SERICULTURE AND THE PROCESS OF CHANGE
A SOCIO-CULTURAL STUDY OF A TAMIL NADU VILLAGE
A Thesis Submitted to the University of Mysore For the Award of the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In Development Studies
By SGREGORY
Supervisor GKKARANTH Professor and Head Sociology Unit
INSTITUTE FOR SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CHANGE Nagarbhavi, Bangalore - 560 072 INDIA
1997 INSTITUTE FOR SOCIAL ISEC AND ECONOMIC CHANGE
AN ALL INDIA INSTITUTE FOR INTER-DISCIPLINARY RESEARCH & TRAINING IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES SILVER JUBILEE YEAR 1996 - 97
CERTI FI( 'ATE
I hercby cl'rtit\ thai the prescnl ThesIs enlltkd Sericulture and Ihl' Procl'ss of Change A Socio-Cultural Study of A Tamil "'auu \'illage' is an independent rl'sl'arch of Shri S Gregory, PhD Ft:llow. Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalorc. carried out under mv guidance and supervision
I also certif)' that it has not prcviously formed the basis for award of any Degree. Diploma or Associate Fellowship of Mysore Univcrsity or any othcr University
/ I ( Professor ilTld Head. Sociolog, Ilnlt Institute for Social & Econrymir. rC",nQ8 Na1 ar Jbhavi rlangabra • 550 ry72
PHONE 3355468 3355592 3355519 GRAMS. ECOSOCI Bangalore - 560 040 FAX 91-080-3387008 INDIA Nagarbhavi PO. Bangalore - 560072 E- MAll: ssisecOren.nic in DECLARATION
I hereby declare that this Thesis entitled 'Sericulture and the Process of Change: A Soci I awe special thanks to Prof G K Karanth. who has been kind enough to guid me and offer me suggestions. for the present research I would also like to thank Mrs. Karanth and her daughters for having extended hospitality whenever I went to their home. I am very much grateful to the Institute for Social and Economic Change (lSEC) which has sheltered me for five long years as en employee and as a student. and provided me all infrastrocture and technical support without which. this thesis would not have seen the light of the day. My special thanks are due to its Director. Registrar. Library and Administrative staff, who extended all POSS/ ble help in the process ofmy thesis work. My special thanks are due to Mr. Sadanaluia. Mr. Krishna Murthy and Mr. Govinda Rao for their administrative help whenever the need arose. I had always been benefited by the comments and Intellectual contributions of ISEC faculty and from their kind inqulnes and encouragement. at different times during the course of my Ph D. work. I am thankful to all of them. I also thank ICSSRfor the interest shown in the pursuance of my Doctoral research I also would like to thank Dr. Ananda Bhanu. the Head of the Department of Anthropology. Karznur University Centre. ThaIassery. who has readily obliged my requests. especially dunng the last phase of my work I would also like to thank Prof C P Sivadman. the Head, Institute of English and Foreign Languages. Kannur University. who has always been an inspiration to me in all my works. My thanks are also due to the authorities ofKarznur University and Mysore University and the Staff at the Institute of Development Studies. for their help and cooperation I awe much to the Beneficiary Asses.<.ment Study of National Sericulture Project which facilitated me in undertaking the present research and completing it I must thank Prof M N Snnivas. whose discourses. in his capacity as the Chairman oflSEC and as the Chairman of the BA Study. I had been fortunate to listen to for a few times. though I was unlucky to benefit from any personal encounters with him. I would /ike to thank Dr. J Acharya. who had been kind enough to allow me to pursue the Doctoral research. and had extended all support and encouragement during the period of my research My special thanks are due to Shri K V GovlndaraJu. who had been a constant source of support and guidance to me throughout the period of my study. My thanks are also due to Prof G S Aurora and Dr. Anand Inbanathan who had been kind to me all along andfrom whose dispositions. I have benefited much I would also like to thank Dr. M N Narasimhanna. the Technical Consultant of the B A study for the jroitjul discussions and dialogues I had with him. I would also like to place on recordfor their intellectual inputs and interactions. Friends have always been a great strength to me in times ofjoy as well as during moments of deperession They are also a fine source offree discussion and an efficient mechanism offine tuning. I must place on record my gratefulness to Shri Krishnappa. Shri D V GopaJappa. Ms Sudhamani. Ms G Saraswathi. Ms N Manju/a, Shri Jeyashee/a, Shri VenkaUlkrishnan. Dr. Gayathri Devi, Dr. Mathiyazhagan, Shri S Mallick, Shri llagr. Dr. RaJerldran. Dr. Ramaswamy. Dr. Mahadeve. Dr. Vijaya LaksJuni .... and the list goes on Most of them were my colleagues during my stay at ISEC. My SpeCial thanks are due to Dr. P Pugazhendi and Shri P J Parameswarap[Xl for their company all thrO'.lgh and their help during the final stages of the thesis. I would also like to thank my friend Shri M Lingaraj, not only for his help in the preparation of the maps but also for his suppon during the final moments of the work. 1 also thank Ms Akila for her assistance in the final print out of the thesis. 1 wish 10 thank Shri. v.s. Parthasarathy, who has shown keen interest in the completion of my work and patiently gone through the draft, involving discussions and offering useful suggestions for improvement. My thanks are also due to my friend and colleague Dr. K V Surenciran, Institute for English and Foreign Languages, who readily sacrificed his time to go through the draft and make some final touches to the thesis. Whenever my computer refused to oblige and even went out of tune, 1 had been disposed to the kind service ofMr. Aron who used to readily respond to my request with urgency and reach out even at odd hours to set the things righl. My sincere thanks are due to him. This thesis would not have been possible but for the kind cooperation, generous hospitality and warm friendship of the numerous people in the field. I could hardly repay my debt to them except by reciprocating through my life-long friendship to them. 1 am gratejullO all of them, especially Mr. Che!V1appan, Mr. Thangaraj, Mr. Sundara Rajan, Mr. Mathesh, Mr. Marappan, Mr. Mohan and Mr. Sadasivam 10 mention only a few. I should also thank the officials of the Department of Senculture, Tamil Nadu, and of the Central Silk Board, who had always been very cooperative and willing to extend every possible help required during the period of my research I always believe that I am abundantly blessed by my father who orphaned me early at my infancy without even a trace of his face left to me to recolkct. I must place on record the memories of my beloved mother, the news of whose departure came to me ao; a shock ao; 1 stepped out after completing the last paper of my Pre-Ph D exams. A mother who herselfwao; unlettered andyet could be both a father and a mother to me, deserves a life long dedication rather than mere gratitude. My obeisance to both my father and mother. I must also thank my five sisters and two brothers at whose struggle and sweat 1 have grown. The Jesuit Society had been my second home under whose care and guidance I had spent eight years of my adulthood For all my spiritual, intellectual and even my physical growth, I owe a lot to the Society. 1 also gratejully remember all my teachers and friends who had played a crocial role in moulding my life since my childhood. Lastly, 1 place on record, my loving gratitude to my beloved wife Jancy Francis and my daughter Jovitha G. Preethi, whose struggle and inspiration has been very much part of my thesis. They both jOined me in undergoing the travails of village life during the period of my fieldwork and that struggle has continued all through, in seeing the completion of the thesis. SGREGORY CONTENTS Page No. LIST OF TABLES C~ I ~7RODUCTIO~ 1 C~ II TIIE FIELD AND TIIE PEOPLE 39 C~ ill LAND AND ECONOMIC DIVERSIFICATION 63 C~ IV SERICUL TURE PROCESS: A PROFILE 80 CHAPTER V LABOUR RELATIONS, STRATEGIES AND PROSPECTS 122 CHAPTER VI FAMILY AND GENDER RELATIONS 144 CHAPTER VII SOCIO-ECONOMIC MOBILITY AND CHANGING VALUES 183 CHAPTER XIII SOCIAL RELATIONS AND NElWORKS 216 CHAPTER. IX SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS: SERICULTURE, DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE 236 REFERENCES 256 APPENDIXES 266 LIST OF TABLES Table No. Title Page No. 2.1: Distribution of Population by Age, Sex and Marital Status 45 2.2 Distribution of Households by Family Size 47 2.3: Distribution of Households by Community and Family Types 49 2.4 Literacy Status and Educational Anainment 52 3 1: Activity Profile and Dependency Ratio of the Population by Land-holding Status and Sex 71 3.2: Sources of Household Income (per cent) 77 3.3: Agriculture as a source of Cash Income and of Subsistence 77 4. 1: Distribution of Households by Land-holding, Inigation and Sericulture Status across Communities 88 4.2: Distribution of Landholders by Land-Size Class and Inigation and Sericulture Status 88 4.3. Distribution of Sericulture Household Members by Age, Sex and Marital Status 92 4.4 Activity Profile of the Sericulturists 93 4.5 Intensity of Sericulture Participation by Male and Female Work-force across Age and Educational Status 95 4.6 Land Size, Scale and Labour Use across Different Productivity Levels 99 4.7 Productivity, Land Size, Scale and Labour Use Across Family Types, Castes and Land-size Classes JOO 5 1 . Labour absorption in different Crops and in Sericulture by Sex and Labour Status 133 6.1: Distribution of Sericulture Households by Family Types 149 6.2. ~umber of Working Adults in Sericulture Households across Family Types by Sex and Relationship to the Head 154 6.3 Distribution of Work Force in Sericulture Households by Relationship to the Head and the Intensity of Sericulture Participation 158 6.4 Relationship Status of the Main Sericulturists To the Head of the Household 158 6.5 Level of participation ofSericulture Women in different Activities 170 6.6 Intensity of Sericulture Participation of Women by their Relationship To the Main Sericulturists 170 6.7 Labour involvement across Different Rearing Activities at Different Phases of Rearing 173 LIST OF MAPS Map No. Page No. 2 I Location of Study Villages in Tamil Nadu 40 22 Village Map of Seripura 41 2.3 Settlement Map of Seripura 42 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Socio-cultural anthropology, till a few decades ago, was preoccupied mainly with the study of 'pre-literate' societies ,for valid reasons. These societies presented the simplest form of culture, a microcosm of human life. The so-called 'primitive' societies also presented a holistic and homogeneous JIDit of the complex human culture. With the coming of Independence to more colonial countries, and more and more students from the newly independent nations becoming interested ill anthropological studies, its scope has considerably changed. In the process of this change, while the methodological device of Anthropology has sustained to its acclaimed advantage, its subject matter has attained its natural expansion. Scholars, especially from India, in the fifties were the pioneers in such a change of approach. The methodology of social anthropology has not only been adopted in the study of their own culture and people, but also become an instrument in assisting the governments through their studies ill implementing the development programmes meant for the welfare of society and the people. In the process, today, anthropological approach has found a place in all development programmes whether they are sponsored internally or by international agencies. Such a change has arisen out of the increasing realisation that human factor is the prime force in the process of development and change. Development and change have become the essential features of modem society. There are four phases identified, in the evolution of the concept . development' (Dube 1989b). In the first phase, the concept essentially meant economic development. In the second phase, there was a keen realisation of, and in consequence, an emphasis on the relationship between economic development and social change. There was a feeling that the institutional factors came in the way of economic development and technological change. Thus, there was a contemplation to modify the institutional framework of society and alter the attitudes and values to facilitate and accelerate the process of economic development. It was also in the same phase that the modernisation paradigm had emerged and become popular in the 1950s and 60s. According to Varma (1989), the emphasis in modernisation approach, as waswadually realised, was too much on material gains and very little on psychic satisfaction. The third phase was characterised by reaction and response to the earlier phase. There was a sharp reaction to earlier inadequate paradigms of development and modernisation and a positive response to a more successful praxis of development. There was a realisation at this phase, that finding fault with tradition and social structure for slow growth, provides only a partial explanation and so, it was inadequate and unacceptable. There was also a feeling that the question of unequal development was essentially a creation of the unequal distribution of power. There was a disenchantment with growth-centred development and an emergence of human-centred development. The call was for a greater involvement of the common people in the planning process, for evolving effective strategies geared to meet the basic needs, for human resource mobilisation and for human capital formation. There were also powerful currents of rethinking development, generated by the new environment and energy consciousness. In essence, the concepts of alternative development had been the by-products of this reaction and response. The fourth is a reflective phase, born out of a felt-need for a 2 new International economic order. In the emerging context, there was a realisation to tilt the economic growth, towards equality and social justice. Thus, the term 'development' has undergone a progressIve change and corne to imply a set of complex dimensions. In Sinha's (1989) view, development is the maximisation of employment (in terms of productive occupation rather than formal wage earning), increasing income generation by the poor and an improvement in the quality of life for all. According to Varma.. it is a result of hwnan action, only through which reorientation of any development process becomes possible. For him, development itself is a continuous process, requiring constant response and continuous solutions. In his opinion, development IS basically a study of social change - a change from one socie.y to another, as one might call it, from tradition to modernity (1989:34). Development involves 'deliberate attempts to alter hwnan interaction with the natural and built environment - through innovations in agriculture, new energy-exploitation and conversion, the construction of modem transportation systems, improvement in housing, and so on' (Chambers 1985: 26, 81). Naik (1993) cautions against the tendency of equating rural development with the urbanisation of rural areas. For him, the crust of development is that people living in the rural areas develop the capability to live. There are basically two approaches that anthropology employs in the study of development. These are implied in the specialisation of its branches, namely, Development Anthropology and Anthropology of Development. Simon Charsley (1982; 1990) has elaborately dealt with., 3 on the distinctiveness of these two specialisations. The former has a reference to improve the quality of people's lives. On the other hand, the latter deals with that sphere of human activity which Anthropology may investigate on its own terms as it does with economic, political and religious spheres, etc. In other words, the former provides an expertise for practical purposes while the latter is a theoretical science of practice. Ultimately, this distinction is not to erect a barrier against 'the mutual relevance of studies made under one banner' but only to focus on the 'distinct perspectives' (Charsley 1990:204). In essence, both perspectives are complementary and both involve in enhancing the understanding and in essence, improving the conditions of human existence. The present study focuses on one of the leading agro-industries in rural development, namely, sericulture. The analysis involves the dual perspectives of Anthropology in development as outlined above. An effort is made here to identify the process of development and change that the rural India has been experiencing in the past decades. This would take the present research into the core of the problem by looking into its significance and the research gaps. Stating the objectives of the research, an effort is also made to provide a theoretical perspective and the methodological framework. Rural Development and Change The advent of the British to India, in spite of its adverse effects, had also been accompanied by a series of progressive development measures, causing radical changes to the Indian society, in general, and 4 to the rural society, in particular. The changes became much more rapid since Independence. With most Indian population living in villages, rural development assumed immense significance right from the time of Independence. A policy of deliberate socio-economic development began with vast consequences in village India (Ishwaran 1970b: 1). An attempt is made here to identifY the various factors that have been operating in the change processes of rural India, especially in the post Independent era. The nature of changes is also looked into by locating the various aspects of change. In the process, the emerging theoretical perspective of change comes into focus, forming the basis for the present research. Factors of Change: The rapid changes in rural India could be attributed to many factors, which have been associated with the deliberate development measures of the Government. Some of the development measures that have been initiated in the past few decades concern the following: • land refonns and green revolution; • labour intensive and labour distributive enterprises like animal husbandry and cottage and agro industries; • extensive networks of transport and communication; • welfare services including education, health and sanitation, family planning and housing, and • special welfare programmes, for the weaker sections including women, SCs, STs and the backward classes. The new revenue system, introduced by the British India, superseded the traditional right of the village coastes over the village land. It led to the transformation of land relations. After independence, the Indian government has been initiating a series of land reform measures. The objective of the government land policy has been to 5 remove all impediments on the increased agricultural production. This necessitated the removal of all elements of exploitation and social injustice within the agrarian system. It also necessitated to ensure equality of tenurial status and opportunity to all sections of the rural population. The government sought to achieve this by the following measures (Government of India 1974:41): • abolishing all inter-mediary interests between the state and the tiller of the soil; • regulating the rent; • conferring on the tenants the security of tenure and eventually the ownershi p rights; • imposing ceiling on agriculture holdings; • distributing surplus lands among the landless agricultural labourers and small holders; and • consolidation of the holding. There were also measures to maintain a mmunum level of agricultural wages (Karanth 1995:25). All these land reform measures might not have achieved the intended results in entirety. Yet, these have led to a considerable impact on the rural society and contributed ill bringing radical changes in the life of the rural people. Another significant factor in the development of rural India is the green revolution. It is a result of a package of four measures. These include the use of high yielding varieties of seeds. increased use of fertiliser. improved water supplies and better agricultural practices. With the initiation of agranan revolution, there emerged the commercialisation of agriculture. Resorting to cash crops by the farmers. as a result of Green revolution and of advanced and scientific methods of cultivation, has become an increasingly common phenomenon in most parts of Indian villages. There are conflicting views, about the effects of this process on rural people (see Sen 1970). Its occurrence itself, for 6 instance, is reported to have been confined to only small pockets in different parts of India (Aggarwal 1971:2365). It has been claimed that the advent of green revolution has proletarianised and pauperised the small peasants and agricultural labourers while the rich farmers increasingly became capitalists (Oommen 1984: 104). There have been similar observations of polarisation and tensions as well as conflicts and contradictions as a result of green revolution (see, e.g., Frankel 1971; Mencher 1974; 1978; Sen 1970; Singh and Singh 1975). Yet., there is hardly any dispute over its change impact on rural society. The impact of new technology on agrarian relations, as a result of green revolution, has been found to be strengthening the argument of change and continuity (Karanth 1995). Live-stock production practices ill India are not only labour intensive but also labour-distributive and rural in nature. The National Commission on Agriculture (GOI 1977, as quoted by Madan 1983:221), has identified its promotion especially through the weaker sections in the rural areas to serve as a major instrument of social change. In recent decades, the cottage and agro-industries have been receiving vital importance in the industrial policies of independent India. As they are labour intensive, they provide many employment opportunities for the rural population who experience seasonal or disguised unemployment. Khadi, tanning, handicrafts, match-making, silk and coir are some of the industries, which drew the attention of the plarmers. The growth of these industries has given a promise of a better future for the village population, with an increasing standard of living and, directly or indirectly, a transformed way oflife and outlook. 7 Introduction of modem means of transport and communIcation helped in bringing the remotest villages into a single national entity. The railways and modem roads helped the penetration of India, by the industrial products of the modem society; thereby breaking the 'economic autarchy' of the village. They made the agricultural production marketable. They also became a formidable force in unifying the Indian people and removing their social distance (Desai 1984.130-1). The growth of communication and broad-casting is an integral element in the economic and technological advance of the country equipping even the remote villages with all modem amenities. In this process, the rural masses have been undergoing significant changes in their perceptions and way of life. The welfare servIces such as education, health and sanitation, family planning, housing and the special welfare programmes for the women, SCs, STs and the backward classes, have all manifested variable impact on the people, depending on their level of exposure and disposition of the target groups to these programmes. There has also been a transition from its traditional and well-defined village power structure to a national governance with representative power structure, through the exercise of universal franchise. There are increasing efforts in recent years, towards its greater realisation and it has been a major consideration in the political developments of the post independent India. Co-operative efforts at the village level and caste participation in the development programmes have been receiving prominence, with the help of the Panchayati Raj institutions and co-operatives. 8 Industrialisation and greater employment opportunities in urban centres have contributed in extending the limited traditional networks of caste, kinship and village affiliation to a wider friendship, bureaucratic, occupational and political interactions. This has helped in greater diffusion of information, ideas, values and life-style. All these have brought about significant changes in the life of the rural masses. Thus, social Change has manifested itself to be multi-factored, multi-dimensional and multi-motivated process (Ishwaran 1970b). One single factor alone cannot explain the change phenomenon of rural India. It involves both extrinsic and intrinsic factors, the mutual reinforcement of which provides a favourable condition for effective change. It also involves wider processes beyond the village. Since independence, as Ishwaran perceives, the rate of change and its scope have gone up dramatically and its direction and contents have taken a revolutionary turn. Which areas of village society, then, are undergoing change? For him no important area of social existence has escaped the process of change though its receptivity by different aspects in different areas may vary (1970a: 7-17). There is also a possibility of varying responses to the change situations. These are due to the general traits of a given group as well as to the combination of them, with the varying realities and tradition (Eisenstadt 1970: 22). Further, the different aspects in the life of the people are not isolated segments that one can locate changes in one, without any reflection of the same on the other. These are all so neatly interwoven that any change in one aspect has its repercussions in others too. This is clear from Ishwaran's study (1970b:93) of Mallur village, which shows that the changes studied are important not merely in themselves but also as causes for further change in social 9 relationships. Nevertheless, each factor has a variable impact in different areas of life. It would be worth looking into some of the vital aspects of rural change to see the type of changes taking place in rural India, with various factors in operation. Aspects of Change: The rural changes that have been taktng place in the last few decades have their impact on different social institutions. These are reflected in the standard of living, shaking of stratificational rigidity, social status and interactional networks Moreover, such changes also reflect a mutual bearing at the individual as well as at the societal levels. However, the nature of changes is varied as they are related to various factors. Independent India has envisaged an advanced, prosperous, democratic, egalitarian and just society as implied in its proclamation of a 'socialist pattern of development'. However, the Government of India (1974) had recognised, in its Draft Fifth Five Year Plan, the existence of poverty as being incompatible with this vision (Madan 1983: 300). As a result, eradication of poverty became a prime target of all rural-oriented programmes. There was a realisation about the inter-link of unemployment, poverty and inequality. There was also a belief that any success in solving one would imply some success in solving the other. The aspiration to economic improvement is common among the people and the studies on different Indian villages have recognised this factor (Ishwaran 1970a: 14). For example, Elder's study of Rajpur village shows that change cannot become effective unless people perceive it to be economically acceptable. This is evident from the cases of decreasing jajmani relationships with a corresponding increase in the alternative 10 means of economic survival (1970:121;126). Many traditional roles of service castes have also undergone changes by acquiring more temporary contractual nature. He attributes this to modern technology and transport that make it feasible for both poor and middle class people to resort to more impersonal services (Mencher 1970:208-9). The labour-intensive cottage and agro-industries as well as the livestock industries along with the green revolution, have also caused significant economic changes in the life of the rural masses. In short, the village India is exposed, today, to a market and wider economy, different from the traditional subsistence and autarchic economy. The economic capability of the people has been steadily increasing, thus enabling them to raise their standard of living and further aspiring for better living comforts. The rigid and traditional barriers of caste are breaking gradually if not radically. In the words of Mencher (1970: 199), it is being drastically remodelled. It assumes new shapes with the increasing possibility of greater opening for occupational mobility and varied job opportunities in the new set-up. While there is a process of Sanskritisation taking place in the lower sections of the strata, there is a process of Westernisation, engulfing the higher strata (Srinivas 1962:42). There is also a class consciousness emerging with a struggle for an improved way oflife (Dube 1955:57-8). Motivated by the ideal of equality, a definite change has been discerned among the lower caste groups (Gough 1970). The whole process that started with Sanskritisation is being replaced, today, with the modern political channel of election and ideological mobilisation. The taboos on inter marriage and inter-dining as well as the rules relating to ritual pollution, 11 however, are as strong as ever, though a leniency has been noticed in the penalties attached to pollution, as compared to the past (Mencher 1970:212). Thus, the tradition-bound social stratification of the village society is giving way to economic stratification due to the materialistic orientation and impact of the social factors. Education, occupational mobility, common means of transport, new political ideology and the scope for individual initiatives and wider social networks are some of the factors that contribute to this situation. There is an increase in the social status of the weaker sections, as a result of the various legal and political measures undertaken by the government and the protective discrimination envisaged in the constitution. This increase in status, however, is more at the individual level than at the group level. The status of women is finding its expression with the initiation of various government programmes and with an increasing social consciousness of past discriminations. Today, there is a greater recognition of women's productive contribution to the welfare of the society. Moreover, women have increasingly started involving in productive employment to demonstrate their economic potentiality. There are many studies that have brought out the change impact in this respect. For example, Palakshappa' s study on the social and economic implication of dairy development identifies an increase in the status of women especially of lower caste families. They have found an alternative occupation in dairy farming to the domestic services in the upper caste households and to the wage labour in the fields (1982:34). There is also a gradual change over the years, in the ties of family, kinship and village affiliations, which, in the past, were confmed 12 to a region of small geographical area (Beals 1970:68). Indeed, an inverse relationship has been observed between the opportunity for profit and the ties of extended kinship (Epstein 1979). As compared to the limited interaction of the people in the traditional village set-up, the interactional network today has gone beyond the regional and sometimes even national boundaries. In the early years, both migration and marriage were confined to a relatively small geographical area, which has been gradually changing over the years (Beals 1970: 68). There is an increasing interconnection between villages, through marriages, political alliances, caste and family ties and economic connections. Mascarenus identifies a close link between the urban centres and the countryside due to the commercialisation of dairying. He further claims that daily development has achieved a breakthrough in cutting across all sections of the village and allows everyone to participate, irrespective of caste, creed or sex (1988:209). With more urban-rural contacts, there is change in needs and fashion (Madan 1983: 26). Thus, there is a transition today, from the limited traditional networks of caste, kinship and village affiliations to a wider friendship, bureaucratic, occupational and political interactions. The emerging networks of interaction have become often handy to personal advantage or to gain influence as well as serve to transmit information and to secure things that would be otherwise unavailable (Beals 1970:69-72). Education., industrialisation., greater employment opportunities in urban centres and better means of transport and communication are some of the factors that have contributed to this transition. These have also lead to a greater diffusion of information., ideas, values and life-style. 13 The process of social change embraces not only the wider society but also the individuals as well, who too undergo a transfonnation in personality, behaviour, values, and outlook. As against the subjected individual of the traditional village, the modem individual emerges as a person in his own right and asserts his individuality in the changing scenario. This comes out clearly in the disintegration of joint families and in the rise of individual initiatives. The new job opportunities, greater exposure to wider world and the emergence of cash economy have all caused significant changes in the personality of the individuals. Even dairying has been identified as shaping the individuals by its disciplined work nature (Mascarenhas 1988: 211). The social change itself is viewed as emerging out of the individual actions, wherein the isolated actions of an aggregate of individuals produce conditions of exigency for such changes (Oommen 1984:25). Change and Continuity: While change has become an inevitable part of modem life, the factor of continuity has necessarily been a part of the developing society, thus displaying its dynamic equilibrium. In the process, serious alterations and modifications occur, resulting in the continuous reshaping and re-integration of the cultural set-up. People, most of the time, base their decisions on experience and tradition. Moulick (1975:13) talks of 'the Weberian notion', which finds the 'traditional' nature of the Indian peasants as one of the important reasons for the resistance to change. Referring to Singer (1956), Srinivas (1958:6) and Karve (1958:7), Moulick states that the backwardness of Indian peasants has often been explained by traditional attitudes. Values have been identified as playing an important role in detennining the 14 people's attitudes towards Community Development programmes and in organising various activities (Madan 1983 :402) Some of the development progranunes, fail to get people's acceptance and are shelved. This is mainly due to the lack of proper assessment of the 'adaptive preparedness' of the people (Mascarenhas 1988: 19) before the initiation of the programmes. Thus, any change or innovation., desired or initiated, assumes social significance only when it is compatible or acceptable within the value framework and beliefs of a given society; it either automatically fits into the existing pattern of beliefs and values or is reinterpreted to get the sanction of the people. Acceptance of, or exposure to, one factor may initiate a chain of changes in the entire pattern of beliefs and values, shaping the social behaviour of the people. The resulting changes may not always be uniform. This is evident from Epstein's study (1979) of two Karnataka Villages, in which she observes a differential impact in the process of change, from subsistence to cash economy. One village has remained as a discrete agricultural economy while the other, with its increased urban employment, has integrated itself with the regional economy, She also notices a differential change in the economic roles of wives. In one village, the wives assume a new status criterion while there is a reinforcement of the existing one in the other, as it is not incompatible with the new situation. Reinterpretation of an innovation becomes easier when it is able to demonstrate its economic value. People accept some programmes without much resistance when such programmes contribute to the material prosperity of the household (Madan 1983: 402). Many authors 15 have recognised this growmg evidence of economic rationality. For instance, Mascarenhas identifies a process of reconciliation by way of economic rationality m the fundamental conflict between the technocratic approach of dairying and Hindu values (1988:207-8). J.S.Uppal's (1986:31) observation too confirms this trend. Extensive studies on rural development have convinced Morris (1981) to assert that those programmes that offer low risks, viable and substantial benefits and access to regular cash income readily find people's acceptance. It has also been observed that an exposure to the commercialisation of dallying and thereby to cash economy, could lead people to adopt new methods and technology even at the cost of old values (Mascarenhas 1988:209). Thus, economic rationalisation of beliefs and values is a common phenomenon today. This is mainly due to the radical exposure of the people to modem values and ideals. However, there could be a differential response sometimes for a single factor because of the operation of other factors. For example, Epstein (1979) illustrates through her study of two villages, how the prestige values significantly differ between them, in spite of their exposure to cash economy. G.K. Karanth (1995:24-7) cites Gusfield (1967) and Rudolf and Rudolf (1967) as showing that tradition and modernity coexist in India and elsewhere. He himself then presents how while some changes do occur in agrarian relations as a result of new technology and of commercial crop, traditional agrarian relations continue in some form or another. After analysing the studies of various authors, reproduced in his edited volume, Ishwaran (1970) could confidently state that the village society is dynamic enough to assess itself without serious institutional 16 dislocations. In his opmlOn, the process of modernisation need not necessarily mean an abrupt breach into tradition. For him, it is rather a process of social change in which the traditional institutions become peacefully modified to usher in a new life of hope for the villages. Thus, the process of change and continuity emerges as a characteristic feature of the rural social change in India. Significance of the Present Study As evident from· the various studies, discussed in the previous section, there has been multi-dimensional factors, operating in the rural scenario, transforming the life of the rural masses. However, these have not ensured a better standard of living for all sections of the rural society. Not all planned efforts to improve the quality of rural life have achieved the intended results. This is because, the development strategies in the early decades of planning, have responded mainly to the economic concerns alone, without giving much attention to the socio cultural basis of the rural people. There has been a growing awareness in recent decades, that the development strategies would hardly benefit the rural masses unless such strategies reflect the socio-cultural concerns of the people and respond to the ground realities of rural life. To evolve the planning strategies in the right direction and for identifying the right targets, a proper and better understanding of the process of rural social change is necessary. Thus, a socio-cultural study of the rural society and of its changing process, especially in the context of a development strategy becomes crucial and assumes significance. 