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2006

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STUDIES

ENVIRONMENTS

LIVELIHOODS

Siudies

ALESE

Asian

CONTRIBUTIONS

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CHANGING

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NEP Nepal

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Kirtlpur. Centre. Journal Tribhuvan

CNAS Contributions to Nepalese Studies ISSN: 0376-7574 Editorial B0ard Special Issue of ChieJEditor: Ninnal M. Tuladhar Managing Editor: Drone P. Rajaure Editor: Dilli Raj Sharma Editor: Dilli Ram Dahal Editor Dhruba Kumar Editor: Damini Vaidya Editor. Mark Turin Contributions to Nepalese Studies Advisory Board Kamal P. Malia Harka Gurung on Dinesh "R. Pant Chaitanya Mishra Editorial Policy Changing Environments Published twice a year in January and July, Contributions to Nepalese Studies publishes articles on Nepalese Studies focused un: and art and archaeology, history, historical·cultural forms; religion; folk studies, social structure. national integration, ethnic studies, population Livelihoods in Nepal dynamics, institutional processes. development processes, applied linguistics and sociolinguistic studies; study of man, environment, development and geo-politlcal setting of the Indus-Brahmaputra regions. Articles, review articles and short review's of latest books on Nepal are welcome from both Nepali and foreign contributors. Articles should be original and written in English or Nepali. The Editorial Board reserves the right to edit, moderate or reject the articles submitted. Editor The published articles of Nepali contributors arc remunerated, but Centre Ram Bahadur Chhetri for Nepal and Asian Studies retains the copyright on the articles published. Contributors will receive a complimentary copy of the journal and fifteen copies of offprints. Opinions expressed in the articles or reviews are the authors' own and do not necessarily reflect the view of the Editorial Board or the publisher. Subscription Subscription payment can be made by cheque or draft payable to Research Centre for Nepal and Asian Studies, Convertible US$ AlC No. 0103214035201 at Nabil Bank, Kathmandu, Fax: 977-1-4226905. I Subscription rates are subject to change without prior notice. Su bscriptIon Rates NeDaI India Other countries Sin21eCODY NRs.250/- IRs. 250/- - One year NRs.450/- IRs. 450/- USS 50.00 Note: Air-mail DOstlll!eis included. 2006 CONTENTS

Editorial Preface

Changing Environments and Livelihoods in Nepal: An Overview Ram B. Chlletr; 1-14

Development and Livelihood Changes among the Kumals in the Pokhara Valley. Nepal Bi(Zwtnath Blzul1e1 and Ram B. Chhetri 15-37

Development as a Process of Marginalization: A Case Study of the Arun Valley Kumal Community Slwmhhu P. Katte! 39-62

Changing L..ivelihood Strategies of Dalits: A Case Study in the Pokhara Valley Sanjeet' K. PokhareI and Ram B. Chhetri 63-80

Changing Environments and Livelihoods: Adaptation of Jalari People in the Pokhara Valley Ram B. Chhetri 81-109

Survival Strategies among Parsawal Tharus Tu!.si Ram Patuley 111-125 Contributors Editorial Preface Bidyanath Bhurtel, M.A. in Anthropology. has been actively involved in research projects and development activities. His Master's thesis is on "The The initial planning for this research began at the Christian Michelsen Kumals of Begnas." E-mail: [email protected] Institute (CMI). Bergen in December 1995. My friend and professional colleague Tone Bleie and r had several rounds of brain-storming sessions on Ram B. Chhetri. Ph.D., is one of the t(mnding members and currently Chair the possibility of a collaborative research project with a focus on of the Central Department of Sociology/Anthropology at Tribhuvan environmental change, development and livelihoods in the hills of Nepal. University. He wrote his Ph.D. dissertation on "Adaptation of Tibetan Each of us then began to put our ideas on paper for discussion. In December Refugees in Pokhara, Nepal" (the University of Hawaii). His publications 1995, I stayed at the CMI apartment and worked in my office most of the

include Anthropology alld Sociology (~rNepal (1999, t:o-cditcd with Om days all by myself (since most of the Norwegian colleagues were on holidays Gurung), and co-authored three books including, Dispute Resolution in Nepal to celebrate Christmas and New Year). I managed to write a draft proposal (2004). E-mail: [email protected] before I left for Nepal on December 30 in 1995. Tone did most of the editing and tuning up of the proposal afterwards although we communicated by Shambhu P. Kattel, M.A.. teaches at the Central Department of Sociology! phone and fax until mid-1996 when we were ready to submit our proposal to Anthropology, Tribhuvan University. His M.Phil. thesis is on "The Kumals the Norwegian Research Council. In early 1997, I received a fax from Tone of Tumlingtar". (2000. University of Bergen. Norway). He has published with good news that our proposal had been selected for funding. Plans had to several papers in leading journals and is the co-author of the book. Dispute be Illade quickly to visit CMI again in order to work on the field-methods. I Resolution in Nepal (2004). E-mail: shambhukattcl((fhotmailcom spent the summer of 1997 at CM/. But soon after returning from there. I had to leave for University of Georgia on a Fulbright Post-Doctoral programme. Tulsi Ram Pandey, Ph.D. in Sociology from Dt:lhi Sch(x)1 of Economics, When I returned from there in March 1998. my colleague Tone was already teaches at Central Department of Sociology/Anthropology. He has published in Kathmandu to begin the first round of field work. Soon we both were out a number of papers in national and international journals. in the field sites with a number of hard working and motivated assistant researchers we had managed to identify and engage. Some of us continued to visit the field sites until the end of 200 I. Sanjeev K. Pokhrel. M.A. in Anthropology. teaches at the Central I would like to thank the Centre for Development Studies (CDS) t(Jr Department of Scx:iology/Anthropology. Tribhuvan University. His M.Phil. initially inviting me to the University of Bergen with a five-month long thesis is on 'The Dalits of fkgnae., Area", (University of Bergen, Norway). E­ visiting fellowship. I am also grateful to Prof. Gunnar Haaland of the mail: [email protected] Anthropology Department for linking me to the CDS at the ViB as well as for his encouragement in works that I wanted to do. Both Norwegian Research Council and the CMI, Bergen provided the necessary funds for the research

project Livelihoods and Environmental Chan!?e in the Hills (~fNepal. I am also grateful to my friend and colleague Tone Bleie (Co-Principal Investigator of this project) for all her intellectual inputs and cooperation from time to time. Assistant researchers Krishna Adhikari, Lok Bhattarai Parmeswor Khati. Lok Raj Pandey and Ganga Sen deserve thanks for helpin~ me with the field survey. I would also like to mention that Bidya Bhurtel and Sanjeeb Pokharel agreed to do their MA thesis work as part of this project and they collected information on the Kumal and Damai/Kami/Sarki. I was rcsponsihle for preparing the field research instruments for data collection in the Begnas area of Kaski district. Similarly, my colleague Tulsi Pandey at Tribhuvan University (TV). agreed to look at livelihood changes among the Tharus while working on his own Ph.D. research in the Tarai. In 2003-2004, the Bergen Mountain Forum, UiB, made it possible f(" me to visit the eMI and spend time reviewing the literature as well as editing CHANGING ENVIRONMENTS AND LIVELIHOODS the papers. I also would like to thank the researchers at the Bergen Mountain IN NEPAL: AN OVERVIEW Forum for providing me with an opportunity to share some of my research Ram B, Chhetri findings with them at a colloquium in Bergen in January 2004. Similarly, I also presented my paper on Jalari at the Institute of Social Studies (ISS), The Introduction Hague in January 2005. 1 am thankful to Marlene Buehy for inviting me to The thematic issues in this volume include development, changes in the ISS and for her hospitality during my entire stay there (January-February environment and livelihoods and sociallcultural change. Some of the 2005). I also thank her and other participants of the ISS colloquium f(" their concepts like development. environment and livelihoods are among the ever comments and intellectual input. The final editing of the papers was expanding baggage of everyday use vocabulary for people including completed at ISS during my leisure time on weekends. academics, researchers, policy makers. development professionals and social I am also grateful to the Centre for Nepal and Asian Studies (CNAS) for activists. I Environment and development in particular have remained handling all the work rdated to the publication of this special issue. In persistent themes in the discourses on Nepal's economic and demographic particular, I must mention that Prof. Nirmal Man Tuladhar, Executive processes for several decades now (for detailed reviews of these issues see Director, CNAS, and Prof. Dilli R. Dahal, Senior Anthropologist, CNAS. Ives and Messerli 1989, Ives 2006. Pandey 1999). The focus on livelihoods supported and encouraged me to publish these articles as a Special Issue of (in particular of vulnerable people) and the discourse surrounding it within Contributions to Nepotese Studle:\'. I am thankful to both of them. I am also the context of either 'dcvdopmcnt' or environmental (particularly natural grateful to Dr. Mark Turin, now on the editorial hoard of this journal, for resources) management or both is relatively nev\', perhaps going back to the proof reading the entire issue before it went to press and for catching many mid-1990s only (see Chambers and Conway 1992). The changes in the small errors. environments and livelihoods of the poor and marginalized people are among I also would like to thank Dr. Lauric Vasily who kindly assisted me in the central issues of concern today among those involved in development editing the language of some of the papers. My home institution, the Central programmes in Nepal (see Chhetri 2005a, 2006a for reviews on related Department of Sociology/Anthropology, Tribhuvan University granted me issues). However. social and cultural change in the context of changing leave of absence every time I went to Norway or elsewhere while working on environments have received little attention thus far from development this research project. Last but not the least, on behalf of the authors and tor agencies, projects, as well as researchers in Nepal-perhaps because these myself, I would like to thank all the people in the field sites who not only themes may have appeared unimportant to many vis-a.-vis the issues provided the necessary data/information for our research projects but also surrounding 'development' that arc onen placed higher on the 'to do' agenda allowed us to peep into their personal lives and share experiences in various hy international development agencies and Jonors alike. ways. In recognition of their generosity in sparing their valuable time with us, The papers presented in this volume are special in that their authors touch this issue is dedicated to the marginal groups of people (particularly the Daht upon social and cultural change while examining the interrelationship and Janajati peoples documented in this study) of Nepal whose stories of between changes in environments and livelihoods for certain groups of struggling for a living in the face of changing envjronment~are reflected in people in Nepal. The authors discuss and examine the changing the essays presented here. environments, livelih()ods and lite-ways of selected dalits (Damai, KamL Sarki, and Pode/Jalari) and marginalized ethnic groups (Kumals and Tharus) Ram Bahadur Chhetri living in eastern and western Nepal (Map 1 shows the study sites). The Kathmandu, Nepal analyses of field level realities presented in the papers tend to challenge the July 2006 received wisdom that development projects generally bring positive changes in the lives of everyone within their remit. A strong argument that emerges from a careful reading of these papers is that 'development' as a conceptual framework for explaining the social and cultural factors and processes may not be adequate (see also Chhetri 2005b). In this introductory note I feel it useful to highlight some of the fundamental features of the essays presented in this volume. To begin with, I believe it essential to say a few words about some concepts and their

Contributions to Nepalese Studies, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006),1-14 Copyright © 2006 CNAS/TU 2 CNAS Journal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006) Changing Environment and Uvelihood 3 meanings as used by the authors. This will be followed by a brief description strategies of selected groups of people. All of the papers included here are of the nature of Ihe case studies themselves (i.e. study siles, people, and other based 011 recent field research carried OUI by the authors, often using both relevant subject matter). I will then focus on some of the propositions quantitative and qualitative lechniques of data collection. Three of the papers emerging from these studies. Finally, in the lasl section, I note some are based on research carried out in the Pokhara valley while one paper each implications of the findings, specifically for theoretical discussions on represents western Tarai and the eastern hills (Map 1 shows the location of cultural change. the research sites). One of the common features of these sites, as revealed by the case studies. Some Concepts and their Meanings is that the inhabitants of these places belong to a number of caste/ethnic Some of Ihe conceplS used in social science research tend 10 be such that groups. The people selected for research are among marginalized janajatis different readers may interprel them differently-depending on the (Kumal and Tharu) and DalilS (Jalari or Pode, Kami. Damai and Sarki). ideological. theoretical. disciplinary and other positions they align themselves Besides, these places have also become part of the markets for with. The concepts of development, environmem. environmental change and factory/industry made goods and services of various kinds as reported in the livelihoods are among such concepts. I must hasten 10 confess that my intent papers. Some development projects (e.g. conslruction of roads. dams, is not to get into the semantic genealogy of these concepts. However, I feel airfields. etc.) have been completed in most of these sites in the past few that I should inform Ihe readers as to what the authors of the essays here decades. Moreover, these places are now characlerised by populatioo mean (or as I understand Ihese lenns while reading the essays) when they use mobility. including in/out migrations of people for various reasons. Finally, these concepts. in the process of environmental changes, people in these siles have As we know the concept of 'development' (CI" bikas in epali) is experienced changes in traditional occupations (see Table I). The above generally used to refer to progress, growth. improvement or any other noted processes and features of course could also be observed among people positive advancement. While the authCl"s of these essays may not totally in other places in Nepal. disapprove such usages of this concepl. they nevertheless seem to have other ideas about il. The use of this tenn in these essays appears to be more neulTal. .... p 1 referring to the construction of infra.~tructures(roads. airport, dams. elc), Study Site. access 10 markets and amenities (hospitals, health posts. schools. etc), as well as urbaniZ3tion. opening of new job opportunities. externally sponsored - natural resources management initiatives, etc. _r-'V'- _ Environment is often used in its plural form in this issue (as in the title of the issue itself). Our usage is closer to Barth's when he states that for any - ethnic group. the environment "is not only defined by natural conditions, but - also by the presence and activities of other ethnic groups on which it - .- t depends" (1981; 3). Also. when we refer to environmental change, we arc not / talking only about changes in the physical environment (i.e. changes in the conditions of the forests). Thus changes in the environments refer to changes in the social, polilical, economic as well as physical environment (resulting from human intervenlions). Therefore, the construction of roads or the - conncction of a given settlement to a highway, or building of dams and airport. etc.. constitutes environmenlal change in the area. Finally, lhe teml livelihood is used by the authors in these papers to refer 10 ways or means of earning income.

Key Features of the Study Sites and Peoples TIle research findings presented in this volume address the issues related to environmental change, 'development' and the adaptations in livelihood Changing Environment and Livelihood 5

The Jalaris today live in Begnas area. (around Begnas and Rupa lakes) at the north--eastem comer of the Pokhara valley (studied by Chhetri). They have not given up their traditional occupation (fishing) yel. But, in order to keep up. they have moved away from their earlier settlement (their homes were passed on to them by their parents and grand parents) and their erstwhile Pode Tolc of Pokhara has disappeared from the map of this municip..1Jity. That place goes with a new name 'Naya Bazar' (new market) which is mostly occupied by migrants from the adjoining hill villages. The Kumals have been studied in tWOdifferent places. While Kanel studied them in Tumlingtar of Sankhuwasabha district in east NepaL the Kumals discussed by Bhurtel and Chhetri live in the Begnas area itself. In both study site.... the Kumals are reported to have given up pottery (their traditional occupation). The Damai. Kami and Sarki people are also the residents of Bcgnas area (see Pokhrel and Chhetri). Just as the Kumals, they too have experienced changes in their livelihood strategies today. While the groups mentioned above live in urban or semi-urban areas in the hilly region of Nepal. the Tharus (see Pandey's paper) live in the Tarai. The Tharu group reported here are from a village c..111edParsawal in Nawalparasi district (westcrn Tarai). A number of youths in these study populations are also among the labour migrants from Nepal to the Arab countries in particular.

Emerging I~opositiuns:Changes in Environments and Life-ways One of the primary interests of anthropologists has been to understand and explain the cullural similarities and differences in human societies across time and space. The discussions on the changing environments and the livelihood strategies of various groups of people from the hills and the Tarai of Nepal is certainly a contribution towards such a broader goal of anthropological inquiry. Whethcr it is in the Pokhara vallcy, Tumlingtar, Parsawal of Tarai, or anywhere else in Nepal. one could find people of various caste/ethnic backgrounds living in mixed settlements. But all of lhese groups tend to have their own 'predominant' form of interaction with each other as well as with the biophysical and socio-cconomic. political as well as cullUral environment of the area. Such special forms of intemctions [00 seem to account for similarities and differences in SlXial and culluml forms as well as changes in social relations and livelihood strategies of people. Elsewhere I have raised some queslions like: "What makes people to change their life-ways? What triggers social and cullural change? Why do different groups of people respond (therefore change) in different ways to similar dynamics in the total environment?" (see Chhetri 2006b: 92). These are the kind of questions thc authors of the papers in this issue are also addressing. They are suggesting that social and cultural change in a given place could be the resull of changes in a number of practices prevailing or being adopted by different groups of people. For instance. the empirical 6 CNAS Journal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006) Changing Environment and Livelihood 7

materials presented in each of the papers suggest that the adoption of new people under study have been alienated from their traditionally owned land occupation (i.e. other than their traditional professions) by a caste/ethnic and other vital resources. group of people could also result in social and cultural change at the wider Development is not a neutral occurrence (see Escobar 1995, Ferguson societal level. The papers also make it evident that there are still other 1994) and it is known to come with pay offs (see Kottak 1983). In Nepal, processes which seem to influence changes in society and culture. These case ever since planned development began about 50 years ago, the country and studies on changing livelihood options for groups of people in different social its peuple are believed to have benefited from 'development'. A well known and physical spaces in Nepal present some interesting findings even though Nepali anthropologist acknowledged more than a decade ago that "Nepal has not all of them are unexpected. In this section I intend to highlight some of made impressive progress during the past forty years" (Bista 1991: 133). But the propositions and or arguments that emerge out of the case studies Bista quickly turns around and draws the reader's attention to the pay offs of presented by the authors. development in Nepal. Talking about foreign aid and development he cites In a provocative book on development in Nepal, Dor Bahadur Bista set examples of the improved condition of Nepal in statistical terms but then he out to examine ';aspects of cultural and social organization of Nepali society, warns that such development "is beginning to destroy the gracefulness, as they have an effect on Nepal's development" (Bista 1991: 1). In contrast, charm, generosity and hospitality even among the rural people...People are the papers in the present collection are documenting how 'development' and paying their prices in terms of some positive human values which once lost environmental changes have been responsible (among other factors) for will not be that easy to reinstate for generations to come" (Bista 1991: 133). altering the aspects of traditions as well as 'cultural and s(x.:ial organization of Bista's observations are corroborated by the authors in this volume by Nepali society'. In this way, the essays in this collection suggest that the pointing out that some of the very popular cultural traditions (e.g. panchai culturalls(x.:ial facets and development or environmental changes tend to baja, pottery, etc.) are either being given up or the youths in the concerned influence each other rather than one of the two having a detenninant effect on communities are apathetic to the dying cultural markers of their people in the the other. face of 'development'. The en vironmental changes that follow urbanization or other Bista also alludes that the path for moving forward (i.e. development) 'developments' (mainly building of infrastructures like roads, dams, airfields does not appear to be equally friendly for all kinds of people in the country or other amenities, etc.) have received reasonable attention from scholars and (1991: 133-134). Our case studies also make it evident that not everyone has lay people alike in Nepal. Generally, such environmental changes or been able to reap the benefits or reach for their share of the bread and thus the 'developments' are believed to bring positive effects on the lives of people in "improved condition of Nepal in statistical terms" is certainly misleading. their proximity. The papers in this volume dispute this common belief Contrary to the common expectations, some marginalized groups of people because the empirical evidence shows that environmental changes and the so­ seem to be paying most or all of the costs of the so called development that called developments may benefit some people but also bring serious has come to their door-steps so that others living around them could gain. challenges in the life-ways of others. Moreover, the discussion in the papers The story of Kumals in Tumlingtar is an apt illustration of this since the makes it evident that such changes also tend to influence societal/cultural coming of an airfield there has turned them into porters from the potters and organizations as well by way of impacting directly on the lives and livelihood farmers that they were previously. choices of individuals and groups of people. The authors of the papers indicate that erosion of traditional skill, crafts, Development and changes in the environment also bring about changes in or certain aspects of culture and social organization may have also occurred the centrality and importance of places~indifferent ways to different while the country moved on with environmental change and development types/groups of people. People therefore respond differently. The case studies For instance, the papers by Bhurtel and Chhetri, and Kattel report that due to together make a distinct statement that environmental changes and the availability of containers (e.g. jars, pots, etc., used for storage of water development are likely to dispel some groups of people away from such sites and cereals at homes) made out of metal or other synthetic materials in the of developmental activities while attract others towards their centres. The market today, Kumal's earthen jars, pots, pitchers, etc., are in less demand case studies presented in this book also reveal that some people have also these days. Similarly, factory-made shoes and agricultural implements are been further marginalized in their own homelands. Tharus in the Tarai, the gradually replacing the home-made shoes made by (the Sarkis) and the Pode/Jalari people of Pokhara, and the Kumals of Tumlingtar stand out as the plough blades, sickles, etc., (the Kamis) in the villages. Also the traditional best examples here (see case studies below for details). In all these sites, the dresses like Bhoto, Choli, etc., made by a village Damai have become rare items although they were popular dress items until the 1970s. The 8 CNAS Journal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006) Changing Environment and Livelihood 9

discontinuities in the production of these traditional items of daily use could Furthermore. in the process of change in the total environment. two or more mean the imminent loss of some of the bits and pieces (or aspt.'cts) from groups of people could also compete for a given niche previously occupied Nepal's total cultural baggage (see G. Chhetri 1989, Tingey 1994).' As a by one particular caste/ethnic group. consequence of such processes. the erstwhile dense or close interactions There also seems to be a noteworthy change in peoplc's attitude and/or between households of various caste/ethnic groups within the village that their values tnwards occupations. For instancc. some occupations like tish resulted from their need to exchange each others' specialized production or farming are open to all now. If tishing was considered an "impure or services are also attenuating. polluting" job in the past. tish farming is not regarded as such any more. Pottery provided a secure livelihood for Kumals in the past. But today. Todav. as the Jalaris in Pokhara have revealed, many others including Bahun­ hardly any Kumal household either in the Pokhara valley or in Tumlingtar Chhetri elite are into fish farming. Similarly. olher traditional caste-based carns its income from pottery work. This profession has been abandoned by occupations arc not controlled only by certain caste/ethnic groups anymore. most of them and the skills are not being passed dovvn to the younger As indicated above, there is certainly going to be competition among generation. Kumals could have adapted by making clay products that are still people from different caste/ethnic backgrounds in some professions or in demand (e.g. tlmvcr pots and other items used in internal decorations by occupations. Competition itself is not bad. However, we have to bear in our hotels and middle class households). But the difficulties involved in mind that the Janajali and Dalit people discussed in these papers did not have obtaining the raw materials needed for production also seem to have inhihited access to education in the past, and therefore. were not able to acquire diverse lhe continuation of the profession. The youth are not interested to learn the skills in order to be able to take on other jobs available in the market now. skills from their elders let alone adopt pollery as a profession for making a Thus. rhe conditions created by the changing environments and developments living. in Nepal seem to present formidable circumstances for the type of people The discussions in these papers also hint that the village societies today under study. may not be the simple and close-knit ones any more that they were supposed We often repeat that a fundamental feature of culture (which constitutes to be in the past. In the past. most of the households in any village would Drskills. knowledge. etc) is that it is learned. However, situations in Nepal have heen part of a social and economic network-with frequent and intimate were historically such that some people were denied opportunities for interactions through exchange of labour, services and materials. The end of learning certain types of skills or knowledge and were thereby prevented Parma. Bali. Pareli, etc., now signals the disappearance of some relations. from adopting the occupations or protessions of lheir choice. Instead of an Perhaps this also is an indication that the unfolding social. economic and opcn environment for learning. it was a very constraining one (e.g. the case cultural landscape of Nepali society will he very different and the principles of a Jalari reported in Chhetri). In reality, certain skills prescribed (and others governing emergent interactions among people in the days to come may not \vere proscribed) for any individual to learn by means of rules and regulations necessarily be based on caste/ethnic ties. (under the pretext of dharma and karma~)and that seems to have resulted in It is also becoming evident that individuals and households belonging to a the so-called caste-based occupations. particular caste/ethnic group in any place tend to differ from each other in A question that remains open now is whether the marginalized groups lerms of their engagements in economic activities or livelihood strategies. In such as the ones discussed in this volume wi]] be able to withstand the past, for instance. the primary economic activities of people within a occupational competition resulting from recent developments and changes in community of Kumals or Damai, Kami and Sarki may have been similar the environments in the country. For instance, will the Jalaris of Begnas be (along the lines of traditional occupations). This does not seem to be true any able to remain in the fishing and fish farming business when others with more. The traditional occupations are being given up and households appear larger in vestments and more elaborate business networks enter the to be adopting multiple livelihood options-i.e. individuals from a single niche/intervene? If they decide to take on new jobs, the simple question is: household earning income from difterent sources (see also Fricke 1986). The what can they adopt easily" They do not have education, skills, land new professions adopted by the people under study, of course. seem to be the resources, etc., and cannot start tea shops (because of the unlawful practices result of individual choice, acquired skills or qualitications, as well as of caste based untouchability). Many Kurnal and daht youths in the study connections and other factors. sites have chosen to go overseas as labour migrants (see the papers on The case studies presented in these papers also make it evident that some Kumals and Oalits in the Begnas). But the empirical evidence again reveals of the existing niches (Le. livelihood options) could disappear for certain that most of such migrants are loosing whatever little farmlands they owned groups of people as the "total environment" gradually transforms over time. or had inherited. Until a time when the youths among these or similar groups 10 CNAS Journal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006) Changing Environment and Livelihood 11

of people also become educated (or have better access to education) and contentious issue and has received a lot of attention. There ~sso much varicty prepare themselves for the changing job market (i.e. livclihoed options), in in the way these questions have been answered that there IS no ready-made, the country and beyond, such groups of people are likely 10 remain in a simple and quick answer to the question. .. vulnerable situation in spite of "improved condition of Nepal in statistical A careful reading of the case studles on envIronmental change and tenns" (see Bista, 1991: 133). livelihoods in this volume makes me think that a distinction could be made between (a) cultural elements that enable interactions among ~ro~p:,and thus On Cultural Change: Implications for Research become public in intra-group interactions/engagements (tw~IndiVIduals or a The empirical findings reported by the authors here on the basis of their larger group) of various types and levels (nonns, values, belIefs, etc.); and (b) research on selected marginal groups of people may not constitute a true and those that are identified with a given group of people (caste/ethmc groups In representative sample of the many caste/ethnic groups living in various parts the case of Nepal) but become enacted (public) in relation to other groups of of the country. Notwithstanding this, I feel that the findings of all the papers people. Examples of the first type include any group of people performIng in the book together allow us to point to some common patterns-or talk rituals and rites of various types. In other words, there are cultural practices about some generalizations or discoveries-in relation to changes in and norms that enable intra-group interactions/engagements and those that environments and life-ways of the people in Nepal. Some propositions have . identified with a given group but become enacted (or observable) = . h already been noted in the previous section. In this section, let me mention primarily in relation to other groups of people around them. For ~ns~an~e,t .e some of the conceptual and/or theoretical implications derived from the case visits paid to seniors during Dashain (by those who celebrate thl.s festival m studies presented in this book. Nepal) in order to receive tika and blessings, are one ~x~mpleof mtra-group­

To begin with, I feel it useful to mention a lesson for the idea of holistic level enactment of cultural norms, values and beliefs. The ~ec.ond.type study and models used to understand social and cultural processes. In Nepal mentioned here includes exchange of services based on the SpeCIa!1Z~tlO?of where cultural, religious, caste/ethnic pluralities have remained ubiquitous at each group in question. Besides, the traditional occupational spe~~ahzatlOn~ all levels (national, regional and all the way down to the villages). the idea of among caste/ethnic groups in Nepal (e.g. Kumal> pottery. Damal s panchal 'holism' may need to be seen from a new vantage point. In particular, if our baja, etc.) may also be regarded as examples of thIS. . objective is to understand social and cultural processes. the idea of isolating . In a way, there are cultural norms, values, beliefs and practlce.~(and one particular group of people (i.e. a particular caste or ethnic group) residing artefacts) that are (i) part of the livelihood strategies of a group;. and (II) part in a given locality may not allow us to explain the social and cultural of social and 'other' strategies. The second category may be smd to mcJude processes adequately. The other groups (not selected for study) will come caste/ethnic markers, among other things. The first category too helps ~roups into the picture time and again, and therefore, they will need to be considered to keep themselves distinct from the others but may not be h:ld .tena~lOusly as part of the whole under study. by the group members. Changes seem to come ab.o~tmore eaSIly In thIS area. It is not a single community occupying a given spatial environment. In Besides, changes in this aspect are not always volItIOnal-as suggested by ~he reality, a number of groups/communities live together in any given space­ empirical findings in the essays presented in this book. The people belongmg by co-operating. competing, alld interacting with each other. Such realities, to a particular group (e.g. Kumals, Damai, Sarki, etc.).ma~not by themselve.s therefore, will have considerable bearing on the social and cultural processes be able to perpetuate/maintain or change this aspect of then culture..The Ball, in general-including how each of the groups of people think and behave. Majuri, P;rma, etc., discussed by the authors in thi.s volum~constitute good Therefore, models that claim to explain cultural and social processes in examples of this. The panchai baja of the Damar (see TIngey 1994), the contexts characterized by caste, ethnic or religious plurality need to be narrative songs sung by the Gaines with Sarangi music (see G. Chhetn 1989), honestly accommodative to such known realities. etc., have not remained as common and popular as they were some tIme A basic question that is yet to be fully resolved in anthropology is: do before. Other groups of people (that is, the receivers of such services) ~o~ot individuals or groups of people simply pass through a culture that is sui seem to demand the traditional music as much. This suggests that contwUlty generis or do they also mould the culture they own and practice? This or change in some aspects of culture of a particular gro~pof pe.ople therefore question comes up in my mind as I read these case studies and also think is not to happen only at the will/strength of the group In questIOn. The ?ther about what has been going on in the society and culture of Nepal. The idea groups of people (non Kumal, non-Dalits, etc.) present In. the total that cultures are dynamic has had a wider acceptance among anthropologists. environment' also seem to have a powerful influence In determmmg what But what consists of culture or how to define culture has remained a stays and what changes (i.e. in the process of social/cultural change). 12 CNAS Journal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006) Changing Environment and Livelihood 13

It is not \vithin one single group's capacity to keep of change its cultural '1 In a study of the [}Jmais in Nepal, Tingey concludes on the basis of her field traditions. External forces including others around them (i.e. the total material "that the futures of the pancai baja and nagara baja arc unpromising" clly'ironment) seem to have a powerful illiluence on \\i'hat stays and what ( 1994: 244). changes. \Vhen we accept that thoughts or beliefs, behaviours, practices. etc.. constitute culture, we should have no problem in the idea that culture of one References Harth. Fredrik (ed.). 1969. "Introduction". Ethnic Groups and Boundaries: The social group of people could change because of its interaction with other peoples organi::.atio!J qf culture dUlerel1cc, Oslo: Universitetsforlaget. pp. 9-38. around it. That is. new behaviours and practices that have come in from the Barth. Fredrik. 1981. Features (d"a Person and S'ocietr in S,mt: Col!eued E.,...\"(/y.~on larger Nepali society which themselves may have heen influenced by global Pathans-Selected Essa.\',I· (!f Fredrik Banh, Volume II. London: Routledge processes of change can be said to have also influenced changes in the and Kegan Paul. cullUres as wel1 as the livelihood strategies of Kumals, Podes. Damais. Bi"ta. Dor Bahadur. 1991. Fatalism alld J)el'c!opll1mt: Nepal's Struggle for Kamis, Sarkis. and many othcr groups of pcople in the country. In this way. M()demi::.atiOiI. Calcutta: Orient L

