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 people, who are more predominantly in the rural areas, indicating a lack of employment mobility and employment opportunities for them.
Table -1.4 Distribution of the Population of Mangalwedha ( 1981 )
Total Male Female (D (2) (3) w
Urban 16802 8709 8093 (14.32) (14.41; (14.23)
Rural 100499 51720 48779 (85.67) (85.59) (85.77)
Total 117300 60429 56871 10
SC ST
Male Female Total Male Female Total
(5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)
1118 966 2084 81 79 160 (11.92) (10.82) (11.38) (7.41) (7.52) (7.46)
8263 7960 16223 1012 972 1984 (88.08) (89.18) (88.62) (92.59) (92.48) (92.54)
9381 8926 18307 1093 1051 2144
Others
Male Female Total (n) (12) (13)
7510 7048 14558 (15.03) (15.03) (15.03)
42445 39844 82292 (84.97) (84.97) (84.97)
49955 46894 96849
Note : Figures in brackets are percentage to the column totals.
Source : District Census Handbook - Solapur - 1981. 11
Table -1,5
Age-Wise Distribution of Population in Mangalwedha. (Percentages)
["year Age Group
0-14 j 15-60 60 & over L I 1981 40.00 | 54.00 06.00
Source : District Census Handbook - Solapur 1981.
The study of age composition is helpful in
determining the proportion of the labour force in the total
population. These figures indicate that the proportion of
child population in the 0-14 age group is about 40 percent.
A high proportion of children only reflects a large r proportion of unproductive consumers having a claim of
meagre resources of the region. Only 54 percentage of the
population fall in the productive consumer group.
The density of population is 95 per km^ in
Mangalwedha. This is much lower than the District average
density of 174 persons per km •
OCCUPATIONAL DIVISION UF POPULATION :
Broadly we divide occupations into three types i.e.
primary, secondary and tertiary. Colin Clark, argues that there is a close relationship between development of an
economy on the one hand and occupational structure on the
other. " A high average level of rural income per head is 12 always associated with a high proportion of working population engaged in tertiary industries.... low real income per head is always associated with a low proportion of the working population engaged in tertiary production and a high percentage in primary production"
In Mangalwedha more than 85 percent of the total population depends upon agriculture. This sector occupies a place of pride. Only a small portion (15 percent) of the total population depends on trade, commerce, service, etc.
This reflacts industrial backwardness and agriculture is the main source of livelyhood. From the total population of Mangalwedha Taluka, only 18 percent (18420) r come under the category of small and marginal farmers and 12 percent (12505) are landless labours.
SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONDITION OF MANGALWEDHA :
All the factors discussed above indicate quite forcefully, that, Mangalwedha is an economically poor Taluka in the District. Its agricultural condition, its productivity^ average rainfall, age and composition of population,
occupational division of population etc. are the indicators
of its backwardness. The per capita income of this Taluka
again is below the District average. Industrially it is a
completely negleated Taluka. The industrial units are so
small that they are, on the whole, unable to guarantee
employment to more than ten persons each. Some cottage
industries like oil ghanies do exist but they are of house hold nature. Therefore major items like sugar, cloth, 13 stationary and other goods required in the Taluka are procured from outside. . Jawar is the only major item for ttexport”. Mangalwedha is famous for Jawar in Maharashtra.
But as has been already mentioned, Jawar is not a cash crop which will give good return by exporting it. Mangalwedha lacks in many facilities, at times even the infrastructure, that help industrial growth in the region. For transport facilities it depends upon Solapur, Pandharpur, Sangola and
Akkalkot depots. It is 51 kilometres away from the
District Headquarters and falls too quite far from National and State highways. In short Mangalwedha is economically a poor Taluka in Solapur District. Thus the on poverty and Rural Development in Mangalwedha q with special reference to I.R.D.P. will be fairy useful in analysing the socio- economic structure and possible changes in them. Further, under the programme of Rural Development many potent opportunities exist to develop this region.
RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME :
Socio-economic development of Rural Area is of crucial significance in the framework of integrated growth and social Justice. Rural reconstruction is not a new concept.
