. Six «re in production. Another important industry of export value is Kolhapur chappals. There are a number of small scale manufactur ing units and cottage units. Silverware and silver orna ments manufactured in Hupari of Hatkanangale taluka are known for artistic value and are exported out of the district. Kolhapur city has produced *any well-known artists, sculptors, and it has been the birthplace of the Marathl film industry. It is also known for wrestling. It is famous for small-scale industrial units manufacturing oil engines, spare parts for oil engines and other agri cultural implements. Kolhapur Zilla Parishad came into existence in 1962 along with other Zilla Parishads in Maharashtra. The Panchayat Raj system in Maharashtra has four distinct 42 features: (1) It is a strong organization at the district level. (2) There is a clearcut separation of the execu tive functions from deliberative and policy making func tions. The policy-making functions are entrusted to the elected representatives of the people. (3) Zilla Parishad members are directly elected. (In other States of India indirect elections prevail), {k) On the recommendation of the Naik Committee the legislatures i.e. MLAs and MPs are kept out of the Panchayatl Raj bodies. The co-operative societies and Panchayat Samitis at taluka level are the primary agencies for carrying out the community development programme. Panchayat Samitis are the agents of Zilla Parishads. The Zilla Parishad members from the taluka are the ex-officio members of the taluka Panchayat Samiti and the Gram Panchayatfs Panchas elect the members of the Panchayat Samitis amongst the Sarpanchas. The Taluka Panchayat Samitis thus carry out the developmental schemes and functions as links between village Panchayats and Zilla Parishads. As such the pre sent study has focussed on the leadership at the Taluka level along with the leadership at the district level. Social Structure Caste Structure A rough idea of the class and the caste structure in the district would be of great help in the analysis 0$ tfan *3 of the power structure in the District. However, in both the cases, the paucity of the sources of information is a major problem. After Independence the Census of India reports stopped giving any information regarding the caste structure except the information regarding scheduled castes and tribes. Table 2.3 gives a rough idea about the number of persons designated as scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in the district and the talukas. (Here we have taken into consideration only the six talukas). However, it does not give any information regarding the sub-castes within the scheduled caste group. Which sub-caste forms the majority group and who are the minority groups within the scheduled caste is quite a relevant problem in the analysis of political power* As the census reports or the statis tical abstracts do not furnish these facts, we had to rely on the interviews and the survey itself for this information. When we come to the problem of caste structure in general again the same difficulty arises. 1931 Census, however, gives a rough idea regarding the number of major castes, and sub-castes in the district. The census has classified the castes into three major groups viz. advanced, intermediate and backward (in the backward group there are two sub-groups--other backward and depressed). Most of the depressed castes given here are classified as Scheduled Castes at present. Brahmins (with six major sub-castes), 44 1 u CD « JS P H O •o e e •P •*« ^, M WN to *o Ta h CM lok a lok a ahttwa d iro l •d a str i str i lha p lok a I «H 11 1) hand g alok a O fe CO CO «H It •H O IS It) xs « * * 4B « Q O QW OH «HP Ml* Wh we* «£ cot* U « Oi-» coo CM * • u o H* •H CM CN. -t »f\ «o IN o l-l CO SB h JO s» to o t* CO 45 Kayastha Prabhus and Sonars come In the advanced group while Maratha s, Maratha Kunbls and Lingayats along with nine other nub-castes like Dhangars, Shiapis, Malis, etc., are in the group of intermediate castes* Depressed caste group comprises of Bhangis, Chambhars, Mahars and Manga while Berads, Lamanis and Wadars are in the other backward castes (Table 2.4). Brahmins in the advanced group, Maratha Kunbis in the intermediate group while Mahars in the depressed group form the dominant castes* Jains who are for all practical