Ives, J. D. 2006. Hima/a.van Perceptions: Environmental Change and the ",:ell.-being DEVELOPMENT AND LIVELIHOOD CHANGES of mountain peoples. (Second edition) Kathmandu: Himalayan AsSoCiatIOn for AMONG THE KUMALS IN THE POKHARA VALLEY, the Advancement of Science (First edition published in 2004 by Routledge). NEPAL Ivcs, J. D. and B. Messerli. 1989. The Himalayan Dilemma: Reconciling development and conservation. London and New Yark: Routledge. Bidyanath Bhurtel Kottak, Conrad P" 1983. Assault on Paradise: Social Change in a Brazilian Village. Ram B, Chhetri New York: Random House. Pandey, D. R. 1999. Nepal's Failed Development: Reflections on the Mission and the Maladies. Kathmandu: Nepal South A"'ia Centre. Introduction Tingey, Carol. 1994. Auspiciolls Music in (l Changing Sode!)'.' The Damaj.Mus~cians This paper attempts to relate the livelihood changes among the Kumals of the (l Nepal. London: School of Oriental and African Studies, Umvcrslty of Pokhara Valley in the Western Region of Nepal to the kind of 'development' London (SOAS Musicology Series, Vol. 2). being experienced within the region as well as within the country during the past couple of decades by different groups of people including Kumals themselves. The changes in the livelihood strategies of Kumals are seen here as their way of adapting to the changing natural. socio-cultural and economic environments around them in general. In order to explain the strategies adopted by Kumal individuals and households, a brief discussion of general changes in the environs of the area will also be useful. However, the main thrust of the paper is to explore and explain the state of the traditional occupation of Kumals (i.e. the making of the clay pots, which may have earned them the identity as kumaal) and the new economic activities or strategies adopted by them today. The data used in this paper was collected during a fieldwork between mid-November 1999 to mid-January 2000 as a part of an ongoing research pn~iecton Environmental Change and Livelihood Strategies in the Hills of Nepal. In line with the main research project, both quantitative and qualitative data were collected. The quantitative data was felt to be necessary in order to understand the socia-economic aspect of Kumal society such as changes in primary occupation, education and economic activities. A household census and survey was administered in the 73 Kumal households of Kumal Gaun in Lekhnath municipality. The ethnographic data (i.e. the qualitative and more contextual information) required for the study were collected by employing conventional anthropological methods. A check-list (developed earlier in the project) was used to guide the interviews-with the key informants and groups in formal interviews-and field observation as \lv'ellas for informal interviews. After giving a brief introduction of Kumals in the study area, we will note some of the environmental changes that have taken place during the last couple of decades in ass(x:iation with the developmental activities in the region. An attempt is made to identify the incidents and events that have plaYed momentous roles in prompting changes in the natural. socia-cultural or economic environs of the region. In the next section, the main findings of the study in relation to the changes in the livelihood strategies will be presented. In the case of the Kumals. we want to show that there were two

COntributions to Nepalese Studies, Vo1.33, (Special Issue 2006), 15-38 COpyright © 2006 CNASfTU 16 CNAS Journal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006) Development and Livelihood Changes 17 parallel processes that played key roles in shaping the present life-ways of people, we are tempted lo speculate that the Kumals may be one of the Kumals. First. the historical incidents and events that took place or were products of centuries long interaction of the Magars with the Khas living in carried out as developmental activities have resulted in the adoption of new the same ecological zonc. In the caste echelon they belong in the same values, and this is manifested hy change in some of their cultural traditions. position as thc non-caste ethnic groups of people like the Magars and the Second. the macro policies regarding the lise of the environmental resources GUflmgs. h)r these reasons. the collective identity that Kumals of this region have affected their customary socio-cultural institutions and practices. have might have something to do with both ethnicity and caste, and to label Although they \vere paralkl processes. the present lifestyles adopted hy the them as 'trihcs' might invite serious debate. Kumals \vill be shmvn to be actuJlIy due the inter-relations between the two. In the Pokhara valley of Kaski district, Kumals are found in several This paper ultimately attempts to link up the changes in the utilization of villages within Lckhnath municipality alone (see Table I). These people resources, cultural traditions and economic activities and to relate them to the today claim to be aboriginals of lhis locality. As Kaski district is in the hilly overall process of development in the region. Theoretically. the study has region, Kumals living here fall under the category of Pahade Kumals. The remained closer to the broader framev.'Ork of the anthropology of present study covered all the settlements shown in Table I and the area is development and aspects of political ecology, v.'hich tends to deal \-vith the henceforth referred to as Kumal Gaun after the main settlements of Kumals dynamics of resource utilization. in the municipality.

The Kumals in the Pokhara Valley Table 1: Distribution or Kumal Households by Settlements in Lekhnath The \vord Kumal in the Nepali language denotes a person who is engaged in :viunlclpaI'ltV. 2000 manuf~lcturingclay pots as an occupation. Some scholars have considered the SettlementsIVillages Number of Households Percentae:e Kumals as one of the 'tribal' peoples (sec Gautam and Tlwpa-Magar 1994: Kumal Gaun* 44 60.27 J IJ) although more recently. they have heen listed under the adil'asi jwwjml Jalkini Danda 13 17.81 category. Although Kumals are to he f{)und in diflerent parts of Nepal (see Buke Khola 2 2.74 also Kattcl 2000), their place of origin has not yet been confirmed. Their Bhoonkuna 9 12.33 settlements are generally located in river basins and plains of lower hills and Gatcha phant 2 274 inner Terai of the country (Bista 1980: 128. Gautam and Thapa-Magar 1994: Gairi Bazaar 3 4.11 313). Differentiating basically on the basis of geographic regions in which Total 73 100.00 ". they arc found today. they are recogniseJ as Madcshi Kumal (i.e. those living .Source: field Survey, January 20()(). "'ThIS IS the mam Village. The Kumals in Madesh or the plains), N('It'{lr Kumal (mainly in Kathmandu valley) and in other villages live in mixed settlements of other caste/ethnic groups. The Pa/llule Kumal (those from the Hills). Like most of the ethnic minorities in last 4 villages are put under Arghaun in later Tables in this paper. Nepal, they seem to have been incorporated in the caste system of hierarchy as mafwa!is. In it, they were put in the inferior sub-caste of the I!lasinc The Kurnab in the study area have also been farmers while the making (meaning enslavablc) mafmlli jari in the Muluki Ain of IR54. and selling of clay pots was an important part of life for most of the Kumal In the caste hierarchy. the people carrying out a traditional Gandaki River, near the village. As they became more skillfuL making clay pots is in the verge of disappearance altogether from Kumal their acquired knowledge and art was passed down to the successive Gaon. They bear the surname Komal bot today they are no longer a group of generations. In this way pottery became the traditional occupation of the people engaged in pottery-skillfully designing and making various types of Kumal families living in the present study area. They might have been clay pots, pitchers, and other items as they did in the past. As we will discuss labeled as 'kumab' in the code simply because they were 'kumaales' or below, the availability of substitutes (plastic or metal utensils) have also been people who made clay pots. Due to the lack of ethnohistoric data on these 18 CNAS Journal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006) Development and Livelihood Changes 19 responsible for this abandonment of traditional occupation by the Kumals in the study area. four kilometers east of Kumal Gaun. After the highway was constructed, a gateway bazaar called Arghaun took shape and increasingly became the Development, Environmental Changes and the Kumals center of trade and commerce at the pomt where the old traIl Jomed thIS The activities carried out as development were based on the orthodox notion highway. Plastic utensils, kitchenware, and metal pots and. pans o~various of development. Escobar (1997) has concisely snmmed np this notion of types are so easily accessible that one can forget the ~nnovatlvelocal. development, as it was understood especially in the early post World War" productions of cratty clay pots manufactured by Kumals Just a couple of period in the following words: kilometers inside the hinterland. [It is] the process to pave the way for the replication in most of Among many impacts of .westernization' in Pokhara valley, the most Asia and Latin America of the conditions that were supposed to noticeable have been the diffusion of western cultural values in the region. characterize the more economically advanced nations of the Every year the number of pizza and ice cream parlors, fast fooo centers and world-industrialization. high degrees of urbanization and late night activities (e.g., parties to celebrate Christmas and Gregorian New education, technification of agriculture. and widespread adoption Year) have been increasing. For instance, just when field work for this study of the values and principles of modernity. (Escobar 1997). was underway (November 1999 - January 2000), many locals were seen to be arduously participating in the celebration of the 'millennium night' by The changes in the socia-cultural and economic environment for the partying the night away. The elderly people in the study site were quick to Kumals in the present study site are rooted in the history of the region. The comment that celebrations of such events were unheard even a decade ago. most noteworthy of the changes in this environment is the gradual emergence The attraction towards consumerism is not a thing that can be contained of local market centers or the bazaars. namely those of Arghaun, Talchowk Vo/ithina certain boundary. The mass communication media like radio and Begnas and Sisuwa that surround the traditional settlements of the Kumals. television further accentuate the diffusion process. Kumal Gaun, situated so

This development can in turn be seen as an outgrov,..th of the process of close to Pokhara (an important urban center in the region), has not been urbanization in the Pokhara valley. spared by this phenomenal diffusion of values creeping in from a consumer One of the most important factors that paved the way for the urbanization culture from all over the world. of Pokhara was the construction of Prithvi Rajmarga (Prithvi Highway), The disposition towards the adoption of so-called modern values is also started in the mid 1960s and completed in 1972 (Stiller and Yadav 1979: manifested by the changes in the cultural traditions of Kumals over the years. 228). It can be argued that no other highway across Ihc hills of Nepal has had The changes that have occurred in the marriage practices of Kumals such an obvious impact on the local economy as the Prithvi Rajmarg. First, demonstrate this. The Kumal practice caste endogamy and clan exogamy.' since it was connected with the Trihhuvan Rajpath that linked the plains of People recall that in comparison to ten or fifteen years ago, many Kumal Nepal and India to the hills, this highway has facilitated the flow of goods children are able to go to school now. Many of the cases of marriage by and commodities from the south and thereby opened up the market of the elopement that have become common now are related to the increase in the hills to products from India. The adverse effects of this to the local incidence of school going among youths. Many of the young boys and girls production systems have been mentioned frequently by researchers (Blaikie were found to have met their spouses at school. In addition, local people et.al. 1980, Stiller and Yadav 1979, Mishra 1986). Second, the emergence of argue that easy communication facilities, entertainment channels on a gateway-hinterland relationship among the trading centers and settlements television and similar other amenities are enabling the young people to have has been equally significant when analyzing the after effects of the different altitude towards sex and marriage. As reported by the elderly construction of this highway (see Messerschmidt 1995: 101). Kumals, in general, there is a more liberal attitude towards sex and marriage Coming back to the study area, the formation of a mini gateway­ these days. hinterland structure can be discerned. Before the construction of the Prithvi Elderly Kumals also point out that some of the traditional practices Rajrnarga, a trail that linked the town of Pokhara to Besisahar of Lamjung related to the marriage ceremony have been replaced by non-Kumal customs. district in the east dissected Kumal Gaun. Caravans of mules carrying goods For instance, in a traditional arranged marriage, a custom known as vundko can still be seen to be using this trail. But the difference now is that when khuwaune was practiced. This custom involved the prospective bridegroom's caravans of the mules come into the Pokhara valley from the hills on this parent visiting the prospective bride's parents' home with a good size earthen side, they tend to stop at the bus terminal of Khudikomuhan, located about jug (known as vandko) filled with home-brewed rakshi and giving a small feast to the bride's parents as a token of the confirmation of the relationship 20 CNAS Journal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006) Development and Livelihood Changes 21

(some sort of engagement). The bride's parents accept the homemade liquor past and what they are engaged in today. The idea of 'past' in this study or raksi if they approve of the proposed relationship. But now, Kumals too uenerallv refers to a time point or period at least a decade ago and beyond. have started to adopt the practice ofjanai-stlpari-an engagement ceremony Particul;r events and incidents relating to the specific economic activities common among the Bahun~Chhetris.These are examples of how the new have been mentioned in order to explain the adoption or abandonment of the generation of Kumals are becoming 'sanskritized' and giving lip their own socio-economic activities in question. \Ve will first discuss the traditional traditional cultural practices. l'conomic activities of the Kumals and then talk about their current livelihood

In relation to the natural environment, the changes in access and the rights str~ltegies. to use natural resources like forest products (mainly firewood) and clay needed for making pots seem to have significantly impacted the livelihood of Traditional Livelihood Strategies Kumals. The access of the Kumals of the study area to the forest resources The Kumals lived more or less as a homogenous social unit in the past. They started decreasing rapidly from the time \vhen the forests all over the country lived in close clusters and this was very important for them as it facilitated a were nationalized dnd suhsequently turned into Panchayat Forests and joint involvement in their economic activities and cultural traditions. They Panchayat Protected Forests. What is more interesting is that their situation 'claim that they owned agricultural and forested lands in a place called regarding access to forests did not improve when national forests turned into Nirrhcpolli on klpot.~In fact there is still a place called 'Kipat' ncar the community forests since they have not been the members of any Forest Users Kumal Gaun. The traditional food crops grown by the Kumals included Groups and they did not have a community forest in their \\'ard. The mai/.c and millet. During the rainy season with the onset of the monsoon, management of other resources such as the clay available in public lands has some wet land rice-paddy was also cultivated although the yield was not very not heen in their favour either. Some Kumals pointed out that, at least in the significant. Thus the traditional local diet consisted of a thick paste of millet case of clay. the problem is not of reduced access but one of a change in the Ol:-maize flour called dhindo while rice was cooked only on special occasions social environment. They argue that now there is no social co-operation like the major festivals and wedding ceremonies when pork (or sometimes among Kumals in fetching the clay from the mines. Besides. as noted lTlutton or chicken) was also cooked to he consumed with the rice. Maize and already. the demand for Kumal pottery has reduced-because many of the [nillet were also used for brewing local jand (locally brewed beer) and for utensils used in the homes are made of metal and not of clay any more. In rnaking ruksl (locally distilled liquor), which have remained regular items of this way. the decline in the availability of the natural resources coupled with their food and drinks. technological developments have impacted on the livelihood strategies and There were three distinct economic activities in which the Kumals were cultures of the Kumals. engaged in the past. The predominant one was undoubtedly agriculture­ because every household was engaged in farming. The other important Changes in the Livelihood Strategies of the Kumals economic activity for the Kumals was of course making clay pots. The third By the term 'livelihood strategy' one might make the obvious mistake of one was fishing in both fresh water rivers and lakes. The socio-cultural thinking only of the economic activities that a group of people are engaged institutions of the Kumals in the past generally revolved around these in. The socio-cultural nom,s and values that legitimize or inhibit the activities and also regulated the use ('1' the resources in their natural involvement of people into such activities are not less important to justify environment. Let us describe briclly the traditional aspect of each of these adoption or non-adoption of a given economic a<.:tivity (or occupation) in major activities as they were practiced in the past. order to earn a living. In fact it will be argued in this section that in the case of the Kumals in the study area, their changing values in favor of so-called State of Agriculture in the Past: the Kumal people of this region have modernity is one of the factors influencing their adoption of new economic always relied upon agriculture in its various forms as their chief economic activities. This is not to deny that access to or lack of access to natural activity. But the socio-economic and cultural environment in which resources (e.g. clay and firewotm for the Kumals) are equally important in agriculture was carried out in the past was completely different from today. determining the choice and/or continuity of an economic. activity (poUery in The socio-cultural norms and institutions that existed before have to be the present case). mentioned in order to understand the state of agriculture among the Kumals Having discussed the changes in the natural, socio-cultural and economic in the past. environment of the Kumals in the research area, let us now comparatively Kumals have always practiced a sedentary type of agriculture. They have discuss the main economic activities in which Kumals were involved in the also been living in the present locality for many generations. In the past, they Development and Uvelihood Changes 23 22 CNAS Journal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006) There were still other socio-economic institutions that helped in were able to grow two harvests of food crops in a year. The actual amount strengthening the intra-community ties among the Kumals. Most of the adult harvested depended upon the location of their farmland in relation to the males participated in Parma (mutual exchange of labour) which involved the natural sources of water. Many elderly Kumals recall that those who had sliaring of human labourer in cultivating and harvesting the food crops. In an farms closer to the water sources (i.e. towards the northern/upper end of t.he economy of those days when cash was not readily available the effectiveness village) were able to get comparatively better yields of rice paddy than of this practice was immense (see Messerschmidt 1981). If a man or a woman others. However, even for those farmers who received better yields, their goes to work in another villager's field for a day, she/he expectes a day's total production of rice was not enough to meet the food requirements of their labour in return. This is similar to the practice of pareli among the Limbus in families for the whole year. Since the cultivation of paddy depended upon the Eastern Nepal (see Caplan 1970: 108). In the Kumal Gaun, the household availability of rainwater (and the soil here has a very low capacity to retain receiving the services had to treat people providing the labour with a major water for long), the annual yields were unpredictable. Given this situation, meal in the evening comprising of rice, pork and raksi or jand. They were other food crops like millet and maize were quite important for tbe local also treated witb light food during the daytime. Panna was of course not farmers as staple food. As mentioned earlier, the main staple diet for KumaIs limited to agricultural works only. The other institution was the communal in the past was dhindo and rice was considered a delicacy and consumed ownership of land called kipat, most of which was under forest cover (as mainly on occasions of social or cultural importance. Some Kumal recalled by elderly Kumals) and thus supplied the Kumal households witb the informants reported that they still prefer kodo-ko dhindo (the paste made by much needed forest resources in those days. cooking millet flour with water). They argue (in a nostalgic tone) that there was a time when they gained so much strength to work in their fields from a Making and SeUing Clay Pots: Most of the people interviewed in the study glxxllunch comprising mainly of dhindo. site reported that either their parents or their grandparents were engaged in Livestock raising has remained an integral element of their agriculture. making the clay pots and selling them in the village as well as in the They kept buffaloes, cows, goats, pigs and fowls/poultry. The buffaloes were sUlTounding areas. Local gatherings or melas (fairs.) like the one held at kept for their milk, cows for milk and for producing oxen (needed for Dliungesangu on the first day of the month of magh (January/February) were traction), goats and pigs for their meat and chicken for meat and eggs. The the occasions when Kumals could sell their clay pots. The melas were animals also were sources of energy which they provided in the form of attended not only for selling the pots but also for buying the daily essentials dung. While the compost was used in the farm, dried dung cakes called like cooking oil and spices. The Kumals also went around with loads of clay guintha (valued by the locals for giving a constant mild heat when burned) pots to the rapidly growing bazaars of Pokhara, Khudikomuhan, Syangkhudi was used as fuel. The guinthas were also used to bake the clay pots to some and Talbeshi (around the Begnas-Rupa Lakes) and the surrounding villages. extent but this practice had to be given up because of the scarcity of this kind Those Kumals who could sell the pots in the neighboring villages and had of fuel in recent years. Considering the presence of vast areas that could be deficit food proouctions at home also bought or took maize and millet in used for grazing, Kumals kept quite a relatively large number of livestock. exchange for their pots. The elderly Kumals recall that on average each household bad at least a pair After fetching the clay trom the other side of the Gandaki (the Seti River of buffaloes and cattle (including cows and oxen), a couple of goats and pigs is often referred as Gandaki by locals) on a co-operative effort, the clay was and few chickens. Of course, the better off families had many more in worked on for next few days in order to make it ready to be given any kind of comparison to the poor or economically average households. sliapes. Probably due to the elaborate methods tliey employed in preparing Those Kumal households who did not have larger or more productive the clay itself, they claim that their pots were much better in quality tlian farms to be able to produce enough for the family from their own farmland those made by the Newar Kumals of Kathmandu. They said that those who were engaged in the adhiyan (share cropping) system of cultivation. Adhiyan, recognized the better quality came to the village to buy their pots. They made in actuality, was like a socia-economic institution that guarantees some a limited variety of pots and their pots were congruent with the culture of the degree of distribution of resources, in this case, food produced through people. An estimated selling price for some of the items made by Kumals is cultivation. This practice seemed to be applied mostly to cultivation of major shown in Table 2. food crops in the past. Not only did the system of adhiyan provide the cultivator and farmers with half the food grains produced on the farm, but also other by-products like hay and husks in the case of paddy. Development and Livelihood Changes 25 24 CNAS Journal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006)

53 (74.3(/1r) households arc today engaged in growing cercal crops while the " P Table 2: c'lay Pots 0 ft h e K uma s andM ar ketP nee b[)y TLypes III the ast remaining 20 households have adopted other activities for making a living. Tvoes of Pots Major Uses Price (Rupees/pot) Hawli Roasting corn 1.50 Table 3: Distribution of Households by Farming Activities and their Hanna Brewing raksi 250 Ran k"mg Aari Making/storing pickles 3.00 Farming Activities Ranking of the Economic Activity Total (%) Paini Brewing raksi 6.00 I Primary Secondary Tertiary Gagro/Ghainto Fetching and storing water 5.00 i-eJTowing Cereal Crops 33 17 3 53 (72.60) Sourcc: Fu!/dH'ork, lOIl//ary 200() (Key Informant IIltervlews). Growing Vegetahles 4 7 8 19 (26.03) Ijvestock Raising I 0 () I (U7) Fishing: The Kumals of the region were also found to have a close Total 38 (52.06%) 24 (32.87%) II (1507%) 73 (! 00.00) association with fishing. The Kumal Gaun lies in close proximity with the SOl{fCe. rreld Surve.\, .Iamull.\.. 20()(). Seti Gandaki and its two tributaries Bijayapur klw/a and Bagadi kho/a. The tributaries are considered to he good sources of fresh-water fish during the The survey data presented in Table 3 show that therc are a considerable monsoon months when the rivers swell considerably. In the winter months Ilumber of households (20 or 27.39%) for whom dependence upon cereal the Kumals visited the Begnas and Rupa lakes for fishing. In the past, fish crop cultivation is secondary or tertiary in importance at present. Only 33 \vere used to supplement their diet at home. TIley used hooks, rods and (45.20Sf) Kumal households in the study site reported growing ccreal crops fishing nets either made in their own homes or hought from people like the as their primary economic activity. Growing of vegetables for the market .Ia/aris who are known for making their living from fishing (see Cheltri's seems to have become an important activity for many Kumal households. paper on .Ia/aris in this volume). About 26q (19 households) of the total Kumal households were engaged in growing vegetables eithcr as primary, secondary or tertiary economic activity Livelibood Strategies of the Kumals Today (see Table 3). The rapid growth of the town of Pokhara into an urban center is certainly one The construction of an iITigation canal in 1983 (i.e. 2040 BS) could be of the primary factors responsible for initiating socia-cultural and economic considered to be an important factor for the changes in the form of changes in the surrounding areas like Kumal Gaun. The increase in social agriculture practiced by Kumals. The canal enters the village via Arghaun amenities and economic opportunities has indeed influenced the process of and obviously Kumal households lying near the bazaar have easy access to change in local cultural norms and values. For instance, a relatively stable this facility as well. Apart from a few households located at the lower end of and self-reliant Kumal village economy (with numerous socia-economic the village, all Kumal households are able to raise the proouctivity of their institutions) in the past finds itself to have heen dragged into wider economic lands due to this facility. At present there are three basic trends in scenario today where their vcry position defined as it is on the basis of their preoccupation of Kumals in agriculture. First, the majority of the households

necessities. Today, t~lrmproduction is mainly for the market (i.e. to earn cash income) and then only for home consumption. Moreover, some of the Summer Crops Winter Crops households have at least one of their members involved in other income Paddy or Maize and Millet Wheat and Mustard earning activities. At least three Kumal households own private businesses (retail shops in all cases) that more or less revolve around farm products (i.e. Plantation- May/June Plantation­ buying and selling of food grains, vegetables, etc.). In other words, more Harvest- November/December November/December socia-economically affluent Kumals have been able to strengthen their Harvest- Mav/June household's livelihood security by mobilizing the resources at their disposal. Evidently, their detachment with the traditional web of their society was the b) After the construction of the canal prerequisite for them to embrace the economy dictated by the market. On the other hand, more than 90% of Kumal households in the interior part of the Paddy With seasonal Wheat and Mustard village show the first trend discussed above. Vegetables Table 4 shows the main vegetables grown by Kumal households and the Plantation- June/July Plantation-November months (according to the Nepali calendar) in which they are usually planted Harvest- October/November ==> Harvest­ and harvested. The types mentioned in Table 4 are the main ones that February/March promise good earnings to the Kumals and for this reason other vegetables have not been included in the list. In other words, the major objective of growing these crops was to earn cash income by selling the product in the Maize and market. With seasonal Soybean J With seasonal vegetables Vegetables (S Plantation-March Harvest-May/June 28 CNAS Journal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006) Development and Livelihood Changes 29

Tabl e 4: TI ypes 0fV cgetables Grown bV K umasI for th e Mar ket may have introduced a s~x.:io-economicrift bet~eena .grou~of people ",:ho Ve.etable Tvnes Plantation Months Harvetinl! Months were close-knit until not long ago. The change m the sl7e of the landholdmg Potatoes Mangsir (Nov-Dec) Falgun-Chaitfa (Feb/Mar-MarlApr) is one of the phenomena jw;tifying the presence of the rift. As a result, the . ,titution of adhvian among the Kumals is not limited to food crop Tomatoes Man£sir (Nov-Dec) Fal2un-Chaitra (Fcb/Mar-Mar/Aof) . .. .. Ins. 111 Cauliflower Shadra I Aug-Sept) Mangsir-Faloun (Nov/Dcc-Feb/Mar) cultivation. Today relatively poorer Kumals are engaged activities rangmg CucumbcrlPumpkin Falgun (Feh-Mar) Bai~akh-Bhadra(AprlMay-Auo/Septl from raising livestock (even chickens and ducks) to weavi~gstraw mats and SDon gC-gourd* Faleun (Feb-Mar) Haisakh-Bhadra (AnrIMav-AudSeptl hamboo baskets on adhiyan. Some women were even s~lImgthe vcgetables 50urce: Field Work, January 20()(). *Notc: Although other vegetables of the on adhiyan. gourd family arc also planted. sponge-gourd is the main one that is sold. Local Wage Labour: The practice of agricultural wage labour has always During the 1999-2000 agricultural season, one farmer named Krishna hL'en one of the indispensahlc components of the overull economy of the Bahadur Kumal (who specializes in vegetable farming now and is ranked as Kumals. In contrast to adhiyan or panna a person engaged in agricultural one of the two best vegetable farmers in the area-the other being a non­ lahour is free to make her/his own decision whether or not to provide such Kumal)l reported that he sold cauliflower worth JO,OOOrupees. cucumber services. The main differcm;c today is that unlike in the past when the wage worth 50.000 rupees alld sponge-gourd worth 30.000 rupees. The other 3 lahourers used to be paid in kind they are now paid in cash. Some local 4 Kumal households reported that they too made similar earnings. Although households do still engage in labourer exchange and going to work for them these are approximate figures, it becomes evident that the vegetable farming is known as mela jamle. For them the mela jaane is a common thing during has become a very lucrative business at present. In the village, there are other the plantation, weeding. and harvesting of major food crops (rice, .wheat and Builtin and Cllhetri households which are also actively engaged in grmving maize). The local women reported that in the meta. if not done tor parma, vegetables for the market. they still prefer to be paid in kind. .. The Kumals report that a full time engagement in growing vegetables for Not only does the practice of agricultural labour have hlstoncal the market is not a trouble-free affair. Although informants mentioned a sii!nificance. hut Kumals all over Nepal are found to have been engaged in variety of problems that are hindering a more effective production of d(~ingmanual works to carn their living (see also Kattel 2000 and another vegetables, the most common problems were clearly the ones that could article on Kuma!s in this volume). The Kumals in Kaski district are not an question the sustainabiJity of this particular activity. They reported that: exception. They have had a patron-client relationship with the people from

I) In the month of Shrawan (July-August) due to increased raim.vater, the so-called higher castes like the bahuns and chh('tr;.~·of the nearby areas floods could bring ahout siltation that can be very harmful to some of the for generations. The most common manual works undertaken now by the vegetables. Moreover, the irrigation water from the Bijayapur kllOla Kumals of this region are portering and the physical labour in construction carries a lot of sand that sometimes clogs the canal while affecting soil \\'orks. Table 5 presents a summary of individual Kumals who are involved in texture in the farms. This could cause a serious problem in the long run. various wage earning activities in order to make a living for their families. 2) The fertility of the soil is decreasing and they explained it by saying that although they have practiced the same methods and used the same Table 5: Distribution of the Kumal Households by Settlement and materials, the pnxluction of the vegetables is declining. WorkTlVDe 3) There is more compctition in the market due to increased production. Settlements Tv. e of Wage Work Total Since people from surro'lnding areas and with better resources are Unskilled Semi-Skilled Skilled attracted to this business, it is hard to say that the Kumals with their Kuma! Gaun II 10 I 22 limited resources will continue to reap benefit from vegetable farming. Jalkini Dando - 2 2 4 Arghaun 7 5 - 12 1n addition to the change in the forms of agriculture, there have been Total Individuals 18 17 3 38 notable changes in some practices related to farming such as the systems of Total Households 15 IS 2 32 adlliyan and parma. Today the socio-economic institution of adhiyan can be So"rce: Field Survey, 2000. seen as the out growth of its older version due to the significant changes of the economic environment. Modern developments and market forces today Development and Uvelihood Changes 31 30 CNAS Journal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006) When Kumals or any other wage workers first go to the Gulf countries A number of individuals in the study area possess skills in carpentry, they get a visa for two years. According to informants, their salaries per masonry, welding and wiring. Such individuals have been put under the month ranged from 400-600 Riyal (I Riyal = about 18 Rupees). If 500 Riyal semi-skilled category in Table 5. Those who have been put under tbe skilled is taken as the average monthly salary, a person can earn 12,000 Riyal in two labourer category are either drivers or trained in computers. As the data in years. Unless they are able to extend their visas, there is every possibility that Table 5 reveal, 38 persons from 32 (43.83% of the total households) Kumal they will return to Nepal with very little amount of money for themselves. households are earnings wages from various types of wage-work in order to Hence from this simple arithmetic, one can easily see that the attraction of make a living for their families. A point to be noted here is that although this Kumal youths to the Gulf is an investment promising lucrative earnings to the is the main economic activity that earns these households their daily income moneylenders, not for the Kumals themselves. The only benetit for the (to buy their necessities), these households do not fully depend on wage individual, as reported by the local informants, was the illusive rise in the labourer alone for subsistence. These earnings supplement other sources of social status of the individual among the fellow villagers for having been to a income including their own annual agricultural production. foreign country.