17 Agnrlndustry and Development - The Case of Sericulture: In spite of various development measures and the consequent changes in nu'al life, combating the twin problems of rural poverty and unemployment continued to remain a major task for the planners and implementers. There was a shift during the mid seventies in the main thrust of rural development, the focus of which became creating large-scale opportunities for productive employment. The hope was that this would raise the level of income of the less privileged among the rural population through increased production (GOl 1977: 84-85). In the early years of rural planning, agriculture alone became the major focus of such efforts. There has been a realisation in recent decades that land alone could not provide a livelihood to the increasing population. There was also a recognjtion that the urban areas could not go on accommodating the migrant rural population. Consequently, the rural development assumed a widening scope, to include all aspects of rural land, society and economy. The hopes of the planners rested on village industries that can I.:ontribute to employment and meet the developmental objectives (Sharan 1984: 145). This strategy has led to the emergence and prominence of labour intensive and labour distributive enterprises like animal husbandry and cottage and agro-industries. These llldustries have readily become effective alternatives not only in fighting the problems of poverty and unemployment but also in achieving the equity objectives. Sericulture is one of the labour- intensive, agro-based cottage industries that has been attracting considerable rural population, especially in South India, in recent years. Its high remuneration with less investment, rich dividends and frequent attractive returns throughout the 18 year has made it a hot favourite of the rural population in certain pockets of the country. It also plays a vital role in transferring the wealth from the richer sections of society to the poorer sections and from the urban to the rural areas. Sericulture is an ancient industry in India, dating back to second century B.C. It has passed through periods of great prosperity as well as decline. After a brief slump, subsequent to the second world war, it entered, again, into a period of prosperity since 1945. In the last two decades, it has taken a rapid stride towards progress. Since then, it has really come of age, poising for a great leap forward. Sericulture is an enterprise that involves the process of silk production, starting from mulberry cultivation to weaving, with the inter-phases of silk-worm rearing, silk reeling and silk twisting. There are different varieties of silk. The major ones, known world-wide, include mulberry, tassar, eri and muga. However, mulberry silk alone accounts for about 95 per cent of the world production of natural silk (1\aik and Babu 1993: 13). India has the unique distinction of being the only country in the world, culturing all the four varieties of silk. Here again, the mulberry silk alone accounts for nearly ninety per cent of the total raw silk production in the country, according to the estimation in 1990-1991 (Tbid:6). India ranks second among the silk producing countries with 16 per cent of the total world raw silk production. Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Jammu and Kashmir and West Bengal are the traditional sericulture states. These states alone account for almost 99 per cent of the total mulberry raw silk production in India (CSB 1992:2). Under the National Sericulture Project (NSP), initiated in 19 1989, with the fmancial assistance from Swiss Development Co operation and W orid Bank, sericultme is being extended today to almost all the states of India. Sericulture presently provides whole time and part time employment to about five-and-a-half million persons in rural areas of the country, especially to the weaker sections of the society. Out of 6.29 lakh villages in India, sericultme is practised in about 59,000 villages (CSB 1992:4). As the present area for mulberry being just 0.15 per cent of the tota! cultivated land in India, Sinha (1989:159) visualises a high growth potential for sericulture. He also feels that it could be increased substantially without affecting the essential food crop cultivation. Thus, sericultme offers high potential to serve as one of the effective alternatives in poverty alleviation and rural development. Socio-Cultural Significance of Sericulture and Research Gaps: According to Sinha (1989: 157), within the available sources of literature on silk production, systematic infonnation on the socio-economic dimensions of the activity, is lacking. While this is so, studies on the socio-cultural aspects of the activity, that is so significant in the process of development, are hardly discerned. Cultural factors are often considered 'very difficult or too abstract to measure', and so, 'largely ignored in development programmes' (Coletta 1990:87) The booklet Literature on Sericulture, brought out by the Karnataka State Sericultme Development Institute (KSSDI) in 1990 includes, apart from a list of serial publications, a list of 77 books, 86 M Sc. and PGDS Dissertations and 31 Doctoral Theses, Of these, there are only seven works, under the book section, that have got some relevance 20 to social significance of sericub.IIe. Even among these works, the cultural perspective does not come out significantly, except for Charsley's (1982) work Culture and Sericulture. In this context, it is worth noting the Beneficiary Assessment Studies of the National Sericulture Project, in all the traditional sericulture states, covenng almost all aspects of sericulture with policy orientation. There have been efforts to publish some of the studies of this project (e.g., Acharya 1993; 1994). Global Silk Scenario - 2001 (Ganguly 1996) is a collection of the Proceedings of the International Conference on Sericulture -- 94, brought out by the Central Silk Board., covering all aspects of sericulture. With these notable few exceptions, Cultural perspective of sericulture is still dormant. The available studies with socio-economic perspective mainly focus on the economic aspects of income-employment, technology and production-conswuption paradigm rather than the impact on the socio cultural institutions and agrarian relations. Nevertheless, even such studies become useful in the extrication and analysis of the socio cultural factors of sericulture. There are studies that have established the large scale employment and the high yield potential of sericulture (e.g., Hanumappa 1986b; Rajpurohit and Govindaraju 1986). The employment potential of sericulture is reinforced by the fact that most of the silk production activities are all in informal sector and menial in nature. For this reason, about 90 per cent of their employment go either to the landless or to the marginal farming families that hire out their labour, or to the sericulture families (Sinha 1989). 21 There are quite a few studies that have focused on the technological aspects of sericulture. Sharan (1984) strongly pleads for a better and suitable technology and the transfer of the same at the field level. He also cautions about the limits of automation that may take away its employment potentiality. Sinha (1989: 160) looks at the social implications when he is sceptical about the technological changes in sericulture requiring significant capital investment and thereby becoming a disadvantage for those who cannot invest. Realising the failure of Indian efforts in producing quality silk to compete in the world market, Sharan (1984) suggests to explore the feasibility of making non-mulberry silk more competitive. Sinha (1989; 1990) discerns the prospects for Indian silk, in the light of a substantial import of raw silk, declining production in Japan and Korea and of the indications of stagnancy in China, despite a growing world market. Sericulture has got a high socio-cultural significance for rural society. Studies on socio cultural aspects are scanty. Even the few studies available have only a limited coverage of the cultural aspects. One of the notable contributions in this area, as has already been mentioned, is that of Charsley (1982). The main focus of his study is on the policy formulations and the gaps that exist between the propounded policies and the field situation vis-a-vis the development of the industry. G.K. Karanth (1995) has looked into some of the continuities of agrarian relations, in the context of sericulture. Nanavathy (1990) and Sharan ( 1984) touch upon the traditional beliefs in sericulture. Sericulture is primarily a household activity. The technological requirement in sericulture and changes in social institutions consequent 22 to the adoption of sericulture may often lead to different hypothetical situations and divergent processes that run in opposite directions. For example, while the intensive labour requirement may lead to higher drop-outs from schools, improvement in economic status may lead to higher enrolment in schools. Likewise, a commercial enterprise like sericulture may lead to nuclearisation of households but the need for more and more labour may necessitate to opt for extended families. Moreover, Sericulture is an on-fann as well as an off-fann activity, stretching throughout the year and requiring specialised labour attentiveness. For this reason, it could restrict the participants from attending to the social gatherings and wider social interactions. On the other hand., the commercial nature of sericulture could provide a better scope for wider interaction. Emergence of new roles and status position may alter the interactional dynamics and value orientation of the people. The marital and kin-ties could sometimes serve as a means in the percolation of sericulture information. Such a pattern of differential impact needs an examination to asses the direction in which changes occur in reality. G.K. Karanth's (J 995: 112-13) observation shows an increased female participation in sericulture. He also takes note of the belief of the people that the contact of the menstrual women, affects the growth of the worms and results in the total failure of the crop. As the women have to perform the double task of domestic and productive labour, Irene Tom (1989) fmds an unequal division of labour in favour of men. Thus, women's contribution towards productive labour, their work recognition, and the effect of these on their position and status, are of crucial importance in today's context in any socio-cultural study. 23 Sericulture involvement may compel one to develop greater or lesser interaction with other households of the village. A specific kind of relationship develops, in the context of sericulture, in view of its regular labour requirements, informational exchange, and sericulture inter dependency. The better economic standard could alter the pattern of traditional obligations and value system. Karanth notes of the creation of a specialised class of labourers and the emergence of new roles in the context of sericulture. He also notices an increased demand for the services of artisans. Another significant factor underlined in his study is the increased interaction with the neighbouring villages, both in terms of frequency and of purpose, following the advent of sericulture. Some of the continuities he notices are of the jajmani relations with some service castes, interdependence of farmers and labourers and the enduring relationship between female labourers and Land-owners (1995: 129-154). Sericulture offers extensive opportunities for the main participants to go out of the village and interact with the wider world. In the process, they interact with officials and with their counterparts from different regions, apart from their exposure to urban centres. In availing the credit facilities, attending training programmes and acquiring the technical knowledge, they have the opportunity to interact with a number of bureaucrats and government personnel. Further, the activity as such expects the rearers to make appropriate and crucial decisions, at various occasions in the process, demanding strict regularity and discipline. All these have a strong influence and impact on the attitudes and values of the individuals. A clear understanding of all these aspects could help in better planning and implementation of such and similar programmes and in grasping the functioning of social processes. 24 As discussed earlier, any new technology or innovation becomes adopted or rejected, depending on its compatibility with the existing pattern of beliefs and values. The traditional outlook of the people has sometimes come in the way of adoption of sericulture and some of its technological innovations. (Sharan 1984: 11,46). Simon Charsley finds that the success or failure of the production processes in sericulture is always believed to be a matter of the individual's fate. He also finds the pervasive influence of some of the traditional institutions like caste playing an important role in the adoption of a new agro-based activity. F or example, he comes across instances where the dominant castes do not allow the officials of sericulture department belonging to lower castes from entering their houses (1982: 94-5, 108). Sericulture has also come to have closer association with some of the ritualistic aspects. Nanavathy, for instance, has recorded some of the ritualistic aspects related to sericulture, in different countries. In south India, the farmers rear the silkworms with god-fearing devotion and considers them sacred. No stranger can enter the rearing part of the house and none with shoes on (1990: 66). Here, the hygienic significance of sericulture has come to reinforce the ritualistic orientation of the people. The sericulture adoption has suffered in some instances because of its perceived health implications. In some other instances, work intensity and its implications of social constraints have contributed to its non-adoption. Beliefs of purity and pollution have its implications on the nature of women's involvement in the activity. All these have an influence on the process of decision-making at various levels, in the adoption of sericulture and its practices. The extent of these beliefs and values, their dynamic process and implication requires deeper study. So, 25 a better understanding and analysis of these aspects in the context of sericulture become crucial. The available literature provides a scope for rich and vast areas of issues that require an empirical examination, in the context of sericulture. Research Problem and Objectives Based on the review of some of the available literature on sericulture and issues raised, the problem of the present research may be formulated thus: What is the impact of sericulture on the rural social and cultural institutions and social relations? With this broad question ill mind, the study proposes to examine the following objectives: 1. To identify the pattern of the occupational and agricultural diversification in the context of sericulture and of its impact upon labour relations. New developmental avenues including sericulture are transforming the traditional agricultural set-up and subsistence economy into a diversified occupational set-up and commercialised economy. In this context, the study attempts to explore the extent of economic diversification; it captures the dynamics of sericulture as practised in the village. In the light of all these, the study explores the labour implications and prospects within the framework of sericulture in the village. 2. To assess the impact of sericulture upon family and its internal dynamics and gender relations. The new agro-based cottage industry might have caused certain changes in the basic social institution of family, concerning authority and gender relations. The study focuses on the nature of such relations as well as on the manner in which the institution of family is adapting itself to the new situations. 26 3. To study the impact of sericulture on different sections of rural population and assess the mobility status with special reference to the weaker sections. Concerning this objective, the study aims at examining the nature of, as well as the opportunities and constraints for social mobility, with special reference to the weaker sections. It also examines the social consequences of the transition of a primarily subsistence-oriented economy to a market-oriented economy, concerning changes in socio-cultural values and beliefs. 4. To study the type of changes in the mutually interdependent traditional relations and the nature of social networks in the context of sericulture. Regarding the above objective, the study examines the interactional situations and network relations among individuals and households, both within and across caste, family, kinship and village identities. These objectives thus comprise several inter-related issues. In seeking answers to them, the study finds it necessary to examine family, kinship and caste dimensions, at different levels in the process of analysis. Conceptual Fonnulations and Research Focus In carrying out the above stated objectives, the research involves certain concepts, the meanings and the operational implications of which need to be clearly stated. These mainly concern family, socio-economic mobility, and value dynamics and social and network relations. Family: Family is an institution that has been highly subjected to socio-anthropological investigation (Oube 1974; Kolenda 1986). However, in understanding the structure of family, it is important to comprehend it through classification of family types. The typology that 27 IS widely used at present in researches is too simplistic and less comprehensive. The two general terms that are used in the socio anthropological parleys are the nuclear family and joint or extended family. The nuclear family generally refers to a couple with or without wunarried children. The "joint family' and 'extended family' are mostly used as synonyms in Sociology and Social Anthropology respectively (Morab 1992:2). The joint family includes two or more nuclear units of related married couples. These are too general types to be precise and comprehensive in representing the score of family compositions that are prevalent today, especially in the transitional process of its structure. Some attempts have been made to classify the extended family further, into Vertically extended family, Horizontally extended family and Mixed extended family. These were adopted in the 'People of India Project' undertaken by the Anthropological Swvey of India (Singh 1991). However, even these are not exhaustive enough to include the maximum variations of family structures. For instance, it is not uncommon to come across families consisting of nuclear units with an addition of a single parent who is either separated or widowed. As there are no appropriate concepts to refer to such type of families, a conceptual formulation is attempted here, to achieve brevity and clarity in comprehending the differential family structures. The effort here is to make use of the available concepts and use additional attributes for further classification. Thus, a family of couples alone without children is conventionally referred to as 'conjugal' family. At a higher level, a unit, with one of the parents, separated or widowed, residing with the wunarried children is referred to as a 'broken family'. If the parent is the mother, then it is termed in the new conceptual 28 framework as 'matro family'. If it is the father, then it is referred to as the 'patro-family'. A full-fledged and yet the simplest form of family is the 'nuclear family', with father, mother and unmarried children. Still at a higher level comes the 'complex nuclear family', which is of two types. A conjugal or nuclear unit with the father of one of the spouses is termed as a 'patro-nuclear family' and that with the mother is termed as 'matro-nuclear family. Families with more than one nuclear unit is referred to as 'extended family'. If it is vertically extended, it is termed as 'lineal extended family'. If it is horizontally extended, then it is designated as 'lateral extended family'. When there is an extension on either sides, it is termed as 'mixed extended family'. When there is an addition of one of the parents, in any of these units, the qualification of 'patro' or 'matro' is added to the respective terms, to refer to the respective families. Any additional members to these units would not be taken cognisance of, for the consideration of family typology, in the present context. Though not all types would be visible in every rural situation, since each type involves its own dynamic relations, it IS important to differentiate the family structure to its maximum detail. Socio-Economic Mobility: Socio-economic mobility could be discerned in terms of mobility in labour status, economic status and social status. The labour status is gauged from the extent of hiring out one's labour and the level of dependency on the same for livelihood. The economic status is manifested in the forms of freedom from indebtedness, asset accumulation, access to resources and living comforts, food habits and dressing pattern. The social status is revealed from the type and nature of interaction in the wider society. On the whole, socio-economic mobility manifests itself in better living 29 standards and improved quality of life. Ultimately, one's SOClO economic status is translated into social recognition and esteem. Changing Values: Socio-economic mobility brings along with it a changed way of life. The change could basically be discerned in the attitudes of people towards certain values in life, like education, hygienic practices, human relations, etc. It can also be seen in the extent of rationalisation or traditionalisation of some of the beliefs. Social and Network Relations: The social relations are basically all interaction linkages at the individual and familial levels, including all intra-village and extra village relations. Writing about the network relations, Barnes (1972:26-7) identifies three main types of relations in the network interactions. They include the symmetric, asymmetric and non-symmetric relations. It is, however, not very clear how he distinguishes the non-symmetric relations from the asymmetric relations though he gives the example of labour assistance and credit-debtor relations respectively. What is understood from an analysis of interaction networks is that most relations are based on reciprocity with a few exceptions. The content of reciprocity may differ in some relations. This is clearly the case in buyer-seller and creditor-debtor relations. ill some cases, along with the difference in the content of reciprocity, there could also be an element of exploitation involving a dominant-subordinate relation. This is the case with most of the barter system and the patron-client relations. There could be a few relations that are devoid of reciprocity. This can happen in the context of friendship or even among certain kin relations. 30 The relation could be called a symmetric relation when the interacting persons are in the same plane with similar reciprocity. The relations could be asymmetric, when the interacting persons are playing different but socially accepted roles. Those relations which lack reciprocity would fall in the category of non-symmetrical relations. In addition, there are also relations between individuals, that are unequal and sometimes even exploitative, which may be termed as dysymmetric. The Focus of the Research: There is a two-way interaction between sericulture and society. The development objective of sericulture has involved a dual perspective, namely, development of sericulture through society, and development of society through sericulture. Some efforts have been made to identify both these processes in the present research. However, the major objective of this study is, as has already been stated, to look into process of change in the context of sericulture with a socio-cultural perspective. In other words, it is looking into some of the socio-cultural processes that have set in with the advent of sericulture. These processes are discerned mainly in the labour and dependency relations, interaction dynamics of family relations, socio-economic mobility and value dynamics and in the social and network relations. Theoretical Perspective The present study attempts to identify the various key players in the different social institutions. It also looks into the governing principles and cultural implications as well as the nature and impact of the various interactional ties in the dynamic set-up of the village within 31 the context of developmental interventions. In such an analysis, the structural-functional framework of the Social-Anthropological perspective becomes very useful. It provides the direction to identify the significant structural elements and the changing functional features of the village under study. Coletta's concept of' change continuum' could be of some use in the study of development dynamics. In this continuum, 'at one end, there are situations where appropriate behavioural change can be instigated through structural transformation (by improving access to information, credit and other services, by changing such institutional arrangements as land tenure; and by providing incentives as wages or other reward systems) within the existing cultural framework. At the other end ... are those situations, which require that social values be changed (through educational and training programmes, adult re-socialisation activities and other means) before structural transformations can affect change in human behaviour toward internally defined development goals. In the middle of the continuum are those situations where interaction and complementarity between structural and culture change strategies exist' (1990:86). The middle range of the continuum is being assumed as important if the development impact should have a sustained relevance. In this context, the indigenous factors assume importance if sustainable development has to be achieved. Any intervention in this regard necessitates a 'holistic' framework. Such a framework involves, according to Coletta (Ibid.), an 'understanding of traditional values, indigenous roles and leadership patterns, local organisations and other informal associations and the flow of influence and information between these elements as well as the linkages between these sub-systems and other social systems.' The study also fmds the 'change and continuity' paradigm as very much part of this change process wherein 'the village society is dynamic 32 enough to accept change and responsive enough to assess it without serious institutional dislocations' (Ishwaran 1970: 18). Methodological Framework The methodological framework introduces the umverse of the study, discusses the nature of the required data and elaborates on the methods and techniques employed in the present research. Universe of the Study: Dhannapuri district has been selected for this study mainly on the merit of its sericulture concentration and its relatively long history of sericulture. The present research has adopted a sericulture concentrated village l in Dhannapuri district of Tamil Nadu as the focal area of study. The village has been selected based mainly on the following factors: • intensity of sericulture; I. A note of caution requires to be provided regarding the sericulture concentrated villages in the context of Tamil Nadu. The spread of sericulture in Tamil Nadu has traditionally been confined to the bordering areas of Karnataka. ill the course of time, it has gradually spread to the neighbouring districts. With concerted efforts of the Department of Sericulture, sericulture is being introduced, today, in almost all the districts of Tamil Nadu. ill this context, one would hardly come across a sericulture village in Tamil Nadu, with a majority of the households adopting sericulture as seen in the case of Kanrnataka. Apart from the short history of sericulture in the state, there are other reasons too, for this phenomenon. A considerable portion of the rural households are landless, keeping them out of the purview of sericulture adoption., unless they lease in lands for the purpose. In Tamil Nadu situation, the latter phenomenon is very minimaJ (Kurien., 1981). Another reason is related to the predominance of irrigated sericulture. This reduces the scope of adopting sericulture onJy by those who have access to irrigated lands. In this context, a sericulture-intensive village should be taken onJy in a relative sense. 33 • dispersion and the proportion of the sericulture households; • size of the village; • caste composition; • the span of sericulture in the village; • the extent of progressiveness and • the response promptness of the people. The elimination and selection were made through the information collected from the sericulture officials and direct field visits. The prelinlinary information was gathered on the given criteria for 20 sericulture intensive villages spread over 3 taluks of Dharmapuri district falling under two sericulture divisions namely Dharmapuri and Pennagaram. Of these villages, six were rejected, based on the secondary information collected from the officials. A direct field visit was made to the rest of the villages. Considering the information 2 regarding the criteria for selection, Seripura , a village under Pennagaram sericulture division, has been selected for this research. This village is in Palacode taluk of Dharmapuri district. The fmdings are' corroborated and compared with the patterns of some other sericulture areas of Tamil Nadu. Apart from the core field of study, i.e., Seripura, the main supportive fields include E N Pura in Palani Taluk and M R Pura in Dindigul Taluk, both falling under Dindigul District, and K K Pura in Rasipuram Taluk of Salem District (See the Map). This helps in obtaining a realistic and wider perspective of the process of the impact. Like in any study on the impact of a phenomenon, it is not a simple task to isolate the impact of sericulture Pseudonyms have been used for the study villages and for the names of inruviduals mentioned in the thesis. 34 upon the institutions. The study only attempts to capture the relative influence of sericulture, in the process of social change. Nature of Data: The data for the present research were from primal)' and secondruy sources. Intensive data have been collected through holistic approach. The historical approach has been useful, in the reconstruction of the past and to get an extensive data, for a comparative purpose. The methodological innovation of the 'qualitative and quantitative mix' in anthropological research of non-primitive societies is being employed in the collection of field data. Methods and Techniques: The quantitative data have been collected through a household census and interview schedule. The former include data pertaining to age, sex., marital status, education, occupation, marital types, family size and types, and sericulture status, providing a background information for understanding the socio-cultural processes of the study population. Through interview schedule, data pertaining to sericulture operation as well as to the varying levels of its impact on the socio-cultural life of the people have been collected for a comparative and in-depth analysis. The qualitative data were collected through participant observation method, making use of the techniques of observation, case study and informal interview. Through participant observation a range of in-depth data were collected, bringing out the external sketch as well as the inner vitality of the people's life. The informal interviews were conducted both at the individual and group level. The informants consisted of various categories of people, young and old, men and women, labourers, local leaders, extension staff and Government 35 , c; r C LI.R .RY .' NC !.LJRE ":". N"~ 3.J1D-_. -- --- '2- 0 . /0 z,/ Officials. The data covered a wide range of topics touching upon the various facets of people's life, eliciting their perceptions, thoughts, attitudes and opinions. The case studies serve as illustrative examples to the focal areas of the research and provide in-depth insights into the research. Secondary Data consist of documentary sources, supplementing and strengthening the field data. The major sources of these data include books, periodicals, census and departmental reports, documents, field records, etc. Scope of the Study: The present research looks into the process of change in rural society, in the context of sericulture. It specifically examines the changing process of village institutions and the types of changes that are being experienced after the introduction of sericulture and fit them into the overall paradigm of the change perspective. However, this is not to say that whatever changes observed are solely attributed to sericulture. The unit of the study was the individual within a household, the household within the kin-group, etc. With this perspective, the study attempts to locate the relative role and significance of sericulture enterprise, in the changing process of some of the village institutions and social networks. Preview The present chapter has introduced the study tracing out some of the factors of rural development and the nature and type of rural changes 36 and presenting the significance and objectives of the present study, along with its theoretical and methodological framework. Chapter II presents a profile of the 'Field and the People', describing the physical setting of Seripura, portraying the demographic and the socio-cultural characteristics of its people. It also briefly introduces the other villages from which evidence is taken into consideration for purpose of comparison. Chapter III describes the 'Land and Economc Diversification', looking into its occupational diversification and commercialisation. It gives a field-mapping and land distribution pattern across different communities and among various crops including mulberry plantation that forms the base for sericulture. Chapter IV 'Sericulture Process: A Profile' portrays the rearing features of sericulture, traces the origin and development of sericulture in Seripura, looks into the socio-economic characteristics of the sericulture families and participants and analyses the factors influencing the adoption and performance of sericulture. Chapter V deals with the 'Labour Relations, Strategies and Prospects' in the context of sericulture. It analyses the labour status and demand in the village, looking into sericulture and other competing crops. It also portrays the typology of rural labour, considering the bases of such typology and identifYing the caste-class variations. It further analyses the labour management and strategies and looks into the labour prospects in sericulture. Chapter VI attempts to deal with the 'Family Dynamics and Gender Relations', in the context of sericulture, looking into the intra- 37 family interactions and the changing authority relations as well as assessing the impact of sericulture on gender relations. Chapter VII focuses on the 'Socio-Economic Mobility and Changing Values', as a consequence to the adoption of sericulture. Chapter VIII analyses the . Social Relations and Networks' in tenns of family, kinship, caste and village, as a result of sericulture. The Final Chapter summarises the findings and presents the theoretical orientations, developmental implications and policy directions. 