Several pioneering experiments have been attempted by many eminent people in the country. Poet Tagore was perhaps the first to begin a planned programme to development for the villages through Shantiniketan but the real efforts in symphathetically understanding the rural problems and attempting an indigenous solution of the economic ills came 14 from the Mahatma Gandhi. It is who always stressed that the soul of India lives in her villages and in rural 7 reconstruction alone lies her salvation. There cannot
be two opinions about the fact that the development of
any kind is not possible unless the development in over 5 Q lakhs Indian villages takes place.
Rural Development is defined as "improving living
standards of the mass of the low income population residing
in rural areas and making the process of their development Q self sustaining ".
"Conceptually rural development should mean multi
faced development of Rural Economy by exploiting to the
optimum the local resources in men, material, land and water". ^ 0
The main features of Rural Development are as
fallows i
1• Mobilisation and allocation of resources so as to
reach a desirable balance over time between the
welfare and productive services available to the
subsistence rural sector.
2. Allocation of resources to low income regions and
classes and ensuring that productive and social services actually reach them.
3. Development of appropriate skills and implementing
capacity and the presence of institutions at the local,
regional and national levels to ensure on effective
use of existing resources and to foster the utilisation 15
of additional finance and human resources for a
continued development of the subsistence sector.
Selfsustenance thus means involving as distinct from
simply reaching the subsistence population through 11 development programmes.
In short, rural development embraces sill those programmes that touch all levels of human living, e.g. agriculture and related matters, irrigation, communication?, education, health, supplimentary employment, housing, 12 training and social welfare,
India is predominantly _ a rural economy wixh which about four-fifth of its total population residing in rural areas. Needless to say, rural development forms an integral part of the planning process. A careful analysis of the measures adopted for rural development during the planning process reveals that various strategies have been followed depending upon the programmes and exigencies of the situation.
The initial strategy for agricultural and rural development focussed attention on institutional reforms like the abolition of Zamindari and Jagirdari systems of land tenure. Though some attempt was made to introduce land reforms and tenancy regulations they were not imple mented. The emphasis in the later strategy of rural development was on an area-approach • For example, the
Community Development Programme viewed the village as a community. The Intensive Agricultural District Programme 16
and the Intensive Agricultural Area Programme were planed district wise. Drought Prone Area Programme, Command Area
Development Programme and Tribal Development Programme also
adopted a target area approach. In all the programmes, the
strategy has all along been to develop physical
infrastructural facilities like irrigation, power,
approach roads etc. and institutional infrastructural
facilities such as credit institutions, fertilizer
networks and extension services to aid the production 13 process in agriculture.
All these public services were meant for the areas
as a whole. These could, apparently, be use only those
people who owned some productive assets, like land. The
landlords and other affluent sections of the rural
community flourished in the wake of these programmes, where
as the large majority of the rural community consisting
of landless agricultural labour, rural artisans and small \ farmers were anable to derive any benefits. Improvements
in production technology and increased infrastructural
facilities provided by the public sector benefited only
a small minority and thus reinforced their already powerful a 4 social, economical and political leverage.
The Draft Five Year Plan 1978-83 also noted '•much of the benefits from infrastructure have accrued
largely to the relatively affluent - many areas of the
country remain backward and regional disparities in
agriculture have increased. Many segments of the population 17 like scheduled castes and tribes have not shared fully in 15 the benefits of growth. ^
In the wake of this assessment of India’s economic development there has been a reapprasal of the development strategy. As a consequence, an emphasis has come to be placed on target group approach. This is evident from the objectives stated in the Draft Five Year Plan, 1978-83, viz-"attaining within a period of ten years :
1. The removal of unemployment and significant under employment;
2. An appreciable rise in the standard of living of the poorest sections of the population, and
3. Provision by the state of some of the basic meeds of the people in these income groups, like clean drinking water, adult literacy, elementary education, health care, 16 rural roads, rural housing for landless.” The reformulated Sixth Five Year Plan (1980-85) further emphasises this approach when it identifies the essential elements of its strategy and methodology for accelerated rural development as follows : i) Increasing productivity and production in
agriculture and allied sectors; ii) resource and income development of the vulnerable
sections of the rural population through development
of primary, secondary and tertiary sectors; iii) skill formation and skill upgrading programmes to
promote self and wage employment among the rural poor; 18
iv) facilitating adequate availability of credit to
support the programmes taken up for the rural poor;
v) promoting marketing support to ensure the viability
of production programmes and to insulate the rural
poor from exploitation in the marketing their
products;
vi) provision of additional employment opportunities to
the rural poor; and
vii) provision of essential needs.