The Export of Labour: The discussion of wage labour above is confined to Other Sources of Income for Kumals: With the changes in economic the wage labouring activities within the local area. The story of wage labour environment and the associated changes, Kumals are now exposed to many works embraced by these Kumals does not end there. Today, a significant more economic opportunities. The emergence of the bazaar at Arghaun and number of Kumal youths are in Gulf countries selling their laoour (see Table Talchowk has prompted those with adequate resources to make the best of 6) or are aspiring to do so in the future. This is a comparatively recent the growth of the market. In fact well-off Kumal households own shops at phenomenon which was reported to have begun about a decade ago for the Arghaun today. Two other Kumal households have opened retail shops in the Kumals. The countries they are going to are Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain. interior part of the village. One Kumal household had a shop in Talcbowk also but unfortunately they were forced to close it recently due to a feeling of Table 6: Distribution of Kumal Households by Settlements and those discrimination on caste grounds. The owner of this shop has now made Work'm~mt he Gulf Countnes arrangements to go abroad to work. A Kumal youth has opened a restaurant Settlement Total (with pizza as its specialty) in Lakeside of Pokhara by selling a portion of his Unskilled Semi-Skilled Skilled land. Incidentally, he used to work for the municipality office and he is one Kumal Gaun 7 4 I 12 of the very few Kumals who have studied up to higher secondary level (see Jalkini Dando I I - 2 Table 7). The examples cited here make it apparent that those Kumals who Arghaun 4 - I 5 have adequate means (financial or other) are increasingly attracted to invest Total Individuals 12 5 2 19 their resources in lucrative businesses. Not surprisingly, the most common Total Households II 4 2 17 answer to what the parents want their sons (not daughters) to do in future was Source. Field Surve.v, January 2000. 'to take on a business' for an occupation. To them this meant either opening up a shop/restaurant or buying a passenger bus that would ply between As can be seen from Table 6, most of the Kumals who have gone to the Pokhara and Kathmandu. Gulf Countries are involved in unskilled manual labour work. The skilled Tabl e 7: D' t 'b t' umaIs huy EconomlC.Act'IVi Ies1Job s Kumals here are those who are reported to be working as vehicle drivers in IsnUlOno fK 'f the Gulf. The earning from this source is the most important activity upon Settlement Business Service/Job Total which their respective families depend. In sending these young men to the Owne Partner Government Private Gulf, their families are making a significant investment, perhaps the most The Kumal Gaun I I I 5 R costly investment they have ever made. It was reported that the costs for ]alkini Dando 2 -- 4 I 7 sending one person to the Gulf comes to about 85-100 thousand rupees. Arghaun 4 2 4 10 Some of the households had to sell private land in order to accumulate the Total Individuals 7 I 7 10 25 required cash for this purpose. Others who did not possess land that could be Total Households 7 I 5 10 23 sold had no other alternative but to take a loan from local moneylenders. The Source: Field Survey, January 2000. interest rate they had to pay on such loans ranged from 3-5 rupees a month for each of the 100 rupees borrowed (i.e. 60% per annum). 32 CNAS Journal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006) Development and Livelihood Changes 33

The other prominent involvement of Kurnals today is in holding various able 8: Average Earnings for the Kumals f rom I nstaII' B'IOgas Plants kinds of jobs. The new environment has indeed opened up numerous T mg employment opportunities for Kurnals. At the time of the field study, 15 I Pit size in Cubic Meters Cash Paid by the Comoanv (in Rupees) Kumal individuals \'\'ere found to have been employed in full time 6 1200 service/jobs away within Nepal hut away from their homes. They were ~ 1400 10 . 1800 engaged in salaried work both in ~o\'crnmentoffices and in the private sector. \Vithin the government seeter. Kurnals have managed to get jobs in 12 2200 I hospitals and in the Nepal Police. Those who vvorked in the private sector Source: FIeld Sw"\'(\, JamUl'.' 2000. were employed by the biogas company, and those related to the tourist industry including hotels and restaurants Pokhara (as waiters), Among the six Kumal men providing their services in the police force. a]] The case of biogas as providing employment chances deserves a special of {hem work as constables. One Kumal man \\/orks in a government hospital mention here. The role of these plants in other socio-economic aspect of the in Pokhara. It is interesting that only one Kumal woman has a paid Kumals has been discussed in detail elsewhere (see Bhurtel 20(0). Kaski is job/service and she happens to be the only Kumal woman to have passed the one of the districts where a large number of biogas plants have been installed 'School Leaving Certificate so far. in recent years. In Kumal Gaun alone 42 out of the 73 households under Although only a couple of households produce mksi mainly for the study have installed the hiogas plants for themselves. The company with market. this engagement is increasingly proving to he a regular source of which the Kumals are associated is called the Gabor Gas tatha Krishi Yllntm income for many Kumal households. Since rakshi is consumed on special Bikas Pm.Li. (Biogas and Agricultural Equipment Development Pvt. Ltd.) social occasions (festivals. ceremonies, rituals, etc.), and because many of the which was established with the joint efforts of the Agricultural Development local men drink it regularly more out of habit. rakshi seems to be in high Bank (ADB) and the Timber Corporation of Nepal. The offices of the demand. A combination of a hhushe chhulo, a lhlini. a hmuUI and a hal1di is company are located in Simakhaur. Pokhara and the Agricultural Bank at used for the pnxiuction. A metal pot filled with water is kept at the top for Gagangaunda. The company provides the necessary hardware equipment cooling purposes and the concentration of the alcohol depends upon the required like the pipes and fitting materials and the technIcians. The number of times the water at the top pot is replaced with cooler waleI' (often involvement of Kumals will be discussed in some detail below. changed up to seven times). In the village it was found that they usually make There were four Kumal men working as technical experts in installing the chha/saat p(/ni (six or seven waters) mkshi for sale. The product is sold to biogas plants. Their earning per unit of biogas plant installation was dealers in the village as well as the bazaars. According to an informant, they determined by the size of the pit that needed to be pn:pared. The pits had to usually brew ab<;ut 5 liters at a time (takes about two hours of be dug. plastered with concrete and the instruments put in the right place. The cooking/distilling time). To be able to do this, they need about one pathis four Kumal technicians learned the skill needed for the job by practice. Of (about 4.5 kg:::: one pathi) of millet brewed into chhyan~.Al least one week course, in addition to other materials the concerned household also had to of hrewing makes the chhyal1~g(x)d enough for distilling into rakshi. The arrange the labour required to dig the pits and do the manual works relating local measure used to sell rakshi by the villages is a container known as a to the construction \\forks. From the amount they are getting for their works, gallon (which takes about 4 Iitres of liquid). Each gallon of rakslzi is sold by it can be concluded that they can earn a good income (see Table 8). Apart the villagers to the retailers for Rs. 100 (I US dollar ~about 70 Rupees). But from high demand. the only problem they reported in this engagement was if the rakshi is sold directly to the consumers/customers, one can earn up to lhat they sometimes have to visit far away places in difficult circumstances. 200 Rupees by selling one gallon.' In Kumal Gaun it was found that only For instance, during the start of the mons(xm they need to work in their own women were engaged in preparing raksi and they did it during the day when farms at least during the planting of paddy. They reported difficulties in they were not bus)' with other household chores or agricultural works. visiting other villages for biogas plant installation during the rainy season. In addition to the above mentioned economic activities, Kumals seem to The average earning per plant according to the size of the pit is given in be engaged in numerous other income earning activities. Such activities have Table 8. not heen included in the above table simply because of the irregularity in which they are pursued. An elderly Knmal jokingly said that dne to the growth of the market in recent years, anything that is taken to the bazaar could he sold. He claimed that he himself had sold jackfruits or ruklz-katahar (Artocarpus Heretoplzyllus) worth Rs. 5-6 thousand in 1999. 34 CNAS Joumal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006) Development and Livelihood Changes 35

households (two are Magars) who own this kind of fishing set. There are also ~c~upleof young Kumal men also seemed interested in doing mushroom s cultIvatIOn. One of them had already started work and sounded hopeful of Kumal men who collect smaller jhinge (prawn or PUn/ia puntuia ) fish with the help of the traditional fishing nets. Even these men were found to do ~akm.ga ,good earnmg from It. According to one of the key informants, sometIme In 1997, a mushroom collection center at Pokhara introduced and fishing primarily for selling in the bazaars. They get Rs. 60-801kg for jhinge. promoted mush~oomcultivation in the KU~~1Gaun area. For the first year the center provided seed, manure plus trammg (for its cultivation) free of Concluding Remarks cost. . From the second year, people had to buy the seeds and chemical The change in the socia-cultural and economic environment tends to be fertlilzers. A bottle of seeds was available for 28 rupees in 2000 and to be rooted in the history of the region. The most noteworthy change in the able to sell It back to the center, the farmers had to grow at least 100 kg of present study site is the emergence of market centers like Arghaun, Talchowk and Sisuwa. This, in turn can be seen as an outgrowth of the process of ~ushroom.It all went well, and this was not a guaranteed, they required from to 20 bottles of seeds to be able to grow that amount (which took about urbanization in the Pokhara valley. two to three months). If the goal was reached, they would be able to earn Kumals seem to show the tendenct to earn cash income quickly by getting :",ound 25 thousand rupees. The total cost of production they had to bear was involved in the market economy. Those with adequate resources are already active participants in the market economy. Those without the means or the around 8 thousand rup~es.Thus the Kumal key informant concluded that he had good reasons to be Interested in the mushroom cultivation. resources (i.e. the majority) are struggling to make a livelihood. The economic activities in which Kumals are engaged have diversified. They Fishing Changes by the Traditional Method: Fishing as an activity is also show a tendency to try whatever new strategies they think might earn them a an asp_eel,of the tradltl.onal life ways of Kumals that can not be overlooked. living. The way they carry out their agricultural work has also changed. Their economy has always been primarily based on agriculture. In the past, earning Ho~flsh.lOg was practIced ~~Kumal~i~the past has been discussed already. Here ~eITIt.endt? note the difference In Its practice today. Kumals still fish in a livelihood from agriculture meant planting cereal crops and keeping livestock. They also took part in the institutions of parma and adhiyan that ~hetnbutarles of the Seti River, namely the Bagadi kilO/a, Bijayapur kilO/a and the Kotre khola throughout the year and visit nearby ponds and lakes like regulated the distribution of resources, both human and natural. Some the Begnas Tal, Rupa Tal (ta/ means lake in Nepali). Though there were few Kumals with limited resources also engaged in local wage labourer work. Fishing and making clay pots were practiced during their free time from farm h~useh(~lds(~t.the tIme ~henfield survey was being done) pursuing this

~con~mlcactIvity as a pflJT~arys~)urccof earning for living, they have been work. adoptmg to. nev.' .ways of fishlllg. The most noticeable change is the The traditional occupation with which they were identified is in the verge of being given up completely. They are called 'Kumals' but are no more ~~Ul'pmentWIth which they now fish. This is in turn related to the purpose of 'Kumhales'. The young generation of Kumals has not acquired the skills of h~hrng.In the past they used horne made nets or hook (balchhi) and fished making pots. They are of course able to read and write t(x!ay, but their mamly. t~).supplement their dlCt. Occasionally some of them did exchange s.urplus, If. there was any, for other food items. Now Kumals use lethal means achievements in education have not been to the level of ensuring them jobs. Thus, we argue that this could make them even more vulnerable. This point l~keelectn~c.urrent that can kill fish swimming in extensive perimeters of the tinds support from the fact that many youths are pursuing or aspiring to r!v~r.~emfor,mants told that they s~artedusing this set of equipment about pursue jobs that may not prove sustainable in the long run. The case labour fIve or SIX years ago. !he ~mountof fish they normally capture ranges from 2 of to 4}glda~,and selilng trsh is not a problem. The price depends upon the export to the Gulf countries can be taken as a good example of this. Farming as a primary economic activity of Kumals is undergoing change. ;:ec~esof hsh. The common local species called bhitti (Barbas sp.) is sold at ,s. Olkg, bigger fish fetch Rs. 100lkg while the ham types (eels) can be sold In the past agriculture was done to meet the subsistence needs only. At lor Rs. 120-150Ikg. The actual amount caught also depends upon the time of present, due to improved irrigation facilities and introduction of 'improved' varieties of cereals there has been an intensification the cultivation the year. Kumal I~tormantsreported that they could catch more during the of of r~onsoon(they claIm that swollen rivers bring more fish). In any case they crops. People are increasingly showing the tendencies to intensify their seem to be able to make about Rs. 200-400/day. More men are becoming cultivation for the market. The growing of vegetables for the market is a good example. The importance of land is ever increasing, both from the viewpoint Illt~~e~tedm .pursumg thiS actIvity by mvesting on the electric equipment. This set consists of a battery, a transformer and a net attached at the end of a of carrying out agriculture for the market and the gradual urbanization of the rod and costs about Rs. 6,000. In Kumal Gaun alone. there are five market at Arghaun. 36 CNAS Journal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006) Development and Livelihood Changes 37

The overall intention of this study has not been to suggest that Kumals Escobar, Arturo. 1994. '"Anthropology and Development." International Sociul should be encouraged to go back to their traditional occupation of making Seiena Journal. 49( 4):497-515. clay pots in order to gain a livelihood security. Rather, we have made an Gautam Rajesh and Asoke K. Thapa-Magar. 1994. "the Kumal". Trihal Ethnography attempt to delineate how Kurnals have come to be in a state of transition (~/Nepal-Vol.l.pp.313-334, Rajesh Gautam and Asoke K. Thapa-Magar (cd.). since they have morc or less abandoned their relatively secure occupation in Delhi: Book Faith India. favor of the increased number of c(,;onornic opportunities which certainly 1\1esserschmidt. Donald A. 19S I. "Nogar and Other Traditional Forms of Cooperation appear to be promising better life chances but involve tough competition. The in Nepal: Significance for Development". Human Organization. 40( I): 40-47. discussion has made it evident that although their economic activities have Messerschmidt, Donald A. 1995. "Gateway-Hinterland Relations in Changing Nepal". Development Studin'. Bihlithcca Himalayica. pp. IOJ-115. Kathmandu: EMR diversified to a great extent, their chances of a secured livelihood remain puhlishing House. uncertain. Only future will tell whether all Kumals will be able to continue on Mishra, ('haitanya. 1985. "Development And Underdevelopment: A Preliminary or improve their social and economic status wit~the adoption of new income Sociologica! Perspective". Occasiolla! Parers ill Sociology and AnthropologJ', cJming opportunities. I: 105-135. Central Department of Sociology!Anthropology, Tribhuvan University. Notes Regmi, j\tlahesh C. 197.2. A Study in Nepali f.'conomic Hi\"!ory. Delhi: Adroit 1. The Kumals in the study area belong 10 six clans, viz., Khat/ri. COlanyf', Raila. publishers. Chittaurf', RaJjJllt and Kumhhakarna S1Iiladf'I'i. Judging from their generaJ Reami M;lhesh C. 1976. Lando\l'flership ill Nepal. Delhi: Adroit Publi!'lhers. appearance, Khattri and Gotan.'"e bear similarities with the 8a1luII.I"and Chhetris of Stiller: Ludwig F. & RP. Yadav. 1979. Planning for People. KathllHmdu:Sahayogi the hills with their typical Aryan features while the rest resernhle the Tiheto­ Press. Burman Magars and Tam{/!lg~from the hills of Nepal. 1. Kipat, a land tenure system has been reported to have prevailed in Eastern Nepal (see Regmi, 1978). The presence of a place called Kipat near the Kumal Gaun and the assertion by Kumals that they had access to Kipat land as a community in the past warrants further investigation. J. In fact Krishna Bahadur Kumal has won himself first prizes in consecutive years 1995 (1052 B.S.) and 1996 (2053 B.S.) for growing the vegetahles in the best manner in Kaski district. Competitions were organized by an extension of HMG's Agricultural Ministry, the District Agricultural Development Office at Kaski. 4. It was difficult to assess the exact figures due to the fact that the other three households conduct prh"ate business which are basically the outgrowth of their involvement in horticulture. 5. A pathi of millet was available for about fifty rupees. They also had to buy dhut!o and hhush (saw dust) as sources of energy. Considering all these factors. the mkshi­ makers are able to make Rs. 40 to 50 for pnxlucing one gallon of raksi.

References BhurteL Bidyanath. 2CXID."Changing liveJihtxxf Strategies of the Kumals Living in Pokhara Valley of We:;tern Nepal." Unpublished M.A. Dissertation. Tribhuvan University. Bista. Dor Bahadur. 1980. People of Nepal. Kathmandu: Ratna Pustak Bhandar. Blaikie. Piers, John Cameron & David Seddon. 1980. Nepal in Crisis: Growth and Sta/?nation at the Periphery. Delhi: Oxford University Press. Caplan, Lionel. 1970. Land and Social Change in East Nepal: A Case Study (?lHindli Tribal Relation. Berkeley: University of California Press. Chhetri, Ram B. N.D. Population. Environment and Livelihood Strategy in the Hills of NepaL Adaptation of Jalari Community in Begnas of Pokhara Valley. Draft: Forthcoming. DEVELOI'MENT ASAPROCESS OFMARGINAUZATION: ACASESTUDYOF TIlE ARUN VALLEYKUMAL COMMUNTIY

Shambhu P. Katlel

Introduction A number of key development initiatives have taken place since 1960s in Nepal, especially after the establishment of the National Planning Commission and its efforts in drafting periodic development plans. Many Nepali people have experienced the effects of development firsthand in different sectors such as land reform, communication, transportation, health, and national education programmes. In addition, important infrastructure programmes have been implemented by the state over this period of time (Mishra 1997). The Nepali word for these types of development activities is 'hikash', Bikash carries the meaning of its Sanskrit roots - 'growth' or 'evolution.' In everyday parlance, however, bikash has come to refer to things, especially those commodities that come from elsewhere. Nepali people are often talking about material reality when they use the word bikash, whether it is water pipes, plastic buckets, new breeds of animals and fruits, electricity, video cassettes, trucks, or airplanes (Pigg 1993). Developments in physical infrastructure are meant to bring progress and economic growth to the local people, but the results of this study contradict this notion. In my study area, the local Kumal people have been marginalized and displaced from their land and their occupations as a direct result of various development activities in nearby Tumlingtar.! They are dissatisfied with these development activities because their socio-economic situations appear to be regressing, rather than progressing. Here, I will present results of my research with a Kumal community of the Amn Valley (for more detailed account of Kumals in Tumlingtaar see Kattel 2000). I will discuss many of the issues that they currently face as a result of development activities in Tumlingtar. I will also discuss the external factors related to development and the internal factors that have pushed them towards marginalization. Additionally, I will present some cases detailing how they have lost much of their traditional hold on land and on their occupations; what they think about development; and a description of their pre-existing socio-economic and political situation. In order to situate this research within development discourse, f will start with a broad discussion of the discourse of development itself.

Development Discourse in Anthropology: A Framework of Analysis Many theorists assert that as a set of ideas and practices, 'development' has historically functioned over the twentieth century as a mechanism for the colonial and neocolonial domination of the south by the north (see Escobar

Contributions to Nepalese StUdies, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006), 39-62 Copyright © 2006 CNASfTU 40 CNAS Journal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006) Development as a Process of Marginalization 41

1995)'. Especially after the post-World War II decline of colonialism The Kumals of Tumlingtar worldwide. capitalists continued their hold on the third world through Tumlingtar spans wards 12 and 13 of Khandbari Municipality, in the Kosbi spreading markets of their products (science and technology) in the name of Zone of Nepal's Eastern Development Region. It is a major residential area development. In this way. the developed countries (especially western for Kumals. There were l63 Kumal households, comprising a population of countries) changed their strategy from direct political domination to 814 people and 46'k ofTurnlingtar's total population in 1999. According to a economic domination through deve]upment institutions, thereby continuing number of my Kurnal respondents, Kumals settled in Tumlingtar during the to maintain neocolonial power rclations to the third world. They came \vith unification period of eastern Nepal (1774-75 A.D.). Originally serving as attractive themes such as ·cmpov,..'crmeilt' or the redistribution of the world's assistants to the conquering armies. they purportedly settled down after riches tothe poor (Barfield 1997, Escobar 1995, Gardner and Lewis 1996). unification as the state representatives of the region. After subjugation of the There are a wide variety of approaches and debates in the literature on Limbuwan,-l it was essential to have state representatives of the region for development in general and in anthropology in particular. The classical two purposes: to bring the local people into the unified state and to control economists like Adam Smith, 1. S. Mill. and T. R. Malthus asserted the local revolts. The emerging Nepali state had some fear of neighbouring Tibet, positive aspects of development (cf. Lokanathan 1996) whereas Marxist and Sikkim and India that tbey might support local revolts (Regmi 1978, Kattel nco-Marxist theorists have argued that development is a 'non-egalitarian lOOO). The Kumals settled in Tumlingtar, but they were a distinct minority activity of the capitalist.s'. Tn anthropology, there are two main divergent from socia-cultural and demographic perspectives. They thus invited another paths regarding development. One path is taken by those who are involved in group of Kumals from the Dudhkoshi region who were potters to settle in development activities through development institutions following the Tumlingtar. This group quickly became well known across the region for traditional approach. These people are generally known as development their skills. The Kurnals integrated socia-culturally with this group and thus anthropologists, the concomitant subject matter being development became identified as clay potters in the region. These groups were very anthropology. The other path is taken by those \vho criticize western models involved in halighare, the local commodity and service exchange system. and emphasize ne\\' forms of analysis. This field is generally known as the Tumlingtar is a fertile area with alluvial soils for agriculture and it had anthropology of development (Gardner and Lewis 1996). enough forest and water resources for firewood, timber, and fishing. It is \\ie can understand the word 'development' to mean a political process situated in an area between the Arun and Sabha rivers, which serve as the because it appeared as a result of colonial power. Thus, when we talk of main tributaries into Nepal's biggest river, the Koshi. These riverbanks 'underdevelopment,' we should also understand that we are referring to provided soil mines for pottery. Situated on the riverbanks, Tumlingtar lies at unequal global power relations (Escobar 1995). Generally, development an elevation of 400 to 700 meters above sea level. In thi s tropical cl imate, refers to a process of change through which an increasing proportion of a Kurnals lived with significant autonomy for more than a hundred years. They nation's citizens are able to enjoy a higher material standard of living. were involved in agriculture, pottery, and fishing without much competition healthier and longer lives, more education, and greater control and choice from other groups in Tumlingtar. over how they Iive. State planners. donor agencies and social movement Socio-culturally. Kumals are Hindu, but they have also accepted some of organizers are actively' working towards such positive changes. But, man,Y the local practices such as bride price and worshipping of natural objects. also realize that there are negative effects of development interventions and They claim that they originated from Brahmans and thus use their own priests have changed their approaches accordingly (i.e. trickle down to peoples' as opposed to Brahman priests in rituals. These Tumlingtar-based Kumals participation models). A significant amount of literature about and discourse prefer to identify asjat Kumals and claim differences from the Newar and the within anthropology deals with the negative effects of development. Many Tarai Kumals. Due to their relations with tbe high caste group and their theorists argue that some aspects of development are actively destructive and political power as state representatives, they were originally recognized as a dis-empowering (Des Cbene 1996: Escobar 1995: Gardner and Lewis 1996: higher ranking group than the local Kirantis (see Kattel, 2000 for details). In Pigg 1993). This study confirms these theorists' critiques insofar as the the 1854 state codified caste system, Kumals were classified as enslavable traditional Kumal potters have been forced to become porters and labourers, matawali peoples (HOfer 1979). They were potters and had secured positions losing their traditional hold on land and their occupation as a consequence of in the traditional halighare system. As metal and plastic utensils were not yet development activities. My arguments supporting this claim are based on six­ available, clay pots had great value in the region and the raw materials to month's fieldwork that I conducted from July to December 1999 as part of an make them were widely available. M.Phil. Thesis project (see Kattel 2000). Development as a Process of Marginalization 43 42 CNAS Journal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2(06)

4 to mention a common one, how a respected mukhiya cheated Kumals during Thus, pottery became the occupational identity of the Kumals of the airport construction. Tumlingtar, even though they had cultivable land and were also involved in agriculture. Non-Kuma!, high caste immigrants arrived in Tumlingtar only How have the land losers missed out on compensation?: High ranked

after the introduction of the panchayat system and after development people in this area are not only higher in te~sof r~ligion,.but ~ealso ~igher activities had been initiated in the area. The Kumals describe bitter in political and economic tenns. The Chhetrl mukhl}'~~amved In Tumhngtar experiences both with high caste people and with development activities. along with the introduction of the panchayat politIcal system and have They claim that high caste people and development activities are the reasons accumulated power through expanding relationships with VIllagers, for their loss ofland, resources and autonomy. And they claim that they have government officials, and politicians. When they became chiefs of the local been displaced from their traditional occupation. Here, I will describe the government units, they motivated villagers to become m.v~l~edIII major development activities and the processes by which Kumals have been development interventions and took the Kumals' land for these actiVities. The displaced from their land and their occupation. following is an interesting example of the non-Kumals' treachery:

The Airport: According to Kumals, the airport is their main abhag Box!: Treachery by a Mukhiya against innocent Kuma!s during (misfortune) and dukha (hardship) because they lost approximately 80% of construction of the airfield their productive land (see Appendix: 1) as a result of airport construction. When the younger mukhi}'a wa~elected chairman of the local panchayat, he ~otivated Many families were displaced from their traditional habitats and some of the villagers to become involved in canal construction. They sent an applicatIOn to the them migrated to the Tarai and to India during the airport construction. They district center. However. the district chief expressed the government's interest in

claim that misfortune began in their lives with this airport construction, ai~ortconstruction in Tumlingtar, and requcste~a piece. of. flat I~ndfor th~airport which also introduced famine and disease in the area. For example, they from the applicanls. They made an agreement With the ~l~tnctchief to prOVIde ~and explain that wind from the airplanes effects productivity of the land (shaha) for an airport and free labour for a few days as well. Imtlally, the Kumals proVIded and that this wind has blown a weed called banamara (Eupatorium 737 ropani (I hectare = 20 ropani) of land for the airfield. as well as two da~s'free. adenophorum) all over their fields, disturbing the crops. They also claim that labour from the total 120 Kumal households. They recall that at the time of construction. the officials took their goats, pigs, and chickens without paying. When their life-protector gods and deities abandoned the area due to airplane noise the work started, the villagers did get some money as compensation. . and thus there is increased famine and disease. The amount of compensation was Rs. 29-100 per ropani or more dependmg on Despite the 30 year operation of the airport, not a single Kumal has the quality of the land in question. The elder mukhiya. Ratnadhoj.. convinced all the traveled by airplane from or to Tumlingtar. Rather than have brought the Kumals that it was better for them to receive compensatory land mstead of money. community benefit, they claim that the airport has displaced them from their They accepted his advice and gave him the money received as compensation. The land holding position and occupation. It introduced a market economy, mukhiva informed them that he would return this money to the government and bringing modern clothes, plastic and steel utensils, and a variety of foods to reque~tland instead. He took the money, went to Kathmandu for the land (according lo him), and came back after one month. He informed them that the government had the region. Selling and buying of grains began in this community along with 5 the introduction of the market. As a result, the airport has disrupted both the given I,(XX)ropani of land in Gobindapur. Most of the land losers went .to see ~e land and same of them settled down after clearing the bush. Those who did not like traditional production and the balighare distribution and exchange of these the land went to India without asking for their money back from the mukhiya. The items. Kurnals who had settled in Gobindapur later found out, during land registration. that Construction of the airport resulted in direct seizure of some lands and the land had not been given as compensation by the government. Rather, the land was decreased productivity, as well as accelerating the process of Kumal already registered in the mukhiya's name. In fact, the mukhiya had bought the land alienation from the land. DUling fieldwork, I found that non-Kumals own himself, using the compensation money from the Kumals. It thu~appeared t.hat the more land than Kumals. Non-Kumals occupied 42% of the total land, while mukhiya wanted to clear the bush and convert it into productive land usmg ~he development programmes (including the airport) occupied 37% and the Kumal's labour force. The elder mukhiya had become rich and powerful accumulatmg Kumals have only 21% of the total land. The Kumals spoke of never having a huge tract of land in the Tarai, while the KumaJs had lost both their compensation been compensated for their land by non-Kumals. These non-Kumals grabbed money and the land. Kumalland through various tricks and treacheries (jaal andjhel). My Kumal respondents were suffering from the treacheries of the non-Kumals and many During a discussion regarding the airport and the non-Kumals' arrival, recalled similar stories. Before describing these events, it would be relevant Nete Kumal summarized the situation with the following proverb: aafnu 44 CNAS Journal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006) Development as a Process of Marginalization 45

hariko daura ghans, l111jiwi .\Timatiko satya nas. Loosely translated, this day, lit Bahadur went to the mukh(va's house and gave him the information means that Kurnab gave the non-Kumals a place to settle, they used the about the debts that he owed others, which was Rs, 10,600, The mukhiya Kumals' fuel and fodder, and when allowed to come into their houses, they promised to pay his debts and to give him the remaining Rs. 3,900 to him. He tlx)k the Kumals' wives. As a result of the airport, a large number of non­ paid the debts, but never paid the rest of the money, Kumals arrived in Tumlingtar, and Kumals claim that they always bring One day, Jit Bahadur's wife went to the mukhiya's house and asked for problems with them, some grain during a famine (anikal), Jit Bahadur recalled that the mukhiya gave them almost 20 kgs, of maize, Jit Bahadur has recently learned that the How have non-Kumals plundered the Kumals'!: I attended some nIukhivu wants to take the remainder of his land after his death, because he gatherings and meetings regarding the issue of land boundaries, credit dues, has a Rs, 60,000 bond paper, which is supposedly owed by Jit BahaduL But mortgaged land and conflicts surrounding the resoun:e extraction between lit Bahadur has never borrowed money from the mukhiya. Once, when lit Kumals and non-Kumals. I observed that, in all cases, non-Kumals Bahadur asked the mukhiya about it, he replied that his wife had borrowed dominated the Kumals. I thus began to try finding out about such events and the money, Jit Bahadur said, "she took only 20 kgs of maize from you, as I cases, how and in what conditions they occurred and how non-Kumals remember, whereas you were supposed to pay me Rs. 3,900. Isn't that so?" benefited from the situation. Most Kumal families who are currently involved The mukhiya became angry and said that he had a Rs, 60,000 bond paper in po~eringand labouring told me stories similar to what happened during which Jit Bahadur had signed, Jit Bahadur became speechless, As an illiterate the aIrport construction. They told me stories about how their land was farmer, he felt as though he could not speak in front of the mukh(va and could plundered. These types of cases were quite common during that time, they not prove otherwise. Therefore, he just said "please mukh(va, release me from informed me. In fact, I witnessed some of the events myself during tieldwork the bond paper, I have not borrowed any money." Jit Bahadur said that the and found some interesting stories behind them. The following cases are mukhiya did not care. representative of these common events: When I asked the mukhiya about Jit Bahadur's case, he laughed, saying, "did lite (using a diminutive of lit Bahadur's name) also complain to you? Box 2: A bitter ex erienee of .lit Bahadur Kumal with the Mukhi a6 Nonsense lite." Looking at lit Bahadur's expression and appearance, it Case A: When discussing the treachery of non-Kumals, many informants appeared as though the mukhiya really had plundered him, I asked Jit advised me to talk with Jit Bahadur KumaL One day, I went to his house, I Bahadur whether or not he had had other similar experiences. could easily guess that he was a very poor farmer by looking at his small huts He told me about another event. After the airport construction, many non­ and the torn clothing that he wore, I had seen him following the elder Kumals had settled in the area. Once, a Newar shopkeeper invited him to a mukhiya, chief ward member of the municipality, and at the local police dinner. He served him delicious food and alcohol. The elder mukhiyu's son station several times. I introduced myself to him and expressed my desire to was also there. They asked lit Bahadur for two pieces of homestead land, one talk with him. He replied that he had a busy schedule, He had to chase birds for the Newar and another for the Chhetri. Jit Bahadur said that it was better away from a rice field in the morning and had to follow the mukhiva later in to have the discussion about land at another time. But they served him more the day, I decided to go with him to the field, to chase away the' birds and alcohol and forced him to make an agreement, giving him Rs. 50 as an talk. He agreed and together we went to the field, advance payment and putting his thumbprints on a paper. Later they said that Jit Bahadur told me that he lives with his family of nine at Naula gaun, Jit Bahadur had taken Rs, 5,000 as payment for the land and they eventually According to him, one day (at some point in 1991), he decided to sell a piece took the land, "They gave me fifty rupees and made a bond paper of Rs, of land in order to take care of a debt. He fixed a price of Rs, 12,000 and 5,000, adding two zeros," Jit Bahadur realized now, At one point, Jit Bahadur agreed to sell the land to a Brahman, When they were going to the Land and showed me the land, which was in the main bazaar and was worth almost Rs. Taxation Office in Khandbari to transfer the land rights, the elder mukhiva 300,000 at that time, stopped Jit Bahadur and asked him why he was going to Khandbari, When he was briefed on the situation, the mukhiya apparently said that he would pay Rs, 15,000 for that land, Jit Bahadur agreed, informed the Brahman, and went to Khandbari with the mukhiya the next day, The mukhiya did not buy the land, rather, he sold it to a Newar and gave Jit Bahadur only Rs, 500, He assured Jit Bahadur that he would payoff all of his debt quickly, The next 46 CNAS Journal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006) Development as a Process of Marginalization 47