38 CHAPTER II THE FIELD AND THE PEOPLE Sericulture in Tamil Nadu had long been confined to a few districts alone. However, the introduction of the Intensive Sericulture Development Programme by the Government of India, in the Seventies, led to a rapid expansion of sericulture in the state. The National sericulture Project (NSP), initiated in 1989, has become a boon to the development of sericulture, bringing more districts with substantial sericulture concentration into the sericulture map of Tamil Nadu. Dharmapuri district is in the north western region of Tamil Nadu bordering Karnataka state. It is the pioneering district in Tamil Nadu, in going for sericulture in a big way. Its share in the total sericulture output of Tamil Nadu has been over 60 per cent. As on 1 April 1993 -- as the records of the Department of Sericulture, Tamil Nadu shows-mulberry occupied an area of 12,200 hectares in the district, constituting about three per cent of the total cropped area of the district. The irrigated mulberry area accounts for about 83 per cent of the total mulberry area and forms about 12 per cent of the net irrigated area of the District. There are 23 sericulture divisions under the Department of Sericulture, Tamil Nadu. These are spread over 22 districts of the State. Significantly, five sericulture divisions are located in the Dharmapuri district alone. These include Pennagaram, Hosur and Dharmapuri. Each sericulture division is under the jurisdiction of an Assistant Director of 39 Mil No.1.! INDIA LOCATION OF SIUDY VILLAGES IN TAlVUL NADU .. , N r ANDHRA PRADE 1\ \! I \.; \ . . . , .. ID£RRY ElAY OF STlTDY AREAS BENGAL ~ DHAR.\fAPURI DISTRICT PALAKKODE TALUK • 1. ~ VZ.L.UGJ: D~llIGCL DISTRICT P~'Il TALUK 2. lr • ~ VZI.u= DINDIGL1. TALUK , . .If Jt J't1.JtI. VZ I..L.1GZ r SALIM DISTRICT PAll< BAV RASIPURA.\t TALL'K • . ~ ~ ~ VZI..L.1GZ GULF OF BOlNDARIES MANNAR STATE DISTRICT I N D I A N o C E A N TALLl( NOT TO SCALE 40 Map No_ 2_2 TAMIL NADlJ VILl.AGE MAP or SERJPURA ~ .... , i i PALAKK 0 U",, I 1\ L liP\. N A'" , O.-"'.~. , ~-. ~I '-', : "\ .. I .. ~ , ROAD -...r I .. D • .. ... DC ...... I I FOOT PATH DISTRICTI I RIVER I STREAM ~ DIRECTION OF RIVER I STREAM -_ TEMPLE !fa II'~:":-- CANAL ~ WELL Iii BURIAL GROUND :~~!: ~,.:)'..., ELECTRIC LINE -- i' ~~,o/. -.w , BOUNDARIES STATE NOT TO SCALE DISTRICT ~...... TALUK Map No. 1.3 S!:RIPURA YILLAGI: [ Smu:MENT MAP or SERIPURA I I TO P .u.J.D(OD~ N <> I("~ \,ITB a 0,0 0 or;; L:J )---- O In this chapter, an attempt has been made to portray the physical setting of Seriplll"a along with its basic amenities. This is followed by a presentation of the demographic profile of the people and a portrayal of the village living and interaction. The study attempts to widen the base of the findings, by corroborating the same with that of some other sericulture villages in the districts of Salem and DindiguI as well as of other sericulture areas of Tamil Nadu. Some of the basic features of these supportive fields have also been presented in this chapter. Physical Setting and Basic Amenities Seriplll"a is situated at a distance of about 12 kilometres west of Palacode, the taluk headquarters. It is 30 kilometres from Dharmapuri, the district headquarters, and 35 kilometres from Pennagaram, the sericulture divisional headquarters. Since the '60s the village is connected by bus services at a distance of about one kilometre. The village itself has been brought into the district road map since the mid eighties. Today, Seriplll"a has good transport facility, connecting it to all the major towns in the district. There are 200 households in the village, a majority of which are clustered in the village itself. Some households have moved out of the village to settle on their farms. The extension of farm settlements, along with the process of nucleation of some of the fann-settled families, has led to a formation of a few satellite settlements. However, the parental village continues to serve as a nodal point for these households, in 43 theirsocial interaction and external linkages. Most of the males make it their daily routine to pay a visit to the main village. For all practical purposes, including primary schooling, transportation and other basic amenities, the main village continues to be the life-line for the farm based households and satellite settlements of the village. The housing pattern, in the village, ranges from simple and ordinary thatched types with mud walls to a few moderately well constructed tiled ones. There are still quite many households without having electric connections. The village has a post-office, which had been established in the seventies. There is also a Sub-health centre in the village posted with a village nurse. It has been there in the village since the mid eighties. A balwadi and a primary school are also located in the village. The school has a histOI), of about three decades. The students after completing the primary school studies go for their higher primary studies to the nearby high school located at about three kilometres from the village either by bus or on foot. There are two flour-cum-rice mills and one grinding unit in the village. As found in most of the Tamil Nadu villages, in Seripura too, there are as many as five temples or worship centres, attached to one or the other of the major castes. Demographic Profile The demographic profile includes age, sex and marital status, family size, caste composition and family types, literacy and educational status, and migration .. Age, Sex and Marital Status: Table 2.1 shows the distribution of the population by age, sex and marital status. In Seripura, the children 44 Table No. 2.1: Per cent Dis(ribution of Population by Age, Sex and Marital Status. (Total Population: 955) Age Unmarried Married Scperated Widowed Total Category M F T M F T M F T M F T M F T Below 15 29.2 30.6 29.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 00 00 0.0 0.0 0.0 29.2 30.6 29.8 15 To 29 26.2 12.4 19.6 6.4 13.1 9.6 0.0 0.2 0.1 0.0 0.7 0.3 32.6 26.2 29.7 30 To 44 1.0 0.0 0.5 15.9 17.7 16.8 0:0 0.7 0.3 00 2.8 1.4 16.9 21.2 19.0 45 To 59 0.6 0.0 0.3 12.1 8.7 10.5 0.0 0.4 0.2 0.6 2.2 1.4 13.3 11.4 12.4 Above 59 0.0 0.0 0.0 5.4 4.4 4.9 0.0 0.2 0.1 2.6 5.9 4.2 8.0 10.5 9.2 Total 56.9 43.0 50.3 39.8 43.9 41.8 0.0 1.5 0.7 3.2 11.6 7.2 100.0 100.0 100.0 (520 (48.0' f"' ~ under 15 years and the active population, which is between 15 and 59 years represent about 30 per cent and 61 per cent respectively. This is in contrast to the Indian population as a whole, as recorded by the 1981 census, which shows that they were about 40 per cent and 54 per cent respectively. It indicates a reduction in the younger population and an increase in the active population. The young, old and total dependency ratios for the core village of the study are 49, 15 and 64 respectively. The same for India as a whole, according to the 1981 census, are 73, 12 and 85 respectively. This indicates a reduction in the total dependency ratio as well as in the young dependency ratio while a slight increase in the old dependency ratio. The sex ratio is showing at 94 which is favourable to males. An analysis of the marital status shows that about one half of the population is unmarried while about 42 per cent are married and about 7 per cent, widowed. There are no unmarried women in the age categories, starting with 30 years. However, there is a marginal presence of unmarried males in the third and fourth age categories. All the separated in the village are women. The widows are more than three times that of the widowers. While there are as many as 16 widows (about 3.5 %) below the age of 45, there are none among the males, belonging to the same group. Family Size: Table 2.2 gIves the distribution of households by their sizes. As the table indicates, the households with a family size of four are most common, comprising about 22 per cent of the total 46 Table No. 2.2: Distribution of Households by Family Size: F.Size Households Persons One 8 8 Two 13 26 Three 30 90 Four 43 172 Five 40 200 Six 30 180 Seven 16 112 Eight 13 104 Nine 3 27 Ten 1 10 Eleven 1 11 Fifteen 1 15 lotal 200 955 1 Av_ F Size 1 4.81 47 number of households in the village. The average size of the family is 4.8. Caste Composition and Family Type: Table 2.3 gIves the distribution of the households across caste and family types arranged by hierarchical status, as recognised by the people of Seripura. Seripura is a multi-caste village with a presence of as many as 17 different castes. Kongu Vellalars who form almost two fifths of the total number of households in the village, are the dominant caste in the village, numerically and otherwise. Thurston (1975) calls the Vellala as 'the great farmer caste of the Tamil country'. The family size of the Kongu Vellalars is 5.1 as against 4.8 for the whole village. Among the numerically dominant castes, they stand out in the size of the family. The Scheduled castes who fall in the last two layers of the village caste-hierarchy comprise of about one fifth of the total population. Among the three major scheduled castes of Tamil Nadu, the Parayans fall in the middle of the scheduled caste hierarchy, while the Pallans are at the top and the Chakkiliyans, at the lowest. The Parayans are the traditional drum-beaters, as the term 'parai' denotes drum. Traditionally, the grave-diggers ('vettian'), guards ('talaiyari') and the scavengers ('thoti') are all Parayans. They generally live in 'paracheri', located always a little away from the main village. However, in this village, this distance has completely narrowed down today that they have become just a neighbouring caste, like the other castes (See the map). Nevertheless, the location of their residential area and the nature of their settlement show their distinction from the rest of the village castes. The only exception are the Boyars who also exhibit 48 Table No. 2.3: Per cent Distribution of Households by Caste and Family Types Caste BNF* NF CNF EF HHs Persons F. Size KVG 9.1 54.5 26.0 10.4 77 390 5.1 Vanniar 27.8 50.0 16.7 5.6 18 74 4.1 Veththala Chettiar 0.0 33.3 0.0 66.7 3 21 7.0 tiarETHTHALA CHETTIAR Naidu 0.0 80.0 20.0 00 5 23 46 • Kurumbar 0.0 66.7 22.2 III 9 47 5.2 Mudaliar 100.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1 1 1.0 Chanar 14.3 57.1 28.6 0.0 7 27 3.9 Asari 0.0 50.0 50.0 0.0 2 10 5.0 Golru 0.0 0.0 100.0 0.0 3 21 7.0 Boyer 16.7 50.0 22.2 III 18 73 4.1 Muslim 0.0 0.0 0.0 100.0 1 6 6.0 Vedar 0.0 100.0 0.0 0.0 3 15 5.0 Pinjikutru 0.0 0.0 100.0 0.0 1 4 4.0 Ehali 0.0 100.0 0.0 0.0 7 40 4.4 Navithan 00 1000 00 00 1 4 4.0 Parayar 3.0 66.7 18.2 12.1 33 148 4.8 Chakkiliar 18.2 63.6 9.1 9.1 1 1 51 4.6 Total 10.0 58.0 22.0 10.0 200 955 4.8- Note: BNF: Broken Nuclear Family; NF: Nuclear Family; CNF: Complex Nuclear Family; EF: Extended Family ~ -0 a distinctness and isolation in their settlement pattern. The 'Chakkilian' is the other Scheduled caste in the village. According to Thurston (1975), they are 'the leather workers of Tamil districts corresponding to the Madigas of Telugu and are migrants from Telugu or Kannada districts'. The two Scheduled castes themselves still continue to maintain their distance through their closed and separated settlements. In these castes, some of the traditional services and activities are still carried on by a few persons, especially of the older generation, though they encounter opposition from their women and younger ones. The other predominant castes in the village, other than the above mentioned castes, are the Vanniars, Kurumbars, Boyars and the Ehalis (washermen). The distribution of households by family types shows that there is a predominance of nuclear families in the village. Only ten per cent of the families belong to the extended family type. This clearly contrasts with the pattern of the traditional Indian villages and probably shows the impact of modernity and commercialisation that are fast engulfing the rural India today. The types offamilies in different castes do not indicate any significant deviation from the general trend. The Veththala Chettiars and the Muslims show a predominance in the extended family types though their presence in the village (three households and one respectively) is negligible to make any generalisation. Among other castes, the Kongu Vellalar, Kurumbar, Boyar and the Parayar (SC) comprise more than ten per cent of the families belonging to the extended type. The Chakkiliar (SC) closely follows suit with nine per cent. Except for the KVG, the number of households of other castes is too small to make any generalisation. 50 Literacy and Education: Table 2.4 portrays the literacy and the educational scenario of Seripura. As the table reveals, the literate (the post school literate, together with the studying) form about 54 per cent of the population, which is quite high as compared to the district average of just 29 per cent. Of the studying population, there are only thirteen students (about 1.4 per cent) who have crossed the secondary education. Of theIn, eleven are studying at the higher secondary level. More than 25 per cent of the population, in the age group between 5 and 14 years, have been already out of the school. Many have dropped out at the primary and higher primary levels. Most of them again belong to the lower castes. The reason for drop-out has been mainly for economic reasons and to look after the younger ones while the mother is out for wage labour. Of the post school-literates, about a little less than one thirds (about eight per cent) have hardly completed their primary education and about half of the literate (about 12.4 per cent) have never crossed the primary level. There are two graduates from the village who are working in the near-by town and residing there itself. There is an engineering graduate who has recently completed his studies. He is presently doing farming and sericulture activity while looking for a placement. There is also a research scholar who is pursuing his doctoral studies at the Annamalai University. Apart from theIn, there is an engineer working in HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) at Bangalore and an advocate, based in Bangalore. Both belong to the Scheduled caste and have settled in Bangalore. There are a few children who attend the English medium nursery school located in the nearby village. A few years back, there was a 51 Table No. 2.4: Literacy Status and Educational Attainment Education, Literacy Level Male Female Total Pre-School 8.7 6.5 7.6 School-Going I Primary 10.5 13.4 11.9 H. Primary 7.1 3.6 5.4 Secondary 4.2 4.5 4.3 H.S. & Above 1.4 1.3 1.4 Total 23.2 22.8 23.0 Post-School Literate I Primary Incomplete 10.1 6.0 8.2 Primary 4.8 3.6 4.2 Higher Primary Incomplete 3.8 3.1 3.5 Higher Primary 1.2 0.7 1.0 Secondary Incomplete. 5.7 2.7 4.2 Secondary & Above 8.9 2.5 5.8 Total 34.5 18.5 26.9 Total Literate 66.4 47.8 57.5 Total Illiterate 33.6 52.2 42.5 Total Population (100%) 497 458 955 Literacy Status for Eli,;ble Population Literate 63.0 44.0 54.0 illiterate 37.0 56.0 46.0 Total Population - Above 5 Years (100%) 452 419 871 'convent school' in the village itself where quite a few children attended. The school was closed within a year, mainly for want of students. Most of the children attending the school switched over to the local vernacular medium school. A few, however, continued their education at the English medium school, located at the nearby village, at a distance of about two kilometres. Nevertheless, the 'convent culture' indicates a change in the value-orientation of these people. Engaging private tutors, starting from primary education is becoming an essential part of the educational system emerging in this village. ~igration: Today, a good number of marginal land-holders and landless, especially from Vanniar and Scheduled castes have moved out of the village, particularly in the late seventies and early eighties. This was when the district was continuously facing severe drought situation, pushing them out in search of better pastures (for more details see chapter 5 on Labour Relations, Strategies and Prospects). These were the people, who formed a good chunk of the traditional agriculture labour class. Most of them migrated as individuals and some of them later took their families also along with them. A majority of them landed in Bangalore as construction workers. Many of them continue to visit their village occasionally, especially during the agricultural operations and on festive occasions. Village Living and Interaction Seripura still continues to have certain traditional features of Indian villages. Some of the traditional services are still continued. The village does have a barber (Navithan), a few washermen (Ehali) and 53 other service castes, cariying forward the traditions to the present. The jajman relations of these castes have not been totally wiped out, though the intensity and the traditionality of such services have been undergoing radical transformation. Of the 1580 landholders in the village, hardly about one fourth still continue their traditional link with the washermen (Ehali). The barber (~avithan) still visits some houses and attends to hair-cutting but only the older generations use his service and they are immediately paid for their service in cash. There were two barbers in the village. One has already left the village and migrated to Bangalore as there were only few takers for his service within the village. The head of one of the Chakkilia households continues to be engaged in the leather work. Only the head is engaged in it. He takes order for making chappals and does it for immediate cash payment. He also undertakes repairing works. Till recent past, some of the Parayans had been engaged as 'NeerKatti'. They used to regulate the supply of the tank water to the paddy fields. They were paid in grains, depending on the size of the land. Today, this practice has been given up. There was also an 'Udhari" among the Parayans, serving the '~ittadhar' of the region. His work was to collect tax in grains, for the \1ittadhar. This has also disappeared with the implementation of the land enactment. ~ evertheless, some of the ritualistic traditions, though undergoing a transition, have not totally disappeared. To carry out these traditional rituals, the jajman castes continue to depend on the traditional service castes. 10 many of the rituals related to women, including post-delivery observance, puberty rituals, etc., all of which involve an element of pollution, the sefYlce of the women from the washermen caste is a necessity. For instance, it is the duty of the washelWoman to take the girl who had attained puberty, and give bath. The girl is usually kept in a separate shed. The attendant is given cloth and money, when the service is over. Today such rituals are gradually being given up or shortened. On the occasion of marriage, the dhobi decorates the 'pandal' with sarees. He is paid in cash and the festive food is served. Death is another occasion, when the services of these castes are required. The dhobi is expected to spread clothes in the streets during procession. The barber is expected to shave the head of the key man of the occasion and to break the pot. The service of the Parayans is utilised on all these occasions, including the festive occasions, to beat the drums. There is one 'thoti' among the Parayans who has to serve as a messenger on the occasion of death. He should also inform certain messages of common interest to all the people concerned. All these castes are given annual grains, called 'merai', apart from their immediate gratifications. Though some of these practices are still in vogue, not all people form part of the network. In the process, these things have lost their significance and relevance and thereby resulting in the loosening of village communality and solidarity. Today, the caste identity has become strengthened at the cost of the village identity. The caste has superceded the interests of the village. All the major castes have their own 'Oor Gounder' (caste leader) and display a communal solidarity. The leading castes are the Vanniar and the Kongu Vellalar. Most of the other non-servicing castes have joined one of these castes and involve in the caste-based activities. The Kongu Vellalar, being the dominant caste, has attracted a majority of the other castes. The caste-wise activities include the management of common 55 funds, celebration of festivals, etc. The temples in the village are attached to different castes and the festivals are celebrated at different times of the year. The other castes, however, participate in the activities and cultural programmes associated with the festivals. Each major caste has a common fund which is a matter of prestige for the caste. The fund has been generated through membership contributions and those contributions that come through fixed marital payments. The monthly meetings are attended mainly to collect and redistribute the money, through auctioning, among those who are in need of money for immediate requirements, within the caste. At the meetings, the members also discuss other issues that are of immediate concern. Thus, the village reflects a mixed pack of traditional and modern living coexisting as the village is undergoing a period of transition. Features of Supportive Fields The present study mainly focuses on the major contours of the social processes discerned in Seripura in the context of sericulture. Nevertheless, it also takes a comparative look into some of the other sericulture villages in Tamil Nadu, wherever necessary. This would help in getting a realistic and wider picture of the social realities, discussed in the present study. These villages include the areas where the the present researcher has carried out long-term fieldwork (about six months each) as well as those that were visited for conversational interviews and quick 3 studies to understand various developmental issues of sericulture . 3 Some such studies include 'The Adoption of Bivoltine Technology in Tamil Nadu' (1990-91), . The Women's Training in Sericulture (1992)', 'The role of NGOs in the Development of Sericulture' (1994), etc., carried out in the 56 Appendix II provides some of the socia-economic and demographic features of the field villages. The main field village, Seripura has been named as the 'Core field' while the other field villages, which include E N Pura in Palani taluk and M R Pura in Dinidigul taluk of Dindigul district and K K Pura in Rasipuram taluk of Salem district, have been tenned as . supportive fields'. These details will be helpful for a better comprehension of the socio-sericulture realities especially when there is a cross reference to the supportive fields, in the analysis. Some of the general features of these supportive fields relating to the settlement pattern., caste composition, family and marriage, education, occupation and livestock are considered here. Settlement Pattern: One of the striking features in these villages relates to the settlement pattern in the emerging scenario. Easy access to land is being preferred by many people for varying reasons. It helps them to be closer to their source of livelihood. Cultivation of crops gets closer watch, and better care and protection from the owners. They are also at a proximal distance to the water sources that are essential for daily needs like drinking, bathing, etc. For these purposes, the preference goes to farm-based households. In the subsequent generations, there is a possibility of such households developing into mini-villages, co-residing with lateral-relations in the proximity of their lands. Thus, it is not uncommon to see the village-main being the cluster of mainly the landless and the smaller landholders with no irrigation infrastructure. The others prefer farm-based households, though with obvious hardships. This is very much true of the sericulture households. sericulture areas of the different districts of Tamil Nadu, along with the other members of the Benefictar)' Assessment Team. 57 This is evidenced in the major sericulture districts of Tamil Nadu, namely, Dhannapuri, Salem, Madurai, Coimbatore, North Arcot and Trichy. The farm-located households obviously face the disadvantage of being distal to the wider social fabric and experience a sense of isolation in many respects. They have to strive hard to avail the basic civil amenities, usually located at the village-main. However, as these are not of essential requirements or daily needs, they would not mind to sacrifi<>:e the proximity to such things, in favour of their proximity to the livelihood system. Such mobility also happens in times of property divisions and household nucleation when all nucleated families will find DO space for them to be accommodated in the parental residential locations. In such situations, there is a natural shift from the main village towards their land locations. However, some households who own lands in different directions of the village prefer to stay in the main village itself. Sericulture is ideally suited for land- holding households with the availability of medium level irrigation throughout the year. It also requires a close nexus between the mulberry gardens and the rearing shed of the silkworms throughout the period of rearing, in view of the daily requirements of leaf supply. The rearing shed is always preferred to be along with or next to the living quarters. So, the farm-located households become ideally suitable for sericulture. Because of these reasons, in many of the areas in Tamil Nadu, the sericulture households are widely scattered. In Seripura, most of the sericulture households are in the main village itself. This is in contrast to the supportive villages, 58 two and three, where there is a greater predominance of farm-located households. This is mainly because, as mentioned earlier, either the operated lands are scattered, or the lands are relatively nearer to the village; or the landholdings are too small to hold a dwelling. In some cases, they are content with their living conditions at the village itself that they do not foresee any need for moving to the gardens. There could also be a combination of more than one factor. If the lands are far away and if they find it unattractive to make their dwelling at their lands, the distance itself becomes, then, a problem, for quite a fe~ to go for sericulture. However, in Seripura itself, as mentioned already, there are quite many who have moved out of the main village, to settle in their far-off lands after improving the irrigation facilities. A scattered concentration of such households, in the process, assumes a distinct village identity. One such satellite settlement is at about one-and-a-halfkilometres distance and another at about three kilometres distance from the main settlement. Interestingly, a majority of them have taken up sericulture. They continue to frequent to their parental village, for many personal and social purposes. Caste Composition: All the field villages are multi-caste, with the number of castes ranging from six to seventeen. A majority of the landless, as also the agricultural labourers, are from the lowest sections of the society in almost all study areas. The SC population in all the study fields except Palani form about one fifth of the population. In E N Pura they constitute more than one half of the population. K K Pura includes about 14 per cent of ST population. Family and Marriage: The size of the family generally stands out to be between four and five. This only reflects the predominance of nuclear families and the increasing tendency to restrict the family size to fit into the emerging socialisation of the controlled family norm. Once the girls attain puberty, the parents feel insecure and would like their daughters, married at the earliest opportunity available to them. So, the age at marriage for the girls is not later than twenty with a few exceptions. However, the marriage for the boys is usually delayed. The age-difference is well between five to ten years. Apart from the physiological advantages, the vast age difference between the couples is one of the reasons why there are more widows than widowers in all the study villages. The widowed in each of the villages account for about six to seven per cent of the total population. The widows constitute around 10 to 11 per cent of the total female population while the widowers constitute only about three per cent of the total male population. Education: The villages under the purview of the present study show an average literacy ratio of about 55 to 65 per cent. Among them, the males and females show a deviation of about ten to fifteen per cent above and below the average, respectively. There is, however, a marked difference in the level of educational attainment in different villages. E N Pura shows a higher level of educational attainment with more than 25 higher secondary educated and an almost equal number of graduates. The K K Pura boasts of a good number of high school and higher secondary educated cases. Interestingly, many of these higher educated youths have found sericulture as a productive and 'gentler' enterprise as compared to agriculture and pursue it without much 60 hesitation. As far as girls are concerned their education is applied a break, in the year when they attain puberty, with only a few exceptions. The girls are not generally educated beyond high school with a few exceptions. The parents express their willingness to educate the boys as much as they can. If at all many are dropped out with high school or higher secondary level, it is mostly due to the poor performance or lack of interest of the concerned boys rather than due to the unwillingness of the parents to educate them further. Some drop out from school even in the early years of education when they show little interest in studies or fail to get promotion to the higher classes. Occupation: Agriculture is the main stay in all the study villages. Dependency on farm labour is crucial in all the study villages. Its predominance, however, is marked in E N Pura where more than 50 per cent of the households are landless with almost as many Scheduled Caste households. The agro-based sericulture enterprise is an important economic activity in all the villages, more so, in K K Pura and Seripura. The number of Sericulturists and the size of mulberry area are mostly directly proportionate to the size, availability and ownership of irrigated lands. The household work mostly remains within the confines of the womenfolk. The females take to work at the early years of their life. They anend to the household chores and the concerned activities even when they are school-going. If a family is dependent on agricultural labour and if there is an infant that requires child care, usually the eldest girl stops going to school. The women continue to engage in household work as long as their spirit allows them to do so. However, the men-folk tend to retreat from the farm work as the succeeding generation takes charge of the same. 61 Livestock: In Seripura, most of the farmers own a pair of bullocks or cows for tilling. The cows are also used for milching during lactation. In the supportive fields, however, the buffaloes are used for the same purpose. The use of tractors and mechanised tillers is not popular in these villages except in E N Pura. Leisure and Entertainment: Some of the common leisure activities of the men-folk include chit-chatting and gosslpmg in the street-corners and bus-stops, tea-stall interactions, playing cards, listening to radio and reading newspapers and magazines. The youngscers frequent their visits to the towns for some serious as well as for all-and-sundry purposes and many a time they combine them with visiting cinemas. The women-folk mainly confine themselves to their household surroundings, chit-chatting and gossiping with the women of the neighbouring households during their leisure. The tendency among them many a time is to become preoccupied with some small activities or other within the house-hold or to visit their lands to attend to minor work5. They do make occasional visits to cinema houses when they could combine it with some other activities that they have to attend to in the to\\l11., many a time along with their husbands. 62 CHAPTERm LAND AND ECONO~IIC DIVERSIFICATION Traditionally, agriculture has been the base of the Indian rural economy. Though the base itself continues to be intact, the nature of its operation and composition has been undergoing qualitative changes in recent decades. Today, village India is exposed to a market and wider economy, different from the traditional subsistence and autarchic economy (Desai 1984). The economic capability of the people has also been undergoing changes though the impact has not been uniform and all-pervading. In this context, it is significant to understand the extent of this phenomenon and identify the position of sericulture in the emerging scenario An attempt has been made here to look at the base of the village economy by analysing the land and cropping pattern. This is followed by an analysis of the activity profile of the village population, the sources of cash income and the extent of commercialisation of agriculture to understand the extent and nature of economic diversification that has been taking place in Seripura. Land and Cropping Pattern In Seripura, the main village is surrounded on all sides, by cultivable lands, extending for about one to 1.5 kilometres towards the north, east, west and the north-west and about four to five kilometres towards the north-east, south-east, south and south-west. These lands are interceded by tanks, rivers, rocks as well as by farm-located households and satellite settlements. The river, known as 'Shanmuga Nathi' is 63 flowing in the north-easterly direction, at a distance of about five kilometres from the village. The 'Kottur Eri' is the nearest tank, which is on its north-west, within 'a distance of about one kilometre. It provides irrigation for about eight per cent of the agriculture lands of the village, known as 'Eringeel Kaeni'. 'Chinneri' is another tank located on the north-eastern side of the village. 