In order to {achieve these objectives, an emphasis is increasingly being placed on intigrated approach. The blueprint for integrated rural development emphasises people’s participation at the gross-root level and a judicious application of science and technology for optimum utilisation of resources. It implies harnessing the local 17 resources and initiative to attain self-sustaining grovrth.
At present there are a variety of Rural Development
Programmes such as :
1) Community Development Programme.(C.D.P.-1952)
2) Panchayat Raj. ( P.R.- 1959 )
3) Intensive Agricultural District Programme.
(I.A.D.P.-1959)
4) Applied Nutrition Programme.(A.N.P.-1960)
5) Intensive Agricultural Area Programme. (I.A.A.P.-1965) 6) Small Farmers Development Agency.(S.F.D.A.) and Marginal Farmer*^ and Agricultural Labour Agency. (M.F.A.L.-1969) u y&ivfcfe-: 19
7) Drought Prone Area Programme. (D.P.A.P.-1970-71)
8) Tribal Area Development Programme. (T.A.D.P.-1970-71)
9) Pilot Intensive Rural Employment Programme.
(P.I.R.E.P.-1972)
10) Hill Area Development Programme. (H.A.D.P.-1974-75)
11) Command Area Development Programme.(C.A.D.P.-1974-75)
12) National Minimum Needs Programme.(N.M.N.P.-1974-75)
13) Regional Rural Banks. (R.R.B.-1975)
14) Rural Industrial Project. (R.I.P.-1974-75)
15) Rural Electrification Programme. (R.I.P.)
16) Whole Village Development Programme.(W.V.D.P.-1975-76)
17) Antyodaya. (1977)
18) Food for Work Programme. (F.W.P.-1977)
19) Desert Area Development Programme.(D.A.D.P.-1977-78)
20) Integrated Rural Development Programme.(I,R.D.P.-1978)
21) National Rural Employment Programme. (N.R.E.P.-1974-79)
22) Training of Rural Youth for Self Employment.
(T.R.Y.S.E.-1980) 20
CHAPTER-1
INTRODUCTION
REFERENCES
1. Dr. B.R, Gopal, tt Karnatak Incription " Vol V,
Kannada Research Institute. K.U.D. P. 143.
2. Shri. Karandikar Vakil. " Shri Sant Damajiche
Mangalwedhe " Publisher - P.M. Karmarkar.
Mangalwedha. 1964. P. 14.
3. Ibid. P. 18. 4. Rudradatta and K.F.M. Sundarum. " Indian Economy11
16th revised edition. S. Chand & Company Ltd.,
New Delhi. 1979. P. 369.
5. Ibid. P. 48. t 6. Colin Clark^ " The Conditions of Economic Progress.”
1940. P. 182.
7. R.C. ARORA. ” Integrated Rural Development."
S.Chand & Company Ltd. New Delhi. 1979. P.2.
t 8. Chandra Sen. " A New Approach For Multi-objective
• Rural Development." The Indian Economic Journal.
• Vol. 30. April-June 1983. No. 40. P. 91.
9. Uma Leli. " Design of Rural Development." Lesson from Africa (Baltimore, John Hipkins Press) P.20.
10 . R.C. ARORA. op cit, P.^ 21
11. Ishwar C Dhingra. M The Indian Economy ' Resources Planning Development & Problems.” First edition. S Chand & Company Ltd. New Delhi. 1981. P. 686. 12. S.A.N. Peerzade. ” Key to National Development. " The Economic Times. January 31> 1981. 13. Ishwar C Dhingra. op cit P. 687. 14. loc cit. 15. Draft five year plan. 1978-83. P.2. 16. Ishwar C Dhingra, op cit. P. 687. 17. Ibid, P. 688.