Box 3: Prem Bahadur Kumallooses all his farmland airport, they settled down in Tumlingtar and made it a central acc~sspoint for Case B: Prem Bahadur Kumal (a 62-year old man) has a small hut in Dhale transportation. The non-Kumals found that the honest, SImple, and gaun. He has only homestead land and works as a sharecropper, a butcher uneducated Kumals were communal and easily trusted everyone. The new and as a porter. He expressed very negative attitudes towards non-Kumals. immigrants were clever, educated and more individualistic. They too~ During a discussion, he told me the reason that he had such a negative advantage of the situation. Socio-culturally, the new Brahman, Chhetn, opinion, was that he had been cheated very badly by non-Kumals a few years Newar and Tarnang immigrants had a higher social rank whereas Kumals previously. The treacherous had taken advantage of his illiteracy when he were considered subordinate to them. Non-Kumals established relationship was a ward member of the local panchayar. He told me the story: networks among themselves and with the state bureaucrats. Through these "One day, as a ward member, I was invited to Magar gaun. Suruman relationships they became economically and politically powerful. Thus, the Kumal had agreed to buy land from Raharman Kumal for Rs. 10,000. Ganga Kumals had to face powerful competitors in Tumlingtar after airport Bahador Tamang, Bishnu Bahadur Tamang, and Khadananda Gautam were construction. also invited. They wrote an agreement paper and acted as witnesses. Being a ward member, 1 also signed (with thumbprints) the paper as a witness. The Arun III Hydroelectric Project Suruman paid the money to Raharman in front of us. According to Kumals, the Arun III Hydroelectric Project was another After two years. I got a summons letter from the District Court, saying misfortune. Along with dam construction at Faksinda (40 kms. north of that I had to go there within a week. I went to the court the next day. I Tumlingtar), an office and a storehouse were constructed in Tumlingtar. on thought that I had been called as a ward member. When I was informed of the about 300 ropani of land because it was an easily accessible area. The project case, I was stunned. How could J have imagined my neighbours having done also started construction of a wide motorable road from Hile to Khandbari. this') Later, I realized that I had fallen into a trap made by Tamangs and This project helped to accelerate the process of land grabbing from the Gautam the Brahman, who had been invited to write up the agreement paper Kumals by non-Kumals, and Kumals lost a great deal of land for a second and to witness Suruman and Raharman's transaction. These people had time (see Appendix: 2). Businessmen, government staff from the dlstnct placed my thumbprints on a blank piece of paper, and later wrote that I, Prem headquarters, and people from the surrounding areas were attracted to and Bahadur, had sold my 18 copani kher (irrigated land) and 32 copani bari settled down in Tumlingtar because of the access to the airport, the weekly (dried land) at Rs. 80,000. market and employment opportunities. These people accumulated Kumal My land was close to the main road on the eastern border of the airport. land through various means. It was rare for people to pay cash for Kumal As an illiterate man, I had not understood their plan and I had put my land. What more often transpired was that they would lend money to Kumals, thumbprints on the paper as a ward member. Later, those same people then increase the interest, and after a few years grab the land. Sometimes it claimed in court that 'Prem Bahadur has not vacated the land, which he had happened that others would first register the land in the office and come to already sold to us. Therefore, we want to take back our money or the land.' claim it later. Was this not a terrible crime against me?" Although the Arun III Hydroelectric Project was cancelled by the After that, he registered an appeal in the court. But due to the lack of government in 1996, the process of land redistribution from Kumals to n?n­ documentation, money for bribes (ghus) and relatives with power who could Kumals still continued during my fieldwork. The non-Kumals were lendmg help, he lost this land.' He even went to the appellate court in Dhankuta, but money to Kumals at high interest rates and taking their land. The Kumals he lost the case there too. He thinks that because he could not pay ghus, the were mortgaging land and falling into deht during festivals, rituals, .and court did not look upon him favorably. Later, he paid Rs. 7,000 for just famines. Many Kumals who gamble and drink alcohol had also fallen mto homestead land. He had basically become landless through the non-Kumals' debt. Recently, a few families have borrowed money in order to be able to go treachery after airport construction. He said, "even as a ward member, I faced to Gulf countries as labourers. Here I present two cases, which are connected this trouble with them. Now you can imagine how common people are living to unexpected consequences of the Arun III Hydroelectric Project. in the face of such tricky people."

From these two narratives, we can see the impact of the airport in this community. First, a large number of people anived in the region due to the 48 CNAS Journal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006) Development as a Process of Marginalization 49

Box 4: Padam Bahadur Kumal gets cheated bv a non-Kumal Box 5: A Kumal turns landless bv mortgaging it Case A: Padam Bahadur Kumal (a 66-year old man) of Magar galln was Case B: One day, when I was collecting information from the Land and known throughout Tumlingtar as a ri'ch man, but he has lost most of his land Taxation Office in Khandbari, Nara Bahadur Kumal was there. He liad now. The Arun III Project constructed a storehouse close to his land and mortgaged 20 ropani of land, for which he had received a loan of Rs. 90,000 many people were attracted to his land for settlement. Oil Bahadur MagarS of from Oevi Thapa, a Chhetri teacher of a neighboring village. Nara Bahadur the neighboring Jhyaunpokhari village came to Padam BahaJur's house in had borrowed this money at 3% interest rate per month. According to Nara December 1994 and convinced him 10 sell all of his land except for his Bahadur, he had mortgaged the land because his grandson wanted to go to homestead land. Oil Bahadur promised 10 give him Rs. 400,000 cash and 20 Saudi Arabia. ropani khef somewhere else. Padam Bahadur agreed. Dil 8ahadur then sold After two months, I heard that Tirth Bahadur (Nara Bahadur's grandson) most of the land and earned Rs. 700.000, but never paid the money and never had returned to Tumlingtar from Kathmandn because he failed the medical bought the khet land for Padam Bahadur. Once, Padam Bahadur asked Oil test necessary to become a labourer in Saudi Arabia. I asked Tirth Bahadur Bahadur about the khet land and the money. Oil Bahadur showed him 30 about the money. He said that he had used up Rs. 50,000 for his own sake. I ropani khet land owned by a Chhctri. He said that he wanted to buy that land asked Nara Bahadur about the mortgaged land. He said that the money is liis for Padam Bahadur, but that he had only Rs. 200,000 and the price of the grandson's responsibility because the land is for him. During my fieldwork, I land was Rs. 300,000. Padam Bahadur liked the khet and went to Khandbari saw Tirth Bahadur many times, roaming around the village with new clothes to mortgage his homestead land at Rs. 100,000 in order to give this amount to and drinking alcohol. He did not bother about the land and the loan money. Dil Bahadur to buy tlie khet land from the Chhetri. Devi Thapa told the researcher that he knew Nara Bahadur would not Padam Bahadur continued the story, "I was happy with Oil Bahadur then return his money, as it is a large amount. But, he was not worried about it because I thought that I would have the productive khet land as well as Rs. because land in Tumlingtar is valuable and he could easily sell it for a good 400,000 soon. I believed that he would pay my money when he had sold all pnce. of my original land. But he sold all the land and never handed over the khet land or the money. Rather, he stopped coming to my house. I became worried Due to the Arun III project, non-Kumal immigrants were attracted to and went with my son to his house, but he was not there. Then, we went to Tumlingtar. They gradually grabbed the Kumals' land through various ways the Chhetri's house to find out about the khet land. The Chhetri informed us and settled there. The project also helped to develop weekly markets, offices. that he had no intention of selling his land and he also told us to be careful hotels, lodges and grocery shops in Tumlingtar, which introduced a modern with Oil Bahadur.9 Then, I got suspicious of Oil Bahadur. I went to the Chief cash economy into the community. This cash economy and the weekly District Officer (COO) and registered a complaint letter against him. This market were introduced and established in Tumlingtar due to the influx of was in 1998." many people after establishment of the Arun III Hydroelectric Project. According to Padam Bahadur, Oil Bahadur disappeared from the village for a year. Policemen eventually caught him in Ohankuta in October 1999 Makalu·Barun Conservation Area Project and they informed Padam Bahadur of the arrest. As a researcher I also Although the project site is about 40 kms north of Tumlingtar, I found some accompanied Padam Bahadur to the COO office. We found out tlien that impacts from the Makalu-Barun Conservation Area Project in my study area. more than 10 people had registered similar complaints against Oil Bahadur. Along with the establishment of the conservation area, the Makalu peak has He had apparently taken their money and land without compensation. The been opened for expeditions and th~sattracts tourists to the region. entire crowd and a few policemen went to Oil Bahadur's house. I also Tumlingtar is considered a beautiful place and is convenient for those who accompanied them. We found that Oil Bahadur had nothing in his house. He fly from Kathmandu or Biratnagar to the mountain. During the autumn and had only a small house and homestead land, to support two wives, a few spring, Makalu peak can be seen from Tumlingtar and people can camp on children, and his parents. The COO sentenced him to one year in prison for the banks of the Arun and Sabha rivers. his crime. Tumlingtar became part of the Khandbari municipality due to its Padam Bahadur had become landless. He cursed both the Arun III project population growth and the need for increased facilities like electricity, and the treacherous Oil Bahadur Magar. He is facing a very hard life these drinking water, and telephones. As a result of the availability of these days. physical facilities and because it's a tourist destination, businessmen arrived in Tumlingtar and established teashops, groeeries, clothing stores, and Development as a Process of Marginalization 51 50 CNAS Journal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006) Once, Mukte had borrowed Rs. 500 from Mitra Bahadur Khatri and paid lodges. During my fieldwork, a resort was being constructed under a joint with his 7 ropani of land. He still could not get rid of the debt and worked Itlf venture between a Japanese person and a Nepali person buying Kumal land. 2 years as a servant in Mitra Bahadur's house. He also told me that they A boarding school and some government offices had also been established in never receive wages in cash for their work, instead the high caste people pay Tumlingtar in response to increased population and the development in kind. Nonetheless, they later insist that Kumals have taken more goods activities in the region. Indeed, all of the new immigrants' houses, their than the value of the wages. They then make them sign bond papers and later hotels, lodges and groceries, as well as all of the offices were established on take their land. Kumal land. The Kumals had lost a great deal of land and as a result are currently subsisting through portering. When they became involved in portering, they further lost their remaining land and other property because of These cases are representative stories of some of the impact of the hotels, the treachery and cheating of the businessmen. The following case illustrates lodges and gf{x;eries as well as the Makalu-Barun Conservation Area Project the situation. and other interventions, which have appeared in Tumlingtar as bikash. Non­ Kumals came to the region due to bikash and seized the Kumals' land Box 6: Illiterate Kumals 2et cheated when they borrow money through various means. This is ",imilar to the situation that Caplan (1970) Case A: One day, I was filling out a household survey form at Bhim found in Limbuwan. According to Caplan. a Brahman would invite a Limbu Bahadur's house in Sanguri village. A Chhetri came from the airport area and to his house, provide good food and get the Limbu to put thumbprints on sat near me. I stopped working. He asked lady of the house for her husband, paper if he borrowed a little money. Later, when the Limbu carne to pay. the Bhim Bahadur. She replied, "he has gone for portcring." The Chhetri had a Brahman would say that it was not enough and would take his land. grocery and a restaurant in the airport area. He got angry and said to the woman "you have to pay the money because you took rice. lentils and oil Community Forestry Programme from my shop." She replied, "I will send my husband when he comes back." A community forestry programme was introduced in Tumlingtar in ]994-96. The Chhetri threatened that he would claim the land if she didn't pay. when natural regeneration of the forests had stopped. Forest degradation had He left and I It)llowed him. Along the way, I asked how much Bhim been out of control due to the heavy use of forest products. Community Bahadur had to pay. "Almost ten thousand," he replied. "He borrowed forestry programmes entail overall government control. but local forest money, rice, and oil and drank some beer too, but he never paid," he management by community user groups. The users are responsible for continued. According to the Chhetri. Bhim Bahadur is borrowing f()Od and protection and plantation. as well as for the control of forest consumption other items from another shop now. I went to Bhim Bahadur's house the (Chhetri 1993). There are five forests in Tumlingtar and all have been handed following day and asked about the debt to the Chhetri. Bhim Bahadur said over to the users (see Appendix: 2). Kumals claim that this bikash activity is that he was supposed to pay one thousand rupees, but did not pay because the also a misfortune for them. They claim that it has restricted their use of forest Chhetri claimed that he owed him ten thousand rupees. The problem was not products and clay collection. thereby stopping the pottery business. Indeed, solved during my fieldwork, but it seems likely that the Chhetri will grab his most of the clay mines are on the Arun riverbanks, located inside the land soon. community forests. The Kumal's traditionally unrestricted forest product and clay collection practices have been prohibited by the User Group Committee Box 7: The Kuma!'s loss of land for borrowing small amounts from (UGC). Thus the introductions of community forest practices have had an local moneylenders impact on the Kumal's traditional occupation. Case B: During my stay at the Amn Hate!, I saw many Kumals who came to Today, the forest conditions are improving due to regeneration and borrow rice, lentils, oil, kerosene, spices and fishing hooks. I found one man protection. Still, some people have been extracting fuel wood, fodder and busy providing these item~and making notes on a piece of paper. Mukte timber. Most of the firewood sellers are collecting firewood from the same Kumal, who was 38 years old and living at the inn after having lost his forests. My Kumal informants claim that the forests were not degraded before property five years previously, told me that businessmen write 100 for 10 and the arrival of the new groups and development activities. Along with the 500 for 50 and also charge high interest rates on the money. Kumals are arrival of new groups, competition for resources started. They claim that unable to pay back the money, but they are compelled to continue borrowing some powerful p~opleare still exploiting the forests as common property and from these businessmen because of lack of other sources. earning private profit. This resonates with Hardin's (1985) statement that 52 CNAS Journal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006) Development as a Process of Marginalization 53 when the forest was under the Kumals, it was regulated by the community Box 8: The local elites cheat Kumals, grab their resources and even I manipulate the law and was well protected, but it became degraded when it became open for all groups. On October 25, I joined a crowd gathered outside Devi Gautam's house. to During discussions on the forest issue. it appeared that one group was There were three policemen, two forest rangers, two guards and some blaming the others for causing forest destruction. According to the Kumals, villagers. Devi was handcuffed and was being taken to the police post by the non-Kurnab have built big w<.xxlcn houses, hotels, lodges, restaurants and policemen. The crowd was following them. A ranger asked Devi, "How offices and decorated them with wooden furniture. The non-Kumals argued much timber did you sell illegally this year'!" Devi replied. "I didn't sell any that the Kurnals destroyed the forests, because they needed a lot of firewood pieces of timber illegally. You can check the records." The ranger replied, for clay pot baking. When I estimated fuel requirement and use, I found that "We have checked and we are going to check your house now." Another Ikg. of firewood is essential for one clay pot baking, but that few the Kumals ranger was writing up the case against him. They had come to his house and are currently involved in this occupation. The hotels, lcxiges, restaurants and had found 700 cubic feet (ett.) of timber, which they seized and took to the teashops of Tumlingtar are using 580 kgs. of firewood daily. Additionally, I I police post. did not identify a single wo

People from the high caste groups occupy most government positions, and in case of problems, they favor one another. Indeed, they have used this power to exploit the poor people, the Kumals. This case also suggests that the 54 CNAS Journal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006) Development as a Process of Marginalization 55 Kumals are directly and indirectly exploited by high caste groups in the , context of the community forestry programme. Among the nine people writing bond pape" during my fieldwork period, I These above mentioned development activities are the primary factors found tWO Brahmans, two Chhetris (including the mukhiva), two Tamangs that have contributed ta Kumals being marginalized from their traditional and three Newars. These people all owned relatively more land than other community members. Given that the majority the cases referred to above (~cupationand from their land. Other factors have also indirectly and directly of affected Kumals very negatively. These factors relate to non-Kumals and have heen perpetrated by these people, it appears that they have taken government policies. advantage of Kumals during the land registration and had taken the Kumals's land as their own property. Other Factors Contributing to the Kumals' Marginalization There are less directly visible factors that also negatively affect the Kumals Influence of Panchayat Leaders and High Caste People in Local Politics: of Tumlingtar. I call them internal tactors, and they play key role, during During the panchayat era, a Chhetri was recognized as the area mukhiya and contact between Kumals and non-Kumals. The non-Kumals commonly refer was the pradhanpancha (panchnyat chairman) for a long time. The mukhiya to the Kumals a, lata (simple), jallgali (wild) and pakhe (rustic). These are became stronger than the local Thari family" and influenced the local demeaning terms from which a number of meanings can be implied from the community through the panchayat. When these non-Kumals became local broader context. First, is that Kumals live far from the other groups. Second, mukhi.va, they used local resources to their own advantage. They cultivated that they are simple, honest and more dependable than other groups. the Kumals' pastureland in Khakuwa, cleared some bush land in Gidde and converted all of it into agricultural land in their own names. They restricted Status of Education (Literacy): Historically in Nepali Hindu society, high access to the clay mines, which were located on non-Kumal land. The Kumal caste people were the only people officially allowed to acquire education. In jimmuwal'2 was ineffective because he was illiterate and dominated by the fact, low caste people were restricted from both hearing and readin o of some Thari Brahmans. .. D relIgIOus mantras and prayers. As is the case in much of Nepal, schools arc a Most of the l(x:al government leaders have been chosen from non-Kumal relatively recent phenomenon in Tumlingtar. Before the arrival of 000­ groups and they favor non-Kumals in disputes. Even now, not a single Kumal KumaIs, there was no school in Tumlingtar. None of the Kumals felt the has been elected to a major political position and no Kumal political leaders have non-Kumal supporters and followers. The non-Kumals are spread acrosS necessity of ~()fJnaleducation. Just three hours walking distance away in DingJa, the tirst Sanskrit school in Nepal was established. However, even various political parties. occupying the most powerful positions. Positions of now, there are some Kumals who are not conscious of the needJor education. power in the municipality and district governments are also occupied by high castc peoples who decide in their own community's favour. The chief ward Rath~rthan sending their children to schooL they send them to go fishing and herdmg. A common saying among the Kumals in this area is: 'padyo RUln'o member and other ward members are always non-Kumals, and have replaced J ke kwn halo jO(\,o khayo mam.' This saying captures the belief that it is better the role of gaubuda/ in the Kumal community. to plough fields to get food instead of investing time in education. Credit System and the Kumal Indebtedness: The Kumals have become Conversely, the local high caste people have been sending their children increasingly economically dependent upon non-Kumals, especially after the to Dharan and Kathmandu for hetter schooling. Dhan Bahadur Kumal (a 56­ changing of land ownership and registration. A cadastral survey was year old man) told me that during his childhlxxt, they were not atlowed to get undertaken to measure the land and there was a small fee charged per ropani an educatIon. He recalled a story related to his desire to become literate. In for registration. Some Kumals had no money to pay for land registration and fact, he was learning the alphahet with a ehhetri trom his vitlage, but a ended up mortgaging the lands. Others borrowed money from non-Kumals Brahman found out and threatened him. This man apparently warned Dhan and became indebted at high interest rates. The above mentioned bikash Bahadur that he shouldn't be dever (batho), or the government would jail activities resulted in seizure of some of their lands. Reduced agricultural him. It IS true that the Rana autocracy did not permit everyone to be educated, production further put them into debt. The Kumals tend to take loans during so Dhan Bahadur stopped his learning. festivals, rituals, famine and illness. Others borrow money in order to send Th~Kumals have historically been uneducated and illiterate, contributing their relatives to Saudi Arabia to look for employment opportunities. Some to theIr dependence on non-Kumals. The so-called high caste Brahmans, become indebted due to habits like drinkin?, and gamhling. The non-Kumals Chhetris and Newars were historically more educated and were the bond lend money at mterest rates as hIgh as 369£-,. paper writers for transactions such as land mortgaging and money lending. The Kumab told me about numerous cases whereby the creditors would provide them with small loans, and after obtaining thumbprints, would add a 56 CNAS Journal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006) , Development as a Process of Marginalization 57 few extra zeros to the amount. They claim that gnx'cry owners and other power. One Kumal teacher was transferred from Uling (two days walking creditors are adding zeros to bond papers and thus plundering Kumals. If distance) to Tumlingtar (close to his house) during fhe Communist,led Kumals refuse to pay the debtS, the creditors forward the cases to local government of 1995. The local mukhiya did not like him hecause the teacher leaders, who tend to favour the high castc creditors. In most cases the debtors opposed some of his attitudes. I found out that the mukhiya wanted the are unable to settle their debts and therefore end up loosing their mortgaged teacher to be transferred away from the district and the District Education land. Officer wanted to post one of his relatives to the school, fherefore, they I observed that most Kumals horrowed grain from the local groceries colluded and replaced the Kumal teacher with another teacher from the Tarai. daily. They were generally not in a position to pay for this food and Most of the younger generation of high caste groups of Tumlingtar are eventually would end up paying with their land. I also found that when 11011­ working in government offices in the district as well as in other regions. Kumals borrowed from Kumals, they generally did not pay interest (see Some Kurnals with similar qualifications are unable to get these jobs and Appendix 3) and they generally requested the money for a short period (like must resort to agricultural and day-labour work. one week) in the beginning, but only paid either after a much longer time or sometimes not at all. One day, the elder mukhiya laughingly told me that he Conclusion had visited Kumal villages several times and found out about Kumal money Pigg (1993) contends fhat development activities barely touch the lives of and other property (gold and silver). He advised that fhey should keep their many Nepali people. My study findings suggest that Kumals in Tumlingtar property in his house for security. He told me that he could easily convince are touched by development, albeit in what they identify as negative ways. Kumals to store their valuables at his house, as they were afraid of thieves The first inhabitants of Tumlingtar, the Kumals, became communal entering their doorless houses. When Kumals brought property for landholders (kipatiya) and pottery makers. Later, the state introduced various safekeeping, he lent it out to other Kumals at a high interest rate. development activities (e.g., the airport, the Arun III Hydroelectric Project, the road, the community forestry programme) that displaced Kumals from Influence of High Caste Groups in Bureaucracy: As illiterate and less their habitat and their occupation. They thus changed gradually from potters powerful people, Kumals have little influence over government bureaucracy. to porters and labourers. Political decisions, state policy, and state economic Except for one policeman and two teachers, none of the Kumals in this area activities have affected Kurnals, shaping their livelihood patterns. High caste have jobs in government offices. In most of the district offices: the Court, the people first arrived in Tumlingtar as agents of the panchayat government and Land and Taxation Office, the Land Measurement Office. the Chief District influenced local politics. Other high caste groups appeared later, when Office, the municipality and other public offices, officials are people of high Tumlingtar developed as a market center. These people accelerated the caste. The high caste people and their money (ghus) are influencing political marginalization process of the Kumals by accumulating Kumal land and culture, bureaucracy and public offices. Corruption (bhrastaclzar) and bribes other property. Furthermore, more subtle, or internal, factors also played a U;lzus) are common and became open after the restoration of democracy in role during the contact between Kumals and non-Kumals. These internal 1991. Without ghus. no official transaction is done. I witnessed an incident in factors are equally important as the external factors that displaced Kumals which an official from the Land Measurement Office charged Rs. 150 for a from fheir landholding positions. Rs. 17 map from a Rai farmer who had walked for two days with the Rs. 50 Although this research was carried out in a small community and with a that others had told him to be the price for the map. The official told him that small group of people, it has raised some serious questions about the effects the price had increased and the farmer went back home to bring more money. of development more generally: Does development necessarily marginalize Education is needed in order to gain government employment. Passing the low caste or less powerful social groups? Can development be implemented School Leaving Certificate (S.L.C.) examination is the minimum requirement equally for all" Questions such as fhese will need to be part of future research for even the lowest positions. However, only 10 Kumals in Tumlingtar agenda in the field of development in general. possess this qualification. Eighty percent of Nepali government bureaulTats in the area are Brahman, Chhetri, Newar or from the Tarai, and they tend to Notes favour their own groups in order to increase their relationship networks. I. Tumlingtar is under Khandbari municipality, comprised of a large plain area The situation is the same in politics. Most political party leaders are high situated within the Arun Valley. It is located in Sankhuwasabha district of caste people. Many government bureaucrats are also involved in politics in Eastern Nepal. Arun is one of the deepest valleys of the world and is located just 80 kms. east of the world's highest peak. Mount Everest. order that they can acquire higher positions when their political party is in Development as a Process of Marginalization 59 58 CNAS Journal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006)

Katte!, S. P. 2(}(X). Development and Its Victims. From Pottery Maker... to Porters' 2. The words 'north' and 'south' are commonly used in post-colonial development , The Changing Ufe-ways of the Kumals of the Arnn Valley, Eastern Nepai. discourse. 'North' denotes the developed countries of Europe and America, i Unpublished M. Phil. Thesis. University of Bergen, Norway. which had colonial power in the southern countries. The 'north' is also often Lokanathan, V. 1996. A History of Economic Thought. New Delhi: S Chand and referred to as the 'first world,' and the 'south' as the 'third world.' ! Company Limited. 3. The word Limbuwan refers to a region in between the Anun and Tamor rivers in Mishra, C. 1997. "Development Practices in Nepal: An Overview". In KB Bhattachan east Nepal which presently fall under Koshi and Mechi zones. This is the and Mishra C. (eds.), Development Practices in Nepal. Kathmandu: principal land of the Limbu ethnic group before Nepal was unified. Sociology!Anthropology Department, Tribhuvan University: 1-15. 4. Mukhiya means 'village leader' in Nepali. Generally, Chhetris and Magars are Pigg, S. L. 1993. "United Consequences: The Ideological Impact of Development in mukhiya in this particular area. Nepal". South Asian Bulletin. Volume 13 (1-2): 45-57. 5. Gobindapuf is situated in the Morang district of the Tarai, almost one week's Regmi, M. C. 1978. Land Tenure and Taxation in Nepal. Kathmandu: Ratna Pustak walking distance from Tumlingtar. It is bush-land located on the Dans river. Bhandar. 6. The names of indi viduals used in this paper are pseudonyms. 7. The court made its decision based on evidence of the pre-1994 bond papers. because the land had not been previously measured and there were no pre­ existing land holding certificates. 8. A pseudonym for the maternal uncle of Padam Bahadur's daughter-in-law. 9. The Chhetri said that Dil Bahadur was known in his village for his tricks and that he had cheated many people. 10. Devi Gautam was the vice chairman of the Hokse-Piple community forest and one of my Brahman informants. II. Thari was a position given by state during pre-Panchayat era to assist Jimmuwal for tax collection, dispute settlement, etc. 12. A panchayat era tax collection position which was given to a local leader by the government. 13. A position given by the villagers. to someone respected as the vil1age leader. 14. The interest rate of the banks and other such institutions tends to be less than 18%.