'Chinnaru' is a small river, flowing from west to south-easterly direction, at the south-western side of the village at a distance of about one kilometre. The village is also surrounded by forest areas on its southern and eastern sides. The lands on the SO:1th, south-east and south-west, are of rocky structure. The lands located on the northern side of the village are of black soil while all the other sides are predominantly of red soil. The lands at 'Eringeel Kaeni' are of a mixed type. The sources of irrigation include wells, minor tanks and river streams. In the past, regulation of irrigation water flowing from tanks and streams was carried out by 'Neerkatti', an SC, belonging to Paraya caste, who received annual grains for his service. This institution is no more in existence today. The water is diverted to the fields on its flow, by mutual adjustment and accommodation though tensions are not uncommon in such a practice. There is a definite shift in the mode of irrigation system in recent years, with total replacement of the traditional system 'kavalai' by modem techniques of irrigation. There are a number of electric pump-sets and diesel engines, installed to facilitate irrigation activity. Ploughing is still carried out traditionally, though tractor ploughing, hired from the neighbouring village is not totally unknown. 64 Agriculture lands work out to be nearly 750 acres. The average land-holding size per household is about 3.7 acres and per person, about 0.8 acre. It gives an average of about 4.7 acres per land-holder. Current fallow lands account for about 150 acres. This is about one fifth of the total farm lands in Seripura. The net-sown area (cultivable lands) accounts for about 80 per cent of the total farm lands in Seripura. The average cultivable lands is about three acres per household and about 0.6 acre per person. The gross sown area (cropped lands), based on their intensity of use for the cultivation of different crops, is 675 acres, an increase of about one eighth of the total cultivable lands. Fully irrigated lands in Seripura form just 16 per cent of the total cropped area. Twenty-one per cent of the households in the village are landless while 22 per cent are marginal, 30.5 per cent smalL 20 per cent medium., and 6.5 per cent large farmers. Marginal farmers own about 9 per cent of the total land area. Small farmers own about 29 per cent, medium 35 per cent and the large farmers own about 27 per cent of the lands. The average land-holding for the marginal farmers is about l.7 acres, smalL 3.9 acres, medi urn, 6.7 acres and for the large, about 16 acres. Kongu Vellala Gounder (KVG) show the highest average ofland holding per household at about 5.68 acres. The other three communities that are closer to this average are Golru (5.67), Naidu (5.32) and Kurumbar (4.49). The average land-holding for Boyer is 3.48 acres, which is slighdy below the village average. All other castes show an average land-holding per household, quite below the village average, the highest average per household being 2.04 acres, which is for the Parayans, a scheduled caste. The average area per household for the 65 Chakkilians, the other scheduled caste is only about 0.55 acre. All these castes except the SCs are numerically small, having less than ten households. Average land-holding per person (which is about 0.8 acres for the whole village) across different communities is almost similar to the above, except in the case of Boyars whose per-person average is 0.86 acres. Most of the lands surrounding the village, known as 'Ooraanda kollai' belong to KYO whose lands are spread, near and far, on all sides of the village. There is a clear domination of the KYOs over all the fertile and inigated lands of the village. More than one third of the lands at 'Kaanrakkaadu' is owned by Boyers. Most of the lands of the SCs, especially of the Parayans, are relegated to the far south-eastern side, beyond two and a half to three kilometres from the village. Chakkiliyans, the other scheduled caste, hardly own any lands. As for cultivation of crops, farmers base their choice on different factors. The major aspects that are involved in crop choice generally concern the following: • Economic returns and the relative risk factors; • Soil type; • The extent and nature of inigation availability; • Land location and the level of water logging; and • Experience of the progressive farmers. These factors continuously operate in the minds of the farmers and many a time, provide the necessary framework for the less privileged farmers in the task of choosing the right and appropriate crops to be cultivated in a particular year. 66 Cotton was the predominant crop in the eighties. It had been replaced with Ground-nut as the major crop since 1991. The major factor that had contributed to the displacement of cotton is said to be the pest-menace, for which there was no effective pesticide available in the market and even the available ones were very costly. Ground-nut, which is also a semi irrigated cash crop like cotton, had been there even earlier but attained its peak, after the displacement of cotton. It is the most cultivated crop in Seripura, taken up by about 68 per cent of the fanners. It occupies more than one fourth (about 28 per cent) of the total cropped land. About half the number of the land-holders have gone for paddy cultivation, which is the second-most cultivated crop. This indicates the importance, a subsistant crop continues to receive, in spite of the emergence of cash crops. It also indicates the emergence of paddy itself to be one of the cash crops in Seripura. Paddy occupies about 13 per cent of the cropped lands while mulberry occupies about half its size and sugarcane, less than one fourth of its size. Tomato is a semi-irrigated crop, commanding about 4 per cent of the total cropped area. The two popular rain-fed crops are samai and ragi, occupying about 17 per cent and II per cent of the cropped area respectively. These crops have been adopted by as many as 48 and 43 per cent of the land-holders respectively. Horsegram is another rain-fed crop that occupies a considerable area (about 8.6 per cent). Tree crops like coconut, mango, eucalyptus, as well as some other minor crops like cotton, beans, chilli, etc., together account for about seven per cent of the total cropped area. 67 The average area of cultivation for different crops shows that there are only three crops namely mulberry, jowar and cumbu, which involve an operation of less than one acre of land. Of these, mulberry is the only irrigated crop. The other two are rain-fed crops. The crops that have an average of more than l.5 acres of operation include horsegram (l. 68 acres), samai (1. 66 acres), groundnut (1. 62 acres) and sugarcane (1.5 acres). Of these, sugarcane is the only irrigated crop while groundnut is a semi-irrigated crop. The lands on the north and north-east are river-beds, attracting more paddy and some sugarcane cultivation. The 'Eringeel Kaeni', which is on the north-westerly direction, receiving tank irrigation, has also attracted a considerable area of paddy cultivation and some sugarcane cultivation. Mulberry lands, though spread over at all directions, are more found in the lands around the village known as 'Ooraanda kollai', as well as on the eastern side at 'pulianthoappu Kaeni', located at about one to one and a half kilometre from the village. \-iulberry lands are also seen at 'Aaththu Kaeni' on the southern side of the village. Tomato, another irrigated crop is more seen at 'Aeringeel Kaeni' lands on the north-western side as well as at the lands on the eastern and north-eastern sides, surrounding the village. The groundnut, which is a popular semi-irrigated crop in the village is seen practically in all areas, far and near, on all sides of the village. It is, however, predominantly found on the lands beyond a distance of about one kilometre, on the western side of the village. The 'Kaanrakkaadu' lands located at about one-and-a-half kilometres east and south-east of the village form about one tenth of the total cultivable lands in the village. 68 These are mainly rain-fed lands and dominated by crops like 'Samai', 'kollu' (horsegram) and tosome extent, 'Aariyam' (ragi), The most adopted irrigated crop other than paddy is mulberry that occupies about 6,2 per cent of the total land area in Seripura, Though this looks very low, it forms almost 40 per cent of the total fully irrigated lands of Seripura. Since mulberry requires water throughout the year, though on a medium scale as compared to paddy or sugarcane, its share in the irrigated cropped area is exceptionally high. The average area of mulberry cultivation is 0,8 acre while it is above one acre in the case of all other major crops. About 36 per cent of the land-holders have gone for mulberry cultivation, However, this forms about 75 per cent of those who have access to fully irrigated lands, Diversified Economy The people of Seripura are engaged in varied activities, a majority of which are related to land. An attempt is made here to discern the extent of the involvement of the work force in different activities and understand the nature of economic diversification. An attempt has also been made subsequently, to solicit the sources of income, which again would enable to understand the extent of commercialisation of the village economy. It would also enable to understand the position of sericulture in the whole economic scenario of the village, The activities have been grouped under distinct categories. Those who depend on the cultivation of crops are grouped under 'agriculture', Those who are engaged in own silkworm rearing fall under the category 'sericulture'. Those who are engaged in livestock breeding are grouped 69 under 'animal husbandry'. Farm labour, including the labour engaged in silkworm rearing, has been grouped under' wage labour', Migrant labour activities are grouped under a separate category 'migrant labour'. There are quite a few petty shops and tea stalls and some tailoring units too. These are grouped under 'petty business'. Some work as building contractors, livestock brokers, flour-cum rice mill managers and sale agents of agro-pTOducts. All these activities are grouped under the category of . large business'. There are a few salaried people, mostly within the village like the nutritious meal workers, village nurse assistant and the village-mistress for mother-and-child-care who are all grouped under 'lower salaried' category. There are others like the post master, nutritious meal co ordinator, and workers in the garment mills, drivers and lorry cleaners who work outside Seripura. They are all grouped under the category of . higher salaried'. Some continue the traditional activities, as in the cases of washermen, shoe mentors and barbers. All these activities are grouped under 'traditional labour'. Some are engaged in quarrying. Some others involve III construction works. Some of the washermen use their donkeys during harvest seasons, for transporting the agricultural produce from the interior lands. All such activities have been grouped under' other' category. Table 3.1 looks into these diversified economic pursuits, adopted by the work force of Seripura. It provides an insight into the nature of activity engaged by the land-holders and the land-less as well by males and females. As people may involve ill more than one 70 Table No. 3.1: Activity Profile and Dependency Ratio ofthe Population by Land-holding Status and Sex Activities Land Holding Status Sex Total Land Holders Landless Male Female Main Subsid. Main Subsid. Main Subsid. Main Subsid. Main Subsid. Agriculture 18.6 56.3 0.0 1.0 25.2 39.1 5.1 56.1 15.6 47.2 Sericulture 16.1 130 0.0 0.0 17.7 53 8.8 17.0 13.5 10.9 Anim.Husb. 3.1 50 3.0 2.0 4.3 5.3 1.7 3.7 3.1 4.5 Agri.Labour 19.6 12.0 27.7 17.8 230 9.9 18.7 16.3 20.9 13.0 Mig.Labour 1.7 00 9.9 1.0 5.6 0.0 0.3 0.3 3.1 0.2 Petty Business 3.1 1.6 4.0 2.0 4.3 0.6 2.0 2.7 3.2 1.6 Big Business 1.0 OA 2.0 00 2.2 0.0 0.0 0.7 1.1 0.3 Traditional IA 0.8 5.0 10 3A 0.3 0.3 IA 1.9 0.8 Labour Lower Salaried 0.2 OA 4.0 10 0.9 0.6 0.7 0.3 0.8 0.5 Higher Salaried 4.5 0.0 6.9 0.0 8A 00 1.0 0.0 4.9 0.0 Other lA 1.0 8.9 5.0 4.0 1.9 1.0 1.4 2.6 16 Household Work 29.3 15.3 28.7 11.9 0.9 I.2 60.2 29.6 29.2 41.2 Total Working 515 101 322 294 616 Population 100% Total Population 805 150 497 458 955 Dependency Ratio 56.3 48.5 54.3 55.8 55.0 • --- - -w.- activity, the main activity has been distinguished from the subsidiary activities. The level of involvement in an activity has been decided mainly by the amount of time relatively devoted to different activities in a year. The dependency ratio per 100 work force is 55. Tbey mostly consist of the pre-school children and the studying population as well as the older people. Looking at the activity profile by land-holding status, the dependency ratio among the landless is below that of the land holders. Looking across sex status, there is no marked variation in the dependency ratio from the general population. Those who are engaged in agriculture account for about 63 per cent of the working population, for about one fourth of whom, it is a main activity. Looking across the population by land-holding status, about three fourths of the work force among the land-holders are engaged in agriculture work. There is no marked difference in the proportion of those for whom agriculture is the main activity. As for gender factor, the distribution is almost proportional, with a slight variation in favour of males. Agriculture as the main activity, clearly favours the males with about 25 per cent of them involving in it, as against just about 5 per cent of the females. About forty-four per cent of the work force have been reported to be involved in household activity. Looking at the gender factor, the activity is almost confmed to females alone, involving more than 90 per cent of the female work force. It also forms as a main activity for about two thirds of the total female work force, manifesting strict adherence to the traditional role of women. This activity still remains as an invisible 72 one as it lacks any visible productivity. Consequently, the women continue to be pushed to the walls, with lack of recognition. Wage labour is another major activity that involves a little more than one third of the working population. For two thirds of them., it is a main activity. By their land-holding status, about 46 per cent of the work-force among the land-less are engaged in wage labour. As for the gender factor, the difference is marginal, tilted towards the females, while as a main activity, the tilt is towards the males (with about 23 and 19 per cent respectively). Almost one fourth of the total working population is engaged in own sericulture. This is besides hired labour in sericulture, which constitutes more than one third of the total sericulture labour and about one tenth of the total hired labour (see table 5.1) This forms part of the wage labour category. As for the land-holding status, sericulture is fully confined to the land-holders alone as there is no case of a land-less sericulturist in Seripura. As for the gender factor in sericulture activity, the variation is only mar~al (about 23 and 26 per cent), favouring the females. As seen earlier, in agriculture too, the variation is marginal, but favouring the males. Sericulture is a main activity for about 18 per cent of the male work force. On the other hand, it is a primary activity only for about 9 per cent of the female work force. Animal husbandry involves about eight per cent of the work force, for almost half of whom it is a main activity. By land-holding status, the percentage of those who are involved in the activity is more among the land-holders than among the landless, though, as a main activity, it is almost equal. As for the gender factor, the activity involves 73 about ten per cent males (which Include the five per cent males for whom it is a main activity). On the other hand, the female participation is only about five per cent (including the 2 per cent for whom It IS a main activity). It should, however, be noted that all these activities mennoned above, except household work, are agro-based activities. All other activities, which include business, salaried service, traditional labour. etc., though diverse in nature, attract only a marginal percentage of work force. Across the land-holding status, all these activities show a higher percentage of involvement among the land-less. Looking at gender involvement in these activities, some observations emerge. Migrant labour is resorted to by more males than females (about 6 per cent males as against less than one per cent of females.) Similarly, big business and higher salaried jobs have clearly favoured males, while not much variation is seen concerning petti-business and lower-salaried activities. There are about four per cent of males, as against only about two per cent of females, involved in traditional labour. As the above analysis shows, though a majority of the activities are land-based., the profile does bring out the diversification of activities, which have been the features of a transitional society. The following analysis would help in understanding the extent of cash economy, even within the agriculture and agro-based environment. There is hardly any village, today, that has not come into the gnps of cash or market economy. Whichever activity a family is involved in, it must avail itself of some cash income. This is, sometimes, to bear the entire subsistence expenditure or to supplement subsistence 74 production along with meeting any other expenditure of non-subsistence nature. Cash income is realised, by the occupation of the individuals or by any productive activity of the family .. It is also possible by selling a portion of their land-produce if they totally depend on agricultural work alone without having any other source of income. Seen in this way, the activities that provide a source of income for the families have been grouped into six categories, namely, agriculture, animal husbandry, sericulture, wage labour, business, services and others as portrayed in Table 3.2. The migrant labour category that had been separately considered in the activity profile has been merged with 'wage labour' category. All business sources have been grouped under the single category . business'. All salaried sources have been grouped under the category of . services'. All other sources including traditional labour have been grouped under . other' sources. It is possible for a single household to have more than one or two sources of cash income. So, the income obtained from different sources had been gauged at two levels and referred to as primary source and additional source. The category of . single source' includes those households that have access to only one single source of income. As table 3.2 shows, there are three activities that stand apart in meeting the material needs of the people by way of providing cash income. These are agriculture, sericulture and wage labour. In all, there are as many as about 62 per cent of the households (forming about 78 per cent of the total number of land-holders) who draw cash income from agriculture. Only for about one third of them, it serves as a primary source of income. As for sericulture, it provides a cash income for about 26 per cent of the households. This includes also those who draw cash 75 income by leasing their sericulture land to other sericulturists4. Sericulture forms as a primaI)' source of income for a majority of the sericulture households in Seripura. However, for about three fifths of the households, the income at the primaI)' level comes from sources other than agriculture and sericulture. Wage labour brings cash for about half the number of the households. either as a primaI)' source or as an additional source. It is a primaI)' source of income for about 30 per cent of the households. ~otably, there are 8 per cent of the families who totally depend on the wage labour alone for their livelihood and cash requirements. A similar per cent of households depend on agriculture alone for their cash requirements while about 2 per cent has only sericulture as their source of income. Apart from these, about 10 per cent of the households draw income from business activities including petty shops and tea stalls. Another 15 per cent benefit from salaried services like teaching, driving, etc. About 12 per cent are benefited from other activities including traditional labour. Today, traditional and subsistence agriculture is increasingly complemented with modem and commercial agriculture. Table no. 3.3 brings out the extent of subsistence and commercialisation of agriculture in Seripura. As seen in the table, about two per cent of the 4 There are two households in Seripura, which have leased out their mulberry lands to other sericultunsts 76 Table No. 3.2: Sources of Household Income (Per cent) (No. of Households - 200: Sources Single Source Primary Source Additional Sources Total Agriculture 7.5 12.5 41.5 61.5 Sericulture 1.5 19.0 5.5 26.0 Aoim.Husbandary 0.0 0.5 4.5 5.0 Wage Labour 7.5 22.0 21.5 51.0 Business 2.0 7.0 0.5 9.5 Services 2.5 6.5 6.5 15.0 Other 3.5 8.5 3.5 15.5 Total 24.5 75.5 Table No. 3.3: Agriculture as a Source of Cash Income and of Subsistence for the Land holders (per cent) (Total Land-holders: 158) Extent of Meeting the Extent of Meeting the Subsistence Needs Cash Needs High Medium Low Nil Total As Only Source 8.2 0.6 0.6 0.0 9.4 As Primary Source 10.8 2.6 0.7 1.9 16.0 As Additional Source 25.4 11.4 4.4 11.4 52.6 Nil 7.6 7.6 5.0 1.8 22.0 Total 52.0 22.2 10.8 15.1 100.0 77 households hardly get any substantial returns either to meet their subsistence needs or to meet their cash requirements. About 20 per cent of the households make use of their land produce, solely for their consumption needs, for a majority of whom, at a high or medium level. They put their land to use solely for subsistence production. On the other hand, about 13 per cent of the households sell all the land-produce to obtain a cash income, though for a majority of them it is only an additional source. These people are engaged solely in the cultivation of cash crops. Both these categories of households stand at the extremes in the continuum of subsistence and commercial utilisation of agriculture. For about one fourth of the land-holders, agriculture is either the only source or a primary source of cash income, for a majority of whom, it also largely meets their subsistence needs. They stand in the middle of the above continuum, benefiting to its maximum on both sides. In all, for about 75 per cent of the land-holders, agriculture meets their subsistence needs largely or at the medium level, while for an equal percentage of the land-holders, agriculture meets the cash needs, either as a single source or as a primary source or as an additional source. All these bring out the position of agriculture and the extent of its commercialisation in the transitional economy of Seripura. This process of commercialisation in agriculture has been reinforced with the advent of sericulture. Sericulture itself occupies an important place in the socio-economic life of Seripura. Because of some of the inherent limitations, not all households have adopted sericulture. ;\Ievertheless, sericulture. which is an agro-based activity has involved about one fourth of the work force, besides its hired labour force. Though groundnut has lately emerged as one of the leading cash 78 economies of the village, it is any way confmed to the fanns, Wltouched by the daily chores of life. On the other hand, the nature of sericulture activity, with its regular, continuous and substantial inflow of cash mcome, v.;th its close link to the domestic chores and with its interactional openings, has redefined the cash inflow of economy and captured the attention of even the non-sericulturists. it has also become a point of talk for all the people in the village. The increasing cash inflow has its manifestations even ill the diversification of some of the activities that are part of the commercial base of the economy. For instance, there are five tea shops and three grocery shops in Seripura. There are also two flour-cum-rice mills and one grinding unit. Further, there are also three tailoring units, functioning in the village, though not all as full time units. As seen earlier, there are also building contractors, livestock brokers and sale agents of agricultural products within the village. All these are indicative enough of the transitional process of the village economy for which the contribution of sericulture has been substantial. The next chapter portrays the profile of the sericulture process in the village, looking at the practitioners and at their practice. It considers the socio-economic and demographic characteristics of the practitioners of sericulture. It then analyses the socio-economic, cultural and technological factors that play a crucial role in the adoption and performance of sericulture. 79 CHAPTER IV SERICULTl;RE PROCESS: A PROFILE Development programmes may not evoke similar response from all sections of people, though it is assumed that 'people everywhere respond to economic incentives pe,ceiving their significance in much the same way as the managers' (Gabriel 1991:2). In reality, there could be multiple responses, depending on multiple factors and situations. Sericulture as practised by the people could serve either as meeting their subsistence needs alone or as providing a substantial cash ITIcome. Elements of both aspects could also be present in the practice of sericulture. only in varying degrees. Thus, sericulture could be viewed in a contlnuJrn with both these aspects representing their extremes. There are some basIC indicators that could help in understanding the nature of its practice The level of subsistential dependency, the intensity of family labour. the scale of operation, the extent of risk-taking and readiness to adopt new technology, etc., are some such indicators. Considering these aspects. sericulture could be an enterprise of subsistence nature in some areas and a full-fledged commercial enterpnse ITI some other areas. It could also vary among different sericulturists of the same area. r-.:aturally, the practice of sericulture as a commerCIal enterpnse would entail a high cost technology and may appear to be more successful. On the other hand, at a subsistence level, it may be practised as a way of life. Charsely (1982: 94-9) conceives two categories of people. one who consider sericulture a 'practice' and the other who consider It a 'business'. The differential responses and 80 considerations are developed within certain conditions and situational compulsions. The effort here is to look into the functioning of sericulture with its diverse processes, dimensions and realities. Sericulture, in a broader sense, implies all phases, in the process of silk production, starting from mulbeny cultivation to weaving, with the inter-phases of silk-worm rearing, silk reeling and silk twisting. However, in a restricted sense, the term 'sericulture' has also come to refer to mulbeny cultivation and importantly, the rearing phase of the activity that leads to production of cocoons, the basic raw material for silk production. It is this phase of the activity that involves a majority of labour force, employed in the whole process of silk production (Sinha 1989). As it is also an entirely rural-based activity, this phase of sericulture has formed the focus of the present study. There are two dimensions that constitute the practice of sericulture. One concerns the practitioners and the other concerns the practice. Both these dimensions are considered here along with a preliminary exposition of the rearing features and the expansion of sericulture in Seripura. Rearing Features: The life span of silk worms stretches for about 23 to 26 days. The rearing of silkworms starts with the appropriate growth of mulbeny leaves that are used for feeding the silkworms. The fanner anticipates in advance, the time of maturation of the leaves and the scale of rearing. Assessing the situation, 'indent'5 is given to one of the government or private grainages for the required number of 'Disease I By 'mdent' it is meant 'placing order in advance' 81 Free Layings' (DFLst At the appropriate time, the layings are procured and kept at home to complete the process of incubation7 and get ready for hatching. Meanwhile, a few days before the actual hatching of the layings, preparations are carried out for accommodating and rearing of the hatched worms. The rearing trays and the shed are cleaned and disinfected. Hatching generally takes place on the tenth day, from the date of its laying. Uniform hatching ensures a better crop. So, the rearers are expected to be shrewd enough to identify the time of hatching and provide appropriate conditions, including appropriate temperature and humidity. When hatched, the tiny worms are fed with leaves chopped into tiny bits. Later, the worms are brushed into trays, preferably wooden ones, providing with adequate spacing for the worms. In the process of growth, the worms pass through five stages that are known as 'instars' before they reach the stage of spinning their cocoons and maturing into pupae. After each instar, up to the fourth stage, the worms undergo a period of respite during which they shed out their skins. This process is known as 'moulting'S. During moulting, the feeding is stopped. The sericulturists get the much needed rest during these breaks. The time of moulting and its release has to be skillfully gauged for better results. Preventive measures, suitable to the situations are to be carried out to keep the worms safe from any possible attack of 6 The eggs, laid by a smgle silk-moth at a time, are called 'one laying' 7 IncubatJon normally takes about ten days g In local term, it is referred to as 'Kaacchal', which means 'fever'. 1bis generally lasts for about twenty to twenty-four hours. 82 diseases. Some people prefer chawkie wonns9 and thereby availing about 'ten-days' rest and at the same time foregoing the strain of preparing the chawkie. TIlls is very much popular in M R Pura and K K Pura. The feeding is carried out with regular intervals. The wonns are fed with mulberry leaves for three to five times a day depending on the general practice of the area. First feeding usually starts at the early hours of the day and the last feeding at the late evening. There is a direct correlation between the size and maturity of the wonns and the maturity and chopping-size of the leaves that are fed to the wonns. Adult wonns are generally fed with fully grown leaves without chopping. In some areas, farmers resort to branch feeding instead of leaf feeding, as a traditional practice or as a result of labour scarcity. With the passing of days, worms grow in their size. 'Bed cleaning' is carried out as the bed becomes thicker with leaf-waste and with the litters of the worms. Simultaneously, trays are also increased, along with the growth of the worms. Consequently, work load also increases multi-fold. As the worms near the process of reaching full maturity, preparations are carried out, to get the mountages (also known as 'chandrikes) ready for mounting the silkworms for cocoon fonnation. Worms are mounted as and when they are matured, the process of which 9 The tending of young-age worms, normally up to third moulting is known as , chawkJc rearing'. Tills is considered to be highly skilful activity as it involves tending of tiny worms into healthy adult ones. Adequate attention needs to. be paId ill keeping the worms under desirable temperature and proViding appropnate aeration and spacing. Chawkie rearing,. usually up to second moulting, is sometimes carried out professionally ill what. IS known. as . ChawkJe Rearing Centres' or CRCs, run by government or pnvate agenCies, before passmg the worms on to the furmers. 83 may be stretched for two to three days. Once mounted, the worms engage themselves in the spinning of silk cocoons. At the end of the process of spinning, the cocoons are collected and cleaned. The cocoons are then taken to one of the regulated cocoon markets. The reelers come to the cocoon markets to bid for the cocoons. The cocoons, thus bought, are put to undergo further transformation, by way of reeling, in the process of silk production. The entire process of rearing is repeated again, generally with a gap of about a month unless there are alternative plots of mulberry available to go for rearing immediately, which is a practice with some enterprising sericulturists and in some pockets of Tamil Nadu. All these activities imply certain intrinsic features which are unique only to sericulrure, and to some extent, to similar agro-industries. Some such fearures in sericulture include the following: l. The activity is mostly carried out within or in proximity to the living premises .... ith exceptions. The work is quite intensive in nature and is quite different from other types of agricultural activities. 2. It necessitates one person to be a main participant in the activity who needs to involve and participate in the activity intensively for a continuous one month, at each rearing. 3. The activity also demands equally supporting participants within the household for better results. 4. To appropriate a successful crop, there needs to be perfect understanding and co-ordination among the participants who should also display a great dedication and commitment to the work. S. Since the work is carried out within or nearby the living premises, it almost becomes part of the household chores. This enables women to take an active part in the work without much affecting the traditional rhythm of a rural household. 6. It provides opportunities for the main participants to have wider contacts, frequent interactions and greater familiarisation and networking. The sericulturists develop closer contacts with other participants in the same village, with the department officials and 84 with other related agencies and fellow entrepreneurs from different areas. 7. The frequent and substantial returns from the enterprise allow the main participants to claim credit for the achievement and assert their economic capacity. The same accomplishment, nevertheless, equally demands a due recognition to be given to the other active and to a certain extent to the passive supporters too, within the family, if the enterprise has to sustain successfully. Al] these unique features are bound to reflect ill the labour relations, family structure and interaction networks. Sericulture Expansion in Seripura: Sericulture has not been adopted by all households because of some of the inherent limitations. Nevertheless, it becomes a point of talk for all the people in the village. For most of the sericulturists in Seripura, sericulture is not an obsession but a hay of life. It comes into their life once in every two-months, though at different times for different people. It makes their life-line active, stays there for about a month and goes away, only to return after two months. Sericulture set into Seripura in 1971 and sustained for long, without any break in its life span for over twenty years. It bas been growing except for some marginal declines in the inter-mediate periods. There has been a steep rise in the adoption of sericulture since 1989, leading to a considerable expansion in area and in the number of sericulturists. Presently, about one fourth of the total number of households in the village has been practising sericulture. Sericulture was started in the village, with an initial operation of just 0.5 acres of mulberry area. In the process of its growth in the next 22 years, the area has been changing in its extension, with new 85 plantations, additional plantations and re-plantations as well as through partial and total displacements. There are, in all, sixty households which have taken up sericulture afresh, one third of which after 1989, coinciding with the NSP period. In the process of family partition, nine have inherited the mulberry lands while eight have lost the same to their siblings. Of them, six have gone for fresh plantations. There has been as many as fifteen cases of full-drop-outs during the pre NSP period, with seventeen of them returning to sericulture, ten of them during the NSP period alone. There has been a few who have given up sericulture more than once. There are as many as six drop-outs between 1990 and 1993, five of them in 1993 alone. There are only two cases of partial displacements. In all, there are fifteen who have gone for additional plantations, a few more than once and a majority of them, during the ~SP period up to 1993. There are ten households which have been exposed to sericulture at some time or other and are not practising it at present. Thus, the process of sericulture expansion in the village reveals different phases in the period of its growth. The first phase is characterised by initial enthusiasm. This is the period of first five years, beginning from 1971 and lasting up to 1978. The second phase represents a temporary decline in the growth, lasting for 7 years, until 1985. This period of decline coincides with the period of low rainfall and of severe drought in the district, except for two intervening years of 1981-82, and 1983 - 84. In fact, the whole state was facing severe drought situation in the years 1980-81 1982-83 and 1984-85. Sericulture, however, picked up again slowly but steadily upwards until 1989, representing a third phase in the process of sericulture expansion 86 m the village. The fourth phase, coinciding with the NSP period, represents a rapid expansion of sericulture, beginning from 1990. During this period, there is a high frequency of mulberry plantations. However, if the latest trend is of any indication, there seems to be a decline again in the growth, throwing out another phase, mainly due to the unsteady price factor, higher uncertainties and risk, cost-effectiveness of other competing crops and the increasing labour problem. Socio-Economic Profile The households of Seripura may be looked at by their land holding, irrigation and sericulture status across caste and land size class to provide a backdrop in understanding the significance of these aspects in the adoption of sericulture. An attempt has also been made to understand the socio-economic features of the members of sericulture families (who form the main focus of the study) by looking into the age and sex composition, marital status, activity profile and the intensity of sericulture participation across age, sex and educational status. Land-holding, Irrigation and Sericulture Status by Caste: Though the village has seventeen caste communities, sericulture has been adopted only by five communities namely, Kongu Vellalar, Varmiar, ~aidu, Kurwnbar and Ehali. Table 4.1 gives the distribution of households by land-holding, irrigation and sericulture status across different communities. The KVG households account for about two fifths of the total households in the village. Looking at the land-holding, irrigation and sericulture status in the same order, the KVGs show a progression. The same is true of other sericulture practising 87 Table No. 4.1: Distribution of Households by Land holding, Irrigation and Sericulture Status across Communities Castes Total Total Total Total %Age 96Age Of 96Age of Sericulture House Land Irrig. L. Sericul. of Irrigated Households holds holders holders HHs LHs Landholders To To To To To To Total Total Total Total Total Total HHs HHs LHrs HHs LHrs Ir.LHrs KVG 77 72 57 38 93.5 74.0 79.2 49.4 52.8 66.7 (38.5) (45.6) (74.0) (76.0) Vanniar 18 12 4 2 66.7 22.2 33.3 11.1 16.7 50.0 (9.0) (7.6) (5.2) (4.0) Naidu 5 5 4 4 100 80.0 80.0 80.0 80.0 100.0 (2.5) (3.2) (5.2) (5.2) Kurumb 9 9 4 3 100 44.4 44.4 33.3 33.3 75.0 ar (4.5) (5.7) (5.2) (6.0) Ehali 7 5 3 (3.9) 3 71.4 42.9 60 42.9 60 100.0 (3.5) (3.2) (6.0) Other 84 55 5 0 65.5 6.0 9.