C H a P T;E R I Ihmodugtion Historical Background
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C H A P T;E R ■ I IHmODUGTION Historical Background. Geographical Condition. Climate And Rainfall. Agricultural Condition. Age And Composition Of Population. Occupational Division of Population. Socio-Economic Condition of Mangalwedha. Rural Development Programme. CHAPTER - % INTRODUCTION HISTORICAL BACKGROUND ; Mangalwedha can boast of a rich Religious and Historical background. The Mangalwedha Tahsil is known as w Damaji Pantanche Mangalwedhe " ( Tahsil of Damaji ) all over Maharashtra, Mangalwedha*s recent history dates back to eleventh century as evidenced by inscription - slab at those times (now) preserved in the compound of the Mamlatdar’s Office. There are, however, references in some slabs alluding to Mangalwedha being the capital city of Chalukya and then Kalachurya families. At that time Mahamandaleshwar was the famous king of •i Chalukya family. In the 15th century, Mangalwedha Tahsil was under the Bahamani Kingdom, and eventually came tinder the Mogal rule, particularly between 1600 to 1700 AD. The chequered history of this region saw further change when it was brought under the region of Great Maratha. During the Peshewa period, Mangalwedha was ruled by a 2 Brahmin (Patwardhan) family. Mangalwedha is also known as the “ Santanchi Bhoomi" (Land of the saints), in Maharashtra. Vaishnava Bhakta Teekacharya (1287 AD.), Safrfe Kanopatra (13th century), 2 Shri Sant Chokamela (1338 Afl>), and- Shri Sant Dama^i Maharaj (1458 AD) who have preached the message of humanity to the people of Maharashtra and else where, all 3 belonged to Mangalwedha. Therefore, Mangalwedha can rightfully claim to have made considerable contribution to religion, history, culture and ’Sant’ literature of Maharashtra. GEOGRAPHICAL CONDITION : Geographically the Mangalwedha Taluka consists of 79 villages covering a total area of 1140.9 Sq.Kilometres, and is situated in the extreme part of Solapur District. Further, it is on the Maharashtra side of the Maharashtra - Karnataka Border, in the deep South-East. Bijapur District of the Karnataka State forms a conqruent area, North-East of Mangalwedha; and to the West and South-West are situated Sangli and Sangola; to the North, North-East- and West is the Solapur District. The altitude of Mangalwedha is 458 metres above sea level. CLIMATE AND RAINFALL : Mangalwedha Taluka has dry and healthy climate with an average annual rainfall of about 24M (610 mm) with 37 rainy days in the months of June to October- each month having 6 (June - Aggust) to 9 (September) rainy days. The Maximum temperature range is 40° centigrade during summer season which is brought down to 10° centigrade in the winter season. 3 agricultural CONDITION : Mangalwedha is an industrially backward Taluka in the Solapur District. It is mainly inhabited by Small farmers and agricultural labourers. The farmers here have mainly engaged in traditional agricultural activities for generations. However, the fanners tend to display a lack of initiative here, and also a preference for adherence to the age old farming practices. Large scale prevalence of these attitudes helps to reduce the impact of whatever developmental efforts that are made in the area during the various plan periods, particularly by creating economic bottlenecks. The entire Solapur District is situated in the Deccan Trap Region. Deep, Medium and Shallow soils are prevalent in greater part of the district. In Mangalwedha Taluka the soils along the banks of Bhima and Man rivers are very fertile. The distribution of the land area in Mangalwedha Taluka is given in Table 1.1. Table - 1.1 Distribution Of Total Urea Of Mangalwedha (1985) 3r. Category Area in ; Percentage Ho. Hectares 1. Total area of the Taluka 114165 2. Cultivable land 106108 92.94 a) Non irrigated land 100192 (94.34) b) Irrigated Land (5.66) 6006 3. Forest 636 00.60 4. Gayaran 1585 01.39 5. Non Cultivable land 4332 03.74 01.33 i 6. Other 1504 Source : Statistical Department, Panchayat Sammitee Mangalwedha. 1985. The Table 1.1 indicates that the Mangalwedha Taluka extends over an area of slightly over 1,14 lakh hectares. Of this, 93 percent constitutes cultivable land. Of the Total cultivable land, only 6006 hectares, i.e.6 percent, are irrigated. Therefore, the non-irrigated land depends upon rainfall which is scanty as well as uncertain. The average / annual rainfall is only 24 inchies. Water is indispensible to agricultural production and hence low agricultural production. W.A.Lewis argues that "the secret of rapid agricultural progress in the under-developed countries is to be found much more in agricultural extension, in fertilizers, in new seeds, in pesticides and in water supplies than in 5 altering the size of farms, introducing machinery, or in