References Barfield, T. (ed.). 1997. Dictionary (?f Anthropology. Oxford: Blackwell. Chhetri, R. B. 1993. "Indigenous Protection and Management Systems of Forest in the Far Western Region of Nepal". In D. Tamang, G.J. Gill and G. B. Thapa (eds.), Indigenous Management of Natural Resourc('s in Nepal. Kathmandu: HMG Ministry of Agricullure!Winrock International, pp. 323-342 Des Chene, M. 1996. "In the Name of Bikas". Studies in Nepali History and Society, 1(2): 259-70. Escobar, A 1995. "Anthropology and the development encounter: the making and marketing of development anthropology". In American Ethnologist, 18(4): 658-81. Garder. T. and D. Lewis. 1996. Anthropology, Development and the Post Modan Challenge. London: Pluto Press. Haaland, G. 1990. "Aid and Sustainable Development in a Duel Economy". Forum for Utl'iklingsstudier. Vol. I: 1-26. Hardin, G. 1985. Filters Against Folly. USA: Penguin Books. HOfer. A 1979. The Caste Hierarchy and the State in Nepal: A Study (d'the Muluki Ain of /854. Innsbruck: Universitatsvcrlag Wagner, Khumbu Himal Series. 13/2: 25-240. 60 CNAS Journal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006) DeveiopmElf'lt as a Process of Marginalization 61

Appendices: Appendix 2: Map showing the airport. Arun HI projed office, forest, Appendix I: Cadaslral Map showing Tumlingtar airport and the agricultural river. etc. land...... ••• . . ... '.hp} I:hda" .. i to4.. icipali', _ Il. T•• Ii_.'.. . . ••• . Th S'.d, A,...... r.... SHANKHUWASABHA DISTRICT ....~i.... N

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Table 1: D'Istn'botlOO' 0fD arIt Households in Pachbhaiva bv Hamlets, 2000 Name of Village Number of Households Percentage of the Total Damai Kami Sarki Total Simal Danda 0 6 13 19 42.22 Khudiko Muhan 5 6 0 II 24.44 Deurali 4 5 0 9 20.00 Bhutbhute Kuna 2 4 0 6 13.33 Total II 21 13 45 100.00 50lm e. FIeld Sun'e) 2000

Contributions to Nepalese Studies, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006), 63-80 Copyright © 2006 CNASfTU 64 CNAS Journal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006) , Changing Livelihood Strategies of DaIits 65 The Dalits of Pachhhaiya F need of cash, or when the products were in surplus (Le., having amounts The three Dalit castes namely, Darnai, Kami and Sarki stand out as one of the larger than needed for the household consumption). Generally, surplus numerically predominant populations of Pachbhaiya Gaun (the Nepali term cereals like paddy, maize, millet, and pulses are sold to the local grain for village). According to the 2001 national census, one fourth of the total merchants while fruits and vegetables are directly sold to the consumers at population of the Pachbhaiya Gaun consists of Dalits, which is considerably the local market near the bus station. high compared with the national average population of the three Dalit castes. During the leisure time, the villagers wove Joko (bamboo baskets) and According to the conventional caste hierarchy. these three castes are placed namlo (head straps and ropes used to carry loads including bamboo baskets) under the category of 'untouchables' (see HOfer 2004). As a result, the Dalits which were sold locally. Women wove gundri (hay-mattress) when they were have had limited social and ritual relationships with other high-caste and not busy with farm works, especially during the winter months. ethnic groups of the area. However, they have been involved in traditional The people of Pachbhaiya purchase goods of their daily needs (such as system of exchange of goods and services with all other local villagers (to be salt, sugar, vegetable oil, tobacco, etc.) from Khudiko muhan, a small market discussed below). around the village bus station. However, expensive and important items such Damai, Kami and Sarki were positioned in the lowest stratum of the as a radio, television, clothes, jewelry, etc., were purchased from shops in traditional caste hierarchy, and are still considered impure and untouchable Pokhara (during big festivals like Dashain and Tihar), which is about 13 km by many traditional minded people in this part of Nepal. Traditionally, they away from the village under study. were n(~allowed to enter temples. The so-called high-caste people in the study area expected the members of Dalit castes to be loyal and polite to The Dalits and their Occupations in Pachbhaiya them through their language and etiyuettes. In Pachbhaiya, Dalits used to Pachbhaiya is inhabited by Brahmins, ehhetris, Magars, Gurungs, Rais and request their high caste fellow villagers to judge over the conflicts within Dalit castes (i.e. Damai, Kami and Sarki). Although we do not present data to their families. Elderly Dalits usually give high level of respect to and show depict the livelihood strategies of the other castes except the artisans in this fear from the high-caste villagers than the youths in general. paper, it was evident from the field survey that most of the local Brahmins Damai, Kami and Sarki have traditionally played significant roles in the and Chhetris were agriculturalists who were engaged in subsistence farming 2 rural agriculture all over Nepal by providing different crafts services as well on their own lands. Only a handful of Brahmins provided priestly services in as agricultural labour. However, the traditional occupations of these Dalits addition to agriculture. However, many of the Brahmins and Chhetris were are gradually disappearing from many Nepali villages. Today, very few employed in government services as teachers and government officials. The Dalits depend for their livelihood on their traditional crafts skills such as Magars, Gurungs and Rais are the ethnic groups of tlte Pachbhaiya village metalworking, cobbling, tanning, tailoring and music playing. The traditional who also owned land and practiced agriculture. During our field study only artisans today look down upon their traditional occupations, and view them one member of a Gurung household was employed in the British Army as a as unsustainable and 'outdated'. These traditional livelihood strategies have, Gurkha Soldier. over the years, been replaced by the 'modern' ones. This process seems to According to the traditional allocation of caste based occupations, the have great consequences for oo[h their current social and economic status and Damai stitch and repair clothes. and play the traditional pancai baja their relationships with other castes and ethnic groups. (traditional musical instruments) during important festivals and ceremonies including marriages and some religious rituals (see Tingey 1994). The Karni Village Economy are the blacksmiths, who mainly manufacture and repair pots and pans and Agriculture is the most important source of livelihood for the people of other household implements made out of iron, copper and brass. They also Pachbhaiya. The land in this area is fertile, and has access to irrigation. Paddy make and repair farm implements like spades, plough blades, sickles, etc. and wheat are the staple crops grown by the villagers. The other crops grown The Sarki manufacture and repair leather items such as halludo (a leather in this area include maize, millet, buckwheat, potato, pulses, beans and strap used in making a plough), traditional musical instruments, shoes, etc. various types of vegetables. Tangerines and guavas are the common fruits None of these skills were obtained from formal schooling andlor training, but grown by the villagers mainly for household consumption, were learnt from parents through apprenticeship. The local people in Pachbhaiya revealed that most portions of grains, However, there are very few Dalits in Pachbhaiya today who still pursue vegetables and fruits were not exchanged for money until few years ago. these traditional occupations, Members of all three Dalit castes work as wage Agricultural products were sold only when the fanners were in an urgent labourers during the cultivation and harvesting of major crops such as paddy Changing Uvelihood Strategies of Dalits 67 66 CNAS Journal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006)

, (2.2) and wheat. Survey data revealed that Dalits in Pachbhaiya were involved in 3.1-4 1 2 1 1 4 (8.9) 4.1 5 1 112.2) 1 2 3 (6.7) different types of income earning activities (see Table 2), Farm and off-farm 5+ , 1 (2.2) 3 4 7 (15.5) wage labouring, as Table 2 shows, was the principal source of livelihood for Total II 21 13 45 (100.0) 11 21 13 451'00.0) most of Dalits. More than 22 per cent of men and women were found to be Source. F'eld Survey 2000 earning a living by means of wage labouring. In addition to the craft services and occasional wage lalxJuring, the Table 2: Distribution of Dalits in Pachbhaiya by Economic Activities and artisans also work for the local agriculturalists as plowmen. They are Sex employed by the landlords for about three months a year for the purpose of Economic Activities Sex plowing, leveling and irrigating the land. This form of employment IS locally Female Percent Male Percent Total Percent known as bali ko kaam (bali = food crop; kaam = work) and the earning from Wage Labour (Farm, 01'1'- 36 15.25 18 7.62 54 22.88 this is called majuri by the local villagers. farm Locally) During the field study, a few Sarki men reported that they had aho started Wage Labouring (Gulf - 0 13 5.5 13 5.50 fishing in the Rupa Lake occasionally in order to earn extra income. The Region) catches were sold in the local market. They described this kind of work as a Wage Labouring (India) - 0 5 2.11 5 2.1 I 'fruitless' work. Given the number of Dalit individuals involved in fishing and the incomes they could draw from this occupations, it is clear that fishing Traditional Occupations 10 4.23 9 3.81 19 8.05 is not yet considered as one of the viable occupations by Dalits in 5.08 5 2.11 17 7.20 Agriculture 12 Pachbhaiya. Fishing - 0 7 296 7 2.96 One important factor which deprived the local artisans from being Business 2 0.84 3 1.27 5 2.11 employed in government services and other forms of employment was the Ortice Job (Public and - 0 5 2.] ] 5 2.11 low level of their educational attainment. Unlike Brahmins and Chhetris, Private of.2:unizations) most Dalits in Pachbhaiya were illiterate. Field survey revealed that only one None* 52 22.03 59 25 ] I] 47.03 Sarki youth had completed his Bachelor's Degree. Although the number of Total 112 109 124 38 236 100 school going children had increased over the years, there were only five Daht boys in the village who had passed the Schoo] Leaving Certificate (SLC) Source. F'eld Survev, 2000. *Thls category Ineludcs chIldren and elderly examinations. The headmaster of the local secondary school confided that (i.e. the economically dependent population) most of the children of the Dalit castes leave school after the fifth or sixth Only a few Dalit households of Pachbhaiya own agricultural land. Field grades. surveys revealed that only seven households out of 45 owned considerable Economic Relationships Between Farmers and Dalits amounts of agricultural land where they could grow paddy and wheat. Table The rural agricultural economy of Pachbhaiya provided subsistence to both 3 shows that the ownership of agricultural land is less among the Pachbhaiya farming and Dalit households through the traditional systems of exchanges Dalits. Only 13 households out of 45 own land enough to make kitchen locally known as hali and majuri. Under these systems the local people garden. Table 3 also suggests that the Dalits of Pachbhaiya cannot produce exchanged grain, commodities, crafts services and agricultural labour within grains sufficient for their subsistence. the village. In the following, we describe these two forms of exchange in brief which were still in practice among some of the local households of both Table 3: LandownershiD amonp the Dalit Households of Pachbhaiva farmers and Dalits at the time of our fieldwork. Landin Khct Bari Ronani" Damai Kami Sarki Total ('7r,) Damai Kami Sarki Total(%j Bali: The term hali literally means cereal crop. It also refers to annual wages paid in kind by farming households to people they employ (Dalits or other () 10 17 10 37On.2) 5 7 12(26.7) castes depen.di.ng on the nature of service needed and the speciality of the Up to I - ,, 214.4) 3 1 4 (8.9) 1.1 2 1 1 (22) 4 1 5 (11.1) service provldmg castes in question) during an agricultural year to perform 2.1-3 2 2 (4.4) 3 7 10 (22.2) various kinds of tasks including ploughing, making and repair of farm a

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for

his grain

study

than

needs bari

cases

to leather pathis

by

pathi time ranged

about

There

Dalils of

Damai)

the

(about

collected

received

fixed

a generally

and 40

received

of claim from

instrument

condition Pachbhaiya

the

for

four

agreement

annually. of

(other

a most received

to

ploughman.

together.

individuals farmer

too

at

of

too

tanned

cultivation (which

of

household

khet

this

in

often often

only

of pathis 30

A amount

responsible

expanded

have

of

is

Sarki the

bali

slaughtered on

the worked

harvesting.

They people the

jadauri) farmers

Each was

plough

Sirategies naras five

household

The

ploughman also

client

(who

also the of

is

his

about

a craftsman

or

who system

strap landlord's

of

number would

goat)

plough.

his of during

local

a

The

was

grain

approximately

time

the usually

peasant a man

(called

about

client

the meat,

such

clients. of

of

the a

as a

plough clients ploughing

men

male of

the He

claimed on hali

of

received livelihOOd

for

number

exchange

households. nara, emissary (cobblers/tanners)

(yoke)

at

instance,

each

households.

traditional

months.

the

and and

work clothes

received

when

herlhis One

to

which received

bali for young

such

tailor, quantity

Sarki

Besides

the

making

client buffalo of

harvesting.

landowning

Similarly in

land and three

(village

of (castrated

traditional the

used

a

year Changing

the

the necessary

the to landowning bali, of would period andjuwa

local

the

the

the

clients. by

employmenl.

landlord,

the fields.

each thirty-five

on

the

manufacture

each the and

about like khnsi

Similarly,

for time

some their

for

as thirty),

nara, haris

his client's from

his whole blacksmith

festival.

katuwal refers

labourer

castes)

for

for

the to

of with the

from of

A

paddy

about a

the

ploughman). the from and

for

the

from slaughtered

and

at of meat.

year,

cultivation

working

ten

of device of

the paddy

Dalit

open had many

services,

worked

for

established

and

of lasted

majuri

the

of food supply

clients

Pachbhaiya course

Dashain

grain the

blacksmith, meat paddy

size

his

fields)

joining was

paddy

every

from

annually

Damai who

of his of of kg)

of (literally,

of the

in

the

term

the

Chhetris) for

usually

the

dry traction. A

The

households.

clientele

usually essential

twelve)

blacksmith during

irrigating

regular

one 100 portions

them landlord

of

on

kg)

a

man hali

received

for to and

used

paddy The Sarki an and to

kind his

to a

ranging of

and relationship

during

A the

portion

10

portion during

is

client

is

in

provided which of

had ten sphere.

75

hali family. share some

months

employment

The

For called

The

A

kg.) their

blacksmiths area depended that harvesting.

which nara several

available

from certain Sarki (about number their

ritual

certain provides clients with Brahmins hide.

Majuri:

belonged between This wages paddy

custom. (irrigated was levelling

landlord three (about

of of

to a

in

bali the

and

The of

their such

fixed pay falls

(in

grain

given

shares

in

time

is

Seddon tailors

to

the

of ranged

contract

extent

70 of When

120 60

400 110

500

Damai,

clients

needed

the

necessary

household castes

household

RUDees)

had on few (see

households

small

Wages

provide

at

and

a

utensils-to

services for clientele.

Under

generally Like

important

clients

service~

paid demand

Dalit every clothes. portion

other herlhis

tailor

who

village

individuals

she/he kind

pay of area

type

Damai

too. etc.

of of

of

their

in of

which a all

annual

by herlhis

new

the kitchen

and

from

occupation

work

of

types

study Dalits to

of

hours)

certain in

4),

Services

clothes,

such

6

wage 2

2

14 and to

household

1.5

1.5 a

the stitch

(in paddy,

varies etc.

of

number

paddy

members

household's thrashed)

For

variations to services-most

In

the Generally Table number

of

bali)

place

time

the

different

pair Estimated

services

melalworking, paid

annual

ailorml!

2006) was

someone

to

farming

household

T cash, on

kg)

for (see of

tailor zippers,

The

an clothes/garments, received

her/his

new

annual implements and a

grain. or

a

t

(called

of services,

Issue

to

rate

12.5 case

paddy

every

of

When

paid amount pair

every

harvesting

piece piece

piece piece tailoring Unit

the

paying

I

maintenance

service

elastic, loiece I

1 1 I

the

of The oblige stitch

according

are

went

of

The

depending Damai

the

in

from to

where

(about

(Special

tailoring

not households

agreements. mending

clients.

time

by

agricultural

for

(October-November). production

However, without

Dalits vary buttons,

33,

share

provided did

she/he provided of

crops.

client the

place and irrespective their

(winter

received.

such

pathis

applied their

tailor

sometimes grain 2000.

Vol.

At

grain households.

annually his or

(traditional

for

ecelve

(the their

service

would

or

thread,

five

details).

the

Mangsir major

R . d

by

Damai Oothes

men) from

under

clothes,

sewing

women) as

to

the

Choli of

services for of of

Sun1eJ'

agreement

twenty annual for

return varying

sharpening Pachbhaiya, bv

paddy) grain khalo

Journal, exchange ages

money

bali

asked collect

provided

to

local

such in

four (blacksmiths) Suruwa/

in

of

household.

clients,

1980

bali the

the

: hislher

Types dress Field

month to their worn bali

4 W

working

was

is

harvest five

obtained

CNAS

e

The aI., custom

the

The

the

Kami

bl

The

68 implements,

system the services

a by et. from

services. caste-based

received repair Nepali Daura and to (generally Coat/Jacket

PantfTrousers Shirt amount Chauhandi client's in blouse visited Blouse order

received were annually

from tailor additional materials

T

Source: the which 70 CNAS Journal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006) Changing Uvelihood Strategies of Dalits 71 were ten members of the Daht castes who worked as hali in the study area at Pepsi, alcohol, and beer), spices and many more items of regular. nse have the time of our fieldwork. become the stock-in-trade of the village shops after the constructIOn of the road. Recent Changes in Pachbhaiya and their Consequences for Dalits The locals reported that electricity reached Pachbhaiya in 1994. By 1996 When we began our study of Dahts in Pachbhaiya in December 2000, we most of the households had had their houses wired. This gradually gave nse intended to study and analyze their traditional livelihood strategies. In to the purchase and use of different electronic appliances (for example undertaking the study, we visited several DaHt households and tried ro televisions, fans, cassette players, etc.) by the villagers. During our fieldwork, underst;md the economic. social and political dimensions of the traditional we could observe a growing market of electric bulbs, tube lights, fans, water occupations pursued by such people. We visited the furnaces of the local pumps, etc. Kami, talked with the Damai in their tailoring shops, carefully took notes of Starting in the late 1980s, the Begnas and Rupa lakes, which lie on the the myths and meanings associated with the traditional musical instruments north and south of the Pachbhaiya village, have been developed as tounst of the Damai. and observed the process of making naras by the Sarki. We spots. This has given rise to the tourism industry in the area. Over the last also tried to understand the traditional system of exchange between the Dalits five to ten years, a significant number of hotels, guest houses and re~taurants and others in the village. The information obtained by means of field were established taking into consideration increasing now of tOUrIsts who observation and interviews, we believe, were quite interesting and significant visit the Begnas and Rupa lakes. A number of village people have been for the examination of how traditional skills were used by the landles~Dalits involved in the tourism industry by opening small guest houses, restaurants to fulfil their necessities in a predominantly agrarian village economy. and other facilities for the tourists. The most significant example of the Within a few days of our field study, we began to realize that the growth of tourism industry in the Pachbhaiya is the opening of a big resort at traditional occupation~were gradually losing their strength, and were Sundare Danlla-the Begnas Lake Resort. The resort attracts a huge number disappearing from the local practices. The local Dalits were not only of tourists and also provides the local people with some employment dissatisfied with their traditional occupations but they were also actually opportunities. During the time of our fieldwork, more than .twenty local abandoning them. Our conversations with some young Dalits revealed that villagers worked in this resort. Having said this, it should be .rOlnt~d~utthat they viewed their occupations and skills as 'outdated' and incompatible with the Dalits themselves are not among the direct beneficianes of th1S new the new situation. Soon it became apparent that the abandonment of economic niche that has emerged in the Begnas area. traditional occupations and disappearance of traditional systems of exchanges Today, after the accessibility to electricity and the establishment of the were producing new consequences for Daht households in Pachbhaiya. This television tower in Pokhara in ]995, people have been able to watch prompted us to shift the focus of our study to look at the causes and television in all corners of the village. Many of the houses own television sets consequences of the changes in the area for the livelihood strategies of Dalit and watch news and other programs broadcasted by Nepal Television as well households. In the following, based on our own observation and the narration as by other TV channels. of the local people, we present some of the major changes in the economic Nepal Telecommunication Corporation (NTC) started its service in and environmental spheres of Pachbhaiya. Pachbhaiya village in 2000. Today, many of the houses have telephones. A private communication centre opened recently in Khudiko Muhan at the l(x:al Economic Changes: The development of infrastructure and the growth of bus station provides e-mail and Internet services to the local people. tourism industry in the past 2~3decades have given rise to unprecedented The growth of the tourism industry vis-a.-vis development of economic changes in Pachbhaiya. These changes, which are discussed below, infrastructure such as telecommunication, electricity, etc. has attracted people have had great consequences for the subsistence agriculture of the local from Pokhara bazaar and nearby areas to invest in businesses in Pachbhaiya. farmers, traditional (x:cupations of the artisans, and the economic and social Many others are attracted towards this area with the purpose of settling down. relationships between the artisans and the farmers. This has given a sharp ri~eto the prices of land in this area. The newly constructed motorable road from Pachbhaiya to the Pokhara bazaar has brought about important changes in economic life of Pachbhaiya Environmental Changes: There have been significant changes in the field of villagers. It has facilitated the access of the villagers to the industrial goods management of natural resources in Pachbhaiya. Some of these inc.l~d~(a) which are available in Pokhara bazaar. In addition to this, different industrial the regulation of local forest under the Forest Act 1993, (b) shift from commodities such as clothes, watches, cigarettes, beverages (mainly Coke, 72 CNAS Journal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006) Changing Livelihood Strategies of Dalits 73

subsistence farming to the production of cash crops, and (c) regulation in the the high caste landowners invested their money in various types of businesses harvesting of natural resources, such as fish. such as retail shops, passenger buses, poultry farming, etc. The village A forest covering about 20 ha. lies at the heart of Pachbhaiya village. This agriculture was, thus, in jeopardy. and the services of the Kami and Sarki less forest is the main source of firewood, fodder, litter, and various types of sought for. herbs for the local villagers. Before 1993, there were no rules for the The rapid growth of the tourism industry in Pokhara bazaar after 1990 harvesting of these forest products, and the rich and the powerful mostly created employment opportunities for many. The coveted city life and benefited from the local forest. monthly salaries attracted many Pachbhaiya young men of all castes. A big However, after the registration of the local forest and as a community number of educated and semi~educatedmen, who mainly belong to the high forest in 1995. the traditional ways of harvesting forest products changed. castes, left the village to work in Pokhara bazaar as tour guides, accountants, The community forest user group committee, which was selected by the managers, cooks, waiters, etc. As our interviews with some of these men general assembly of all users of the forest, decided how and when the forest working in Pokhara revealed that these occupations were being seen to be far products are harvested. The committee was responsible for setting rules for more lucrative and prestigious than farming. This shift of interest among the the harvesting of the products and punishing the defaulters. In Pachbhaiya the local farmers from agriculture to other forms of livelihood affected not only user group committee was formed under the chairmanship of a local the village agriculture but also the Dalit craftsmen who depended on it. Brahmin. The committee employed six heralos (forest watchmen) who With the growth of Pokhara bazaar as a market centre, the Pachbhaiya reported to the committee in the case of violation of community forest rules. villagers were becoming increasingly interested towards the quality of Anyone who tried to harvest the forest product before and beyond the services available in the city. For instance, they started to visit Pokhara harvesting time set by the committee had to pay fines. bazaar for the purpose of purchasing and stitching new clothes. Similarly, the According to the local villagers, the production of subsistence crops such availability of cheap readymade clothes imported from countries like China as paddy, wheat, millet, maize, etc., has sharply decreased in Pachbhaiya in and India were replacing the clothes which were stitched by the local tailors. recent years. The villagers were attracted to the production of cash crops such In marriage ceremonies, the local people started to hire musicians from as cauliflower, oranges, lettice, etc. These products were in high demand in Pokhara bazaar instead of the local Damai. The musicians from Pokhara the tourist city of Pokhara and coold easily be sold for high prices to local bazaar, according to the local people, could play modern Hindi songs which vendors. could not be done by the local musicians. Until 1995, fishing used to be an attractive occupation among the As the subsistence farming became disrupted, Dalits were unable to fulfil Pachbhaiya villagers. Many villagers including Dahts used to fish in the their grain requirements through the traditional systems of hali and majuri. nearby Begnas and Rupa Lakes for both household consumption and sale. This was creating an intense pressure for the artisans to seck other sources of However, after the inclusion of Pachbhaiya village within the l.ekhnath income from which they could earn cash income and buy grains and other Municipality in 1994, fishing in both Begnas Lake and Rupa Lake hecame goods of their daily needs. On the other hand, crops such as millet, wheat, regulated by the local council. At present the municipality distributes licenses vegetables, fruits, etc. could be sold in higher prices in Pokhara bazaar than to the fishermen who wish to fish with nets and hooks in the lakes. The in the village. Because of the high prices of agricultural produces in Pokhara holders of the licenses have to pay certain amount of fee every year to the bazaar, Pachbhaiya villagers had started to take their crops to this tourist city. municipality in order to renew their licenses. Issuing of fishing licenses As a result, grains, vegetables and fruits, which were commonly available seems to be a significant source of revenue for the municipality now. and rarely sold for money within the village in the past, were becoming more and more expensive. Consequences for the Dalits After the regulation of the local forest by the forest user group committee, After the construction of a motorable road and the subsequent urbanization of the traditional artisans started to face the scarcity of many natural resources the area, people from Pokhara bazaar and nearby villages were offering which were necessary for their occupations. The blacksmiths, for instance, relatively high prices for land in and around Pachbhaiya. Taking this as an required high quantities of firewood, but were not allowed to collect as much opportunity, local farmers were selling their land to those who wished to start as they required. Similarly, the Sarki required the leaves and barks of plants their busine~sesand/or to settle down in the area. As a result, agriCultural including Woodfordia (dhairo), Castanopsis indica (katus), and Myrrica lands were being occupied by the businessmen and settlers who did not esculenta (kafal) in order to process raw leather. They, too, were not allowed practice agriculture. From the money obtained by selling agricultural land, to enter the local forest at the time they needed these products. Being ;I

11 74 CNAS Journal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006) Changing Livelihood Strategies of Datits 75

deprived from these natural resources, many of these artisans were forced to Saudi Arabia. A young Dalit confided that he could be labelled as hutihara (a abandon their traditional occupations. coward) by his friends if he did not go to the Gulf at least once in his lifetime. Thus, the downfall of traditional subsistence agriculture and local At this point it would be relevant to discuss the process of labour people's access to the market centre of Pokhara pushed the traditional migration vis-a-vis its consequences for the lives of the traditional artisans. livelihood strategies of the local Dalits to the margins. This would be a great If SOmeone wished to work as a labourer in the Gulf region he contacted challenge for the survival of Dalits who had nothing except their traditional one of many manpower agents who had their offices in Pokhara. At the time skills. It was unthinkable for Dalits to participate in the growing tourism of our study, the would-be migrant labourer had to arrange ninety thousand industry and the process of urbanization as they lacked both wealth and Nepalese rupees (1,200 USD) for semi-skilled job opportunities (such as formal education. Some of the easily available SOurces of income for Dalits driving, carpentry, security services, etc) and seventy thousand rupe towns in Saudi Arabia and Qatar as watchmen, carpenters, factory labourers, Some considered themselves lucky if they were able to get loans from theIr and home servants. From the 45 households under study, 15 young men had relatives and friends for which they had to pay a little or no interest. But migrated to these countries. Some 20 Dalits had returned from the Gulf after many of them reported that they took loans from the local moneylenders, working there for two years (see Table 5). who were \-'cry otten the high caste people who had sold their lands to the new settlers. In this case, the interest rate against the loan ranged from 24 to Tahle 5: Labour Migrants from Paehhhaiya hy Dalit Caste and 36 percent per annum. Daht informants also revealed that in most cases the DesfIII ation loan amounts obtained by them \\;as greater than what was required to pay the Destination agents towards the visa fee and other expenses. The migrants confided that they needed the extra cash in order to buy new clothes for themselves as well Caste Total Gulf India as to leave some cash for their family members at home. Damai 2 2 The information provided by the family members of the labour migrants Kami 6 5 II indicated that an individual migrant earned from 6 to 8 thousand rupees (80­ Sarki 5 - 5 105 USD) per month working as an unskilled labourer while a semiskilled Total 13 5 18 labourer made abollt 10 to 12 thousand rupees (130-160 USD). After meeting .. Source: f reid Survey 2000. the costs of living at their place of work, the migrants were able to remit about half or a little more than half of their gross monthly income. The During our field study, the 'Gulf mania' was so huge in Pachbhaiya that informants reported that normally an unskilled labourer's remittance in two almost all of the young men whom we talked with had the single ambition in years amounted 10 abolll 100,000 rupees (i.e, about 1300 USD) while that of life, i.e., to find a job in the GulL The most popUlar topic of gossips and a semiskilled labourer would be up to 160,000 rupees (i.e., about 2 I00 USD). public conversations in the village used to be the individual labour migrants Such net incomes were considered significant by the Dalit households in the and the amount of remittances they were able to bring back. It was interesting study area. A summary of the details about the costs for migration, gross to find that many local women could easily convert the Saudi currency income and expenses and the saving that the migrant labourers are able to (Riyal) into the Nepalese rupees even though most of them were illiterate. make is gi yen in Table 6. Moreover, most of the Dalits including children arid elderly people in Pachbhaiya could eloquently utter the names of the cities lying in Qatar and j 76 CNAS Journal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 20(6) I Changing Livelihood Strategies of Dalits 77

Table 6: Reported Expenses, Income and Savings (in Rupees) for family's land property for not being able to pay back the loan. That is, they Individual Mil!rant Labourers III the Gulfe ountnes had to either sell their land in order to pay the loan or give their land to the Labour type Total cost Monthly Monthly Monthly money lenders in order to settle the debt. Income Expenses Savings Secondly, it was reported that most of the Dalits who worked in the Gulf received unfair treatment from their employers. They claimed that often they Semi-skilled 90,000 10,000-12,000 4,000 6,000-8,000 were subject to economic exploitation at their place of work. During our field (e.g., caroentrv) study, we met three Dalits who recounted stories of how their employers Unskilled 70,000 6,000-8,000 4,000 2,000-4,000 cheated them and refused to pay them full wages when it was time for the Source: FIeld Survey, 2000. labourers to return home. Thirdly, the money remained after paying back the loans was spent on The Dalit migrants normally sent the remittances back home through one unproductive expenses such as changing the roofing of houses (from thatch of their relatives or friends returning home on leave from work. But some to metal roofing), or buying clothes, watches, and other commodities. Since cases the money was sent back through the money transfer agents also. One their incomes were not sufficient to buy agricultural lands from which they such agent had his office in Khudiko Muhan near the lo(:al bus station. While could secure their sustainable livelihood, living conditions of Dalits seem to returning home from their work places in the Gulf countries (normally after have aggravated after some months of their return from the Gulf countries. working there for at least 2 years), the Dalit migrants also brought clothes, This made them to incur more loans and use such money to migrate to the wrist watches, dolls for children, and other presents for their family members Gulf again for work, In this way, the cycle of borrowing money at very high besides all their savings in L:ash. As revealed by the family members of such interest rates and then struggling to pay back such loans seems to continue migrant labourers, the cash thus received at home would first be used to pay for the poor Dalits. In reality, it seemed that the local money lenders were the back the loan (both principal and interest) taken from the local money lenders ones who were reaping the benefits of this wave of youths migrating to Gulf at the time of sending the labourer away for work. Investments in purchasing countries in pursuit of their unrealistic dreams of becoming rich in a few property or in setting up businesses were possible only if they did not have to years. use the remittance in paying back the loans. Fourth, DaHt informants reported that as migrant labourers they were obliged to work under insecure and unhealthy environments in comparison to Labour Migration: Has it been good for Dalits?: The growing tourism the locals in the countries of their destination. Most of them reported that industry and urbanization provided opportunities for many but not for Dalits. they were given menial jobs at places like oil companies, factories. shops, The caste background the of DaEts deprived them of many of the occupations ranches, farms, etc. Those who have returned home after working in the Gulf which were available in the new economic scenario. Besides, due to lack of countries for some time claim that they find themselves less fit for hard formal education, Dalits were often outrun by the local high caste villagers in physical labour now. many areas of work. Therefore, Dalits considered labour migration as the Finally, the absence of the household head from the family posed difficult only option left for them, ane the only field where they could try their luck. challenges for the women and children of Dalits. The problems sometimes Were they really lucky? Can this new occupation be described as sustainable used to become more severe when, for instance, somebody in the family fell source of income for Dalits? Let us briefly look at these issues. ill or when the mother was unable to provide food to her children. In some Many Dalits in Pachbhaiya perceived labour migration as a path that had cases, women had even eloped with other men while their husbands were in the potential of leading their families and themselves out of the situation of the Gulf. Such hardships and occasional dissolution of conjugal ties have had deprivation and poverty. In reality, this was not what had happened to most serious effects on children's education and health. of them. Several explanations could be given for such failures. First, due to the heavy interest rates on their loans (24 to 36 per cent per annum), most of Concluding Remarks their earnings went back to the moneylenders. In most cases, very little Helena Norberg-Hodge, in her famous travelogue'Ancient Futures: Learning money was left for a migrant labourer after he paid back his loans. In some from Ladakh' (1992) beautifully describes the throes of the Ladakhis of Little cas~s.their total savings from their work abroad was so small that it was not Tibet after their sustainable economy based on trade and cooperation even sutlicient to pay back both the principal and interest amount of the loan. crumbles down due to the heavy influence of 'modernization'. Her ft was found that a few migrant labourers ended up parting with their description of the growing process of urbanization in Leh, the capital of , 1 78 CNAS Journal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006) I Changing Livelihood Strategies of Dalits 79 Ladakh, and consequent changes in the traditional life-ways of the Ladakhis The development infrastructure does not always result in positive show that 'development' comes with challenges as well as comforts. It is of changes in the livelihood the concerned people in a given locality. There evident that the Dalits of Pachbhaiya have been facing a similar situation of after the economic and environmental changes in and around the village. have been significant developments of infrastructure in Pachbhaiya (such as Environmental management and economic growth are considered motorable roads, dam construction, electricity, telephones, television, etc.). necessary steps for the forward movement of any society. However. the However, such infrastructure does not seem to have made much consequences of the economic and environmental changes for the lives of improvement in the quality of life of the poor people like the Dalits. In many underprivileged sections of society attract the attention of few (see also Shiva cases, the local DaEts can rarely afford using some of these services (e.g., telephone, electricity, and television). The only consequences of these 1989). This paper V'ias an effort to study and analyze the impact of such changes on the lives of the Dalits from a village in western Nepal. An attempt changes are the inequalities in life chances between the low-caste Dalits and has been made to outline the challenges which these people are confronting others (scc also G. Chhetri f 997). after rapid changes in the rural economic and environmental scenes around It appears that lack of wealth among the artisans makes it difficult for them. them to benefit from labour migration also. Since they do not possess their The process of management of environment involves relations of power. own cash savings to invest in this venture but have to borrow money from others at exorbitant interest rates, whatever they are able to earn and save :rhe ma~~gementof the community forest by the local people of Pachbhaiya from their hard work in the Gulf countries goes to benefit the already rich IS a positive change because this protects natural environment and increases the sustainable use of natural resources. However, the Dalits who depend money lenders. The Dalits could improve their fate in this regard only if they did not have to borrow money at very high interest rates from the local most1.y ~m forest products for their traditional occupations get more margmahzed after the harvesting of forest products is regulated. The low­ landlords and rnoney lenders. caste identity and poor economic situations deprive the local Dalits from It could be concluded that Dalits have been the losers in the new situation. Their poverty and deprivation have not been reduced due to the new influe~cingthe decision making processes of the forest user group committee. When the decisions are made by the high-caste people, the low economic and environmental changes which have certainly created caste Dalits cannot expect the decisions to be in their favour (see also Graner opportunities for others. In fact. many of the Dalits who were landless and 1994). socially discriminated have become further marginalized economically after One of the important dimensions of the environmental changes of their traditional occupations were rendered obsolete by the changes in the Pachbhaiya, as mentioned ahove. is the shift from traditional suhsistence environment and society around them. farming to the production of cash crops. This shift has played a great role in Notes the aboliti~mof bali and majuri systems. When the sources of regular grains become dIsrupted, the traditional (Jccupations of the local Dalits do not I.Pokhara is the administrative headquarters of Kaski district as well as the biggest city center in the Western Development Region. The study site in Lckhnath is at a provide them sustainable livelihood. This shift helps the landholders to distance of 13km by road from Pokhara. The Pachbhaiya villagers walked for improve their economic conditions and pushes the landless Dalits to the side about two hours from the village to Pokhara until the mid-1980s. Today, however. of the l~s~rs.C~mmercializationof subsistence agriculture, thus, promotes one can travel to Pokhara from here by local bus in just twenty minutes. the conditIOns of poverty of those who have less control over resources and 2. Field survey for the project on Livelihoods and Environmental change in the Hills increases the gap between rich and poor (see also Crow 2001, Toye 1987'). of Nepal included the Brahmin and Chhctri farmers, shopkeepers, and other groups The process of urbanization and expansion of the market of industrial of people living in the area. Data on other groups of people will be presented in goods are considered as the hallmarks of modernization (see Preston 1996). separate papers. However, these have serious and often negative consequences for those \\lho 3. One ropani is equal to 0.2 hectare. 4. Khet is the local term for irrigated land. cannot afford to pursue an urban lifestyle and consume 'new' commodities. 5. Bar; is the local term for unirrigated farm land including kitchen gardens. !his c~eatessocial pressure for the poor to exist in the local scenario by 6. This included the service charge of the local agents and airfare to the destination m~rea~mgthe level of consumption of commercial goods. The labour country. mIgratIOn to the Gulf can be seen as the result of these difficult situations being faced by traditional craftsmen. l 80 CNAS Journal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006)