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 (42.0) (34.8) (6.5) (0.0) All ZOO 158 77 50 79 38.5 48.7 25.0 31.6 64.9 (100.0) (100.0) (100.0) (100.0) Table No.4. 2: D~stribution of Landholders by Land Size Class and Irrigation and Sericulture status Land- Total Total Total Seri. 96Age Of Ir. 96Age Of Sericulture Size Lhrs Ir. Lhrs HHs LHrs HHs Classes To Total To Total To Total Ir. llirs LHrs LHrs 22.7 71.4 Marginal ~~ 14 10 31. 8 (27.9) (18.2 i (20.0) Small 61 27 16 44.3 26.2 59.3 (38." ) (35.0; (32.0) Medium 40 25 18 62.5 45.0 72.0 (25.3) (32.5: (36.0) Large 13 11 6 84.6 46.2 54.5 (8.2 i (14.3) (12.0) All 158 77 50 48.7 31. 6 64.9 I:: O. J j (lOO.~i (l00.0) Note: HHs: Households; Lllrs: Landholders; Ir.: Irrigated; 88 communities except the Vanniars. While about four fifths of the households in the village are land-holders, more than 90 per cent of the KVG households and all the households of the Naidus and Kurumbars possess land. Seventy-four per cent of the KVG households, equalling about 80 per cent of the K VG land-holaers, have access to fully irrigated lands. This is in contrast to just about two fifths (about 40 %) of the total households, equalling just about half the number (about 50 %) of total land-hold~rs in the village, having similar access to fully irrigated lands. Coming to the sericulture status, it is about half the number of the KVG households, which account for about 67 per cent of the irrigated land holders. The percentage of the KVG sericulturists with access to irrigation, is almost simiiar to that for the whole village (about 65 per cent), though they account only for one fourth of the total households in the village It is to be noted, however, that only about 7 per cent of the households among th~ non-sericulture communities have access to irrigation. Thus, the adoption of sericulture is highly related to the extent of accessibility to land and irrigation. The first sericultwist in the village was a member of Kongu Vellalar caste. There were quite a few of the Vanniars too, who had taken up sericulture in the early period of its inception. However, the adoption of sericulture by a large number of them, was only after the mid 19805. This was possible only after improvement in the irrigation potentialtty of their lands located at a distant place and'their shifting of residence to their respective lands, Today, a group of such households has formed a satellite settlement to the village, 89 Land-holding, Irrigation and Sericulture Status by Land Size Class: Table 4.2 brings out the ctistribution of land-holders in Seripura, , by their land size class and irrigation and sericulture status. The marginal and small fanners constitute almost 67 per cent of the total land-holders. They are, however, only a little above half the number of sericulture households in the village. A look at the irrigation and sericulture status reveals a direct relationship with only a marginal variation. A similar look at the percentage of irrigated land-holders and sericulture households to the total land-holders in each category shows a progression from marginal upwards. This is in line with the higher access to irrigated lands by the higher land size classes. The percentage of sericulture households to the total irrigated land-holder in the corresponding categories shows that the marginal and mectium categories are on a higher plane as compared to the small and large categories. The marginal categories show much courage in taking the risk of adopting sericulture while the small fanners are cautious about it. As for the mectium fanners, they have nothing to lose by going for sericulture except a gain, given their access to ctifferent resources. For 90 the large farmers, sericulture may not be that attractive, given its labour and work intensity. Age, Sex and Marital Status: Table 4.3 portrays the age and sex composition of the members of the sericulture families by marital status. The age break-up of the members in sericulture families shows that the frrst two categories constitute almost an equal percentage of about thirty each, while there is a sharp decline from then onwards. The males in sericulrure families constitute about 53 per cent and the females about 47 per cent. Activity Profile: Table 4.4 portrays the activity profile of the sericulrure population. About 35 per cent of the sericulture population are dependents, resulting in a dependency ratio of 54. Those who are involved in the farm work constitute about 76 per cent while those who are involved in sericulture constitute about 80 per cent of the working population. As primary occupation, about 40 per cent are involved in sericulrure while about one half of that size is involved in agriculture. The other activities that the working population among the sericulture families involve include animal husbandry (8.2 %) and salaried job 91 Table No. 4.3: Percentage Distribution of Sericulture Household members by Age, Sex and Marital Status Age Unmarried Married SepiDiv Widowt"d Toalal M F T M F T M F T M F T M F T Below]5 15.8 13.1 28.9 15.8 13.1 28.9 ]5 to 29 15.5 7.4 22.9 1.8 6.0 7.7 0.4 0.4 17.3 13.7 31.0 30 to 44 0.7 0.7 9.2 9.5 18.7 0.4 04 1.1 I.J 9.9 10.9 20.8 45 to 59 6.7 4.2 10.9 04 0.4 0.7 7.0 4.6 11.6 60 & Above 2.5 I.J 3.5 0.7 3.5 4.2 3.1 4.6 7.7 Total 32.0 20.5 52.5 20.1 20.8 40.8 0.4 l.l 5.3 6.3 53.1 46.9 100.0 ~-. - "---- _. to ~ Table No. 4.4: Activity PronIe of Sericulturists Activities Sericulture Households All Main Subsid. Main Subsid. Agriculture 17.9 57.6 15.6 47.2 Sericulture 40.2 39.7 13.5 10.9 Animal Husbandry 3.3 4.9 3.1 4.5 A2ricultural Labour 0.5 3.8 20.9 13.0 Migrant Labour 1.1 0.0 3.1 0.2 Petty Business 00 0.5 3.2 1.6 Big Business l.l l.l l.l 0.3 Traditional Labour 0.0 l.l 1.9 0.8 Low Salaried 0.0 1.l 0.8 0.5 Hi2h Salaried 4.9 0.0 4.9 0.0 Other 0.0 0.0 2.6 1.6 Household Work 31.0 14.7 29.2 14.8 Total Working Population 184 616 1(100%) Tot. Population 284 955 Dependency Ratio 54.3 55.0 93 (6 %). About four per cent are involved in wage labour, though, for only 0.5 per cent of them, it is a primary activity. A few are involved in business activities too. Intensity of Sericulture Participation: The work force of the sericulture population can be categorised into participants and non participants. All those" among the working population who do not participate in sericulture would fall under the non-participant category. Among the participants, all do not involve in the same level. Some just do the work without bothering about the over-all performance of the activity. They generally involve in activities like leaf picking, feeding and bed cleaning. There is hardly any difference between the nature of their involvement in the activity and that of the unskilled hired labourers. There are the others who do the work with skill and confidence, manifesting an expertise, in almost all the activities of sericulture. Considering the nature of their involvement and participation, the sericulture participants are further classified into active and passive participants. Table 4.5 presents the distribution of the members of sericuIture households by the level of their intensity of participation. 94 Table No. 4.5: Intensity ofSericulture Participation by Male and Female Work-force across Age and Educational Status (Per cent). Particulars Active Participants Passive Participants Non-Participants All Male Fern. Male Fern. Male Fern. Male Fern. Total Age Categories 15 - 29 15.1 5.9 1.6 9.7 5.9 1.1 22.6 16.7 39.2 30-44 11.8 8.6 1.6 8.1 , 1.1 00 14.5 16.7 31.2 45 - 59 4.8 0.0 3.2 6.5 2.7 0.5 10.8 7.0 17.7 60 And Above 1.1 0.5 0.5 1.1 3.2 5.4 4.8 7.0 11.8 Educational Status Illiterate 18.0 39.3 61.5 61.7 37.5 84.6 28.6 58.0 42.5 Primary 31.1 25.0 15.4 12.8 16.7 7.7 25.5 15.9 21.0 Hr_ Primary 18.0 21.4 0.0 8.5 4.2 7.7 12.2 12.5 12.4 Secondary 23.0 14.3 23.1 17.0 16.7 0.0 21.4 13.6 17.7 Hs& Above 9.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 25.0 0.0 12.2 00 6.5 Total: (100%) 61 28 13 47 24 13 98 88 186 %Age 32.8 15.1 7.0 25.3 12.9 7.0 52.7 47.3 100.0 (Column-Wise) ~ Of the eighty per cent participants of the work force in sericulture households, about 48 per cent are active and the rest are passive. Among the active participants, while the males constitute about 33 per cent, the females are less than half the size of the male active force. Among the passive participants, while the females constitute about 25 per cent, the males are less than one third of the female passive force. Looking at the age structure, the majority of the active participants belong to the 15 to 29 age category, closely followed by the 30 to 40 age category. The males are predominantly seen in the fonner category while the females are more in the latter category. Of the passive participants, the males are concentrated in the third age category while the females are spread out among all the first three categories, though there is a predominance in the first age category. The male non-participants are almost double the size of the female non-participants. All these reveal the extent of gender and age disposition towards sericulture. There are more illiterates among the passive participants than among the active participants. Similarly, illiteracy is more among the female active participants than among the male active participants;. Almost 85 per cent of the female non-participants are illiterates while the illiteracy among the male non-participants is just about 38 per cent. \Vhile there are none among the female non-participants who have completed secondary education and above, there are as many as about 42 per cent of the male non-participants who have completed secondary education and above. This indicates that the male non-participants are quite educated unlike the female non-participants. As many as 25 per cent of the male non-participants have a qualification of higher secondary education and above. This could be seen in the light of the 96 indication in the activity profile of the sericulturists that there are as many as about five per cent of the work force in sericulture families , who are involved in higher salaried jobs. Sericulture Adoption and Performance A successful operation of sericulture involves intensive efforts with effective inputs, contributing to its development in all its dimensions, involving its improvement in breadth, depth and length. The breadth implies its adoption or expansion. The depth implies its volume or productivity. The length implies its longevity or sustainability. Expansion and sustainability constitute the two sides of the same coin. In a way, both are very much related to one another and are very much affected by similar factors. Productivity, which is also affected by similar and related factors, is itself one of the crucial factors in expansion and sustainability (Gregory 1994c). An analysis of the various factors affecting the adoption and performance of sericulture is essential in understanding the process of sericulture in a wider perspective. The effort here is to basically look at sericulture and its development through socio-economic and cultural factors. It is complementary to the perspective that looks at society and the socio-cultural institutions and relations through sericulture, which forms the second part of this study. Studies have shown that sericulture has proved to be highly remuneratIve with high yield returns (e.g., Hanumappa 1986; Rajapurohit and Govindaraju 1986). However, remuneration and high returns are subject to variation, depending on certain factors. Sericulture 97 bas always shoM} to be a high-risk enterprise involving many uncertainties (Charsely 1986: 96-97). A promising batch may well end in a total loss due to some disease, which, the rearer is not able to control nor when any constructive extension advice is forthcoming. In order to understand the performance status of the sericulturists, an effort has been made to analyse the productivity levels and their accompanied features in tenns of land status, scale of operation and labour use. These are also further looked into across certain socio-economic categories. This is followed by an analysis of certain crucial factors including the socia-economic, cultural and technological factors, institutional support and personal factors that playa significant role in the performance of the sericulrurists. Levels of Productivity and Performance The status of sericulture performance for the sericulturists could be understood by looking into the productivity index at three levels namely. land, labour and seed. Table 4.6 portrays the levels of all these producti\iry levels in terms of land use, scale of operation and labour use. Table 4.7 presents the average productivity levels across family types, caste and land size classes. The range of yield per acre of mulberry land (indicating the land productivity) is between 128 and 500 kgs with an average of 326 kgs. The range of yield per 100 person days (indicating the labour productivity) is between 42 kgs and 156 kgs with an average of about 87 kgs. The range of yield per 100 DFLs (indicating the seed productivity) is between 20 and 45 kgs with an average of 34 kgs. A look at the average yield of land, labour and seed 98 Table No. 4.61 Land Size, Scale and Labour Use across Different Productivity Levels Partleul.,. Land produotMty" C.t~or1eo Labour Produotlvlty"· C.t~or1eo s...cJ Prod~" Categon.. Peo1ormo""" Level. (Kg') <200 1200~ 300-3811 I >400 Land teo 5 2~ 7 ~e.5 4114 8 t1l0.4 220 5 211411 3t t.8 335.1 1440 221.7 302.8 3eo.0 2887 Labour 738 7e 8 101 II 105 II e78 71 4 874 10411 140 a 411 a 718 11811 t22.2 87.3 Seed 270 325 381 311 II 2e 8 2113 344 311 2 424 100 277 381 45.0 34.0 Land SIZe Land Holding 72 58 e.e 55 I 5.2 I 47 881 7.5 I 5.4 7.21 5.3 7.2 4.1 I 3.2 Fully Irngated Land 1.3 I 1.5 1.5 371 ttl 1.2 281 tel 1.7 131 1.31 2.0 111 1.7 Scal. Mulberry 1.2 0.7 08 1 a oe 08 08 1 1 10 0.7 0.8 0.11 1.0 08 DFLa 5114.3 783.0 883.5 1103.8 800.0 752.~ ~e.5 71154 788.5 720.0 801.2 784.7 800.0 7114.2 Number 01 Cr~pe 4.2 4.1 4.5 55 40 4.4 4.4 4.3 4.5 4.0 4.3 4.3 50 4.3 Labour u.. (per Aero) Labour Ind .. (per kg) 1.4 1.3 1.0 0.11 20 1.4 1.0 1.0 0.7 2.0 1.4 1.0 08 1.1 Average Labour 217.4 323.2 330.2 439.0 374.3 308.11 337.4 2117.2 2311.4 2114.0 3011.8 312.5 21/4.8 308.8 Average Family Male 82.8 1311.0 122.5 1135 158.0 128.2 1111.8 102.1 81.8 118.0 107.5 123.5 111.2 11 e.7 Averago Famllv Fornal. 85.5 101.4 102.3 1211.4 1114 I 1111.8 108.7 74.7 95.6 118.0 110.6 112.0 89.8 100.2 Average Hir&d Male 12.8 20.2 30.4 478 11.9 20.7 31.7 23.0 24.5 0.0 1.0 24.0 44.11 23.3 Average Hired Female 38.2 112.6 75.0_ ___ ~_68~~ '-----___ 52.3 83.2 77.4 117.5 37.4 40.0 71.7 73.0 48.8 08.11 • Yield per one acre; *. Yield per 100 person daya; *.* Yield per 100 dfla ~ o o productivity at the different performance levels reveals that they almost correspond to each other, indicating the mutual linkages of all the three levels of productivity criteria. The land-holding status at different productivity levels indicate that the higher performers have a lower average land-size as compared to the lower performers. The highest average fully irrigated area is mostly on the higher performance as compared to the lowest fully irrigated area. The land productivity levels show a higher confirmation of this trend. If the size of fully irrigated area is taken as an indicator of the level of access to irrigation., the above pattern only reinforces the importance of irrigation in mulberry cultivation. The average area of mulberry holding is more among the higher performers as compared to the lower performers except in the case of land productivity where both extremes fall on the side of the lower performers, leaving out a medium scale to the higher performers. The average number of DFLs reared per year per acre also shows that the better performers at all the three levels seem to have a higher scale as compared to the lower performers. This is comparable to the situation in E N Pura. Here, the highest and the next highest performers at the seed productivity levels, have been operating the highest and the lowest average of mulberry land respectively. As for the scale of rearing, the higher scale sericulturists are the ones who have also performed well. The number of crops shows only a slight variation., with more frequency on the higher performers. As for the labour-use, naturally, there is an inverse relation with the performance levels and a direct relationship with the labour index 101 (number of labour per one kg of cocoons) at different productivity levels. Looking into the break-up of labour-use, the higher performers tend to utilise less family labour as compared to the lower performers at labour and seed productivity levels. At the land productivity level, however, while the lowest performers show the least use of family labour, the second lowest performers use the family labour, most. On the other hand, the highest performers use more hired labour as compared to the lower performers at the seed and land productivity levels. At the labour productivity level, the highest performers use the least hired labour while the second highest performers use the most hired labour. A.s for the utilisation of labour by sex variation, the higher performers tend to use less female labour as compared to the lower performers at the labour and seed productivity levels. At the land productivity level, however, the pattern shows a reverse. As for the male labour, the higher performers use the least at the labour productivity level while it is the reverse at the seed productivity level. At the land producti\ity level, the lowest performers use the least male labour and the second lowest performers use the most male labour, leaving out Il medium use for the higher performers. As for the hired male labour, it is more used by the higher performers as compared to the lower performers at all levels. The higher performers use the family male labour least as compared to the lower performers at the labour productivity level. At the seed productivity level, the lowest performers use the most and the second lowest use the least of it, again leaving the higher performers with its medium use. It is just the reverse at the land productivity levels. The trend, however, 102 indicates that the hired male labour is more used by the higher perlormers as compared to the lower perlormers. In general, the hired male labour component in sericulture is far less as compared to the hired female labour component. One of the reasons for this variation is the wage factor which favours the female labour over the male labour. This is true in almost all areas of this study. Where hired male labour is involved, they are either skilled labourers, or permanent contract labourerslo who work under the direct supervision of the sericulturists and gain experience for themselves. In both cases the sericulturists involved are m05tly the medium farmers with better resource access and committed experience. As for Seripura, the component of permanent contract labour is very minimal. The use of male skilled labour is very much in use. So, these factors could very well explain such phenomenon 11. The perlormance status across family types reveals that at the seed and labour productivity levels, the best perlormers are those belonging to the complex nuclear family type with the other two types showing a below average perlormance. The advantage in such families is that there are at least two adult women available in the family facilitating an efficient division of labour. 10 Refer C haprer 5 for a detailed exposition of labour types II In the analysis of labour-use, however, a note of precaution needs to be added. 1bat IS those who involve family labour are sometimes more liberal in ~nributi~g the quantity of labour under use as they are almost part of the accompllshment 103 The performance status across castes reveals that at the seed and labour productivity levels, the KVGs show better performance as compared to the rest. This indicates their better access to land and irrigation sources. Besides, they also enjoy a higher social economic status which facilitates their wider interaction and provides a better access to institutional benefits. The performance status as well as the scale of operation across land-size classes would reveal that there is obviously a relationship between what emerges here and the pattern, emerged earlier, in the analysis of the same factors across different productivity levels. At labour productivity, the marginal and the large land-holders show a performance below the average levels while all the other groups farc above average. The best performance is by the small land-holders. The marginal and the large land-holders show the least performance of seed productivity, while there is an even performance among the others with minimal variations. The performance of the marginal land-holders as compared to others is poor in both seed and labour productivity. In the case of marginal farmers, the disadvantage is their lack of access to resources while in the case of large farmers, the personal attention and commitment to carry out the activity are hardly available. On the other hand, there is access to resources, as well as personal involvement in the case of medium farmers, which is manifested in their performance. If this pattern is compared with the situation in E N Pura, it would be seen that the better performers are the marginal and medium farmers while the small and large farmers have not fared well. While the performance level of the medium and large farmers in both these areas do not conflict, as for the marginal and small farmers are concerned the 104 variation is striking. However, the category of marginal farmer is not comparable as there was only a single representative of this category in E N Pura. As for the small farmers, it depends on the varying access to resources including irrigation, which is on the better side as far as the Seripura fanners are concerned compared to those of the Palani farmers. All the factors considered above do indicate their significance in the operation of sericulture and reflect their impact on the level of performance. It has to be noted, however, that these factors may not have a direct impact on the performance status of sericulture as the nature of these factors is only extraneous. This implies that there are scores of other factors that accompany these categories in varying degrees. This also explains why there are variations even within specific categories. The following section brings out the other major factors that come to play in the adoption and performance of sericulture. Socio-Economic Factors The adoption of sericulture as a career will be a futile exercise unless there is a congenial atmosphere for carrying it out and a reasonable hope for continuing in it. The main motivation of the farmers in taking up sericulture has always been the economic consideration though the other factors follow closely. However, the access to the basic socia-economic factors and the required economic capacity are the critical elements in the success of sericulture. The major factors under this category include land and irrigation, capital and credit and labour. Land-holding and Irrigation Status: Access to land and irrigation is an essential element in the practice of sericulture. In 105 Seripura, not a single landless has adopted sericulture. Again, even among the land-holders, it is still confmed to only those who have access to irrigation. The same is the case with a majority of sericulture areas in Tamil Nadu. Moreover, especially in the case of the resource poor fanners, neither the irrigated lands are available for lease, nor such arrangements in sericulture give substantial returns to the lessee, with a few exceptions. There are, however, some cases of sericulturists who go for lease as an additional undertaking, when some practising sericulturists want a break or do not like or unable to continue in sericulture any more, though may like to reap a portion of its benefits. In Seripura, as it has been mentioned earlier, a majority of the fully irrigated land-holders have gone for sericulture, irrespective of their land-holding status. Further, the land allocated for mulberry from the fully irrigated lands is proportionately high in most of the cases. All these only reinforce the significance of land and irrigation in the adoption of sericulture. The adoption of sericulture is also related to the soil type and the distance to the lands. Sharing of water from the same source, which is a common phenomenon in Tamil Nadu, also works as a constraint in going for or successfully carrying out sericulture, especially when the crop choices of the sharing parties are divergent (Gregory 1995c). Water-logging is another constraint in continuing in sericulture as experienced by some of the drop-outs in Seripura. Capital and Credit: Capital requirement is another factor that comes in the way of some of the potential takers for sericulture. Even the minimum investment needed to take up sericulture is believed to be higher than for many other crops. Thus, the high initial investment obviously restricts those who cannot afford, especially the weaker 106 sections from taking up sericulture. As for the credit facilities, the institutional credits have been restricted so far, only to the land-holders. On the other hand, the non institutional credits of this scale are accessible only to the well-off sections of the society. This rules out the possibility of the landless people entering into sericulture. In spite of these constraints, there could be some who have the fortune of availing the credit facility. Here again, this person has to face an undue delay in procu..ring it, besides greasing the palms of the officials and undergoing the bureaucratic hardships in the process. By the time the amount is on hand, the dejected sericulturist is already on his way to loosing interest due to crop losses. He only waits to procure the whole credit amount before he could displace mulberry, as happened in the cases of Raman and Raguvaran who belong to SC in EN Pura. As for the bankers, they do not show much interest in extending credit service to the sericulturists due to the poor recovery rate and lack l2 of repayment linkages as found in sugarcane cultivation . While it is true that many a time, the farmers are not prompt enough in repaying the loan, it is also true that there is least initiative by the bankers themselves to recover the same. This has been widely expressed in M R Pura as well as in E ~ Pura. The poorer recovery of the loans is mainly due to the expectation of a possible loan waiving politics, while the poorer recovery efforts by the bankers are reported to have been mainly due to the fear of political overtones. However, the Seripura farmers express 12 In the case of sugarcane, the credit facility is directly linked to the cultivation and marketing process. The amount is released in cash and in kind by way of ferttlisers, etc., m different instalments as and when it is required' 107 least interest in going for bank loans, not because they do not require them but because of a fear of post-loan harassment in the process of recovery. It is entirely another matter whether the credit amount is always put to use for the intended purpose. Labour: Sericulture being labour-intensive, labour becomes another major concern in sericulture. Family labour, especially one among them to be a main sericulturist, is very essential for the success of the enterprise. The lack of availability of such a person in the family works to be one of the major constraints for those fanners who could afford to take up sericulture. Not having family labour, an uninterrupted supply of hired labour at the time of rearing becomes another essential requirement in sericulture. Even if labour is abundantly available in some areas, not many are willing to do sericulture, unless there are adequate incentives extended to them. In E N Pura and in K K Pura, it is not uncommon to see the sericulturists of different categories and of different areas successfully adjusting to this problem through specific an d appropnate. Iba our strategIes·13 . Institutional Service This refers to the institutional efforts in extending the service on specific aspects, in the development of sericulture. Such services are extended either through government departments or private or non government agencies or through co-operative societies. The major aspects that are found to be crucial in the present context and considered 13 llus is discussed in detail in chapter 5 on . Labour Relations' 108 here concern the supply of material inputs, training and extension and marketing service. Supply of Material Inputs: The inputs in sericulture may range from the garden inputs including mulberry saplings and cuttings, farm yard manure and chemical fertiliser, to the rearing inputs including layings, disinfectants, insecticides as well as the rearing appliances and equipments. Different agencies are engaged in the supply of different inputs that are essential in the undertaking of sericulture. Though new varieties of mulberry have been advocated, it is not uncommon to see some farmers adopting sericulture with the plantation of a traditional variety, not always by option but because of the ready availability of one variety and the non-availability of another. Under the NSP, efforts have been made in different areas to encourage farmers taking up mulberry nurseries and plantation of new varieties through incentives. However, the emphasis has been more on the incentives rather than on the quality parameters and propagation of the new varieties. As for the FYM, the farmers, many a time depend on own sources or from the neighbours and calculate its input to the extent of its availability, whatever be the advocated package. As for the fertilisers, the dependency is on the traders as done for a majority of other agricultural crops and the adequacy of its application is comparatively better \vithin the consirieration of various factors including irrigation, mulberry variety etc. As for the reanng appliances, initially, the sericulturists, especially the small and marginal farmers go either for a smaller scale purchase from the craftsmen or go for second-hand ones from those who 109 drop-out from sericulture. For the rest, they depend on relatives, friends and neighbours, until they could confidently invest on the venture on a larger scale. In some areas, the hiring system has been prevalent especially for the mountages, on a whole-time employment, as it happened in K K Pur~ though without much success. The effort of the Department to introduce the plastic Chandrikes has also ended in failure as this innovation has created more complications than solutions. The layings are generally obtained from the government or private grainages either directly or through the extension personnel. It is a constant complaint of every one of the sericulturists that the poor quality of the laying causes them considerable strain, resulting in poor returns (Gregory 1994e; 1994f) Whichever may be the source of supply, differential quality of the layings has been the experience of most of the sericulturists. The sericulturists, however, generally base their choice on the performance of the worms, for themselves and for their neighbours and friends during the same period, and for the same lot. In some cases, in spite of every precaution, the switch-over itself turns out to be 'unlucky', as it moves from bad to worse. At such times, the farmers blame their 'time' to be 'bad'. Eventually they decide to give up sericulture itself, looking for better prospects in other crops and an appropriate time to re-venture into sericulture. Murugan, one of the rearers ill E ~ Pur~ makes a point, when he asserts: 'Unless the sericulture department pays adequate attention to the quality of the laying, sericulture cannot sustain for long'. The non- availability of the layings in time, especially during the demand season is another problem and the rearers expect a positive and constructive response from the sericulture department. llO Other inputs like disinfectants and insecticides are supplied mostly at the government service centres. There were also some efforts to market such inputs through women's co-operative societies, though this has not succeeded at a wider level. The availability of such inputs is not entirely to the satisfaction of the farmers. Sometimes, they have to make unfruitful trips, spending their money only to return without the needed inputs either because the sales centre is closed or the person in charge is not available or the particular inputs are out of stock. Training: Equipping oneself with the knowledge of sericulture is essential if one wants to do it with success. To supplement the self learning, the DOS extends its help by way of offering training in sericulture for the potential and the needed sericulturists. Some of the training programmes have left a positive impact on the sericulturists as evidenced by field studies (Gregory et al. 1994). There are also instances where the training has been conducted only on paper or used only as an incentive to the sericulturists, more for the material components than for the skill and knowledge components. Moreover, the objective of training is achieved only when it is followed up with practical solutions in the existing conditions. The training should also impart to the trainees the ability to transform to the local conditions what they learn in the formal forums. Extension Service: The role of the extension staff is crucial especially for the poorer performers and the new sericulturists. However, the experienced and progressive sericulturists perceive the extension staff as redundant and their visits as a mere routine. The view of other sericulturists too is not much positive either. Any innovative 111 idea that is convincingly offered, is readily accepted. However, today's extension staff has been taxed with so many impertinent tasks and target fulfillment that they sometimes miss the actual focus. Generally, the sericulturists do not like to show any hostility towards the extension staff lest they lose any favours that might come through the department. They also realise that they need the favour of the extension staff in procuring layings, especially during the demand season. What is needed most, however, is a change in the whole strategy, replacing the sericulture-specific approach to a family-based and a holistic approach (Gregory 1993). The extension staff should also learn to listen some times to understand the traditional wisdom of the farmers, which many a time proves to be right. Selective approach should be adopted towards the resource-poor and low-performing groups. Market Service: Another significant servlce provided by the department is the provision of marketing facility. In some of the local markets, the number of reelers is not in proportion to the quantity of cocoons available in the area. This reduces the competition and the subsequent price level, forcing the rearers to flee for some distant markets in search of a competitive price. Without containing the risk factors in sericulture and the price continuing to be unattractive, sericulture has been facing the danger of oblivion in recent years. If sericulture has to be successful in its accomplishment, there should be a two-pronged strategy to meet the challenge. One is to make its returns attractive in spite of its risk factors. The second is to combat and control the risk factors through all possible ways and means, mainly through an effective research strategy and the dissemination of the same to the field. 