purposes treated (and they treat themselves also in the same fashion) as a sect of Hindu figure in a different category called 'religious group'. Table 2*5 shows the position of different religious groups in Kolhapur. According to 1931 census Jains (who are included) in the other group in our table on caste) form the biggest group after Hindus in the State (Table 2.6). However, recont census figures (1971) show that Muslims and not Jains form the biggest group after Hindus. Another strik ing feature in the religious composition according to 1971 census, is the emergence of a new religious group, the Buddhists. In 1931, Buddhists were totally absent, but in 1971 we find a considerably big number of Buddhists in the Kolhapur district. This is a significant feature as it shows the changes that are taking place in the 46 T "l •A "2 M « o «* CM Q , g B •o co cv P \fc Ot O Sx > » » 0 CN ^ • O O H *C»3B H H e-« to -* Cas t Oth e Bac k » S3 m « v\ O to • n • »T» .* — a I a a -* to o a P 10 N u M © o 4a u CO fe 0 0 P ®«H 0 «**^ H P1 K «*N O 0 51 o 0 c>* c>. O O B «rl .* to P 1 a OS »4 •H © P P CO CO n 43 o c> P (0 P «o «N CO o CN 09 g U «k a 0 iH «—<• m *»-». M • P as •fi H «0 H r-l ca P CM -a <*\ «rl siti o a a 0 • o to to to o CD (3 « h a w o 3orapo ! * 0 • CO 43 p •*3 • -* o m *""* 0 h n at P P s o h e n * n lhapu r •H (0 •H # • Oh 43 • o»» X! M c H »• T3 •o JO • ••- 40 40 I: 1 1 o « m 40 P 0> *«l r-i *« n Xi IN M (4 CM •H p • Xi — XI --» -* P r-i O C\ ON r-» O C*\ rH :j «MT a (*\ IS IS «w* P •ri .H « tCO O* iH « CO or-i CO d a. H « d Q, P Cd P 40 P 9 OK 0 «H o n • 9 m Religiou s Religi c 9 e X ar e in c strict , 19 7 cio-Econom i in d u s •H d c n g OX i s ar e n « W«r» CI • W«H 0«rl C Ps Of oi o • CO Q •H 49 Hi • rH scheduled caste groups* Due to Babasaheb Arabedkar's influence there is a growing tendency, specially amongst Mahara, to accept Buddhism as a way out of the evils of Hinduism* This factor also has brought about some changes in the political situation in the region* So if the numerical strength of each category is to be considered Brahmins amongst the advanced castes, Maratha Kunbis amongst the intermediate castes and Mahars amongst the depressed castes stand* Among these castes, Maratha Kunbi group is the biggest group while the Marathas (perhaps this group refers to pure or 96 kulis) is a very small group smaller than the total Brahmins* The census authorities in this connection have stated some of the difficulties they had to face while collecting information regarding caste composition* Dissatisfaction with the classification accorded to some of the groups, constant demand and claim for a more dignified caste status or demand for exclusion from a lower caste group, are some of the reasons which the authorities have pointed out as interferring elements* To sum up, in the group of developed Talukas except Kagal which stands tenth in irrigation facilities the other two, Karveer and Shirol are rich in many respects while in the underdeveloped groups Shahuwadi is in a better position while Chandgad and Bavda are too backward. In sugareane production also the talukas show more or less 49 the same position* Here again Kagal goes nearer to less developed talukas while Chandgad (not Shahuwadi) shows more production of sugarcane, inspite of its underdeveloped status in other respects* Chandgad and Bavda are still registered as purely rural without any sign of urban or industrial development* The number of scheduled caste people in the three underdeveloped talukas is considerably low* On the basis of the information we could collect, it can be stated that Marathas (which at present refers to Kunbis and Marathas and some other intermediate castes also) have the real dominant numerical strength* In the religious groups, Jains come next to Hindus in numerical strength* 50 REFERENCES 1. Socio-Economic Review and District Statistical Abstract of Kolhapur District, 1972-73. 2* Socio-Economic Review and District Statistical Abstract of Kolhapur district 1962-63* 3* District Census Handbook. Kolhapur, 1971, Compiled by the Maharashtra Census Office, Bombay* 4. Report of the Committee on Democratic Decentralisation, Cooperation and Rural Development Department, Government of Maharashtra, 1961* 5* Socio-Economic Review and District Statistical Abstract of Kolhapur District, 1972-73*