References CHANGING ENVIRONMENTS AND LIVELIHOODS: Chhetri, G. 1997. "A Sociological Analysis of Dalil Occupational Caste Groups in the Hills of Nepal", In R. B. Chhetri and O. P. Gurung (eds.). Anthropology and ADAPTATION OF THE JALARI PEOPLE IN THE 5ociologv (?f Nepal: Culture, Society, Ecology and Development. pp. 56-68 POKHARA VALLEY Kathmandu; SASON. Ram B. Chhetri Crow. Ben. 2001. Markers. Class and Socia! Change: Trading Networks and Poverty in Rural South Asia. Delhi: Palgrave McMillan. Introduction: Some Conceptual Issues Escobar. A. 1999. ;'After Nature; Steps (0 an Antiessentialist Political Ecology". In his analysis of the ecologic relationships of ethnic groups in Swat, Barth Current Anthropology. 40( I): 1-30. (1981) makes a general statement that in plural socio-cultural contexts, Graner, E. 1994. "Komi (Blacksmiths) Today: Forests and Livelihood Security". In "ethnic segmentation" and "economic dependence" remain as fundamental Contributions to Nepalese Studie\'. 24(2): pp. 217-229. features. He further states that the environment for any particular ethnic Norberg-Hodge, Helena. 1992. Ancient Futures: Learning from Ladakh New Delhi: Oxford Publications. group is not only defined by natural conditions, but also by the presence and Preston, P. W. 1996. Development Theory: An Introduction. Oxford: Blackwell activities of other ethnic groups on which it depends. Each group exploits Publishers Ltd. only a section of the total environment, and leaves large parts of it open for Shiva, Vandana. 1989. Staying Alive. New Delhi; Zed Books other groups to exploit (Barth 1981; 3). It is in this context that Barth Tingey. Carol. 1994. "The Panchai Baja: Reflections on Social Change in Traditional borrows the concept of a niche from animal ecology and deflJ1es it as "the Nepalese Music". In Michael Allen (ed.), Anthropology of Nepal: Peoples, place of a group in the total environment, its relations to resources and Problems and Processes. Kathmandu: Mandala Book Point competitors" (J 981: 3). The concept of niche and Barth's formulation of 'the Toye. J. 1987. Dilemmas (?f Development. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. total environment' is of some relevance to the discussion of the Jalari people in this paper. I agree with Barth that any single group of people can not exploit the total environment and that parts of it are left open for others to exploit. One example of this is the caste-based occupations people follow or the types of services people exchangeldJ among themselves in Nepal and elsewhere. That is, each caste group would have its own 'traditional' occupation in the array of the total economic activities needed to keep the society going. This paper discusses the changing livelihood strategies of the Jalari people who happen to be one of the many socially marginalised and disadvantaged groups of people in Nepal. The lalaris included in this study live in Begnas area (named after one of the two lakes in the area). Before this, they were residents of an area once known as the Pode Tol (renamed as Naya Bazaar today) in Pokhara municipality. The total environmental context in Pokhara \alley, which includes populations (of lalaris and other communities around them), and population processes (growth and migration in particular), and natural resources (e.g. land and fish), provides the broader field within which the lalaris have heen situated in the present study. The main focus of the paper is the changing livelihoods of the Jalari people in Pokhara~inparticular, looking at how the space (both physical and social) of their interaClion have changed over time as a consequence of changes in the total enviflmment around them. It will also review the unique social positions of Pode people (called lalari in this paper) in Nepali society in order to put theJalaris in the context of caste-based society in the country. Of all the people who were labelled as 'untouchables' in the traditional caste system, the Pooes appear to be an anomalous case-since they remained

Contributions to Nepalese StUdies, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006), 81-109 Copyright © 2006 CNASITU Adaptation of the Jalari People 83 82 CNAS Journal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006) I about. may have experienced progressive or regressive changes in their ways untouchable s\\'cepers, scavengers, etc., but have also acted as 'para-priests' of life. livelihood opportunities, etc. That is, the process of ;dev~lopme~t' \\'hcn they work as the caretakers of selected shrines in the Kathmandu may be experienced as positive by some but may not be necessanly so tor val1ey. others, Given such a reality, I have been in favour of using the concepts of Pokhara valley (which now has t\\'O municipalities within it) has heen change and adaptation in my own research (see Chhetri 19~6:1990) ~i,nce,I known for its socio-cultural plurality-i.e., various caste/ethnic groups of find these to be more appropriate for talking about the empIflcal realities IJ1 people with distinct cultures living together and interacting meaningfully Nepal's contcxt. One simple advantage of such concepts is that you need not with each other (sec Chhctri, 1986. 19(0). In such a situation, every require taking a position or a side. _ caste/ethnic community tends to maintain cultural and ethnic boundaries as Population growth in many of the urban centres results from an di,stinet from others (see Barth 1969, 1981). However, economic accelerated pace of in-migration besides the intrinsic gro~,thrate.. It ~asbeen interdependence (sec also Chhctri 1990. Parish 19(7) among different a common observation in Nepal that the process of urbal1lsatlon and . caste/ethnic groups hecomes an inevitable illlp'~rativeeither for survival or to development of infrastructures in any locality attract migrants. t.owards ~uch ensure that everyone vvould have work to do. Given this, it would be quite places. Availability of amenities and new liveliho(xl opportulll.t1eS (e.g. :Jobs logical to reason that the total environment for any caste/ethnic group would and possibilities of setting up enterprises) tend to be the mam attractIOns. consist of the physical environment (Barth's 'natural conditions') as well as However, not ~veryonewho is aware of such developments c~nor does mo:'e other caste/ethnic groups and the social and economic spaces or contexts towards the urban centres and \ve do not know the reasons 01 such people lor wherever they meet and interact (thereby occupying their respective niches in their indifference or apathy towards the 'pull factors', S,ill, there are others the environment). It is not a single community occupying a given spatial and who feel the push of a centrifugal force in the same process of change, That social environment. In reality, a number of groups Jive together in a given is. centripetal and centrifugal forces seem to be at work simultaneollsly- environment-either cooperating or competing with each other for essential triggered by environmcntal changes in any given place. .. .. resources and services. A model of human environment relationship now Generally. the in-migration of people is so overwhelmmg III urbanlZlIlg ought to account for such empirical realities. At this point, I also find that areas that out-mig.ration of some small groups that cannot stand the p~essure Andrevv Vayda's concept of ;'progressive contextualisation" hecomes of chJlH!es or can not afford to live in the transforming environment (I.e. the relevant since it also challenges the idea of bounded nature of a community area whLich becomes urban and socially and economically more and more or a population. In a real world. populations or communities remain complex) has received little attention from researchers.. Those who mo:'e interconnected with others around them in one way or the other. Today, away from urban areas in Nepal also happen to be marglllal people to .begm, hardly any anthropologist would make claims of having done ethnographic with and therefore, their exodus goes unnoticed.] A better understandmg 01 research among an ;isolated' group of people untouched and unspoilt by the reasons for a community or group of people abandoning a 'growing' outside 'civilization', Such an idea is not important to the ethnographers any centre is needed, This study on the Jalari people living in Begnas today more even though in the past many did deliberately make a note that the contributes towards filling such a knowledge gap. people they studied were indeed 'isolated' and untouched hy 'civilization' in a bid to prove that their own works were providing an account of an 'exotic' The Pokhara Vallev: Past and Present people. In talking about the ~adaptationand change in the livelihood strategies a~~)ng I also feel it necessary to tell the reader that I am sceptical about the the Jalaris in Begnas today. it will be necessary (as a way of contextuahllng) usefulness of the concept of 'development' as ~Iconceptual framework for to refer to some of the changes that have been observed in Pokhara and its discussing sociaL cultural and economic processes in Nepal (see also Chhetri environs. Until the mid-1970s, I remember seeing the Pode Tole on a T<..x:ky 20(5). To begin with, the concept of 'development' is normally used to site about two kilometres north of the Pokhara airport with its small huts by denote positive things like growth, progress, advancement, improvement, etc. the roadside in what is known today as Naya Ba,aar (see Map 2). The Pod~ It is often used to talk about progress or improvements in infrastructure, houses were clustered together and were on the southern end of Pokhara.~ economy of a country, per capita income of a population, physical growth of The site of Pock Tole with fishing nets hanging outside their huts (which a particular place, etc, which can be measured. There is no doubt that these were themselves in the middle of some maize and millet growing around are 'developments'. But when our subject matter of research happen to be them) has disappeared from Pokhara. Urhanisation and urban growth in group~of people and their life-ways, we may find different groups of people Pokhara has attracted many people but apparently the same processes have living in any particular place where 'development' is said to have corne 84 CNAS Journal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006) Adaptation of the JaJari People 85 also pushed some people out. 3 Jalaris in Pokhara valley are onc such group of outsiders. Landon alludes that there prevailed" ...the traditional hatred of the people. presence of foreigners" (1993: 19) in the conntry and he indicates that such a Pokhara, just as any urban centre has been undergoing change in terms of feeling among the people had inhibited the Rana rulers from nndenaking its population size and amenities. Landon wrote about Pokhara in the early development projects which required the presence of European technical I920s: experts. Things are very different today.' In fact, within 50 years after "Pokhara is a second city in Nepal-it would be more accurate to Landon visited Nepal, the country and its people saw foreigners and foreign say it is the most important city outside the Kathmandu group. It aid go through a process characterised by some scholars as "a trickle turning contains perhaps ten thousand inhabitants and lies in a wide tlat into a torrent" (Mishra and Sharma, 1983). Pokhara valley has been a scene plain encircled by hills... The plain is covered with lakes of where a number of projects have been implemented during the past four considerable size-the only real lakes in all Nepal-which are decades or so which are mostly supported by foreign aid, international bordered with trees (1993:18). donors. etc. Such programs and projects have had far reaching consequences for the life and cultnre of the people as well as their environments and Other early visitors too seem to have been impressed by the lakes (there resources. The focus of this essay is on the implications of such are a total of seven within the valley) in and around Pokhara (see Kirkpatrick environmental changes for the lalaris who live in Begnas area today. 1986[ 1811])4 Development projects of various types including those on hydro power generation, irrigation, forestry, watershed management, soil Migration and Settlement of the Jalaris conservation, fisheries, etc., have been investing resources in and around The survey information together with the contextual information provided by Fewa, Begnas and Rupa lakes in the valley. the lalari infonnants in Begnas is used to argue that the urban pressure Apparently, Pokhara was not on the list of urban places until 1952-54 alienated the lalaris from Pode Tole in Pokhara while other environmental census information was published (e.g., see Karan and Jshi 1996 Table 20 on changes happening around the same time in Fewa and Begnas area attracted p. 328; P. Sharma 1986). But this place which had a population of only 5,413 them. Opportunities for earning a livelihood seem to be a critical force in in 1961 had 95,286 people in 1991. and today it has a total population of making the Podes leave Pode Tole and settle elsewhere. Field information 156,313 (see CBS 1995, 2002). The increase in Pokhara's population size reveals that the places chosen by the Pocles as their new settlements were not could be attributed to: a) in-migration of people into the urban area from rural unfamiliar for them since they used to frequent these places for seasonal areas in the adjoining Hills; and b) annexation or inclusion of additional areas fishing in the past also. The elderly lalaris recall that they used to come from into the Town area which were until the mid 1970s classified as villages (see Pode Tole to Begnas and Rupa lakes and the streams around here for fishing Sharma 1986). during summer time. They also remember that they had to travel all the way The Pokhara visited by Landon and Kirkpatrick seems to have been less on foot before the Prithwi Highway opened in the early 1970s and later were important in terms of its wealth and political status at that time. But Landon able to take a bus up to Dandako Nak (about three kilometres away from remarked that because of Pokhara's size, its fertile soil, and its geographical Begnas settlement) and then walk from there on. location in the central part of the country, it was "destined to play no small part in the future industrial development of Nepal" (1993: 18). Landon's Migration of the Podes from Pokhara: By the mid-1970s, many lalari prediction has come true to a certain extent since Pokhara today not only has families began moving away from the P

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their the in migrated 08.2%) number

of,origin. Adaptation of the Jalari People 89 88 CNAS Journal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006) for meat. They do not keep cattle or buffaloes. Except a few families, which Gellner 1995, Nepali 1965, Levy 1990). Let me mention some of these in either own some khet land in the area or work as agricultural wage labour brief. during the farming season. Jalaris today make their living mainly from their The Jalaris or the Podes were placed towards the bottom of the social hierarchy of the Newars (sec Nepali 1965: 150) or within the Nepali social engagement in fish farming and/or fishing. structure (sec HMer 1979: 45, Gellner 1995: II, Parish 1997: 168-169). Wlthm the untouchable groups of people too, the Podes seem to have been The Jalari People: An Ethnographic Context placed towards the lower end. just above Chyame and Hara Huru, both There is no detailed ethnography available on the Jalaris. Most of the time, of any reference to them and their way of life is to be found in the research which were also categorised as groups of scavengers (see Nepali 1965). The works on the Ncwars or the low caste people in the Kathmandu valley (e.g., JaJaris claim that their mother tongue is a dialect of the Newar language. Gellner 1995, Levy 1990, Nepali 1965, and see Toffin et. a!. 1991). It G.S. Nepali talks of Pode as one of the Newar castes that "are not allowed appears that one and the same group of people referred to as Jalari or Pode in 10 have their dwelling places within the village houndaries" (1965: 177). He this study are known by different names in different places and social note~further. "The term .Pore' is derived from the hereditary calling of contexts. There are several terms used to refer to them in the literature, such publIC executioner. The principal occupations of the Pore are fishing, basket making and skinning of dead animals" (1965: 177). Talkino- about the as Po(n) thar, Podhya, Pore, II Poriya, Dyahla, and Deopala. Their physical appearance, language, and their traditional liveliho

as a very pOOf. vulnerable and disadvantaged people having no other choices) Demographic Profile of Jataris in Begnas more critical and practical in influencing them to adopt such functions or Poc!cs in the Kathmandu valley are placed in the social and cultural space persuasions'! (see Parish 1997 for a brief discussion on this issue). Such within social and administrative system there as the sweepers employed by questions remain open for fulure research. the municipalities, as keepers of some of the shrines. etc. However. those in Pokhara valley do not seem to have such tics in the local social and cultural Jalaris in Pokhara sphere. Podes in Pokhara seem to have stopped being (if they had been in the In the Pokhara valley, the Podes today refer to themselves as Jalari. 12 They past) an indispensable part of the urban system. This may be the reason why give two different explanations for adopting the name Jalari t(X themselves. they could move away elsewhere (i.e.. from the Pode Tole) \vithout many One argument is that they make a living ti'om the lal (water). The Sanskrit pcople noticing their absence from their earlier settlement. VI/ord Jat meaning water is used along with Aahara (food) to make a The Jalari people in Begnas today are similar to the Tibetan refugees in compound word Jalari. That is. they eke a living out of water and thus Pokhara in some respects who were studied by the author about a deca'-de ago consider it appropriate to call themselves Jalari. The second explanation is (sec Chhetri 19(0). Like the Tibetans. the Jalari people have been recent that they use .faa! (meaning a net) in order to survive and thus the name settlers in the Begnas area; they have been able to earn a living and arc Jalari. Unlike their fellow community members in Kathmandu, the Pode apparently doing better in economic terms than most of the other people people of Pokhara have heen known as fishermen. They believe that their living around them. However. most of these people do not legally own any ancestors came from Kathmandu and claim that they are a suh-caste group land where they have built their houses today. The total population of Jalaris \\'ithin the Newar community. However, even the clderly Jalaris in Begnas in the .34 households in Begnas at the time of field survey (June-August. hxlay arc not sure when and how their ancestors might have arrived to settle 1(98) was 174, \vilh an overall sex ratio of 97.7 and showing an average in Pokhara. household size of 5.l persons. The smallest household consisted of a couple

~). Gajurel and Vaidya (l9X4), in their discussion of the tn.~ditionalarts and while the largest one had II members in it (sec Table There was no single crafts practised by various groups of people in Nepal also give some details person household among JJlaris in the study area. Although the average on the production technology of fishing nets by the Podes. They note that the household size for the Jalaris in Begnas \vas 5.1. Table 2 shows that 62.6(;'" of Podes of Pokhara (this is perhaps the first reference to Podes living in the .I,-daris here lived in fairly large households--consisting of six or more Pokhara) rnake their o\\'n fishnets (by using the fibres of sting nettle) which individuals. The- survey data reveal that at least 47?, of the total households are "largely used for catching fish in small ponds and rivers" (19g4: 282). nf the Jalaris were larger than the average household size for the whole In the past, one could have noticed a Pode throwing fishnets along the community. More than 440'<. on the other hand. consisted of households with streams in the Pokhara valley while carrying a little P.vanmRo (a bamboo a married couple living with only I or 2 children (20.6'10 and 23.5'l basket, the size of a day pack and rectangular in shape that was used for respeotively). carrying the catch) on his back. Their fishing activities were mostly in the Tahle 2: Distribution of Households and Population by Size of shallow points of the rushing streams or in what Kirkpatrick referred to as Honseholds , 1998 (while talking of fishing activities in Rapti river near Hetauda) "some depths Household Size No. of Households* Total individuals in Hhs** and pits in which a great plenty ofj7sh are found" (1986: 35. italics mine). 11 1 (2.9) 11 (6.3) This (and the mode of fishing described by Kirkpatrick [1986: 35-3(1) is not ~ 2 (5.9) 16 (9.2) a common scene any more-at least not around Pokhara. 7 401.7) 28 (16.1) Pode men and women in Begnas confide that people from other 6 9 (26.5) 54 (31.0) communities still treat them as untouchables. I wonder if the adoption of 5 2 (5.9) 10 (5.7) Jalari as a new surname reflects an attempt on the part of the Podes to get out 4 8 (23.5) 32 (18.4) of such a social discrimination and stigma. In the past, the P(xles as a group 3 7 (20.6) 21 (121) of people placed at the bottom of the social hierarchy, marginalised and poor 2 1 (2.91 2 (1.1) are also said to have taken opportunities for receiving alms from Bahun­ Total 34000.0) 174(100.0) Chh~trisand other caste/ethnic people soon after a lunar or a solar eclipse Source. Field -SlIne..\. N98. Note. FIgures III the parentheses Indicate percentages. * was over. Percentages based on the total number of household (n=34). ** Percentages based on the total population of Jalaris (n= 174) 1 92 CNAS Journal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006) Adaptation of the Jalari People 93