112 Adoption of Technology The deparnnent of sericulture has come out with many improved packages in the cultivation of mulberry and silkwonn rearing. However, the field response to different packages has been varying due to multiple conditions and considerations. This relates to the effective utilisation of the available infra-structural facilities and to the efficient management of the mulberry garden and of silkwonn rearing. Mulberry Garden: Mulberry is claimed to be a perennial crop, which, if properly raised, would last for over 15 years. However, in reality, there are very few cases, in the study villages of Tamil Nadu, which have continuous years of sericulture experience and so, long surviving mulberry plant. Quite a few sericulturists drop out in between for various reasons including water scarcity, poor price levels, disease out-break etc., only to return to sericulture after a gap. Good quality mulberry leaf is a prerequisite in ensuring healthy growth of silkworms and a successful cocoon harvest for the farmers. For this reason, the farmers are given improved packages of practices concerning the mulberry variety, the method of plantation, spacing of plants and fertiliser application. The conversion of such practices into reality has not always been fully realised. Many farmers have their opinion and reservations regarding some of the advocated practices. \Vhen the fanners are advocated with a new variety of mulberry, they may have their own perceptions, which do not allow them to comply ",lth it. Their perceptions emerge from their experiences and interactions. For quite a few sericulturists, water has been a crucial 113 factor in the choice of a particular variety of mulberry. Sometimes, the mulberry variety is also linked to the race of the worms reared. Some farmers do not opt for the wider spacing of plantation as it allows higher growth of weeds and thereby requires higher labour dependency. Some tend to believe that more spacing means fewer plants and less leaf yield. In their opinion, wide-spaced plants give more branches and twigs than leaves. They also believe that such a plantation demands higher doses of fertilizer and manure. Similarly, some believe that the pit system is unsuitable for branch feeding. There are also specifications about the doses of fertiliser and farm yard manure. As for the farmers, however, it depends on various factors including the availability of water, soil types etc. For instance, poor watering and heavy doses of fertilizer affect the quality of leaf and thus the cocoon yield. Not every farmer has the accessibility or the patience to go for soil testing. All these also depend on the ownership of the land. If a farmer does sericulture with a leased land for a specific period, such investment is considered to be a waste and unyielding in the long run. The assessment of the poorer performers in Seripura as well as in other study villages indicate, in many cases, a poorer application of farm yard manure due mainly to its scarce situation and high cost and also because of the low awareness of its significance. In comparison, the application of chemical fertilizer is relatively high in all villages, though it is still less than the advocated dosages. The progressive sericulturists show a higher tendency for the adoption of improved packages with minor variations. Such sericulturists would usually have a closer proximity to the officials. Some progressive 114 sericulturists, however, accept such packages only with caution and after conviction. In many sericulture areas, the sericulturists look up to the progressive sericulturists for guidance and demonstration. In some cases, the sericulturists get into trouble, only because they have adopted some of the advocated packages without giving attention to the accompanied conditions. Some packages sometimes undergo frequent updating, requiring at times even the replacing of one mulberry variety with another. This takes away the advantage of the perenniality of the mulberry plants. A well-established and well-maintained mulberry garden, with adequate plant spacing, free of weeds, regular irrigation and application of recommended doses of FYM and fertilisers, naturally ensures a better yield. In most of the recent plantations of mulberry, this aspect is well-taken care of, though there are differing levels of maintenance among the sericulturists in each village. Silk Worm Rearing: Appropriate reanng house is the first prerequisite in the process of rearing. Generally, a separate shed with adequate ventilation and high ceiling is said to be the ideal condition for rearing. Rearing space is a serious constraint for most of the people belonging to the weaker sections. The case of some of the Scheduled caste households in K K Pura captures the situation clearly. The SC sericulturists in the village have availed the credit facility available to them and have constructed a pukka shed for the silk worms, It is ironical, however, that they have to accommodate themselves and their children in a shabby hut. This is true of some of the marginal farmers too, in different villages who have gone for sericulture. It is entirely another matter that if they drop out from sericulture, these sheds turn out to be a better dwelling place for these people, unless they prove 115 themselves successful in sericulture and acquire the ability to construct a pukka house for living. A good nwnber of sericulturists in the study villages, either own a separate shed or a separate room for rearing. However, the picture is variant in providing the sheds with adequate ventilation and keeping the surroundings clean, which again reflects in the yield levels of the sericulturists. Here again, the casualty is the weaker sections. The shortcoming in this aspect could well be taken care of with a little effort in educating the concerned sericulturists about their adverse effects which they themselves experience but are not adequately aware of. Some of these aspects are well-taken care of by the progressive sericulturists in K K Pura as well as in E N Pura as also in Seripura. Some of the leading sericulturists in the progressive areas like Palani, even possess separate space for keeping the trays and mountages safe. Such a maintenance could be a pan of only a 'high cost technology' as it would definitely demand more space and investment. The perception of such a technology itself acts, sometimes, as a major constraint, especially for the weaker sections, in taking up sericulture. Efficient disinfection of the shed and the timely detection of the disease and appropriate application of the disinfectants could definitely enhance the yield performance. Many sericulturists do not go for regular disinfection and do it only in a casual way. This has a direct impact on the productivity performance of the sericulturists. The better yield-level farmers mostly go for fumigation of formalin in the rearing shed before taking up any rearing. Some are, however, content with washing the 116 room with bleaching powder. Some go for white-washing of the room, after a failure, or after every two or three batches. During the rainy season, if there is continuous ram., the preservation of the leaf becomes a problem. Most of the failures, on such occasions, have been due to the feeding of leaves with higher water-content. Many sericulturists dry the leaves by using electric fans. Similarly, lighting the shed with electric bulbs to give warmth to the worms in winter and thereby maintaining a proper temperature is also commonly observed among the Sericulturists of the study areas. Personal Factors Personal factors operate as conditioning factors in the practice of sericulture and play a crucial role in the success of sericulture. These include personal traits, work commitment, technical efficiency and health compatibility. The personal traits include the vanous characteristics and personality features of an individual. An observation of the field data shows that it is always the youngsters between the age group of 20 and 30, who plunge into sericulture and the spirit starts subsiding after the age of 40. In most cases, when the sericulturists are in their forties, either the mantle of carrying out sericulture is passed on to their male progenies or sericulture itself is given up if there is no one with interest and commitment to assume the mantle. There is also a tendency for the educated youth to prefer sericulture to the agriculture activities. This is especially true of those 117 who have completed secondary or higher secondary schooling or graduation as well as the drop-outs at these levels. The sericulture attraction is greater when they do not foresee any other alternative employment opportunities other than agriculture work. In the process, sericulture inadvertently puts a hold on the tendency of some of these rural youths to migrate to urban areas. The level of educational attairunent also has a considerable influence on the level of sericulture performance. This is evident from the differential levels of performance corresponding to the differential levels of educational attainment though it is not absolute. Some sericulturists show keenness in learning anything that is new and keep themselves in the good books of the officials and extension staff. This out-goingness and sociability are also reflected in their yield levels. They also display risk-taking ability and are ready to be pioneers in adapting innovative ideas. Velayudham 14 in K K Pura who started rationalising his traditional belief over the involvement of menstrual women in silkworm rearing would definitely fall in this category. This is also true of the Andhra farmer (Gregory 1994d), who experimented with an innovative idea of rearing each laying in a separate tray, from the start of the rearing, so that he could avoid any contamination of disease, originating from the source. It is also only such sericulturists who could also be selective in their purchase of layings and effective in the marketing of their cocoons. Such 14 Refer Chapter 7, under the section on value dynamics, for the elaboration of the case ll8 sericultwists invariably turn out to be the progressive ones who become very much visible to the extension and development authorities. Keesing (1990:58) observes that an important strategy of change has been to support such progressives with loan., technical assistance and other incentives so that 'they can be examples to others'. As the peasant communities are not homogeneous, manifesting a differential access to resources and power, he forewarns that the developmental advantages could very well be cornered by these so called 'progressives' at the expense of the resource-trenched poor. Nevertheless, as an enterprise, sericulture turns out to be relatively suc:essful in such hands. The nature of sericulture work is such that it demands a personal interest and involvement of at least one member in the family to make it a successful enterprise. The personal involvement is necessary in attending to the rearing with care and in time. The involvement also necessitates a certain amount of sacrifice and a readiness to give up certain comforts. This cannot be expected from the hired or contract labourers unless the entrepreneur himself or herself participates in the work or ensures his or her presence. This has been realised by almost all sericulturists and even by non-sericulturists. The sericulturists who are committed to the work naturally develop an interest in the activity and try to acquire the expertise. They also make all out efforts to ensure a successful crop and develop efficient management of whatever resources that are at their disposal. In almost all sericulture households, there is one person who takes special care of sericulture work. The attention of such a person is not diverted to the cultivation of multiple crops. Even in those 119 households where contract labourers are employed, the chawkie rearing of the worms is mostly taken care of personally before transferring the same into the hands of the labourers. Further, their own supervisory and participatory role would continue. However, due to various reasons, the degree of involvement may vary resulting in varying yield levels. A person who will not be able to fulfill these requirements may not opt for sericulture at all even if there is a desire for it. Another may drop out from sericulture itself, again for the same reason. This is done either by one's own realization of one's inability, or forced out, due to the poor yield performance. Technical efficiency is another factor which is very important for the right pursuance and success of the enterprise. Efficiency could be gained through one's own experience or through a qualitative training or both as well as through a healthy interaction with neighbours and the extension staff. F 0r all these, one should also possess a critical mind, humility and curiosity to learn. Many of the successful sericulturists bear witness to this character. The experience and skill in sericulture naturally lend some credence in the performance level as it indicates the competence of the rearers. Health compatibility IS a critical factor in the adoption of sericulture. Silk worm rearing involves certain health implications, like breathing problem, asthmatic complaints, chest pain etc., to certain body types. There are instances of drop-outs from sericulture as a result of this alone. Veerasamy in E N Pura is one such case. This factor also restricts some of the labourers involving in sericulture work though a few may even put up with it. Some complain of a burning sensation in 120 the eye. Some say that continuous involvement in rearing and in the mulberry garden generates excess heat in the body. To overcome this problem, in K K Pura for instance, regular consumption of pork among the sericulturists is very common. Concluding Remarks The above section has portrayed not only the unique features of sericulture, but also the multiple dimensions and complications involved in it. The process of silkworm rearing is a complex process, requiring effective maintenance and efficient management. In Seripura, Sericulture has been practised for almost more than two decades without a break. Those who are involved in sericulture are mostly from the dominant communities with greater access to resources of production. At the same time there is also a substantial participation by the marginal and small land-size categories but again only by those who have better access to irrigation and other infra-structure facilities. It has also been seen that the participation of the working members in sericulture families has been at its maximum. The analysis on the performance has brought out the crucial socio economic and cultural determinants in sericulture adoption and sustainability. It has also brought out the significance of each factor and the vulnerability of sericulture, if it is not approached holistically. The following chapter looks into the labour types and labour demand in the agro-sericulture scenario of Seripura with specific focus on labour relations, strategies and prospects in the context of sericulture. 121 CHAPTER V LABOUR RELATIONS, STRATEGIES AND PROSPECTS Sericulture has been widely acclaimed for its employment potentialicy a:1d its prospects for weaker sections. For the same reason, it has inspired the planners and programmers of government policy to go with concerted efforts in considering sericulture as one of the major sources of rural development. This potentiality could be understood by its labour in1plications in the context of the village economy. An attempt is made here to analyse the labour implications and dependency relations in sericulture within the context of prevailing agricultural scenario and the emerging rural labour types. Within this framework, the labour strategies in sericulture are identified and the prospects of sericulture for the labour class are explored. Typology of Rural Labour Several studies have analysed the rural labour and agranan relations (e.g., Hiroshima and Muqtada 1986; Karanth 1995; Mencher 1970; Pradhan 1977; Rudra 1982; Thorner and Thorner 1962). Most of the labour types that have been discerned have been reported by many of these studies, only with marginal variations. The attempt here is to categorise the prevailing labour types in the emerging agricultural scenario of Tamil Nadu with some basic parameters and utilise the same for the further analysis in the context of sericulture. 122 Labour is generally categorised as family, exchange and hired labour (Hirashima and ~uqtad 1986:7). Family labour is own labour while hired labour is any labour other than own labour. It could be hired for wage or engaged on a reciprocal arrangement. Thus, even exchange labour could be included to form part of hired labour. Hired labour could be categorised as wage labour and exchange labour. Wage labour is basically of two types. They are either contract or casual. Thus, there are three major types of labour discerned in rural agricultural scenario of Tamil Nadu, namely, casual labour, contract labour and exchange labour (Gregory 1994a). Casual Labour: In local term, this type of labour is known as 'coolial'. Casual labour generally refers to the labour that is hired on daily-basis. Though, in the strict sense, this type of labour forms a single category, for heuristic purpose, it can be further classified into unattached casual labour and Assured casual labour. In the unattached casual labour, the labourers have the freedom to go for any work and wherever available. The work may sometimes be even output-based as it happens in ground-nut harvest. Such labourers do not like to be at the mercy of someone through any sort of binding. They enjoy freedom of choice and a sense of dignity while they hardly enjoy the favour of their employers in any respect. Both males and females are involved in this type of labour. In assured casual labour, a labourer is attached to a larger landholder on daily wage basis. It also involves a patron-client relationship, exhibiting an informal attachment between the patron and client households. Thus, whenever the patron is in need of labour, it is 123 extended by the clients, thus providing the patronised household an assured labour in times of need. On the other hand, the labourers avail the benefit of loan advances from Land-owners though on a smaller scale. Mainly females and children constitute this type of labour. Apart from these two types of casual labourers, there are also permanent casual labourers in rare cases, involving a patron-client relationship. Such labourers also resort to loan-advances from Land owner though on a smaller scale. Only the males become such labourers. This type of labour has got the freedom of absenteeism with prior knowledge of the landlord and also enjoys a work assurance. Their wage rate, however, is less by 20 or 25 per cent than that of other daily wage labourers. Contract Labour: Contract implies an agreement, along with a lump-sum remuneration. In most of the cases of contract labour, an amount of advance is resorted to, at the beginning of a work. The contract labour itself is further classified into pennanent contract labour and task contract labour. Permanent contract labour is an attached labour involving a patron-client relationship. In local term, this type of labour is known as ·pannaiyal'. J.P. Mencher (1975: 249; 1970: 1189) uses the term 'permanent attached labour' or 'permanent farm labour' to refer to this type of labour. G K Karanth (1995: 128) in his labour typology, refers to this type of labour as 'bonded labour' but outside the wage labour category. These are permanent workers, 'usually hired on a yearly basis ... against the risk of not finding an assured supply of labour during the seasonal peaks of agricultural production' (Muqtada and Mustafa 124 1986: ~~). Only the males are involved in such type of labour. In this form of labour, the person involved orally agrees to a monthly pay of a fixed amount. Besides this, he generally takes an advance when he joins the contract. and again whenever he feels a financial constraint during his tenure of contract. The advanced amount is either deducted from monthly wage by differential installments or could be repaid whenever he leaves a particular Land-owner. The labourer is given about 3 days of leave in a month. If the leave exceed5 three days, salary is deducted accordingly If one is not inclined to continue with the present patron he could leave him v.ithout any difficulty, provided he informs him one month in advance and returns the advanced money. Generally, when one finds a better scope for his labour with another patron, he returns the advance by taking another advance from the new patron .. The major advantage that is perceived in this type of labour is that one could look for the patron to get some loan whenever the client is in need of it. Besides this, the labourers enjoy some informal favours at the pleasure of the patron. These include procuring some vegetables and coconuts for domestic use, enjoying the hospitality of the patrons on special occasions, etc. On the other hand, the patron enjoys a say in the conduct of the labourer. Sometimes the patron is approached for family counselling and to settle the domestic and neighbourly disputes pertaining to the labourer, at the family as well as at the village level. However, it should be noted that the intensity of these favours and of the patronising varies from person to person. Moreover, not all landless labourers show an interest to become such labourers. This is because, in spite of the work-security and the fringe benefits that are available to such labourers, they 'resent the element of servitude that it entails' 125 (Harris 19 : 240). In quite a few cases, some of the adult women from the families of the permanent contract labourers provide Assured casual labour for the same patrons. Task contract labour IS what Karanth (1995: 128) refers as 'contract labour', which he considers as one of the two sub-types within the wage labour category, the other being the casual labour . This type of labour is locally referred to as 'guththi'. The person who is approached for carrying out a task would tell the Land-owner, 'gutththikku oppukkirampa' (which means, 'we will take up the work on contract'). In this type of labour, the labourer attaches oneself to a labour-group under one contractor or leader, who enters into a formal and short term contract with a land-owner to complete a specified work. Here, the labourers execute the work with their full competency within the shortest time, which would otherwise take longer period, and share the benefits amongst them. In this type of labour, an informal and free nature exists, along with a specific contractual nature. The group is normally semi-permanent and informal in nature. The members could join another group or engage in independent wage work when the original group is not engaged in any task at a specific time. There is also a tendency for these groups to be kin-based, though it is not uncommon to see groups which even cut across different castes. The group may be composed of a single sex or mixed, depending on the type of work. This type of labour is increasingly becoming popular in recent times. It is highly discerned in agricultural activities of weeding, harvesting, etc. It is also used for harrowing and bottom pruning activities of mulberry cultivation. Some of these task contract groups are 126 also engaged in out-put based tasks, as seen In the sugarcane and paddy harvest. Task contract labour has been the answer to the increasing labour demand in Seripura, where it forms almost 46 per cent of the total labour absorption as would be seen SUbsequently. Besides these rno types of contract labour, even share cropping could be conceived as part of contract system though the nature of labour engagement could hardly be equated with wage labour. Nevertheless, in share cropping, the labourer enters into a contract with the Land-owner on a particular crop to be cultivated as well as on the sharing ratio of cost and returns. This ratio varies depending on different factors. Generally, all costs, including that of labour, are shared on equal terms, while the returns are shared, in the ratio of 1:2: I, corresponding to the inputs of land, labour and water respectively. Thus, if a land owner does not contribute labour but only provide the sources land and water, the retwns would be shared on equal terms. However, in a rain fed condition, the sharing ratio would be 1: 2 corresponding to the inputs of land and labour respectively. The crop contract is usually given only to a trustworthy person of the Land-owner. In this type of arrangement, the Land-o .... ner hopes to reap bener results. Because, the proportion of the produce itself becomes the earning of the labourer. Hence, in this arrangement, an optimum labour involvement is expected of the labourer. It also becomes a family endeavour for the labourer, unlike the other types, which are purely on labour terms. Mention should also be made of the skilled labourers who enjoy a special demand and status in the rural scenario. Some of the skilled activities in the rural scenario would include tractor driving, cart driving, 127 ploughing, spraying and disinfecting etc. In all these activities, the skill is also tied to a specific technology and implements. In most of the sericulture villages, there is an emergence of a band of skilled labourers in sericulture. Such labourers are engaged in the specialised activity and the nature of payment varies with each activity, in terms of the activity, time conswnption or the area of operation. In almost all cases, such skilled activities have been within the domain of the males alone. The skilled labourers are sometimes engaged on contract basis also, on fixed wages. He enjoys a higher bargaining power and greater dignity. Exchange Labour: This involves a mutual exchange of labour without any wage transactions. The exchange could be of male or female labour. However, the exchange generally corresponds to the specific gender. By resorting to this type of labour, the scarcity of labour is productively overcome. On the other hand, the persons involved are able to keep up their status and dignity by not being reduced to a wage labour status. This type of labour, in local terms, is known as 'Moyyaal'. In the similar vain, one could also come across the terms, 'moyyeru', to refer to the exchange of ploughing. Similarly, the term 'moyyadu' refers to the mutual exchange of allowing the flock of one's sheep to rest on the other person's land, as a means of spreading the sheep-dung for organic manure. Caste-Class Variations: The type of labour employed differ across different class categories of the Land-owners. Similarly, the predominance of a particular type of labour could be discerned across different caste identities. Thus, in the preference of the type of labour to be asswned or to be engaged, one could come across variations along the 128 caste as well as class lines. In asswrung the labour types, the caste variations become prominent. On the other hand., engaging a particular labour type reflects the class basis. Thus, in engaging labourers, on the one extreme, the higher economic classes or larger land-holders generally go for the permanent contract or permanent casual labour, both of which provide an assured labour supply which is essential during peak seasons. A few also resort to the permanent casual labourers, in rare cases. On the other extreme, the lower classes or the smaller land holders go mostly for the unattached casual labour and exchange labour. As for the labour categories, they invariably represent, to a large extent, the weaker sections. Even among them, those who are in the higher strata within them, mostly prefer to be the unattached casual labour as against the attached labour types. The poorer sections within the non-SC categories also prefer this type with a few exceptions. Thus, in E N Pura., for instance, most of the Kudumbans (also known as Pallans), belong to this type. They are the ones at the highest strata among the SCs, constituting about 21 per cent of the households in the village, about half of whom are land-holders. Most of the permanent contract labourers in this village belong to the Ylatharis who are considered to be at the lowest strata among the SCs and almost all of whom are landless. Most of the sericulture-based permanent contract labourers belong to Mathari while the non-sericulture-based permanent contract labourers belong to the Mathari as well as the Samba (Parayan) SCs. The 'Samba' are at the middle of the strata in the social hierarchy of the SCs. One could hardly come across the Kudumban SCs to be permanent contract labourers. However, in K K Pura., most of the permanent contract labourers belong to the 'Paraya' caste, which is equivalent to the 129 Mathari of the E N Pura. Same is the case with Seripura, though this type of labour is almost disappearing in the village. Each type of labour maintains a specific type of patron-client relations with specific terms and conditions, depending on the necessity and availability of the labour and of the work. The labourers do not confine themselves to a particular type of labour, except in the case of pennanent labour types. The exchange labour type could be seen prominent among the same caste and among the categories of lower and lower middle classes, preferably among the close relatives. Labour Status and Demand The activity proftle of the working population in Seripura (Table.4.4) has shown that about 63 per cent are engaged in own agricultural operations, for one fourth of whom it is a primary activity. The wage labour category constitutes 34 per cent. This includes not only a majority of the landless alone but also a portion of the marginal and small land-holding categories, who are engaged in it, besides their involvement in own agricultural operations. Wage labour is a primary activity for about two thirds of those who are engaged in it. About one fourth of the working population in Seripura is engaged in sericulture, for about two thirds of whom it is a primary activity. Most of those who are engaged in sericulture are also involved in agriculture, either at the primary or secondary levels. Considering all the three categories together, about half of the working population in the village are engaged in one of the three activities, as a primary venture. A majority of the rest is eng~ged in any of these activities at the secondary or tertiary levels. 130 Migration and Labour Scarcity: Seripura has been facing a severe labour crunch since the mid eighties, the intensity of wruch has been increasing since then, mainly because of a large scale migration of the labour class. This was in response to the severe drought situation that had been prevailing in the district between 1978 and 1988, almost consecutively except for a mild relief in the alternative years since 1981- 1 82 (Annual Agricultural Statistics, Tamil Nadu) 5. This was the time when t.!-Je labour class, more than anyone else became affected severely, with the least work opportunities. The only alternative course that had been left with the~ other than benefiting from the meagre drought relief measures extended by the government was to move out of the village, towards greener pastures. The situation had led quite many of the marginal Land-owners and the landless, especially from the Vanniar and SC castes, to move out of the village. Most of them had landed in Bangalore, which is about 100 kilometres from the village and became construction workers. These migrant labourers were part of the traditional agriculture labour class of the village. Having tasted the urban environment with better work opportunities, relatively higher wage structure and the other urban attractions, this migrationary stream became only intensified in the successive years, further intensifying the crisis. Many individual migrants, especially from the landless sections, had taken their families also, for a permanent settlement. Most of them have confined their visits to the villages to the minimum, Even these 11 In the decade of reference, Dharmapuri district was facing severe drought in 1980-81 and 1982-83, during which the deviation of rainfall from the nonnal, had been more than 30 per cent and in 1984-85, when the deviation is about 22 per cent. The situation in these years had been highly suniJar to the one that was prevailing in the whole state of Tamil Nadu' 131 visits are undertaken only if there are any of their relatives still left in the village. In some of the marginal farmer categories, especially those who own only rain-fed lands, the work force, especially the youngsters stick to Bangalore, leaving the older persons to manage the lands. A few do continue to visit the villages but only during the peak seasons. Even in small land-holding families, with least irrigation, if there are two adult males in the family, one would have migrated to Bangalore, leaving the other in the village to take care of the lands. During the seventies and early eighties, the wage structure had been quite low. In the late eighties, when things became bener, there had not been much labour left. With more initiation of cash crops and with the re-generation of sericulture in a large scale by more farmers, the situation led to a total transformation of the labour scenario. There had been changes in the wage structure as well as in the nature of engaging the labourers. The labourers started enjoying a greater bargaining power. New labour types like the task contract system, started emerging. With this, labour strategies and management has started assuming high significance in sericulture. Labour absorption in Sericulture and Other Crops: Table 5.1 provides the labour absorption in different crops including sericulture by l6 sex and labour status . As the table shows, the agricultural 16 The labour absorption has been calculated from the data prOVIded by about twenty-five per cent of the cultivators of each crop. across different land categories. From this, the average labour absorptlOn m one acre of operated area for each crop was derived. This was multiplied by the total operated area for each crop, to arrive at the cumulative labour absorption. The prevallmg wage rate had been used in the conversion of the contract labour Ulto person days. :'32 Table No. 5.1: Labour Absorption in Different Crope and in Saricultura by Sax and Labour Status Crop. Pere Family Labour Hired Labour Total Labour on Name P.riod. Opeut.ed Per T•• k. Contraot Other Are. Crop in Month s Acre , Per Male Fe- Tot. Hale Fe- Tot. Hale Fe- Total Mal. Fema1 100' Row- Ye. Male Male Male .. Wi.. , Paddy 4-6 85 12.5 102 24.5 0.0 24.5 17 .6 49.0 66.7 8.8 0.0 8.8 S1 .0 49. a 8670 13.2 S.Cane Annual 70 7.9 747 7.4 0.0 ./ . 