getting rid of middlemen in the marketing process". ^ Therefore, it is quite evident that, the agricultural prospects of Mangalwedha are fairly bleak. But the picture is not as gloomy as that, for after the completion of the tail portion of Ujjani Project (major irrigation scheme) 3^691 hectares of land about 35 percent of the cultivable land could be brought under irrigation. But till such time that these prospects, in fact do materialise, the contribution of agricultural sector to the development process of the Taluka must necessarily remain doubtful. Therefore, in Mangalwedha, the agricultural sector is just a subsitance sector and does not constitute a profitable proposition. Further, if we study the area under different important crops, then once again we will arive at the same conclusion. Diagram -1.1 Diagramatic Representation of Table - 1.1 6 Table - 1*2 Important Crops In Mangalwedha ( 1983 ) Sr.No.i Crops. j" Area in [ ; Percentage i | Hectares. , to total :i 1 ' cultivable i! i area. i r----------- t 1. Jawar 15900 14.98 2. Bajara 4000 3.77 ! ! 3* | Wheat 3000 2.83 4. OilSeeds 1500 1.41 5. Gram 1300 1.23 6. Tur 1000 0.94 7. Mung 500 0.47 8. Maize 400 0.3 8 9. Rice 400 0.38 10. Cotton 400 0.38 11. Jawas 100 0.09 Source : Agricultural Department, Panchayat Samittee Mangalwedha. 1985. Jawar is the major crop which covered largest area (15 percent; of the total cultivable land. Jawar is not a cash crop and constitutes an important subsistence crop. Caish crops like cotton, oilseeds etc. cover comparatively a very small area (less than 2 percent) of the total cultivable land. The production of cash crops is discouraged by the non-availability of assured water supply, and thus has to play a secondary role to the subsistence 7 crops in Mangalwedha Taluka. Since the total area under cash crops cultivation is relatively low, agro-based industries cannot hope to obtain sustenance from these ’raw* materials. Hence, the over all economic impact direct and indirect of these crops on the economy of the area can rightly be considered to be negligible. In a nutshell we can therefore state that agricultural condition as it exists at present in the Mangalwedha Taluka is such that it cannot assist the development efforts of the Taluka in any suostantial manner. The Taluka therefore remains economically backward and prone to frequent drought conditions and near famine conditions. AGE AND COMPOSITION OF THE POPULATION : The study of human resources and human resource development is vital from the point of view of economic development and welfare. It is particularly important because human beings are not only instruments of production but also ends in themselves. As an instrument of production, the human resources provide the labour force of the community which helps in the process of production so that the entire population of a country can enjoy a higher standard of living including better health facilities and conditions which are very essential for the welfare of the society as a whole. It therefore, becomes essential to be aware of demographic characteristic of the population, particularly the size of population, the rate at which they are growing and the composition and distribution of population etc. s Some of the 8 demographic features of Mangalweaha are given in Table 'i .3 Table - 1.3 Distribution of Rural and Urban Population. (1981) Total population Rural Urban j SC ST Solapur 2610144 1842678 767466 373083 51577 District Mangalwedha 117304 100499 16802 18308 : 2128 Taluka (4,49) (5.45) (2.19) (4.91) : (4.13) Note : Figures in brackets are percentage to the column figures of the District. Source : District Census Handbook Solapur 1981. Mangalwedha Taluka is least populated amongst all the eleven Talukas in Solapur District. It accounts for less than 5 percent of the Total population of the District. This slow growth in population has its own causes. There is not much difference between the birth rate and death rate per thousand population. Since, Mangalwedha is completely a backward Taluka in industrial terms, it does not attract population from outside. More than that, due to lack of sufficient employment opportunities either the whole families or some members of the family have migrated to places like Goa, Bombay and other industrial centres for seeking job opportunities. The agricultural sector and the subsidiary cottage industrial sector, which mainly depend upon agriculture’ , are not fully developed. All these factors 9 contribute to the slow growth of population. Of the total population of the Taluka, only 14 percent lives in Urban areas and the rest of the population lives in the Rural areas. ( Table 1.4 ) This proportion also stands valid for male-female, urban-rural population distribution. However, this distribution does not stands for SC and ST class