Table 3: Age and Sex Structure of the Jalari Population Under Study, case of "currently married" male in the age group 15-19 and below. Absence 1998 of never married among males can be seen only after age 35 while among Al!e Group Male (%) Female (%) Total (%) females, the cutting point on this occurs much earlier (i.e., at age 20). Does 0-4 10 (5.7) 12(69) 22 (12.6) this indicate that the age at marriage for males among the lalaris is closer to 20 years? Among females too, about 33% of those in the age group 15-19 5-9 12(6.9) 18 (10.3) 30 «(17.2) (n=14) were reported to be never married. However, there are no females 10-14 14 (8.0) II (6.3) 25 (14.3) reported as never married in the age group 20-24 and beyond. This suggests 15-19 4 (2.3) 14 (8.0) 18 (10.3) that all females among the lalaris were married before they reached the age 20-24 II (6.3) 8 (4.6) 19(10.9) of 20. In contrast, few men (3) were found to be never married even in the 25-29 10(5.7) 5 (2.9) 15 (8.6) age group 30-34, which suggests that late marriage among men is not an 30-34 5 (2.9) 9 (5.2) 14(8.1) uncommon observation. 35-39 8 (46) 2 (1.1) 10 (5.7) 2 (1.1) 3 (1.7) 5 (2.9) 40-44 Tabl e 4: Man'tal status hoy Sex andA\ge Group or Ja aris, 1998 I (0.6) 2 (1.1) 3 ( 1.7) 45-49 Age Never Married Currentl Married WidowedJDivorced 2 (1.1) 3 (1.7) 5 (2.9) 50-54 Group Male Female Male Female Male Female 3 (1.7) - 3 (1.7) 55-59 0-14 36 (20.7) 41 (23.6 2 (1.1) I (0.6) 3 (1.7) 60-64 15-19 3 (1.7) 5 (2.9) I (0.6) 9 (5.2) 2(1.1) - 2 (1.1) 65+ 20-29 2 (1.1) 18 (103) 13 (7.5) I (0.6)* 86 (49.4) 88 (50.6) 174 (100.0) Total 30-39 I (0.6) II (6.3) II (6.3) I (0.6) 50urce: Field Survey, 1998. 40-49 3 (17) 5 (2.9) I (0.6) 50-59 5 (2.9) 2 (1.1) The population structure of lalaris in Begnas (see Table 3) reveals some 60+ 3 (1.7) I (0.6) I (0.6) interesting patterns. The majority of the population (i.e. 54.4% of the total) was less than 20 years of age at the time of the field survey. This suggests Total 42 (24.1) 46 (26.4 41 (23.6) 41 (23.6) 3 (17) I (0.6) that the Jalari population here must have a high birth rate. But the incidence Soune. FlCld Survey, 1998. * One male III the age group 20-24 was reported of mortality also seems to be high. If we look closely at the data given in to be divorced. Table 3, it becomes clear that 82.3% of the total population here was less than 35 years old and only 17.7% had survived beyond this age. Among the lalaris in Begnas, there was only one case of a male divorcee The longevity in this population appears to be rather low. No one had reported. The widowed female and male population together was about 2% of survived beyond age 65 as revealed by the household census conducted in the total population (2 male and I female were reported to be widowed). U 1998. In fact, in the female population, except one woman who was in her early 60s, there were no other female survivors above the age of 55. This also The Process of Change and Implications for the Jalaris indicates that the life expectancy at birth must be very low for both males and Changes and the Beneficiaries in Begnas: In relation to understanding the females among the lalaris in Begnas. However, I must confess that more process of change in the total environment in Begnas area and the focused research on the health. disease, mortality and other relevant implications for people living here, a number of questions were used as demographic aspects could only help us gain a bettel- understanding on the guides in collecting information (in surveys as well as interviews). Some of question and issues raised by the current pattern observed in their population the questions included: Who has benefited most from the construction of structure. Dam in Begnas and the Begnas Tal Rupa Tal Fisheries Development Project" Some interesting patterns are revealed by data on the marital status of the Who have benefited in general from all types of infrastructural developments lalari population by sex (see Table 4). There were a total of 41 currently in the area? What lies ahead for the Jalaris and for others? What type of married couples in the 34 households under study. About 22% of the picture will emerge in terms of occupational structure in the years to come in currently married males were less than 25 years of age while the Begnas community? corresponding percentage for females was more than 41%. There is only one Respondents in the household survey were asked to list the changes perceived by them (and their community members) as having influenced the 94 CNAS Journal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006) Adaptation of the Jalari People 95 ways of life including the livelihood strategics of people in general. In the the recent decades. Of the total, 32 respondents (94%) believe that the Jalaris case of Jalaris, this \vas related to their fishing and fish farming as the Illuin themselves have benefited most from the fisheries development in Begnas economic activity. The major changes that \vere noted by people in the and Rupa Lakes. Some argued that the 'contractor' (the person in charge of survey are: the Fish Collection Depot) could be considered as a primary beneficiary. • Construction or a dam on Begnas I,ake (completed ahout a decade ago) Four respondents (i.e., about 12%) mentioned that the contractor and some • Construction of a mOlOrable road linking Begans to the Prilhw'i Highway well to do non-Jalaris \\'ho own large fish enclosures (i.e., fish farms) may have henefited more than any other groups of people. In gcneral, however. about 1\','0 decades ago the Jalaris agree that their community members are among the primary • The improved market access for tlsh and the seHing up of a fish collection centre at Begnas (where the contractor buys off fish from the heneficiaries of the Fisheries Developmcnt Project in the valley. Most other peop!e are seen by the Jalaris as secondary heneficiaries of this pf(~ject.The local fishers and tish-fanners Jalaris think that everyone who lives in Regnas area today has benefited • The increased popularity orpleasure boating in Begnas Lake during the equally from the other types of developments and changes listed in Tahle 5. past decade • Setting Lipof hotels and restaurants in response to the increasing number Access to Education for Jalaris: The younger generation of Jalaris is Df day timc visitors and tourists in recent years becoming more literate and educated in comparison to their elders. For All these changes or developmcnts are perceived by the Jalaris to have had a instance. among males, those born within the past 30 years seem to have had positive influence in gener"ll in their fishing and fish Ltrming business. Table hetter access to education (see Table 6 for details). ." summarises the responses of the household heads. Dam and road L'lmstruction are scen b.y most of them (82.Y;Y each) as the major Table 6: Educational status by Age-Groups and Sex among the Jalaris in development intL'rVcntiolls \vhich have had a tremendous intluence on Beenas, 1998 14 [x'oples' livelihood strategies and vvays of life in the area. Many concur that Age Illiterate Literate Primary Lower Secondury Total if it \vere not for these tv..'O interventions. the Hegnas Bazaar would not have Group Secondary heen what it is today or in fact. some argue that it \\/ould havc still remained a little known and small village. v -" ~ v v -" Table 5: ChangesfDevelopments Influencing Livelihoods of Jalaris in 0:; ~ 0:; ~ 0:; v ~ ~ -" E -" E -".c:: E ;:a E ~ ~ 0:; E v v v v v BeL'nas ;;;:" c- :2 Ii: ;;;: c- ;;;: c- :;;: c- :E c- ChangesfDevelopments Total Responses Percent of Total I 19 Respondents 5-14 4 8 0 18 2 3 0 0 26 29 15-29 8 14 0 3 6 4 3 0 8* 6 25 27 Dam Construction 28 82.3 30-44 8 II 5 4 I 0 I 0 0 0 15 15 Road Construction 28 82.3 45+ 9 5 0 0 0 0 I 0 0 0 10 5 Organised Market for Fish 12 35.3 Total 29 38 6 7 26 22 7 3 R 6 76 76 Roating for Income Earnin.Q: 19 55.9 Source: held .surve.v, 1998. *Includes, one young boy (age group 20-24) who Hotels and Tourists 7 20.6 was going to college at the time of the survey. :"OlJrce: Filed SUllie.\', /998 Of the 51 males between the agcs of 5 and 29 ycars, only about 24% are Note: The total number of respondents was 34, i.e. one from each of the reported to Ix illiterate. Among those that are literate and/or educated, about Jalari households under the study. Individuals listed more than one factor 50% have attained primary level education, 10% have lower secondary level influencing their livelihood opportunities. education while 146lc have secondary level education. One Jalari male (age Only abollt 35% of the respondents among the Jalaris considered the new group 20-241 was going to college at the time of field-survey. In the near and organised market for fish as a 'change' which have had any influence in future more Jalari youths my be going to college because a number of young fishing and fish farming. The arrival of tourists in the area for boating is seen boys and girls were close to finishing high-school education in 1998 and it hy majority (about 56Sf) as an important influence. could be assumed that some of them would go on to receive the college level The Jalaris consider themselves to be among the primary beneficiaries of education. These should be considered as significant achievements in the face the developments and changes that have come about in Begnas area during of the fact that some older Jalaris like Juthe could not continue school beyond 96 CNAS Journal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006) Adaptation of the Jalari People 97 primary level because of a discriminating and harassing environment which Toffin writes that they "derive the major part of their resources from fishing. 15 prevailed in the school system for Dalits like the lalaris until not long ago. They fish in rivers, ponds. irrigation canals and even rice fields when they are Among the females too. those who are less than 25 years of age are bettcr fiooded" (Toffin 1991: 117). It is also reported that Podes would "beg for educated than the rest. Of a total of 56 females in the ages 5 to 29, more than grain or money at the time of certain festivals" and from their Newar patrons 39(}{.(22 individuals) are reported to be illiterate and the same percentage (i.e. "receive the clothes of the dead and the rice dishes offered to the spirit of the 22 individuals) are said to have primary level education. It is interesting to departed soul seven days alier cremation" (Toffin 1991: 1171. The elderly note that YH, of the females in the above mentioned age group have lower key informants in Pokhara concurred that Podes in Pokhara were also getting secondary education and about I] % (C individuals) have achieved secondary alms from people belonging to Bahun, Chhetri, Gurung, Magar and other level education. This, again, should be regarded as an impressive figure for castes (i.e.. all those that were considered 'clean castes') during special the "lower caste" people like the lalaris who did not have an easy access to rituals including the 'purifying bath' people would take in a nearby river or education in the past. There were social, economic and cultural barriers stream soon after an eclipse was over. prevailing in the Nepali society which were responsible for depriving the "lower caste" people from education in the past. Moreover. females from Oeeupational Changes and Satisfaction such communities \vould have hardly imagined having access to education in Many households have more tho.n one member engaged in fishing as a such a discriminative social environment. livelihood strategy.l~No primary ocuJpations arc reported for those who were belmv 10 years of age at the time of the survey. or the 14 males in the Livelihood Strategies of Podes: Then and Now age group 10-14, only:2 are reported to have adopted fishing as their primary In recent years the_ economic opportunities for the lalaris seem to have occupation. Similarly. alllong females. of the total of II individuals in the become much hetter in the Pokhara valley along \.\'ith the development of age group 10-14. only 4 have adopted fishing as primary occupation (see Fisheries Development Projects in fe\va. Begnas and Rupa lakes. The lalari Table 7). The survey data indicate that 57.Ylr of the total lalari population in people I intervic\,,'ed in Piple (in 194X) revealed that most of them would Begnas were economically active in 1948. have some saving" deposited in the Banks. 16 Harka. an elderly man estimated Of the five males whose primary occupations were reported as 'service', that each Jalari household in Begnas today should be earning a gross income one each \v'cre in the Nepal army and government service in Pokhara. 2 were hetween Rs. 5.000 to 30.000 per month during the fishing and fish harve,ting employed in private fishery business and one individual was employed at the season. 17 Of course, he noted that the investments of each household on Fisheries Development Project in Begnas. fishnets and other equipmcnt (including wocxien boats) have also been quite substantive. Table 7: Primary Oeeupation of the Jalaris in Hegnas hy Age Group and In the past, Podes seem to have been taking up various kinds of odd jobs Sex, 1998 in order to make a living. We do not get an impression through the available Fishing Regular Total in the Age information on these people that they were into farming. In a study of the joh/Service' ~roun Pode community consisting of :n houses (with a total population of 145) Age Male Female Male Female Male Female carried out in the late 1970s in Panauti, it is reported that "In order to procure GrouD grain and vegetables, the Panauti Podes sell their fish, basketwork and ducks. 10-14 2 4 0 0 14 II In winter, from December to March, they migmte southwards to Panckal 15-19 4 II 0 0 4 14 region (altitude: 550 m) and barter the fish they have caught in the local 20-24 9 8 2 0 II 8 rivers for rice" (Toffin et. a!' 1991: lIT). From my own observations in 25-29 8 5 2 0 10 5 Panaut; during the early I990s, I recall that most of the people there are into 30-34 5 9 0 0 5 9 intensive farming-producing major crops like paddy, wheat, potatoes, etc. 35-39 8 2 0 0 8 2 But, apparently the Podes, who live among the farmers in Begnas, do not 40-44 f 3 I 0 2 3 seem to have adopted farming as their primary occupation. 45-49 I 2 0 0 I 2 • Most of the works that talk about Podes mention that they have been a 50-54 2 3 0 0 2 3 community of fishermen, sweepers, temple guards, etc (Gellner 1995, Levy 55-59 3 0 0 0 3 0 1992, Nepali 1965 and Toffin et. al. 199 I), Talking about Podes in Panauti, 60-64 2 I 0 0 2 I Adaptation of the Jalari People 99 98 CNAS Journal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006) ..._--~ I, 2, 4 I I I 2 (5.9) I : 65-69 T I I 0 () () I () 1.4 i 1 I (2,9) () I 70+ I I I 0 0 I 0 2 5 4 9 (26,5) c ~TotalI 47 I 48 5 0 63 58 12.4 I I (29) I , , SO/lrcc: field Surrey, 1998. This Includes those \\ho \\ork III publIc or 3.4 , I (2.9) private organisatioJls \\'herc the)' get monthl}' salaries. 3 3 (8,8) c--i-. II (32.4) 00 (58,8) 3 (8,8) 34 (I (nO) -, ., A further analysis of the economic activities of Jalaris hy age group and their Source: field SUrI'ey, J99R. "'Many gave more than olle reason to! theIr relation to the household heads reveals some interesting trenus. Except .3 satisfaction with \vhat they arc doing for living. 1= No other option: 2= Good Jalari household heads. others have reported fishing as their primary or sufficient income: 3= You can be jiour own master: 4= Suited to skills occupation. Thusc \vho arc in 'other jobs' also an~heavily engaged in fishing possessed already. activitics--hul in spite of that. they \\'OlJld like to empha.sise the fact that they have a "new' kind of job \vith a regular and tixed income. Having a service or Of the total of 34 households in Bc!!nas. 64.7f/r (22 households) reported rC~lIlar ~l salaried job becomes a matter of prestige for the Jalaris since they that -they arc satisfied \vith fishing as a~loccupation because they have been did ;1Ot have '-l\.-'l'C~Sto such positions in the pllst other than sweeping and/or ahle to make sufficient income from it for their family'. A total or 14.7\'/( scavenging. hOllseholJ stated that their current occupation is suited to their traditional There are indications that Jalaris in l3egnas could be moving into other skills~i.e.. they already have auequ'He skitls for engaging themselves into types of occupations for making a living. Mort.' than 32(X (11 llOLlseholds) of fish farming and fishing for making a living. For some Jalaris (S.l)!} of the Jalari are verv satisfied with their current occupation while SH.8\''; C~O households). thl.'ir current \VJY of making a living is satisfying hecause they households) stated that they are farily satisfied. Only 8.Wii (3 households) can be their own masters-i.e .. it is cOllsidered a good thing to be sdf­ reported that they \\Tre tess satistied \vith what they 'J.re du;ng for a living. cmployeJ. \Vhen asked to give reasons for their levd of satisfaction with the current \\"ork (!J\'({H'(/.wra). most of the Jalaris gave more than one reason (sec Tahle Sources of Fish: The Jalaris in Begnas reported that they obtain the fish for Xl: that' they d~)not have other options. it gives them good and suflicient selling into the Il1Jrket from various sources. Table 9 lists the major sources IIlcome for a living, that you arc your mvn master. and that fishing is suited to reported to have been used by hlari households under study. their traditional skills \vhich they have learned from their parent'.;. If we look closely at the information in Table 8 it is revealed that S8.8,;( Table 9: Distribution of Jalar; Households by their Use of Various (20 households) are into fishing and they claim that they do not have other Sources for Fishinp options. Since they did not have access to education in the past and could not Sources of Fish Number of Percentage have run a tea shop or sold edible items as shopkeepers because of their Housebolds 'untouchable' status, their argument holds true \vithin the prevailing social Begnas 34 1000 and cultural context in Nepal. A question raised by some Jalaris in Begnas Bcgnas. Rupa n 67,6 was: "If fish sold by our people could be consumed by anyone, why is there a Begnas. Rupa. Fewa 20 58.8 taboo on receiving other food items from JalarisT This question really points Begnas. Rupa, Fewa, Others 4 11.8 at one of the number of paradoxes to be noticeJ hetween the principle and Source: FIeht Survey, /998. practices prevalent in the social and cultural contexts of Nepal. I') All households reported using Begnas Lake for Iishing, Maoy of the Table 8: Satisfaction with Current Works: Level and Reasons for Households 1998 households have been using other sources too besides Hegnas. The majority " (67.6%) reported using other nearby lakes such as Rupa. Besides, it is I Reasons* Very Fairly Less Total I interesting that many (20 households, or almost 59r;.f;) reported that they were Satisfied Satisfied Satisfied visiting Fewa Lake for fishing. Key informant interviews and group I' I 3 3 7 (20.6) discussions revealed that a number of Jalaris either own huts (to stay 1.2 I 8 9 (26,5) overnight when visiting there) ncar Fewa or would go there and stay with 1,2,3 I I (2,9) 100 CNAS Journal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006) Adaptation of the Jalari People 101 relatives during their fishing trips. It was not clear from their information the fact that very few lalari men and women were surviving beyond age 55 as whether the lalaris who have settled in Fewa were also making similar shown in Table 3, fishing trips to Begnas area. Of course, a young Jalari man revealed that some of his relatives who lived in Pokhara were joint-owners of a few fish Ta bIe 10: Improvements m. the Cond'fI IOns 0fL'f I e: Percepnonsf 0fPod es enclosures in Begnas (i.e. fish farming). Perceived Changes Mentioned by Percentage Very few households (11.8% or 4 households) reported using other (Hh) additional sources. This includes the 3 other known lakes (Maidi, Dipang and Income has gone up 34 100, Khaste) located within the Pokhara valley and various rivers and streams in Can afford good and full meals 33 97 the valley. It is evident that the Jalaris use various sources to obtain fish in Able to send children to school 18 53 order to maximise their income from this work. Other sources are generally Able to get medical care when needed II 32 used to catch local species of fish, which are valued by the Pode themselves Source, Field Survey, 1998. Note, Respondents frorn each household had as well as their customers for their taste and/or medicinal values. People here given more than one response to the question on things that have improved in claim that local fish have a strong flavour (Tikkhar). The exotic varieties the lives of the lalaris in comparison to the past. On the issue of income they yield more, are easy to catch/harvest, but are considered to be less tasty in were asked whether their income had gone up. comparison to the local varieties. A local Baam fish (Eel) is sought after since its meat is believed to have medicinal values. Apparently Jalaris are doing fairly well in rnaking a living with Most of the Jalari households (85%) reported that they sell their fish catch improvements in fishing opportunities. Many of the lalari households (14 to a contractor at a collection centre as well as occasionally selling directly to households or more than 41%) have reported that they have been able to the shops, restaurants and hotels in Begnas or to the casual individual make savings from their current b.vawasaya (work or business) in recent customers who come there carly in the morning from other places including years, About 50% of the total households have reported that they were able to Pokhara city. invest their saving in buying Khet (2 households or 6%) and Bari (15 Almost all lalaris agree that there has been a change in the amount of fish households or 44%) after they settled in Begnas. Sirnilarly, nearly 20% (7 available for harvesting after the construction of the dam in the Begnas Lake. households) have made second investrnents also (see Table II) which Some argue that the amount of fish available may have either remained the certainly indicates that the Jalaris who may have been very poor in the past same or slightly diminished in recent years. However, their arguments are are beginning to accumulate some wealth now. contested by most of the people in the Begnas study area. Fishing was ranked as the primary source of income (and therefore very important as a livelihood Table 11: Investments made by the Jalari households from their savin~s strategy for their household) for the household by all informants in the Jalari Items of Investment Investment I Investment II household survey. Khet 2 - Bari 12 3 Perceived Changes in the Quality of Life House I I Except one, all Jalaris households reported that today they are able to eat Business - I better quality food and live a better life than in the past (i,e, when they lived Other I 2 in their place of origin). All of them noted that their average income for each Total 16 7 month has gone up (no figures were reported). As evidence of their increase Source: FIeld Survey, IYY8. in regular incomes, they note that they have been able to give education to their children-i.e. send them to schools. In our informal discussions, many Some interesting features should also be noted here. From my field lalaris also revealed that they are able to eat fish more frequently now observation as well as the information given by the lalaris themselves (key (because of a better catch in the lakes-including their own cages and informant or the group interviews) it was clear that a substantial amount of enclosures). Some perceive that the health conditions for the family members their income has been spent on buying nets, hooks, as well as in preparing the hav~also improved-Leo they can afford to access better health care enclosures and cages for fish farming. Furthermore, even though most of the facilities. However, this claim made by the lalaris needs to be seen against lalari households have been investing a significant share of their income in providing education to their children, this does not appear to them as any 102 CNAS Journal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006) Adaptation of the Jalari People 103 kind of investment. Such expensc<.,-since they arc part of regular household hudget-arc [1crccivLtI by most of the Jalari people as regular expenses (as Table 12: occupatlOns: Past and Presen and Pre ~erences for the Future opposed to the idea of seeing the household "pending 011 education of their Ol'Cupation Traditiunal ResDondent's own Chanl!" Preference for Children ~ R's Parents R's Before R's Todav Son Daul!hter children <.\...; all investment for their future). Perhaps this difference in r--Fishin!.! 34 (100.0'1r ) l.Y (HS.Yk) 31 (9J..Yf) 4(II.Wl) I (2.9Sn perception-i.e. particularly seeing tht' IllOney"put inlO education as 'regular Service 3 (H.RC;;-) 3 (,I-loWk) '4 (70.61 :2(S.9(ll cxpcnsc"-is partly responsihle for lllany parents deciding again,,! spending , Army ~ IS.9{k) - their regular income on their children's education. - Medical 4 (II.RS{) i Tcachino - :2Ci9(kl Choice of' Occupations: Changin~Patterns \\'a"e Lahour :2(5.91,i/-) There arc indications of changes in the choice of occupation-; madc by :'\lot Reported 4 (II.W/~)~i3.5l;;-) individual Jalaris. All spoLlses (D) of the Jalari male household heads are ,)()[{rct': Field Surrey, 19Y8. reported to have adopted fishing as their primary occupation (one of the household heads is a v·iidov,cr). A numher of children in the comlllunity are The preferences of occupations for children are indications of the n.:ported (I I hoys allll 7 girb) to have already! adopted tishing as their changing perceptions about \vorks and a reflection of a desire for a change. primary occupation (of the lutal of 42 hoys and 45 girls). T\\'"o Jalari }'Ollllg More than 70Q- of the parents want to see their sons take up 'service' after men hav',: a regular nftice job. they fInish their education. Only about 12(/(, of them would like to sec their Early In the morning most oj' the days. it \vas observed that the young sons take on tishing and fish fanning as their major economic activitics.

L'!lildren ( 10-1 S year....in age) were helping their parents in sdting up cast nets More than 737r of them did not give any response to the same question in and/or fishhooks in the lakes. They would also help their parents in fishing relation to their daughters. Of those who responded to this question. some related \V'Orks aftt'f tilLy returned from their schools. On a Saturday, during a would like to see their daughters become public servants. others would like field-trip in May-Julle, 199R I rcmember buying fish frolll t\VO young boys them to go into teaching or nursing jobs. Psychologically, the Jalaris seem to (Ollt' of them ma.y have been hardly 10 and the other was ahollt 11 years old) be looking for a change in their ways of life including the modes of their

\vho I,\'ere fishing in the Kandel Tundo side of the Begnas lake all hy livelihood. Whether thi~is good for them cannot be judged nO\v. \Vhat is tht'lnselves. This is an Indication that the young ones do contribute to the striking though is the fact that a number of thcir sons and daughters who are household economy during their tim\: away from school. The survey data either in their teen ages or older are reported to have already adopted tishing shows that most of the children arc reported as not having adopted any as their primary economic activity. economic activity until the age of 14. This is perhaps an acknowledgement Ahout 42(!f: (73 out of the total of 174 Jalari individuals in the study) of among the Jalaris today that children me supposed to be in schools and are the Jalari population was reported to have adopted no economic activity or not to be considered to he full time income earners. they were listed as economically 'not active'. About 71q: of these (N=73) In the household survey, Jalari respondents \vere askcd to give were less than 10 years old while 267r \vere 10-14 years old and the information on the traditional occupation for their household and their remaining fell in the 15-19 year age group. Of the total economically active parents, occupation of the respondents before and now, and the occupation population (N=lOI), 9YIr (96 indiv'iduals) are reported to be into lishing they like their children to adopt. The results summarised in Table 12 gives an and/or fish fanning and the remaining YiC are in 'service'. Incidentally, an interesting indication. Traditional occupation or the parental occupation for equal number of males and females were reported to have adopted fishing as all Jalaris in Begans was fishing. Among the respondents and the household their primary economic activity. No females have entered ·service'. heads today, more than gy;;, have reported lishing was their primary economic activity before they came to live in Begans. Only some of them Conclusion were in regular jobs or were working as wage labourers. This article has suggested how environmental changes and 'development' have meant ditlerent things to different groups of people in terms of their access to resources and the resulting livelihOlxl strategies. On the basis of empirical data I have argued that the wheel of 'development' as it spins, has sent a centripetal force towards some groups of people but a centrifugal force towards others. Similarly, change in the environments (i.e., physical/natural and socia-cultural. political. economic. etc.) have resulted in different 104 CNAS Journal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006) Adaptation of the Jaiari People 105

responses from different groups of people. Why such a difference is observed many cages and enclosures in Begnas and Rupa lakes, most are owned by at the empirical level is a potent research prohlem---of significance to non-Podes (i.e. fish farrning is being adopted by others). So the cornpetition theoretical debates in anthropology in relation to human populations, their for shares in the pie of the fish market for Begnas is on-and Jalari families environments and related processes. alone are not the stakeholders now. Of course, Bahun~Chhetriand others Specialised livelihood options for many communities induding the POOes have not yet adopted fishing of the type done by Jalaris-i.e. casting nets. It have brought them to a situation where competition and uncertainly abound. is the Jalaris who have so far held the licence for harvesting fish outside the Fishing is no more the occupatioll of the Jalaris only. The Jalaris in Pokhara private cages and enclosures (i.e. in the common areas in the lakes) in Begnas have not been kllO\vn for possessiilg good and specialized skills in (for which they have to follow certain rules). Also, the Bahun-Chhctri ugricultural farming activities. In the past it was they and few other groups of farmers reported that they employ Jalaris at the time of harvesting fish from people (like the Kumals. Majhis, etc.} who had specialized in fishing as an their enclosures. occupation. Bahun-Chhetris in particular would not consider fishing for earning cash/income. To begin \\'ith, these people, unlike the Jalaris Notes themselv'es, did not have all the skills required to adopt fishing as a livelihood i. Tharus in the newly developing and urhanizing Tarai areas could be considered strategy (i.e. making and mending of the nets, techniques of throwing or as those following the centrifugal forces while the Hill migrants are pouring into casting nets in the \\'aters, kno\\,'ing the places and best periods for catching the centres. Some people are drawn towards the 'centre' by the process of fish. etc.). Besides, the traditional fishing techni4ucs did nol alvv'ays urbanization and development and these very processes drive others away. What guarantee a catch. Thus it was regarded as an unreliable source of income and kind of people arc they and why can't they continue to stay on? Perhaps \ve have not asked this type of question in migrations studies to date. was considered good I'or those \\'ith little or no land resources but a plenty of 1. As a child in the late 1950s. I rememher visiting a matches bctory v.'ith my labour time to spare. Finally, BahuJl~Chhetrisor most others would have grandmother in Nagdhunga-which Vias way outside on the south from the L'unsidered it not bclitting their social status to adopt fishing for earning Pokhara Bazaar and that was the only thing which was very close to the then income or a Jiving (hecause fishing was regarded as a lowly job). Today, Pode Tole. people who belong to the so-called high castes too have adopted a number of 3. Vinding writes: "Pokhara \vas established in 1752 hv Newar of Kathmandu at the such lowly occupations or economic activities. The handsome amount of invitation of the rulers of the petty state of Kaski·· (1998: 362). He goes on to cite cash income involved in some of the economic activities is a primary f~lctor Blaikie, Cameron and Seddon (1980: 124) in the footnote as a support for his in the adoption of an occupation by people of all castes/ethnic backgrounds statement. J hope these authors mean the establishment of Pokhara as a market rather than judging such activities with the criteria or traditional ideas of and not as a settlement as such hecause the settlement in this valley is reported to be at least 600 years old. clean vs. unclean, polluting vs. non-polluting, etc. I have reported elsewhcre 4. See the section on Routes and Distances where Kirkpatrick gives the travel about how non-Tibetans and particularly Bahuns and Chhetris too adopted routes used in those days between a number of important places (to and from Glrpet weaving once the economic gains from this trade became attractive Kathmandu as weill \vith interesting remarks. The seven lakes in the valley are (see Chhetri 1990). known today as: Fewa TaL Begnas Tal, Rupa Tal. Maidi Tal. Dipang Tal. Khaste Today, it would be appropriate to distinguish between fishing and fish Tal and Mandre Tal. Of these, the Fisheries Development Project in Pokhara farming. Fish farming (of any type) has been an economic activity adopted covers the first three which also happen to be larger in size than the rest. by farmers in Pokhara not long ago. Fishing is, of course, an activity on 5. Places like Kathmi:mdu, Pokhara, etc., today have a fairly large number of which the Jalaris and few other people are supposed to possess the required resident expatriate staff employed by the various projects or international skills and therefore hold an advantage over the Bahun-Chhetri farmers. It organizations--direcdy hired and sent to Nepal from the countries of the origin of aid as a part of the package. should be noted here that the Bahun-Chhet,is would still consider 'fishing', 6. The extent of land transfers and changes in land use plus consequent changes in as an activity not suited to their caste/social status while fish farming as a scx:ial relations in Pokhara within the last 20-30 years can be a research topic in 'new or externally sponsored' economic activity gets accepted as 'clean'. il.~elf. Uikase things, as they are perceived, cannot be polluting, unclean, profane, 7. Of the 34 Jalari households in Begnas, 27 reported Pode Tole or Naya Bazaar as etc. (raising irnproved variety of pigs called Bangoor by people of all their place of origin. Of the remaining, 2 came from Palung (one during the caste"Jethnic groups today is a good exarnple).20 1970s and the other during the 199Os), and the remaining 5 came from other As can be observed in Begnas today, some non-POOes have already places within Pokhara Municipality mostly during the 199Os. adopted fish farming as a prirnary source of their household's incorne. Of the 8. In contrast to the general trend in migration, we see that Jalaris are migrating from urban areas to the rural areas. Perhaps a community's livelihood strategy Adaptation of the Jalan People 107 106 CNAS Journal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006)

learn that ''"Pooe children are not allowed to attend the public schools" (Toffin et. and the socia-economic status of its members are important factors influencing aJ. 1991: 115-117). their decisions in choosing a direction and destination for the move. This issue 16. It was mentioned that some households might have 2-3 lakh rupees deposited in can be an interesting piece of research on its own right bUI is not within the scope their bank accounts in Pokhara. This may be an indication that accumulation of of this paper...... wealth is gradually happening among Jalaris. 9. Two households reported to have spent 4 years III transltIon-l.c. havmg left 17. The normal fishing season is considered to be from October to February-i.e. their place of origin but not getting settled anywhere on a permanent basis. ~o~e during the cooler months. This is different than the traditional fishing season­ of them (5 households) spent 5 to 10 years in transition while the remammg which was perceived to be during the wet months of lune to September when households spent more than 10 and up to 18 years to make a decision to g~t t1ocx:ling in the streams was supposed to yield larger volume of catch. settled in Begnas. Whether some of these households will still move elsewhere III 18. Only 3 individuals in the whole population have reported as having a secondary the near future remains an open question. occupation also. The survey data indicate that none of the lalari individuals have 10. The situation would have been much worse if the lalaris did not keep pigs and adopted more than two sources of earning income or a living. dogs, which seem to do most of the job of cleaning the village rremises of such 19. See also Tingey (1994) for a discussion of paradoxical position of Damai being material. 'impure and auspicious' simultaneously. II. Levy writes that the word Po(n) used ordinarilY to refer to the Podes, "has a 20. In my study on Tibetan refugees in Pokhara (Chhetri 1990), I have noted that pejorative quality" and therefore they "use a relatively neutral term "Pore" (in Bahun-Chhetris did not do carpet weaving related activities before. It was Kathmandu Newar, "Poriya"; in Nepali, "Pooe") to refer to themselves" (Levy, perceived as an unclean work (done by Bhote people)! But now, Tibetans have to 1990; 368-369). However, we see that the Pooes are still in the process of compete with others including the Bahuns and Chhetris in their carpet/handicraft adopting more neutral and honourable surnames to refer to themselves. . business. 12. A number of caste/ethnic groups have, in the recent decades, started usmg surnames which do not sound derogatory any more as their earlier identity labels. But. the new surnames often tend to retain the occupational descriptions of the References caste/ethnic groups in question. Does this indicate the process for the genesis of Barth, Fredrik. 1969. "lntroouction". In F. Barth ed. Ethnic Groups and Boundaries: new caste/ethnic identities-starting with a new label? Is this process adequate The Social Organisation of Cultural Difference. Pp. 9-38. London; George and strong enough towards achieving or reaching a 'seamless' society, i.e., one Allen and Unwin; and Bergen. Oslo; Universitetets Forlaget. devoid of social or ritual hierarchies? Barth, Fredrik. 1981. Features ofa Person and Society in Swat.' Collected Essays 011 13. On widowh(xxL Among certain communities of caste ethnic groups like the Rai, Pathans-Selected Essays of Fredrik Barth, Volume H. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. Gurung. and Tamang women could become widows at an early ~gew.he~their husbands die in wars or while on duty in the so-called peace-keepmg miSSIOn for Barth, Fredrik. 1987. Cosmologies in the Making: A Generative Approach to Cultural UN. How significant (in # or in %) is widowh(xxl caused by this factor vis-a.-vis Variation in Inner New Guinea. Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University other causes (induding natural deaths) of deaths could be an interesting study in Press. its own right. Comparisons could be made across caste/ethnic groups and by age Caplan, A. Patricia. 1972. Priests and Cobblers: A Study of Social Change in a of the survi ving as well as dying spouses. Hindu Village in Western Nepal. San Francisco: Chandler. 14. I feel that it is necessary 10 explain why the age groupings were done the way Caplan, Lionel. 1970. Land and Social Change in East Nepal. Berkeley: University if they are in this table. A separate group was deemed essential for those less than 5 California Press. years of age-most of them considered below school going age. The next age C8S.1995. Statistical Year Book of Nepal. Kathmandu; HMG/NPC Secretariat. group (5-14) would show most of those who are in school. The age group up to Central Bureau of Statistics. 29 years has been given special attention because it is my belief that access to __ -:: Statistical Pocket Book, Nepal. Kathmandu: HMG/NPC Secretariat, Central education for people like the lalaris has changed significantly during the last Bureau of Statistics. three decades iust as for Illost of the people in the country. The educational Chhetri, Gyanu 1989. "Gaine ko Sarangi Eauta Magne Bhando ki Nepali Sanskriti ko achievements ~fthose in the age group 30-44 would indicate how accessible Anga? Ek Samaj Sastriya Dristikon" (Gaine's Sarangi whether a means for were the schools or education in general for lalaris in the post-Rana regime begging or an element of Nepali Culture? A Sociological Perspective. Text in perioo. Attending school or gaini.ng education for common people in the country Nepali). Contrihutions to Nepalese Studies 16(1): 55-69. was almost a taboo until not long ago. 1999. "Occupational Caste Groups in the Hills of Nepal; A Sociological 15. Apparently. the situation has not changed much in favour of the Pooes and most Analysis". In Ram B. Chhetri and Om P. Gurung (eds.). Anthropology and of the 'untouchable' community throughout the country. Talking about the Podes Sociology of Nepal.' Cultures, Societies, &ology and Development, pp.56-68 in Panauti. Toffin, et. al. (1991) write that the younger generation is waging a Kathmandu; Sociological and Anthropological Society of Nepal. social battle against the status quo minded local dignitaries. It is disheartening to 108 CNAS Joumal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006) Adaptation of the Jalari People 109

Chheui, Ram B. 1986, "Migration, Adaptatioo and Socio-CulturaJ Change: The Case Tingey, Carol. 1994. Auspicious Music ill a Changing Society: The Damai Musicians of Thakalis in Pokham, Nepal", Comributions to Nepalese Studies, 13(3):239­ of Nepal. Londoo: School of Oriental and African Studies. University of 260. London (SOAS Musicology Series, Vol. 2). "Adaptation of Tibetan Refugees in Pokhara, Nepal: A Study on Toffin, G.. V. Barre, L. Berger and P. Berger. 1991 [19811, '11Je Pode Hoose: A Persistence and Change". Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation. University of Caste of Newar FishemlCn", In Man alld his House in the Himalayas.: Ecology Hawaii, USA, of Nepal. Pp, 115-126. Gerard Toffin, ed. Delhi: Sterling (Original French ----:c 2005:' Is the Concept of Development Always Useful in Reading the edition published in 1981 by Paris: Editions du CNRS). Society and Culture?" Persp«til'es on Society and Culture, I(I): 1-5, Gajurel, C. Land K. K. Vaidya. 1984. Traditional Arts and Crafts of NefHll. New Delhi: S. Cband and Company LId. Gellner, David N, 1995. "low Castes in Lalitpur", In Contested Hiemrchies: A Collaborati\'e £tJmography of Caste among the Newars of the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, pp.264-294, David N. Gellner and Declan Quigley ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Hagen, Toni, 1994. Building Bridges to the Third World, Delhi: Book Faith India. Hamilton. Francis Buchanan, 1990 [18191. An Account of the Kingdom of Nepal, New Delhi: Asian EducaIionai Services Karan. Pradyumna P. and Hiroshi Ishi. 1996. Nepal: A Himalayan Kingdom in TransitiOfl. Tok)'o. New York: United Nations University Press. Kirkpatrick, Colonel. 1986, An AccOWI1 of the Kingdom of Nepal/I: Being the substance of obsen'arions made during a Mission to that COUllt~'in the year 1793. New Delhi: Asian Educational Services (Original 1811 published by London: W. Blumer and Co. Cleaveland-Row, SI. James's). Landon. Perceval. 1993119281. Nepal (In ,....-0 volumes with illustrations and maps). 'ew Delhi. Madras: Asian Educational Services. Levy, Roben 1.1992 119901. Mesocosm.: Hinduism and the Organiwtioll of a Tmditional N~'(jrCity in Nepal. Delhi: MOIilal BanarsKlas Publishers Private Limited (1990 edilion by Regents of the University of California). Mishra, Chaitanya. and Pitamber Sharma. 1983. "ForeigTI Aid and Social StruClure: s NOles on Intra-State Relationships". Proceedings of a Seminar, October 4·5, 1983. Kathmandu: Inlegr:lted Development Systems. Nepali. Gopal Singh. 1965. The Nel,'(jrs: An Ethno-Sociological Study of a Himalayan Communit)·. Bombay: United Asia Publications. Quigley, Declan. 1995. "Conclusion: Caste Organization and the Ancient City." In Contested Hiemrchies: A Collaborative Ethnography of Caste amlmg tire Newars of/he Kathmandu Valley. Nepal. Pp. 298~327,David N. Gellner and Declan Quigley ed. Oxford: Clarendoo Press. Regmj, M. C 1978. Limd Tenure and Tum/ion in Nepal. Kathmandu: Ratna Puslilk ._- Bhandar. ---~ ,-- Shanna. PitamOOr. 1989. "Urbanization in Nepal." Papers of the East-West Population -~ .~. Institute. No. llO, Honolulu: EaSi-West Center. Population Institute. --....- ShrCSlha, Nanda R. 1990. Lmulles.mes,f and Migrmioll;/I Nepal, Boulder: Westview ":- ',- 1(- ...... 0 Press. .. ~ ,. Shrcstha. Nanda R.• (1993). "Nepal: The Society and its Environmcnt". 111.Nepal aud .- ~-- ---.~ ... 8hu/(/l/: COUIJlryStudies. Pp, 53-103, Andrea Matles Savada cd. Washington: '.=::::::-..:;,:.-----1 Fedcral Research Division, Library of Congress. SURVIVAL STRATEGIES AMONG THE PARSAWAL THARUS Tulsi Ram Pandey