4 45.5 44.6 90. I 7.5 0.0 2.5 5~.4 44.6 484 a 7.4 Tomato 6 28 4.1 155 23.9 11. a 3LO 11.6 6.5 18.1 2.6 14.5 47.1 38.1 61. 9 4340 6.6 G.Nut 3-4 190 27.9 86 4.7 8.1 12.8 11. 6 18.6 30.2 4.7 52.3 57.0 20.9 79.1 16340 24.9 Ragi 6 70 10.3 92 6.5 0.0 6.5 6.5 87. a 93.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 13. a 87.0 6440 9.8 n Rai,tad 4-6 200 29.4 31 19.4 32.3 51. 6 0.0 0.0 0.0 12.9 35.5 48.4 32.3 67.7 6200 9.5 Cl"ooa Other Annual! 45 6.6 40 25.0 30.0 55.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 10.0 35.0 45.0 35.0 65.0 1890 2.9 Crops· Perennial Sub Total - 638 93.8 - 13.1 9.1 22.2 13.4 31. 3 44.7 5.7 27.4 33.1 32.2 67.8 48720 14.3 Mulberry Perennial 42 6.2 92 16.3 4.3 20.7 52.2 0.0 52.2 0.0 27.2 27.2 68.5 31. 5 3864 5.9 Total - 680 )00.0 - 13.3 8.7 22.1 16.2 29.0 45.3 5.3 27.4 32.7 34.8 65.2 52584 80.2 Si1kworm One Month 42 6.2 309 37.9 32.4 70.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 7.4 22.3 29.8 45.3 54.7 12978 19.8 RAArin. - 4timp, Sar icu.l tu One Month 42 6.2 401 32.9 25.9 58.9 12.0 0.0 12.0 5.7 23.4 29.2 50.6 49.4 16842 25.1 re - 4times G. Total. - 680 100.0 - 1B.2 13.4 31. 6 13.0 23.3 36.3 5.1 26.4 32.1 36.9 63.1 65562 100.0 ------.. ------'" * Other Crops Include Some Of The Tree Crops Like Coconut, Mango, Plantain Etc., As Well As Some Of The '" Vegetable Crops, Which Involve Activites Like Regular Irrgation, "eeding Etc. operation alone (including the cultivation of major irrigated and semi irrigated crops, rain-fed crops as well as the maintenance of mulberry garden) has absorbed about 53,000 person days of work in the village. This forms about four fifths of the total labour absorption in Seripura. The rest of the labour is absorbed in the silkworm rearing aspect of sericulture alone. By taking rearing and mulberry cultivation together, sericulture accounts for more than one fourth of the total labour absorption. The extent of sericulture labour absorption becomes prominent within the context that mulberry occupies only six per cent of the total cropped lands in Seripura. ~oreover, the family labour absorption in the cultivation of agricultural crops has largely been reduced with the emergence of the task contract system, which was mainly the result of the large scale migration of the traditional labour force and the subsequent labour demand that had been discussed earlier. Looking at the extent of labour absorption the three labour categories constitute almost an equal portion of the labour absorption, with a marginal variation, predominated by the contract labour followed by the other hired labour and lastly, the family labour. However, the variation is quite marked, with the exclusion of the labour in silkworm rearing. Thus, the family labour would form only a little above one fifth while the contract labour would account for about 45 per cent of the total labour absorption, with the percentage of other hired labour remaining almost constant. Moreover, the emergence of the task contract system has increased the disguised labour among the land owning classes, with the exception of the sericulture families. Thus, the prevailing labour conditions including migration, increasing labour scarcity and a higher labour demand and the emergence of the task 134 contract system have created a situation of new labour relations and strategic alterations in the agricultural scenario in general and in the context of sericulture, in particular. Labour Strategies and Prospects in Sericulture Considering the labour situation in Seripura, the nature of labour absorption and the labour strategies in sericulture assumes high significance. Moreover, in the context of development perspective, it has also become imperative to enquire into the relevance and developmental implications of sericulture for the labour class in the rural context. The following sections specifically take a look into these issues. Labour Intensity in Sericulture: As for sericulture, the mulbeny portion of sericulture labour mostly follows the general stream of the labour absorption in most of the other agricultural crops. The rearing aspect, which forms part of the household domain, is the most important aspect that concerns the present focus. Labour is a crucial factor in the success of sericulture enterprise. It is also intensive in nature. One of the major concerns of the sericulturists is an ensured and uninterrupted supply of labour especially in labour demand seasons of the year. The proportion of hired labour in the total labour absorption in silkworm rearing has always been quite significant and even almost equivalent to that of the family labour. This is true of almost all the supporting fields of this study except in Seripura. The differential picture in Seripura is again the result of the emerging alternatives in the context of increasing labour constraints. The proportion of family labour forms about 70 per cent of the total labour absorption in silkworm rearing. The involvement 135 of family labour in sericulture, even among the larger landholders is far higher than the same in agriculture among non-sericulture larger landholders. The family labour absorption in sericulture (including mulbeny cultivation) is almost equivalent to the total family labour absorption of all the crops put together. The huge requirements of family labour naturally put great pressure on the sericulture families, which are more of nuclear types with less availability of family labour. However, in such families, the labour pressure has been relatively neutralised by undertaking the cultivation of fewer and less labour-intensive crops and the effective utilisation of the task comract system in agriculture, along with the adoption of exchange labour system in sericulture. Within the operation of sericulture, the hired labour becomes crucial as there is a need for intensive labour at the later stages of operation. This can hardly be compensated by the limited labour available within the families, especially if they are nuclear. So, there is a necessity for many of the sericulturists to opt for the hired labourers at certain times or other during the year. In Seripura, more than two thirds of the fifty sericulturists have been using the hired labour. Further, the rich and the upper classes increasingly go for hired labourers due to the less availability of the family labour as compared to the size of their land-holding. The diversified farm activities, avoidance of over-strain of work as well as the values of prestige and dignity attached to the class character of the labour-hiring families contribute to the higher absorption of hired labour among the larger landholders in sericulture. Labour Strategies: Since sericulture greatly depends on the labour availability and labour assurance, the sericulturists employ 136 specific strategies in adopting the appropriate labour types available in the village context. As evidenced by the present study, sericulture makes the best use of the assured types of permanent contract labour and Assured casual labour. Permanent contract labourer is not new in the Tamil Nadu rural agricultural scenario. The utilisation of this type of labour has been reported by many socio-anthropological studies on rural agriculture (e.g. Mencher 1978; Beteille 1972). So, the permanent contract labour (referred hereafter as contract labour, unless otherwise specified), which is also known by different names, had been part of the rural agricultural system. It has facilitated the medium and large farmers in the adoption of sericulture. With the advent of sericulture, even some of the small farmers have started engaging this type of labour in some areas like K K Pura. This type of labour is, indeed, proportionately high among the sericulturists as compared to the corresponding land size class among the non-sericulturists. The wage rate of these labourers in E N Pura in 1992 varied between Rs 400/- and Rs 500/- per month, depending on the nature of engagement and labour conditions. Generally, if they involve in sericulture work, which may demand exerted and un-timely labour, they are paid about Rs 50/- more than those who are engaged only in farm labour. There are households where only one contract labour is engaged who attends to farm-labour as well as to the rearing if it is there. In some other households there could be more than one contract labourer with one of them predominantly involving in sericulture and the rest in the farm a~tivities. The arrangement is still different in some other households. 137 For instance, Kalaivanan is a large landholder. He had taken up sencul\ure, a year back. There are six contract labourers in his household and they involve in sericulture in turns, thus every one acquiring expertise in sericulture. In this household, all the contract labourers are paid only Rs 400/ -, which is a normal pay for the non-senculture based contract labourers in the village. Task-contract labour hardly fits into sericulture type of activity. Some sericulturists, however, make use of the skilled labourers on contract basis. Here, though the skill is related to the task, it differs from the task contract labour in more than one way. Unlike the latter, it is individual based, confined to a single activity, more or less with a fixed remuneration and with the allowance of the involvement of additional labour, induding the family labour. The labourer involved, generally has an expertise in rearing and attends to the work starting from brushing of the wonns till the harvest of the cocoons. Some sericulture-skilled labourers combine both the contract and casual engagements while a few others take up the task, exclusively on daily-wage basis. Some are engaged to look after the entire crop, while some others are engaged to look after, only the last phases of rearing activity. Still some others are attached to particular households, similar to the Assured casual labour type, while yet others are of floating nature. Though the numbers of such labourers are only a few in number in different villages, even a single individual combines more than one strategy, for reaping better benefits, which are not uncommon in the field situations. Such labourers are resorted to by some of the sericulturist households to ensure a competent person in rearing. The skilled labourers are more in demand, especially in the last stages of reanng. 138 Karunalcaran in one of the study villages is attached to a particular household and attends to rearing since the first stage onwards. He is paid an amount of Rs 700. However, Raman in another village, is also specIalised In saiculture activity. He moves from one person to another withIn :.i few specific households, when he is engaged for the same. He gets an amount of Rs 750/ - for the entire batch of rearing. In both cases, the additional labourers, either of the family or of the hired, are supplied by the respectIve entrepreneurs, depending on the number of layings reared. The Assured casual labour is another type which is commonly utilised by sericulture households. The wage rate is one or two rupees more than the prevailing wage rate for women. This is because of the increasing hours of work as compared to normal working hours. Their working tim~ involves the whole day. This is in contrast to the much preferred . early morning till noon' timings of the other agricultural activities, which has become much prevalent in many areas of the state. These labourer; mostly belong to the lower strata in the social hierarchy of the village. Such labourers resort to procuring loan-advances to meet any contingency or emergency expenses. In households where such labourers are present. many a times, there would also be another adult woman who would be engaged only as unattached casual labour. The latter's income would be put to use for regular household expenses. \1oreover, due to their differential work-timings, they would also be supplementing each other in canying out their daily chores of household responsibilities like cooking, water procuring, etc., in different times of the day. Resortlllg to share-cropping in sericulture to overcome the labour problems and at the same time accruing its benefits is not totally uncommon, though rare. Exchange labour is well-made use of in sericulture especially among close relatives. This is more prevalent among rr.e marginal and small farmer categories, especially where 139 sericulture forms the major productive activity and where there is a need of excess labour than what is available in the family, during the rearing periods Consequently, the rearing is adjusted among such families to accommodate the exchange of labour in different periods. Labour Prospects: The employment potentiality of sericulture has been well established by many studies. The profitability of sericulture too has been amply brought to light adequately (e.g., Acharya 1993; Hanumappa 1986; Rajapurohit and Govindaraju 1986). However, the question arises as to how much it achieves the equity objectives of the rural development programmes. This issue assumes significance, considering the extensive involvement of the hired labour in the activity. The issue also assumes relevance in the context of the stated objectives of the world bank aided National Sericulture Project, in uplifting the weaker sections through sericulture. \\ bile there is a growing concern regarding the disparity between the rural and urban people in India, it should be remembered that both these groups do not in themselves represent a homogeneous one. There is a great disparity existing among the rural population themselves as also among the urban. Similarly, there are different social categories withm some wider rural groups that suffer discrimination and suppression. So, ·the need for equity within' as Nadkarni (1990) realIses, should be as important as the need to dismantle the disparity between wider social entities. How far does sericulture attempt to do this? Sericulturists are able to make use of the differential labour types to sustain In sericulture. The hired labour class in rural areas 140 predominantly consist of the landless. The few labourers of the land holding category invariably belong to the marginal category of farmers, with no access to irrigation facility. Most of the marginal farmers are in a compelling situation to supplement their income with hired labour. \1oreover, a majority of the landless and of the hired labourers belong to the scheduled caste population. If sericulture extends relief to their suffering and uplifts them socially and economically, then sericulture can claim to have helped some of those from the weaker sections to that extent. \\nat is the status of the labour class, especially those who do sericulture work? Are the surplus returns in sericulture in any way extended to the labour class? The reality does not bear witness to this. What is \\itnessed, on the other hand, is that the larger land-holding and some of the progressive sericulturists have been able to conveniently adopt some of the labour types like permanent contract labour and Assured casual labour, to their advantage. These are, m a way, exploitative in nature, as even the assumption of such labour types is hardly voluntary but for their financial compulsions. To quote Naga Lakshmi, a Assured casual labourer in sericulture, . We have resorted to this type of labour, only because of the family cor.-;;:Jl .. :SIOr.S and r:nanClal constraints; 'r'.ow we are able to take some advance from our patrons whenever we feel a need for it'. The conditions of such labour are unduly biased in favour of the employers, with the benefits hardly reaching the labourers. The labourers have to involve themselves intensively and sometimes spend over-time without any monetary benefits. Many such labourers do not prefer sericulture work. This is very much true of the permanent contract labourers too, who also do not like to continue any more in their present 141 status but for their fmancial compulsions. It would be worth noting what one of the sericultwists jokingly remarked: . As long as the difficulties of these labourers continue, sericulture will remam. The moment they face no difficulty, we will be deprived of such Llbvurers and conSCo:juently we will be driven off from sericulture.' \\nile these words reflect the indispensability of the sericulture labourers and the dependability of the sericultwists on them, it also exposes the conditions of such labourers. There are some sericulturists, however, who uy to motivate their own labourers, with the advantage of their sericulture knowledge to enable them to take up sericulture. They also assist them, to a certain extent, in creating necessary infrastructure facilities and even extend support in carrying out the activity with a relative success. However, it is their economic misery again that acts as a major constraint in taking up sericulture on their own. There are a few cases of fonner sericulture-based regular contract labourers who have now taken up sericulture on leased land and do fairly well. This IS the case with Karuppannan of [ N Pura and Velusamy of K K Pura. Both were pennanent contract labourers, earlier working in sericulture households of a dommant caste. Both continue their relation with their fonner patrons, make VISits to their fanns and extend an occasional help. In the ,;ame way their fonner patrons also support them in their endeavour and meet some of their requirements like financial assistance, lending reanng t:.:julpments and mountages etc. It should be noted that both of them have worked at the household of their fonner patrons for more than eIght years, developed a good rapport and gained their confidence. Moreover, their family members continue t;:J provide assured casual labourers to them. Such labourers could become the right target of the development priorities of sericulture. by facilitating to overcome their initial financial constraints and help them to have an adequate infrastructure for sericulture. Concluding Remarks 142 The present chapter has brought out the labour situation m Seripura, the different labour types that are prevalent in the agricultura1 scenario as well as the alterations entailed and the strategies employed in the efficient management of the prevailing situation. It is seen that the labour utilisation in sericulture as compared to its land share in the total cropped lands in Seripura has been multi-fold. This has indicated its employment potentiality in rural context. Moreover, while there is an increasing displacement of family labour in agriculture, with the emergence of the task contract system, sericulture has reinforced the deployment of family labour in the activity, much more vigorously. This has also been facilitated, in a way, by the emergence of task contract labour in agriculture, as the sericulturists need not divert their family labour to agricultural crops even if they go for the cultivation of more agricultural crops. Moreover, they have increased the scale of rearing and reduced the number of crops and have resorted to branch feeding all of which have the potentiality of reducing the cumulative labour intake in the activity. The scarcity of labour has, nevertheless, forced sericulturists to alter their strategies in labour management. As a result, they have resorted to more exchange labour, with greater assurance, which is crucial in the accomplishment of sericulture. With all this, the use of family labour has been put to maximum use, which natura1ly results in tremendous stress and strain. This is especially true of the women members of the household who is already burdened with the household chores. Thus, family becomes an important social institution that comes to be affected and altered in the context of sericulture. The next chapter takes a look into the family dynamics and the gender relations. 143 CHAPTER VI FAMILY DYNAMICS AND GENDER RELATIONS EveI)' social institution is undergoing radical changes today, although the rate of change may vary .. Family is no exception to this. However, the causes, nature, and sequence of changes and their implications may vary from family to family and from society to society. Despite the variations, a general pattern of changes may be observed. To take note of such changes is essential not only to understand the dynamics of the system itself but also to steer the causative elements in the desirable direction. Family is the basic social institution in any human society. The first social milieu that an individual encounters is one's own family. The basic tenets of social behaviour and relationship take their origin at the level of family. Family exhibits institutional features, which include norms, roles and established patterns of relationships and authority structure. The varying structures would correspondingly alter, if not the basic tenets, at least the behavioural functions and relationships within the family system. Family as an institution takes its form., depending on the prevailing social system, economic relations and environmental conditions. Sericulture, as a labour-intensive and productive household enterprise, has a direct impact on family. It involves predominantly the family labour. Being a household industry, it also facilitates the involvement of womenfolk, to a large extent. Its frequent cash returns 144 have the potentiality of disturbing the power equations within the family. Thus, adoption of sericulture is bound to disturb the existing structure and the functioning of family for better or worse. In this context, it is useful to look into the dynamics of the family system. To start with, an attempt has been made here to examine the changing features of Indian family. Then, its structural variations and implications are analysed in the context of sericulture. This is followed by an analysis of the intra-family dynamics and authority relations. A detailed analysis of gender relations, with a focus on women is also made in the subsequent section. Family in Indian Society Family has occupied a central place in carrymg over the traditional features of village life in India. For most part, the traditional system has survived for centuries without any major institutional alterations until recently. To be precise, with the advent of British rule and the accompanied factors of industrialisation and modernisation, the structural features of different traditional institutions of Indian social fabric has started changing. }.;ational liberation has further speeded up such changes, directly or indirectly by various governmental measures initiated in the post-independent era towards meeting the development objectives. Various regional studies have revealed a diversity of patterns in rural family structures (e.g., Morrison 1959; Desai 1956; Kapadia 1956). According to Madan, the joint family system is now losing its ground because of increasing population, smalIness of holdings, easy 145 communication, education, employment opporturunes outside and the emergence of individualistic spirit (1983 :24;393). Another factor that has a considerable impact on the changing structure of the family system in India is family planning, which has reduced the size of the family considerably. Some studies (i.e., Singh 1970:254-6) have noted a difference in family structure with caste-class variations. Accordingly, the structure of the family among the lower castes is said to be just the opposite of the pattern among the upper or intermediate castes. This pattern IS related to the significance given to conformity to the traditional family ideal. This is also positively correlated with joint ownership of wealth and property. Moreover, agricultural occupation and land-holding is seen as sustaining the motivation for jointness among the upper castes. No sufficient land and substantial property are discerned among the lower castes to hold the interest of the members to the joint family norm. As a result, it allows their young to behave more independently and break away from the parental family authority at the slightest provocation. However, there are studies that call for re examining such observations (Kolenda 1986:77). The People of India data indicate that there is only partial correlation between caste rank and proportions of joint families (Morab 1992:3). Some studies have noted changes in authority structure within the family, shifting from the old to the young (e.g., Ishwaran 1970a: 192). Epstein's (1979) study identifies change in power relation within the family due to greater economic independence of the individuals. She has also noted that greater the opportunity for profit, weaker are the ties of extended kinship. 146 However, many of these studies have brought out a paradigm of change and continuity taking place in the rural family structure. The traditional system is neither being totally wiped out nor the door is shut for the change-factors to enter into the fortress of the family system. The process of accommodation is qualified and addressed to specific stimulus and social requirements. Such a process of change and continuity has been expounded by many other studies in the context of different social institutions (e.g., Ishwaran 1970a; Karanth 1987). Sericulture provides a challenging environment to the family system and potential stimulation for alterations in its structure and functioning. Sericulture Adoption and Family Types As it has been outlined in chapter 4, sericulture, by its very nature, has its own characteristic features that necessarily affect the family relations. It necessitates certain interactional patterns and social responses to fit into the prevailing conditions and for a better deliberation of the activity. There needs to be a perfect understanding and high dedication and commitment to the work among the attendees. Most part of the work is carried out within the household premises. So, there is bound to be changing role-allocations and work involvement. All these are naturally expected to be reflected in family dynamics of the social system. The requirements of sericulture activity as elaborated earlier necessitate naturally certain alteration in the structure of the family or favour only certain specific type of families to go for sericulture. 147 Table 6.1 presents the distribution of different types of families among sericulture households. Sericulture is predominantly practised among nuclear families followed by matro-nuclear families. However, looking at the proportion of these families in the village as a whole, there do not seem to be any definite preference for these types of families. Sericulture is not, however, totally new to the extended family types. With extensive labour requirements in sericulture, the extended family types, which include more than one nuclear unit, either at the lineal. lateral or mixed levels, may seem to be appropriate for sericulture. In reality, no absolute preference is seen for extended families too. There are hardly any mixed extended families (which include both lineal and lateral nuclear units), in the rural scenario today. There has been just one mixed extended family in Seripura, which has also adopted sericulture. There were two cases in M R Pura. In such cases, the activity, however, involves some kind of division of labour at different levels mainly based on the individual's interests and inclination. This, in effect, takes away or reduces the labour advantage of extended families. Thus, sericulture in such families is an activity exclusively of one of the nuclear units or of the unmarried sibling within the extended family. In most of the cases, there would, however, be a supportive involvement of the parents, especially of the mother. The others would actively involve in farm or non-farm activities with a least involvement in sericulture. While this is true of families in M R Pura, the participation of a majority of the members is evident in the case of Seripura. 148 Table No. 6.1: Distribution of Sericulture Households by family Types Family Types All Households Sericulture HHs I No. % No. % Patro-Family 5 2.5 0 0.0 Matro-Family 15 7.5 1 2.0 Nuclear Family 119 59.5 . 33 66.0 Patro-Nuclear Family 5 2.5 2 4.0 Matro-Nuclear Family 38 19.0 10 20.0 Linear Extended ~amily 16 8.0 3 6.0 , Lateral Extended Family ~ 0.5 0 0.0 Mixed Extended Family 1 0.5 1 2.0 Total 200 100.0 50 100.0 ------ ~ '-'> Both the situations lead many a times to different power concentrations with the possibility of different people having differential labour contribution and differential access to income in the context of sericulture. Such situations normally breed conflicts and hardly last for long. Interestingly, this is what has happened in the case of the Seripura family. It has fallen under its own weight with conflicting interests and differential involvement., resulting in four nuclear families, with the unmanied brother left with the parents. This is true of other similar situations too when, for instance, one of the siblings involves in the farm activity while another has a salaried job. It can also happen in agriculture situations. In such cases, if the income is pooled together, the individual's effective contribution to the activity does not turn out to be at its maximum. There are a few cases of lineal extended families engaged in sericulture. In the case of lineal extended families, there are no parties to act with conflicting and self-motivated interests. The father generally takes care of fann activities if he is capable of doing it and if there are larger land-holdings and crop diversification. Son becomes the main sericulturist while his wife plays the active supporter role in sericulture. Mother becomes an asset in taking care of the household work and extending a passive support to the sericulture activity. Generally, in such type of family, the married son assumes a greater responsibility in the management of the family, especially in the context of sericulture. 'Matro-nuclear' families in Seripura almost confirm to the general distribution of the family types in the village, with a marginal 150 variation, in favour of sericulture. There are quite a few cases in E N Pura of widowed mothers left alone to take care of themselves. However, this hardly happens in a sericulture family where an extra female is always an asset. There is a higher labour concentration of female labour in sericulture, especially at later phases of the rearing. At the same time, household work continues to be women's inevitable and taken-for granted attribution. So, the presence of an additional family woman becomes an added advantage for sericulture families. This naturally happens in a matro-nuclear family. What happens to sericulture if an extended sericulture family is broken into multiple nuclear families? In such cases, sericulture generally becomes expanded as it is generally adopted by a majority of the newly formed nuclear units in the place of a single extended unit. This is what happened in the case of Narendran. His was the only mixed extended family in Seripura, which split into four nuclear families, recently. Except one family all others have adopted sericulture. The only non-adopter has been little involved in sericulture even when they were all pan of a single family. There are also cases in which, in the process of break-up, even some sericulture-interested persons may have to give it up as it happened in the case of Rajamani. Rajamani, a large farmer in E N Pura, was the main sericulturist in his parental house and was domg well. He was unmarried at that time. His married brother was looking after the other agricultural operations. When he got married, he started a nuclear family. His wife was unfamiliar with sericulture. His brother was also not any more part of Ius family now. Thus, there was no one to take care of the diverse farm actIviues in the seven acres of irrigated and 3 acres of rain-fed lands that he had inherited Moreover, there was no competent person available other than lumself to take an active part in sericulture. He has a contract labour whose service has been fully utilised for agriculture operations. In any case, no sericu1ture is successful without a full-time family labour. He was left with no other option but to give up sericulture as he could no more give due attention to sericulture along with Ius active participation ill the diverse agriCUltural operations. 151 There are also families comprising of one of the parents. either widowed or separated along with unmarried children. Here too matro families are greater in number than patro-families. All matro-families are headed by an adult son except those families where there is no such person available in the family. There are a few such families that go for sericulture but under two specific conditions Firstly. they possess an adequate infrastructure. to go for it. Secondly, there is at least one male adult, either a son within the family or a sibling or a near-kin living close-by, extending an intensive support at most of the time. There was one such family in Seripura with a separated woman with children. However, after a gap of about five years, her husband joined her again. The case of Kannamma in K K Pura is an instance of an SC woman headed household with sericulture (refer case no. II in the appendix). Thus, sericulture has been adopted by all types of families but under specific conditions. Moreover, the adoption of sericulture itself tends to alter the structure and functioning of the family. The following sections would fwther dwell on the internal dynamics of the family in its multiple dimensions. Intra-Family Dynamics Intra-family dynamics consists of different role statuses within the family. These include the number of adults in the family, their intensity of participation in sericulture. It also concerns authority relations among the recognised dyads that are traditionally involved in unequal power relations. 152 Number of Adults and Relationship Status: The number of adults in a family is an important variable in understanding the internal dynamics of family in the context of sericulture. The sericultura1 adoption and intensity in different family types can be better understood., if this is seen in the context of the number of adult males and females available in the family. Table 6.2 gives the number male and female adults in sericulture families by family type and relationship status. For better comprehension, the matro family has been clubbed together with nuclear family. Similarly, patro and matro nuclear family have been clubbed together to form a complex nuclear family. All extended family types have been put together to form a single category. About fifty per cent of the households are with a working single male adult While there is a similar per cent of households with a working single female adult. There are 13 single households of two working adults, one male and one female each, which are of husband and wife combination. There are 18 households with three working adults with an equally distributed combination of one and two of either sexes. Of these, about two thirds are of nuclear type. There are nine households where there are more than two adult women and there are ten households where there are more than two adult men. In families where there are just two adults alone, sericulture leaves much work-stress. In such families, agricultural activities are kept to the minimum. For the same reason, it is hard for large farmers with less number of adults, especially where there are less than two adult males, to adopt sericui ture. It is not the case with other households where there are some additional hands, even if they happen to be 153 Table No. 6.2: Average Number of Workin~ Adults in Sericulturc lIouseholds acros.