Introdnction The National Committee for Development of Nationalities in Nepal has

included the Tharu as one among the fifty nine offic~allyrecognized ethnic groups (Ukab and Adhikari 2000). The Committee has recognized them as among the indigenous people of the Tarai region.. According to the 1991 Nepali national census, the Tharus constitute 6.5 percent of the country's total population and over 13 percent of the total population of the Tarai region (see CBS 1993). They primarily live in rural areas and engage in agriculture and livestock raising (McDonaugh 1985, Rajaure 1977). There is widespread agreement with the assertion that "they have been exploited by government authorities in the past and still to a lesser extent are outmaneuvered by the surrounding non-Tharus" (Pyakuryal 1982: II). They have also been used as bonded labour by landlords of the region (see Lowe 2001). But have these modes of livelihood been static over periods? What changes have there been in Tharu livelihoods? What have these changes been in response to? In this paper, 1 discuss some of the survival strategies used by the Tharus of Parsawal village in Nawalparasi district. Specifically, it will focus on changes in the patterns of access to cultivatable land, effects of the forest cover shrinkage on livestock raising, and changes in household labour patterns. Rural livelihood activities based on land cultivation and livestock raising • bring people into contact with the natural resources in their surroundings. This connection between livelihood strategies and natural resources makes it imperative that those livelihood strategies are responsive to changes in local natural resources. Indeed, connections between human relations to nature and human livelihCKXIs have been discussed quite extensively in the anthropological literature. In particular, the ecological perspective has focused on these types of relations. However, this ecological perspective, in itself an assemblage of a wide range of ideas. has undergone a series of transitions in the focus of its analysis of these relations. In the early phase of development from an ecological perspective, nature was treated as a determinant of all human activities. Gradually, scholars developed a conviction that "physical conditions enter informally into every cultural environment not as determinants but as onc category of raw material of cultural elabouration" (Forde 1934: 464). Thus, the natural environment was no longer considered the sale determinant of specific actions, but as one factor among a number which prompt human action. Scholars like Boas (1964) and Kroeber (1939) produced ethnographic evidence to show that the Eskimo practiced farming and fishing while the

Contributions to Nepalese Studies, Vol. 33, (Speeiallssue 2006),111-125 Copyright © 2006 CNASfTU 112 CNAS Journal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2(06) Survival Strategies 113

Siberian Chukchee bred reindeer for subsistence, despite working in similar involve the use of natural resources and other means of support, this paper arctic conditions. This ethnographic evidence supported the notion that draws on ideas from both the political economy and the political ecology human livelihood is not solely determined in response to the natural perspectives in tracing dynamics of Tharu survival strategies. environment in which they live. Steward (1955) brought into focus the study of human adaptive responses Study Setting and Research Methods to the features of their local natural environment. He emphasized that an Parsawal is a Tarai village located in Nawalparasi district in the western ecological perspective should be able to explain the links between development region of Nepal. It forms a part of the extension of the broad technology, labour, organization of human culture, and nahlral resources as Gangetic plain of the Indian sub-continent that stretches along the southern they emerge in the pnx;css of subsistence resource usc. The framework that bordcr of Nepal. Par-sawal village is situated at a distance of seven kilometers he explicated permits us to analyze the dynamics of subsistence systems to north of the district headquarters. Parasi bazaar. and about 4 km. south of the the extent that they are induced by technological change, as well as the Mahendra Highway that cuts across the district from east to west. It changes in population and resource balances that occur as a result of comprises wards 4 and Yof Amrot Village Development Committee (VDC)1 subsistence production. Steward, however, viewed subsistence s{x:ieties as of Nawalparasi district. closed systems. His thcory does not trace the linkages between global, The village has two settlement sub-clusters. The first suh-cluster national and regional political-economic forces. comprises the main village. It has 137 households. 17 or w'hich are Our present global reality permits no society to stay in isolation. All populations of hill migrants. The remaining 120 households are traditional social and spatial structures-whether they be in tribal, rural or urban inhabitants of the plains. This sub-cluster settlement covers all of ward 4 and settings-bear some link to thc nation state. Global, regional and local a major part of \vard 9 of the \lDC. Among the households orthe traditional economic activities interface \vith each other. National policies affect the population. 64 are Tharu and the remaining 57 are various caste groups. share, dIstribution and use of ]c)(:al level resources. These national policies Given generations of having liveu in the same place and/or region, both the may strip the resources away from a locality or help its people to improve Thanl and non-Than: people there speak the same language and engage in their productivity. Market forces may create environmental ravages by similar social practices. For this reason, the hill migrants commonly call all striping resources from local communities. They may interfere WIth people's of these traditional inhabitants Tharu. This discussion retlects the condition subsistence practices by forcing them to compete within the pressures of of this entire population. market activities. They may also carve out new income and employment The second suh-cluster settlement comprises a small part of ward 9 of the options for local people by promoting new business and industrial activities. VDC. This cluster has emerged quite recently through the process of forest Human subsistence strategies are, thus, historically shaped and reshaped clearing. It is located in the western side of the village and is primarily (Headland 1997) by changes both in the internal needs of people and the occupied by 'landless' resettlers. A great majority of households in this area external interests of market and politics (Broad and Cavanagh 1993, Bryant are migrants from hill regions. but there are also few households of 1992, Bryant and Bailey 1997, Durham 1995, Peluso 1992, Vayda and traditional inhabitants. These households maintain some kinship connections Walters 1999). with the households of the tirst sub-cluster settlement. Therefore, I have Two theoretical perspectives - political economy and political ecology ­ taken the first sub-cluster settlement as the primary fCK':usof this study. illuminate the roles played by power and politics in shaping patterns of Information used in this study was gathered from field investigation human survival. Political economic perspectives critique capitalism and the conducted during the period from February 2000 to January 2001. I gathered capitalist state. They seek to explore the various political and economic data using participant observation (Spradley 1980), ethnographic interviews interest contlicts between classes within a given production system. Political (Spradley 1979) and case study (Yin 1984) methods, Participation with the ecology perspectives are off-shoots of political economy perspectives. They people in their farming activities, animal grazing practices, festivals and life­ also seek to explore the roles of politics, power and interests in production cycle ceremonies provided first-hand knowledge about their experiences. systems. They carve out their separate niches only in the sense that they f{)Cus Through interviews, I elicited information about the historical dynamics of on access to and utilization of natural resources within production processes the use, distribution and management of village resources; developmental (Biersack 1999), They study the "manifold articulations of history and experiences; as well as information about the growth of nearby settlements biology and cultural mediations through which such articulations are and the perceived effects on village resource use. I conducted interviews with necessarily established" (Escobar 1999: 3), Since rural livelihood strategies village elders, community leaders and local people, both in groups and 114 CNAS Journal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006) Survival Strategies 115

individually. I was also able to gather some information while taking part in their names, however. tenant cultivators were required "to pay compensation friendly di~cussionswith the villagers. I could gather data related to the to the erstwhile ukhuda owners" (Regmi, 1976: 122). Some Tharu household demography, land and livestock ownership patterns and inter­ households were able to pay this compensation. They thus transformed their household differences in economic activities through individual households. status from tenant to owner cultivators of the land. Those unable to pay For these purposes, I surveyed a sample of 45 Tharu households. continued to be tenant cultivators or bonded labourers in the house of their traditional overlords. Tharu Survival Strategies While the administrative and economic leadership ofjimidars in Parsawal For generations in this area, the major source of Tharu survival support has continued to erode in subsequent years, their families' consumption behavior been the cultivation of crops in the farmlands. Consistently throughout this changed little. In order to generate income, they resorted to selling their time. animals have been used as a source of power for traction and as a private land to Tharu and non-lOaru households in the area. This change in source of manure for fertilizer. Patterns of land access, associated agrarian the dynamics of land holding decreased the need for bonded labour, as had relations, crop-livestock integration techniques, and the extent of extra­ been require? in the.past to.operate.I~r~erfa,rms. ~hebonded labourers thus. agricultural sources of employment for the population in the area have, not began to claim partt- land In the vlclmty ot the vIllage as a new means at been static over time. Changing state interests in the control and distribution support for their subsistence. These lands were gradually registered to those of farm lands and forests in the Tarai region, population dynamics of the who cultivated them. region, and processes of urban growth around the area have been the major A contemporary picture of the ownership status and land tenure of Tharu forces prompting changes in Tharu modes of living. I will discuss each of households studied is presented in Table I. these issues in greater detail as follows: Table I: Land Ownership and Tenure StatllS among SampleIH ouseh 0 Ids Cultivahle Land: There have been shifts in the status of Tharu households Ownership Pattern Tenure Statlls from tenant-cultivators and/or bonded labourers to owner~cultivators.These Land Size Household Tenure Type Household changes are associated with governmental land tenure policies. Land has historically represented a major source of government revenue. Prior to the No Percent No Percent mid-1960s, land tax collection in the Tarai region was made under jimidari No land owned 5 I 1.1 Self coltivated 16 40.0 arrangement. In this system, the jimidar, who was a tax collection :2': 18 40.0 Self coltivatcd and 4 10.0 functionary of the government, was responsible for all of the land tax I hiRha leased out collection within his given jurisdiction. The person received a certain < 1-2 higha 14 31.1 Self cultivated and 15 37.5 proportion of the tax as a commission and was responsible for any arrears in tax collection. For personal use, he was also allotted a plot of land attached to leased in thejimidari holding, from which he could appropriate rem. <2-3 highu 4 8.9 Leased in only 5 12.5 The jimidars exercised different rights and privileges across the areas <3-4 higha 4 8.9 - - presently covered by Nawalparasi. Rupandehi and Kapilvastu districts. They Total 45 100.0 Total 40' 100.00 were not simply land tax collectors. Rather, landholding rights were also vested in them for all of the land under their jurisdictions. This technical Source: field Suny}'. 2000. * ThiS does not mclude landless households. arrangement was known as the ukhuda system of land tenure. The cultivators of this type of land had to work either as tenant-cultivators by paying a Of the 45 hooseholds surveyed for this study, 40 (88.9 %) own some land stipulated amount of rent for the land. or as bonded labourers on the jimidar's of their own, although landholding size tends to be quite small. Only 8.9 % of personal farm land (Regmi 1976). All of the Parsawal Tharu households had the households own between 3 to 4 highas' or between 2 to 3 bighas of land. worked in these capacities before the abolition ofthejimidari system in 1964 The rest own less than 2 highas of land and the majority own less than one (Regmi 1976). bigha. Five households (11.1 %) do not own any private land. Among these 5 With the abolition ofjimidari system. a ceiling was imposed on the size landless households, 2 do not cultivate the land, 2 others cultivate of family landholding. Extra lands, above that de~ignatedceiling, were unregistered parti land. One household hires in a parcel of land under a registered in the name of their cultivators. In order to register ukhuda land in tenancy arrangement. 116 CNAS Joumal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006) Survival Strategies 117

Among the 40 landowning households in the sample, 87.5 'if are owner­ This forest shrinkage around Parsawal can also be traced to government cultivators, of which some also work on leased-in land as sharecroppers. The land use policies. Before 1950, reclamation of forest for cultivation was a remaining 12.5 6;(, of the households lease their land out to tenants. Changing major economic policy implemented to raise revenue for the state. Local tax family composition has been the primary factor in decision-making about collection functionaries were charged with the responsibility to implement leasing out land. Since there are no substantially large landowning this policy (Regmi 1971, Regmi 1976). After the I950s, the government households among the Tharus in the village, it is mainly those households undertook the task to clear forests and encourage settlements. The composed of older people. widows, aged couples or those in which adult implementation of the Rapti Valley Development Programme in 1958 was a members are out of the village, that have leased their land out for cultivation. policy initiative specifically focused on the Tarai region. A Resettlement Transitions from tenant-cultivators or bonded labourers to owner­ Company, established in 1964, also served to encourage new settlements in cultivators and unattached free labourers produced two consequences in the region. As of 1982, the Company had resettled 1,540 families, having prevailing modes of living. On the one hand, it provided a degree of cleared 3,353 hectares of forest in different parts of the region (Ojha 1982). economic independence by allowing them to use their land and labour These initiatives, together with malaria eradication and the expansion of road independent of any external control. On the other hand, it also deprived them links in the Tarai, made this region an attractive destination for the landless of a sense of subsistence security as had been possible for those tenant­ and marginal farm families of the hills. cultivators and bonded labourers of the jimidar. The jimidar used to Those who were absorhed by the resettlement programme were easily guarantee a subsistence size of landholding for cultivators. He did this in two settled, while others carved out living spaces by encroaching on nearby ways: either by allowing new land to be cleared in the forest or by forests. To regulate these encroaching settlements, a number of ad-hoc redistributing land among farming families to adjust to changing family committees and commissions were established5 (Kansakar 1979). One such composition and subsistence necessities. Bonded larn)urers were hired on an settlement was established in the forest west of Parsawal in 1982 by the High 4 annual basis under clearly defined terms . Whatever securities were provided Level Commission for the Solution of Problems Regarding Forest Settlement by these arrangements were lost by the freehold cultivators and the at Nawalparasi, Rupandehi and Kapilvastu District (Pandey 1984). After the unattached labourers. The owner-cultivators work the land that they own, and establishment of this settlement (which is now called Daskatha hy the must independently tind ways to engage their family labour. villagers), other households flooded in, claiming portions of the remaining forest and hoping to register the land in their names. These developments Furest Use and Livestock Raising affected local Tharu households in two different ways. On the one hand, this Like agricultural land, forest resources also assume an important role in led to shrinkage of their forest area and resources. On the other hand, they Tharu ways of living. Forests are sources of firewood and animal fodder, and contributed to the degeneration of the remaining forest because of increased arc also used for grazing animals. For the Tharus, livestock forms an human and animal population pressures. important component of their farming system. Bullocks and male buffalos are There is no quantitative data with which to make a time series comparison sources of power to drive carts and plowshares. Cows and female buffalos of the quality of forest and the types and numher of livestock raised hy produce these stocks of draft power. They are also sources of milk for sale farmers in the village. Nevertheless, the Tharus recall from their living and household consumption. The animals' manure is used as an organic memories that some 20 to 25 years ago, the village was surrounded by dense fertilizer to increase crop pnxluction. Goats also enhance household income forest in north and westward directions. It had luscious vegetation growth through their sale in the market. These animals are still raised in the area, but which the Tharus used for fodder. It also provided extensive grazing land for livestock raising as a factor in Tharu survival has declined with the decline of their animals. The Tharus recall keeping herds of cows, goats and buffalos. forests available for grazing. Almost every household produced bulls and bullocks to plow their farm Systematic information is not available to make a time series comparison lands, while some households also sold these animals to neighbors. Goat of the change in size and quality of the forest. However, the fact that raising was the most important source of cash income. The Tharus could sell settlements have developed around the village within the past two decades goats to nearby butchers, who regularly visited to collect these animals. Some confirms the fact that there has been forest shrinkage. The forest settlement, households also sold milk and curd to neighbors, or to milkmen who supplied which comprises a part of ward 9, is itself part of the forest shrinkage milk to local shops. Given the forest shrinkage together with the increase in phenomenon. settlements, these economic activities changed. 118 CNAS Journal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006) Survival Strategies 119

Forest lands to the west of Parsawal were completely converted into from their farms to support the animals. Although the bullock is the preferred settlement areas. It is only to the north that some patches of forest remain. animal among a majority of the households, farmers have recently found that 7 But even this area is surrounded by a number of other settlements. This hiring tractors can be much cheaper than using animal power for plowing. remaining part of the forest must bear the pressures of firewood, timber, Tractors cost only when they are hired for specific operations, while raising fodder and grazing needs of human and animal populations in the area. bullocks requires effort all year long. It appears to be too costly for marginal Consequently, it has lost all under-growth and is left with only a thinly farmers to raise bullocks simply for the purpose of using them only a few distributed stock of old trees of different local varieties. It is no longer a days a year. But, there are also difficulties associated with renting tractors. dependable source of fodder and grazing. In order to address this problem. Farmers claim that tractors do not level the ground effectively. It is also villagers have now started to control animal grazing and other use of products difficult to use tractors on small parcels of farm land; in these cases, it is in a portion of the forest. 6 This has been done as a protective measure, but it easier to use animal power. Given that bullocks costs less than he-buffalos in also results in immediate increase in the scarcity of forest products for the the area,' most of those who keep draft animals keep bullocks. villagers. This loss of resources for animal fodder and land for grazing has The decline in livestock raising activities in Parsawal means that animals affected livestock raising patterns in Parsawal. Results of a survey taken are no longer pnxluced locally, but are rather imported from outside. during my fieldwork period reveal that the Tharus currently have no herds of Additionally, livestock-based income generation practices have changed. cattle. buffal<..)Csor goats. as they used to have in the past. Current patterns of Households which had once kept herds of more than 60 or 70 goats have livestock raising among the Tharu households are shown in Tahle 2. given it up almost completely. Goat keeping no longer appeared a dependable source of income. Although cows and she-calves were the cheapest, they Ta blc 2: I'-,lvestock 9wnershio for Samole Households were the least valued animal species in Parsawal. In fact, only three households were selling milk produced by cows or she-buffaloes. L Ijvcstock Ownership Status Livestock Type Total Average No Ownership Ownership Average Animal Animalsl Animalsl Labour Patterns: Seasonal agricultural activity is the primary survival I Household Owner strategy that Tharus use. They grow two types of crops a year. During the No. of % No. of

in one bir;ha of Parsawal land. This estimate includes the labour used in seed­ farmers used to grow wheat primarily for household needs. They claim that a bed preparation, plowing, leveling and preparing bunds around the lield, large proportion of land used to remain fallow after the paddy harvest. transplanting seedlings, weeding crops, and reaping, threshing, winnowing Currently, however, wheat fields cover approximately 60 percent of the farm and storing grains. This is a generous estimate" and is based on an fields in the winter season. The remaining land is used for mustard, lentil and assumption that animal power be used for traction. This estimate excludes the vegetable crops. Some fallow fields do remain, but these tend to be limited to labour used to carry manure from the pits to the fields, to maintain irrigation the large landholders' fanns, canals and to irrigate the tields. \Ve can assume that these types of labour. Recently a significant proportion of Parsawal labour has shifted away added with the labour used in kitchen-garden vegetable cultivation, adds from agriculture towards construction. A number of local changes have another 25% of the labour estimatee) ~Orthe ahove mentioned two major precipitated increased construction in the area, thus prompting the need for an crop~.I{)This brings the total amount of labour necessary to cultivate one increasing number of construction labourers. Wealth created from the hig!Ia of land to 151.2 days, \\'hich means about 5 months' work for one Lumbini Sugar Mill along the Mahendra Highway in Sunwal, north of labourer. Parsawal, has increased house construction in the area. Additionally the A majority of Tharu households o\\'n less than one higha of land. number of market towns east and west of Sunwal has also grown, and Parasi .'.;uggLsting that household a,t--:ricultur<.lllabour requires less than the 151.2 bazaar is also expanding since its conversion from a VDC to a municipality days mentioned al1o\L. But rossibilities for supplcmenting income through in the mid-1990s. Additionally, the regional Butwal bazaar market is located agricultural vvage labour arL marginal. All land-holding hOLlsd1OIds undertake about 25 km west of Parsawal. Construction work required in all of these these agricultural activllies VIrtually simultancoLlsly. thus thLre is little extra areas absorbs a significant amount of Parsawal Tharu labour. At least one time to engage in V\age labour. Additionally. there are very fev\! large member of twenty of the sample Tharu households was involved in construction. Members of eight households were \\lorking as skilled carpentry lando\\TlerS in P..lrsawal who require the service of wage labourers. If and brick laying labourers. Members from other households were involved in laboun:rs arc Ili:cdcd. it is generally only' for a limited period. which tends to less skilled labour such as loading and unloading of construction materials, hi: mainly during rieL' paddy transplantation and harvesting SLason. Thesi: preparing cement and sand, and delivering construction materials. Iabouri:rs ti:nd to hi: rLcruitLd from thi: fori:st settli:mLJH. where thi:Y tend not Employment in construction, however, is not pemanent. My infonnants to he landholders thcll1sdves and arc thus readily available for wage labour. claim that these jobs depend upon one's ability to maintain good relations Changes in crop selection and cropping intensity have also effected '.\lith the contractors. Besides, construction works tend to be available for changes in labour patterns. The development of road links and the resultant about six months in a year (i.e., mainly during the dry season). However, it expansion of commercial activities in the area have contributed to this has been an important source of subsistence support, fetching a daily wage change. Parsavval was brought closer to market networks through the ranging from Rs. 70 to ISO per worker (while a person is engaged in such construction of the Butwal-Narayanghat sector of the Mahendra Highway work). between 1968 and 1973, and subsequent road linkage between Parasi bazaar Parsawal Tharus arc still not involved in administrative and professional and this road. This connection motivated farmers to adopt improved rice activities. In fact, only one Parsawal Tharu community member works as an varieties to bring about h;gher yields. They replaced sathari, amjhote, employee of a governmental institution, this in the capacity of Assistant kalanimak, kanajira and other local varieties of rice with sarju, janaki, Health Worker at the local health post. manaslili improved varieties. Farmers claim that average yields from the improved varieties have increased by approximately one-fourth compared Conclusion with those of the local varieties. Small farm households followed suit in The above discussions clearly show that there is a strong relationship adopting these rice varieties. The local rice varieties have disappeared between natural resources of Parsawal village and survival strategies of the completely, preventing comparative study of productivity between the old Tharus who live within it. The Tharus earn a major part of their living and the improved varieties. through land cultivation. Livestock raising constitutes one important component of their farming system. They use nearby forest as a grazing niche Integration with market networks and forest shrinkage has pushed and source of fodder for these animals. villagers towards cultivation of wheat in larger portions of land. Market Over the past few decades, there have been changes ill the nature of .networks provided opportunities for selling farm products and forest control and distribution of land and forests of the area. Forest land of the area shrinkage made crop residue an increasingly important source of animal fodder. The farmers claim that before these developments, even the larger Survival Strategies 123 122 CNAS Journal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006)

Notes has gradually shrunken as migrant households from the hill region reclaimed 1. Village Development Comminee (VDC) is Nepal's local level it for cultivation. This has led to a decline in the prevailing pattern of political/administrative and territorial unit. Nawalparasi district has 73 VDCs. livestock raising and the opportunities of Tharu households to expand their Each VDC is comprised of 9 wards, which are electoral divisions from which cultivated land. Consequently, there has occurred a shift in Tharu labour people elect representatives to fonn the VDC's executive body. practices. 2. Fields not registered to any individual. The changes described in this paper that have occurred in the relationship 3. One bigha is equal to 0.67 hectares. between Tharu's livelihood strategies and natural resources of the area is not 4. The contracts were arranged bctwecn the employer household and the labourer. simply a local affair. State policies and activities related to control and The labourer, commonly knO\\1l as haruwa, would bond himself to work for the distribution of land and forest as well promotion of market has highly employer's family for a given contract period. In exchange. he would receive a stipulated amount of paddy, pulse, oil-seeds. kerosene. salt and chilli to support influenced these patterns and changes. himself and his family. Change in the nature of control and distribution of land area and forests, 5. Currently, Sukumbasi Samasya Samadhan Ayog (The Commission for the and the expansion of markets in the area have led to shifts in Tharu labour Settlement of Landlessness Problems) is handling identifying landless practices. Originally attached and tenant cultivators of large landowners, they households and providing them land. This commission is an ad-hoc organ. which have become either owner-cultivators or independent labourers in the changes with changes in national governments. This presents some problems in construdion sector of emerging urban areas. Despite these changes, the tenns of consistency of policy implementation, For example, one commission Tharus are still left at the margin of subsistence production. When there was had distributed landownership certificate to scttlers on a provisional basis. Those abundance of land and forest, the landed elite controlled Tharu laoour. When certificates were not based on maps or land measurement. That particular the Tharu were set free from feudal control to work independently, the state commission no longer exists. The present commission has its own criteria in ddining landless households and is not obliged to work with the provisional stripped the forest from their control and forced them to subsist on marginal certificates provided previously. farms. Many Parsawal Tharus have left agricultural labour for manual wage 6. A fe\v months before the beginning of this research. the villagers organizt:d labour. These tfaniitions are simply from one form of manual labour to themselves to protect an approximately 50 hectare part of the forest. in order to another. encourage regeneration. They open this part of the forest tv.'ice a month in order to allow villagers to collect dry firewood, but animal grazing is prohibited. The Table A-I: Number of Labour Days per Activity for Cultivation of District Forest Officer revealed in an interview that the directives of the Ministry Specified Crops of Forest do not pennit him to provide the villagers with rights to use forest Activities Labour Days for Specific Crops wood products in any way, despite their interest in forest protection and Paddy Wheat regeneration. 7. Rent for a pair of bullocks ranges from Rs. 150 to 175 per day, while tractors can 18 (three times) Plowin~· 22 (four times) be rented at Rs. 350 to 375per hour, A tractor can plow one bigha of land in Di~inglbunding 8 2 three hours, while it requires 12 days of draft animallahour to complete the same Transpianting 15 task. Weeding 8 8. Two bullocks cost between Rs. 4,000 to 8,000, depending upon the size, age and Harvestimz** 23 25 health of the animals. A pair of male buffaloes ranges between Rs. 5.000 to 10,000. Additionally, buffaloes are larger than bullocks and consume more food Total 76 43 annually. *Thls Includes tasks Involved In seed-bed preparation and preparatIOn of 9. The amount of labour days used to cultivate a particular crop in a particular unit fields for seedling transplantation. "This includes all tasks related to of land is understandably highly affected by the age and health of the workers. reaping, threshing, winnowing, and storing. the quality of draft power, the size of the fannland terraces. the irrigation status of thc land, the availability of water at the time of fanning. and most importantly. on the given household's decision about the intensity (e.g., the frequency of plowing, digging, etc.) with which it intends to perfonn an activity, Plowing. thrashing and winnowing by mechanical means would require less labour than manual operation; however, this estimate covers the use of human labour and animal power in all activities and assumes an average quality of irrigated land. It is based on the experience of three households, as I had observed during my 124 CNAS Journal, Vol. 33, (Special Issue 2006) Survival Strategies 125

fieldwork time. The average amount of labour days used by these households specifically in paddy and wheat cuitivation activities are as given in Table A-l. Pandey, Tulsi R. 1984. "Poverty and State Policy: A Study of Eviction in Kawasati 10. Tasks related to dispersal of manure, irrigating the fields and kitchen gardening Nawalpur". Unpublished M.A. Dissertation. Tribhuvan University. do not follow a consistent pattern within and between the households. The Peluso, N.L 1992. "The Political Ecology of ~xtractionand Extractive Reserves in quantity of labour required to disperse it relates with the quantity of manure East Kalimantan, Indonesia." Development and Change, 49(4):49-74. itself. It also relates to the distance of field from the manure pit. Irrigation is a Pyakuryal, Kailash N. 1982. "Ethnicity and Rural Development: A Sociological Study regular requirement for paddy. The labour input for this task depends upon of Four Tharu Villages in Chitwan, Nepal." Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation. condition of rains and availability of water. It may require a few hours of labour Michigan State University. a week during dry periods to clear canal and control leakage of water. There is Rajaure, Orona P. 1977. "A:l Anthropological Study of the Tharus of Dang­ no cOnsistency of the amount of field used for vegetable among household. It is Deokhuri." Unpublished M.A. Dissertation. Tribhuvan University. difficuh to suggest any precise pattern of labour use for these activities at Regmi Mahesh C. 1971. A Study in Nepali Economic History, New Delhi: household level. Manjushree Publishing House. Regmi Mahesh C. 1976. Landownership in Nepal Berkeley: University of Califomia Ref.... e.. Press. Bieruck, Aletta. 1999. "lnb"oduction: From the 'New Ecology' to the New Spradley, J.P. 1979. The Ethnographic Interview. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Ecologies". American Anthropologist, 101( 1):5-18. Winston. Boas, Fnnz. 1964 [1888]. The Central Eskimo. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Spradley, J.P. 1980. Participant Observation. New York: Holt Rinehart and Winston. Press. Steward, Julian. 1955. Theory of Culture Change. Urbana; University of Illinois. Broad, R. and Cavanagh, 1. 1993. Plundering Paradise: The Struggle for the Ukab, Tamla and Shyam Adhikari. 2000. Nationalities of Nepal. Kathmandu: Environment of the Philippines. Berkeley: University of California Press. Na,tional Committee for Development of Nationalities. Bryant, R.L. and S. Bailey. 1997. Third World Political Ecology. Rutledge: London Vayda, A.P. and B. B. Walters. 1999. "Against Political Ecology" Human Ecology. Bryant, R.L. 1992. Political Ecology: "An Emerging Research Agenda in Third 27(1): 167-179. World Studies". PoliJical Geography, 11(1):12-36. White, Leslie. 1943. "Energy and Evolution of Culture". American Anthropologist. Central Bureau of. Statistics (CBS). 2000. Statistical Pocket Book. Kathmandu: CBS. 45:335-356. ___ 1997. Nepal Living Standard Survey RefXJrt 1996. Main Findings. Vol. 2, Yin. Robert K. 1985. Case Study Research: Design and Methods. London: Sage Kathmandu: CBS. Publication. ___ 1993. Population Census of Nepal, Vol. I, Part VII, Kathmandu; CBS. Durham, W.H. 1995. "Political Ecology and Environmental Destruction in Latin America". In Painter, M. and Durham, W.H. (eds.). The Social Causes and Environmental Destruction in Latin America. pp. 249-264 Ann. Arbor: University of Michigan Press. Escobar, Arturo. 1999. "After Nature: Steps to an Anti-essentialist Political Ecology". Current Anthropology, 40( 1): 1-30. Forde, Darryl C. (1934. Habitat, Economy and Society, New York: Dutton. Headland, Thomas N. 1997. "Revisionism in Ecological Anthropology". Current Anthropology, 38(4):605-630. Kroaber, Alfred. 1939. Culture and Natural Area of Native North America. Berkeley; University of California Press. Lowe, Peter. 200I. Kamaiya: Slavery and Freedom in Nepal. Kathmandu: Mandala Book Peint in Association with Danish Association for International Cooperation (MS Nepal). McDonaugh, Christina E.J.S. 1981. "The Tharu of Dang: A Study of Social Organization, Myth and Ritual in West Nepal". Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation. Oxford University. Ojha, Durga P. 1982. "Planned and Spontaneous Land Settlement in Nepal: A Study of Two Tarsi Settlements in Kanchanpur District." Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation. Cornell University. Notes to Contributors

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Tiwari, Sudarshan Raj. 2001. The Ancient Settlements of the Kathmandu Valley. Kathmandu:Centre for Nepal and Asian Studies, Tribhuvan University. Maliarjan, Pancha Narayan. 2000. "The Maoist Insurgency and Crisis of Govemability in Nepal." In Dhruba Kumar (ed.), Domestic Conflict and Crisis of Governability in lVepal. Kathmandu:Centre for Nepal and Asian Studies, Tribhuvan University, pp. 163-196. Khatri, Sridhar K. 2001. "Teaching of International Relations in Nepal." Contributions to A'epalese Studies. 28:2, pp 139-154. Shrestha, Bal Gopal. 2002. "The Ritual Composition of Sankhu: The Socio­ Religious Anthropology of a Newar Town in Nepal." Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis. Leiden University. Spelling should follow that of the Oxford English Dictionary. Authors are responsible for consistency in spelling. Words in other languages other than English should be in italics. Tables should be numbered with arabic numerals, have a brief title, and be referred to in the text. A copy of the journal should be consulted to see how tables are set up. Faotnotes in tables should be designated by symbols or superscript small italic letters. Descriptive material not designated by a footnote may be placed under a table as a Note. Each figure, drawing or photograph should fit into the area of I I x 16 em maximum. Captions should be in italics. Printedat: TribhuvanUniversityPress Kirtipur,Kathmandu,Nepal li1: 4331320,4331321