~ ramily Types and Sex Total Adults Two Three Four Five Six & Above Total No. Females 1 1 2 3 1 2 3 3 2 3 >3 No. Males 1 2 1 1 3 2 2 3 >3 >3 >3 Nuclear Family 12 8 5 1 3 1 2 1 1 34 Complex 1 1 3 1 3 2 1 12 Nuclear Family Extended 1 1 1 1 4 Family Total 13 9 9 2 3 4 3 1 3 1 2 50 UJ -t:- '--~ children, to extend some assIstance especially during peak days of reanng. Role Status and Sericulture Participation: The involvement of family members can be gauged at three levels as outlined in chapter 4. Accordingly, all those who are in pre-schooling stage as well as those who are studying would not be considered here as they do not form part of working population. Among working population, all those who do not participate in sericulture are designated as non-participants. Among participants, all do not involve in sericulture to the same extent. Some just do the work while others do it with skill and confidence. Considering their level and intensity of involvement, sericulture participants have been classified into active and passive categories. Table 6.3 shows the distribution of working adults in sericulture families, by their relationship to head and by their level of participation. One's relationship status within the family generally indicates one's extent of involvement in sericulture. Nevertheless, it is also closely linked to age and gender factors. There are about 16 per cent of working adults who are non-participants in sericulture. Age is one of the factors that stand against those who do not participate in sericulture. It is also closely linked to the sentimental attachment of old people to what is traditional as against the enthusiastic approach of youngsters to something that is new and challenging. This is apparent from the fact that a majority of the fathers and mothers are non-participants. This is also true in the cases of those non-participating heads of families. It is not, however, totally uncommon to see even old people participating in certain works of sericulture. Moreover, in families where there is a 155 father and son, the former would increasingly involve in agricultural activities while the latter would increasingly stick to sericulture activity. Similarly, where there is a mother and a daughter, the former would increasingly involve in household activity along with agriculture, while the daughter would show an inclination for sericulture activity. Similar is the case with the Mother-in-law and Daughter-in-law dyad. All these again point to the factor of age and the associated sentiment. As for the sons, only those who have found some outside employment are non participants. A majority of heads and sons are active participants, while a majority of wives and daughters are passive participants, bringing out the gender differences into focus. Here again, the stereo-typic approach of what are apparently skilled and productive are meant for the males and a passive and a mere supportive role is all what is expected of the females has been evidently displayed. To assess the nature and pattern of sericulture participation, it is important to understand the relationship status of main sericulturists to the head of the family. A main sericulturist is one who would normally initiates steps to adopt sericulture in the household. The exception is among households that have come up following a division from parental family. It is also the main sericulturist who manages the sericulture work. He also normally takes an active part in its operation. Some of the key activities of silkworm rearing like chawkie rearing and moult setting, which are believed to require high skill and personal care, are largely attended to by main sericulturists. In Seripura, all main sericulturists are also active participants except for a single case in which the main sericulturist relies more on the labourer in the operation of sericulture. 156 While Table 6.3 refers to all sericulture participants and their relation to head of the family, Table 6.4 refers only to main sericulturists. As discussed earlier, with traditional stereotypes still persisting, it is only expected that a majority of the main sericulturists are males. Moreover, in about half the nwnber of households, the heads themselves are main sericulturists, all of whom are married males with a single exception of a separated female. Most of them are also young in age. A majority of the rest are sons, most of whom are unmarried. Female main sericulturist is only an exception. Other than the one female-head main sericulturist mentioned above, there are two other female main sericulturists who are unmarried daughters. In one of these two households, the head is already in his fifties and is least interested himself in sericulture. He has a son who is employed outside the village but extends all support to his sister and attends to the outside-linked activities like procurement of dfls and marketing of cocoons. In other household too, the head is already in his fifties. There are no adult sons in this family to take up sericulture. The daughter in this household has taken up sericulture on personal interest with her own experience as a Assured casual labourer in sericulture households. Authority Relations and Dyadic Relationship: Subordination of the individual had been considered to be one of the characteristic features of the traditional Indian family (Desai 1984: 13). In such a system., the individual interests had been subjected to the tenets of the family and of the caste. The head of the family had the authority over every individual member of the family. 'Traditionally, authority rests with the older men of the caste and the man, as husband and father, has head-of-household rights' (Hollway 1994: 249). The dominance of men 157 Table No. 6.3: Distribution of Workforce in Sericulture Households by Relationship Status to the Head and the Intensity of Sericulture Participation (per cent) Total Working Adults'. 186 ReI. To The Head Intensity of Participation Active Passive Nil Total Head 17.9 3.7 4.2 25.8 Wife 11.6 15.3 0.5 27.4 Son 13.7 3.7 2.1 19.5 Daughter 1.6 8.9 0.0 10.5 Father 0.0 0.0 2. I 2.1 Mother 0.0 1.6 4.7 6.3 Brother 1.1 0.5 0.0 1.6 Sister 0.0 1.1 0.5 1.6 Daughter-In -Law 1.1 1.6 0.5 3.2 Other Relations 0.0 1.1 1.1 2. I Total 46.8 37.4 15.8 100.0 Table No. 6.4: Relationship Status of the Main Sericulturists to the Head of the Household ~lationship Unmarried Married Total To The Head Head - 26* 26 Son 19 2 21 Daughter 2 - 1 Brother 1 1 Total - 50 "One of the Heads of Households amonz mam sericulturists IS a woman who is separated. 158 over women and of the old over the yOWlg had become accepted as a nonn and in the process even become institutionalised. The cohesiveness of the family had been given supreme importance. However, in today's changing circumstances, there has been a tendency for alteration in authority relations due to many factors, which, in tum, result in structural modifications. One of the major factors that operate in the loosening of such relations is the exposure of the individual members to the external world. The other major factor could be the increasing possibility of exercising or asserting one's control over income. Operation of an enterprise like sericulture, requires wider linkages and involves wider exposure. This is because of its dependency on market forces, for procurement of layings and marketing of cocoons. Apart from these, the interactional opportunities with government officials are high in sericulture. It also has the potentiality of providing greater access to income for individuals. Authority necessarily involves two essential categories of people, namely, the dominant and the dominated, the powerful and the powerless. Authority, control, power and autonomy are all related concepts. Lipman-Blumen (1994: 110) defines power as 'a set of processes whereby one party (be it an individual, group, institution, or state) can gain and maintain the capacity to improve its will repeatedly upon another, despite any opposition, by its potential to contribute or withhold cntlcaf resources from the central task, as well as by offering or withholding rewards, or by threatening or invoking punishment. Here, the emphasis has been laid on the processes and on the critical resources. In Lipman-Blumen's own words agam, 'the basic 159 characteristics of the power processes is an on-gomg negotiation, m which resources figure significantly'. In the context of gender autonomy, Mencher (1989: 118), borrows from Leacock (1978:247), to define autonomy as 'the extent to which women hold decision making power over their o\\'n lives and activities' comparable to the power men hold over their lives. Thus, authority basically implies the power to control resources and allocate the same at will and thereby deprive the autonomy of the others to be at their will. Authority is a relative concept. It implies two dimensions, reflecting the stand-points of the powerful and the powerless. The one relates to the extent of control, the dominant exercises over the dominated. The other is related to the extent of freedom the subservient enjoys. The extreme of control and total deprivation of freedom would be the result of a concentrated authority. The more one is able to partake in the control of the resources, the greater would be the devolution of power, which would consequently result in distributive authority. This process of transition never occurs automatically nor voluntarily. It occurs only when it is accompanied by certain other processes that relate to the dominated. In the context of family, the members should undergo first a process of self-realisation about the individual's productive contribution that forms part of the collective resources of the family. This realisation is easily achieved when the contribution is economic and visible. Such a self-realisation instills a self-confidence in them, which is essential in the process of self assertion. Once this is complete, the so-far subjected individual begins to 160 assert one's freedom in the areas of decision-making and social behaviour. In such a situation, either the stability of the system itself is threatened or the 'subjected', if failed to achieve the intended freedom, would lose interest in the generation of productive resources, which the dominant may disfavour. Thus, the authority-holder is forced to yield to the demands of the subjected individual as the processes of decontrolling and encontrolling of resources occur simultaneously. In the process, the powerless become empowered, notwithstanding the extent of empowerment. The same mteractive process IS applicable in every dyadic relation of authority, only with varying degrees and with varying interests. Sericulture becomes an effective tool in the hands of the subordinates ",ithin the familial situation. As seen earlier, a majority of the heads in sericulture households, who are traditional authority holders are either main sericulturists themselves or playing active role m sericulture. In such cases, though they may not feel the pressure to devolve the authority, they are also more likely to exercise the distributive authority. The extent of distribution would again depend on the nature of support from other participants, which is also crucial to the success of the enterprise As seen earlier, the sons in these households are in an unenviable position, either as main sericulturists or active sericulturists or employed outside. Moreover, in about two fifths of the sericulture households, wives play an active role in sericulture. So, authority relations are seriously altered in these households. The husband-wife dyad is present in almost all the sericulturist families. Moreover, this is the only dyadic relationship of authority 161 relations in about one third of sericulture households. On the other hand., even within a nuclear family situation, one can come across all major dyadic relationships of authority relations except the one between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. The relaxation of traditional authority among the dyads mainly depends on the processes along the extent of sericulture involvement and participation as discussed above. Sericulture being an enterprising and a challenging agro-industry with a high productive potentiality, it becomes a more suitable activity for the youngsters. This is seen reflected in reality as evidenced in all the study villages. Its adoption also provides them an ample opportunity to demonstrate their potentiality and assert their rights. Sericulture being a household industry, it also provides greater opportunity for women to increasingly involve in the operation of such productive enterprises. This too is evident in the study villages, as there is definitely a higher participation of women (as compared to their participation in other agricultural operations). Their participation is still intensive in households with more than one woman and among small and marginal landholders. All these are not without their impact on the social and authority relations. With all these, the possibilities of erosion, in the traditional authority within the family system are high. This relaxation of authority is reflected in the relations between parents and children, elder and younger siblings as well as between husband and wife, as portrayed above. Those who actively participate in sericulture and its operation, tend to assert their rights and interests. The others, particularly those who have had a greater authority over the former in a traditional set-up, 162 tend to act with restraint. This is much more true when their traditional subordinates acquire a greater economic and political authority. Does this situation really become a threat to the cohesive existence of the family system? There are instances of better cohesiveness as well as of loosening of the family solidarity. The major factors in the type of impact have been related to the level of success in the enterprise and the type of family. For instance, a successful operation of sericulture generates higher income, betters the standard of living and increases the socio-economic status. This, in turn, acts as an effective force in countering the negative fall out of the changes in the authority relations as mentioned earlier. Further, it also contributes to a better cohesiveness within the family. Moreover, sericulture also being a labour-intensive enterprise, it becomes inevitable for all the family members, especially in a nuclear family situation., to contribute their labour, at whichever level they are able. This also acts in the given situation as another factor that plays a positive role in keeping the members of the family together with greater solidarity. The participation of all the family members in the activity is more likely in matro families and in simple as well as complex nuclear families. In addition, when due recognition is given to each one's productive contribution and when the enterprise itself is carried out successfully, the cohesion and solidarity of such families turn out to be stronger. There is however, a possibility of differential levels of participation in the extended families. A total devotion and commitment would be hard to come in such situations. As a result, sericulture itself 163 becomes an unsuccessful enterprise, leading to its uprooting. Even if sericulture turns out to be a successful enterprise, the differential involvement in the activity and claims on its returns may breed contempt among the participants and non-participants. This may result in the enon-cohesiveness of the family, hastening the process of breaking up of such families into nuclear units. The case of Narendran's family in Seripura.. which stood as an exception, has also fallen in the general pattern. Narendran's ",as a mixed extended family. In his household, sericulture had been adopted first in 1975. However, it had been given up in the very next year itself due to its faJlure. The water ava.liability had been insufficient to manage sericulture. After unproving the water resource, sericulture was taken up again in 1990. Though the family was headed by the eldest of the family, the management had been done by one of the sons who was not the eldest but SSLC educated. He himself was the rnam sericulturist, assisted by his wife and unmarried brother. The work was supported by every member of the family without engaging any hired labour. ~ evertheless, there has been a feeling among the participants of the different nuclear uruts over the differential participation of the members in the work but enJo),mg a higher claun over the returns. 1bis has led fina.lly to the collapse of the family mto different nuclear families. However, the substance of sericulture has remained lfltact as almost all of them has adopted sericulture. One of the important areas that disturb the traditional authority relations, yielding to differential equations and status implications IS gender relations. This becomes the focus of the following section, Gender Relations and Women's Status The Indian women suffered from social subordination and suppression in the pre-British Indian society except perhaps as Desai notes, in the early periods of the Vedic times. Law as well as religion did not recognise the equality of man and woman. Their individual and the social conduct had been judged on different standards (Desai 1984:274). The women had been destined, in the traditional set-up, to 164 handle the domestic roles all alone. They had been confined to domestic sphere alone with no say in the market sphere. This resulted in the marginalisation of women, relegating them to a low position. This had created in them a sense of total dependency and lack of self-confidence. However, today, there is an increasing awareness at many levels, regarding the exploitation of women and their marginalised position in society. There are many women-activist groups and feminist radicals who have taken up the women's cause and are fighting for their rights. The various national and international organisations have seriously taken note of the gender factor and have been focusing on the issue with greater vigour in the last few decades. There is also a greater emphasis, in recent times, even In government programmes and policies for motivating women to take an active role in the wider social and economic enterprise. The hitherto hidden and invisible contribution of women in the social and economic life is gradually coming to the limelight and their significant contributions in the whole production process are increasingly realised. There is a greater recognition, in recent times, of women's productive contribution to the welfare of society. Women have increasingly started involving in productive employment to demonstrate their economic potentiality. Efforts are on at various levels to bring women into mainstream. The main objectives of such efforts are to help women attain assertion and self-confidence and thus be able to play a constructive role in the socio-economic development and nation building. With an increasing social consciousness of past discriminations and with overall conscious efforts to participate in the productive nation building, the status of women is increasingly finding its expression. 165 There have been many studies coming up on women's issues in recent years. Some of these studies have brought out the change impact of some of the development programmes on women. For example, Palakshappa's study on social and economic implication of dairy development identifies an increase in the status of women especially of lower caste families. This has been possible for them with having an alternative occupation by way of dairy farming, instead of the usual services in the upper caste households and sometimes as women-labour in the fields (1982:34). Sericulture being a household activity, the involvement of family labour and the contribution of women in carrying out sericulture activity have become its natural consequences. The National Sericulture Project (NSP) has laid great emphasis on women's component, envisaging a greater role in the development of sericulture, along with increasing their status and position in society. One's status and position in society are generally determined by one's access to economic resources and the person's visible production capacity. Having realised this, the Departments of Sericulture (DOS), have envisaged, under NSP, various concrete action plans to provide necessary infra-structure. It has been hoped that this would facilitate women to play an active role in sericulture and thereby increasing their access to economic resources and thus entailing them a better social recognition and status. Realising the importance of women in sericulture, the World Bank sponsored National Sericulture Project had kept women's development through sericulture as one of the main objectives. Consequently, a series of measures were indicated at various levels to 166 make the participation of women in sericulture more effective and thereby enhancing their status. The year 1994 had been observed as 'the year of women in sericulture'. Gender sensitisation programmes had been organised at various levels to drive home the significance of women's issue in development. Tamil Nadu DOS has identified certain devices , which would enhance women's access to some of the powerful economic resource like land and credit. Attempts have also been made in promoting the 'managerial autonomy among women by providing necessary training for leadership development'. Through these devices, they have also envisaged an efficient role for women in the production process of sericulture, with adequate skill and knowledge. In this context, it would be significant to take a look at the role of women in sericulture and their status irn pact. There are a few studies that have come up on women's issues with particular reference to sericulture. Irene Tom (1989), for example, has brought out a work on 'women in unorganised sector', with particular reference to the reeling sector of the sericulture industry. Kumar (1992) has examined in one of his papers about the gender inequalities and division of labour in sericulture. Karanth (1995: 112) observes an increased female participation in sericulture. However, hardly any studies have so far focused on the differential work involvement and participation, by virtue of their differential roles they play in the household. Gender is a social product, which is constituted within a particular set of power relations, both of which are best studied in the 167 world of human interaction (Radtke and Starn 1994: 12-13). The power relations are basically authority relations with its accompanied control and autonomy, as enunciated earlier. Like authority, status too is a relative concept is manifested at varying levels, depending on the nature of authority as well as the extent of autonomy one enjoys. These power relations are best manifested in the interactional dyads of authority within the family. These can be weighed and understood only within the context one's role identity and productive contribution. Role Identity and Work Contribution: Women's role in sericulture is determined by their relationship to the main sericulturists. It also depends on the number of adult women in the family as well as one's family type and economic status. These, in turn., have a corresponding relationship ill the level of their participation and involvement in sericulture as well as in other activities including agriculture and household. The value of their contribution depends on how the activities they are engaged in are perceived. All these have a correspondent implication in their position and status in the family. Table 6.S shows the level of participation of women work force ill sericulture households in different activities including sericulture. Sericulture is the most attended activity, next only to the household activity. Almost 90 per cent of the women participate in sericulture activity. The wage labour accounts for hardly ten per cent of working women adults in Seripura. This pattern is very much similar to that of M R Pura (Gregory 1994b) as well as the ones prevalent in other supportive fields of the present study. 168 However, the involvement of women in sericulture is seen manifesting at different levels. Women are main sericulturists in some cases or extend an active support to main sericulturists in some other cases. They are passive supporters in certain cases or even merely total non panicipants in yet other cases. Table 6.6 brings out the level of sericulture involvement of the women work-force in sericulture households. Almost 90 per cent of the women in sericulture households participate in sericulture either actively or passively. A majority of the wives are active participants while a majority of the mothers are passive participants. Again, this is comparable to the situation in M R Pura (Gregory 1984d) as well as in other supportive villages. The wives, being younger in age, and mostly in nuclear families take up the responsibility themselves. The mothers, on the other hand, tend to be passive participants, for they have sons and daughters-in-law to take the main responsibility. Total non-participation of some of the female members of the family is found mainly in mixed extended families where the work separation is high. It is also found in cases of older women who are happy with just attending to a few household chores. In other sericulture families women at least extend a passive support if not more. Those who extend onJy passive support generally engage in works like leaf picking and cocoon harvesting and other light work, with due instructions from the main sericulturists. Such women have either been the beginners or that other women in their households extend an active support to main sericulturist. The former situation is seen occurring among some of the 169 Table No. 6.S: Level of Participation of Sericulture Women in Different Activities (Percent) (Total Respondents: 92) Activities Level of Women's Work Participation High Medium Low Nil Total Household 60.87 21.74 10.87 6.52 100.0 Agriculture 761 17.39 45.65 29.35 100.0 Sericulture 28.26 40.22 19.56 11.96 100.0 Wage Labour - 3.26 5.44 91.3 100.0 Table 6.6. Intensity of Sericulture Participation of Women Work force in Sericulture Families Relationship To Main Active Passive Non- Total Se ric u Itu list Participants Participants Participants Wife 20.65 11.96 0.00 32.61 Mother 5.43 21.74 3.26 30.43 Daughter 2.17 4.35 0.00 6.52 Sister 1.09 15.22 0.00 16.30 Sister-In-Law 0.00 4.35 1.09 5.43 G.Mother 0.00 1.09 7.61 8.70 Total 29.35 58.70 11.96 100.00 170 nuclear families where recently married women are unfamiliar with sericulture. The latter situation has been observed in families with the presence of two or more adult women. They could be related either by affinal, as in the cases of daughter-in-law and mother-in-law, or by consanguineal, as in the cases of mother and daughter. In both these cases, the tendency is for older women to involve increasingly in the household activity while YOWlger ones assume an active role in sericulture. Interestingly, in non-sericulture households, these roles are usually seen reversed regarding household chores and agriculture. The old tend to withdraw from household activities, leaving the same to YOWlger ones and confIning themselves to an active or an occasional involvement in agricultural activities, depending on age factor. Women whose participation in sericulture is passive could be a result of an intentional and self imposed decision. It is the experience of most women that men tend to be away from home for most part of their non-working hours. Consequently, they feel that they are able to confine their husbands to the household premises, at least in the name of sericulture and on the pretext of their own ignorance of sericulture operation. This is well articulated by some of the women of Salem villages as done by Lakshmi (Refer Case No. 10). Further, as the household-work is considered always to be that of women, in some of the single-woman households the women prefer to play only a passive role. Those women who play an active role, generally involve in all activities of sericulture and are as knowledgeable as the main sericulturists , whether male or female. However, in the presence of main 171 sericulturists, these women assume only an auxiliary role. Such women have been predominantly found to be either the daughters or the wives of the main sericulturists. The main sericulturist women in most of the cases are exceptions as in the cases of widows or separated, or women with incapacitated husbands. A general observation from almost all sericulture villages in this region is that there is a clear sexual division of labour in sericulture as could be seen in table 6.7. There are some crucial activities in sericulture involving relatively less labour but are considered skillful. These include brushing, moult setting, chawkie rearing and disease-identification. These are, in most of the cases, kept within the domain of the males. This, in turn, dictates the significance of male labour over that of females, for the work that women do are considered to be less important andlor less strenuous. In one of the areas in Salem district, sericulture itself has been introduced as women's activity. In this area, however, the skill of the activity itself is undermined lest the womenfolk get the credit of managing a skillful and productive activity. The implication here is that the skillfulness of the activity itself is judged not by its own standard but based on the gender of the persons engaged in it. As for work contribution, male members of the family have an edge over the females. This is mostly due to the increasing recognition of the heavier work load by women, especially in nuclear family households, where they have to carry out multi-pronged responsibilities. However, women do carry a heavier work load, as compared to men, particularly in sericulture households. In some areas, women are 172 Table No.6. 7: Labour Involvement across different Rearing Activities ot different I'h ..es of Rearing Cf'. , •• J I h) (FiRUres in hours Phases Iinstar II Instar III I nstar IV Instar V Instar All No ofDatys 2' Plus 4 3 ~ 6 8 Plus 2" 2 Plus 26 Plus 2 No of Feedinl/.s 12 10 IS 20 32 89 IActivities F. M h.F raM FaM fa r FaM FaF FaM Fa F Fa C HF raM F. F FC HF Tolal Procuring dOs 60 60 60 lDiinfectants . - - Disinfecting the Shed 1.5 I ~ I 5 Disinfecting 40 00 4 C 40 lI:c!uiJlments OS OS OS ~~ing -- Leaf Harvesting I 3 1.8 40 40 23.0 360 606 7.0 630 600 1300 ChoppinR 20 2.5 5.0 105 20 a 00 lOa Feeding 20 2.5 25 25 5.0 50 300 8 5 140 420 160 14 a 720 Bed Cleaning 0.5 25 20 20 6.0 SO 180 6.5 6.0 29.0 13.5 60 48.5 Supervising Moult 03 0.3 OS I 0 0.3 3.0 08 SO I 0 6.0 Setting & Disease Control Picking up the Riped 6.0 4.0 4.0 6.0 4.0 4.0 14.0 Worms Mountinl/. 2.0 20 40 2.0 2.0 4.0 8.0 Watching of The 160 16C 00 16.0 Spinning Worms Harvesting 1.0 20 1.0 2.0 3.0 Cocoon Sonnl/. 1.0 2.0 1.0 2.0 30 Marketin" 8.0 8.0 8.0 Total 14C 4.0 9.5 14.0 8.5 22.5 33.3 67.0 578 180 92.C 127.0 103.5 18.0 92.0 340.5 No. of Person Days , I 2 2 I 4 6 11 10 3 15 21 17 3 15 57 (As 6hrslDay) Percenl8Re 4.1 1.2 2.8 4.1 2.5 6.6 9.8 197 170 5.3 270 37.J 304 5.3 27( 100.0 • Two DaY' for preparation oftbe Shed befure the Start ofReanng •• Two DaY' for Harv.:sting and Cleaning of Cocoons ... Noo:: F•. Family; M . Male; Fem • Female; H . Hired; C . Children . v.- prohibited from attending to sericulture work during menstruation, in the name of ritual pollution. This belief, however, is gradually being given up, allowing women to attend to some work during menstrual period. As a result of this, there are complaints of excess strain and back-ache. Ir is not uncommon to see some sensitive men who restrain women from involving in sericulture during such times, not so much for the cause of pollution but more to free such women from unnecessary strain and making use of their support only when it is absolutely necessary. Women do feel over-burdened., especially if they are mam or active sericulturists and also, if they are from single woman households. Men in the house do show certain concern and take charge of the late evening and early-morning feeding tasks, especially at the later stages of rearing. This is with the realisation that they would otherwise be putting the women., already burdened with their household and other works to extreme strain. Sometimes, the school-going young girls support their mothers in attending to their household chores while the boys extend their help in sericulture. Status Impact and Implication: Status is conceived as the position and prestige anached to the role one occupies in the social fabric of society. Role itself is defined as the expected pattern of socially defmed behaviour. In other words, status is nothing but a recognition of a person by society, corresponding to the roles he is expected to play within the societal framework. In the traditional plane, status, many a time, corresponds to the position of an individual in the social category. Again., even the social functions in the traditional society are attributed a 174 specific recognition, depending on the category of people that are generally associated with such function. This is borne out of a pre conceived notion about certain stereo-types, which are nonnally attributed to the powerless. Any change in the perception of social function of the individuals is reflected in social status. In the process of achieving a higher status, as dealt with earlier while discussing the authority relations, there are some self-processes taking place. These processes begin with a self realisation of one's worth and work contribution. This is followed by a gain in self-confidence, which yields to self-assertion. Cltimately, it results in self-dignity and self-fulfilment. Status-impact on women can be observed from their level of access to some of the crucial resources of livelihood and human eXJstence These include physical resources such as land, credit and markeung as also intellectual resources of infonnation and skill. At a higher plane, it is fwther manifested in the power to control income and to take independent decisions. Consequently, all these are reflected in their access to mobility, leisure and entertainment. In simple tenns, it is manifested through recognition, either verbal or non-verbal, resulting in self fulfilment and bliss. Land is one of the crucial economic inputs of rural farming and a symbol of power. Women in India hardly have any access to this crucial resource Lack of such accessibility reflects in their low status in the household. Because of this, women also become deprived of many other benefits For instance, a woman is not recognised as a sericulture entrepreneur unless she owns some land. She cannot avail of any credit facilities LlI1less she can pledge land owned by her. The initiative of the 175 sericulture department to empower women by making them have access to land through co-titleship has not yielded positive results. This is mainly because, the men are not prepared to transfer the power nor women realise a need for it. Even in a few cases where such transfers have been effected, the real benefit does not reach the womenfolk. The case of Shilpa in E N Pura is a case of illustration (for elaboration, see case no.6 in Appendix II). She has a bachelor degree, and is a mother of a two year old child and a nursery going daughter. When she was acquired the co-titleship, the only motivation bad been to a vail of the monetary benefit and nothing more. Her husband bad to fulfill formaliues who bad to accompany her till availing of the credit from the bank. The moment the money is received, it has automatically been transferred to the hands of the husband. Her husband remarks: . In a village context, this is bound to happen'. The women are probably 'ready for new things but without disturbing the traditional obligations' (Smelser 1986:393). Women's access to information depends on their level of involvement in the activity. The extension staff do pass on the relevant information even to women, if they are perceived as those who could understand the message properly. The DOS, Tamil Nadu, has devised many training schemes to enrich women with sericulture information and skills. The very fact of organising the women to expose them to such opportunities and that quite a few women in different parts of Tamil ~adu had attended such programmes are themselves significant achievements. In many cases it has facilitated in instilling a confidence among women. Some of the training programmes have left a positive impact on the sericulturists as evidenced by field studies (See Gregory et al 1994) There are also instances where the trainings have been conducted only on paper In some cases, these have been used only as 176 incentives to sericulturists in the form of material components rather than for skill and knowledge. While the level of participation of women in sericulture is varying, when it comes to the question of their access to returns, it invariably passes on to men even in families with woman as mam sericulturist. At times, women also make visits to markets. This is, however, only to accompany their husbands and when they could combine their visits with other engagements. In their view, there is no compelling reason why they have to go to market to sell the cocoons when men-folk are available. This is further justified, given the constraints like lifting of cocoons and transporting, etc., which women have to face. Though these may be true, they also lack self-confidence in undertaking such tasks that involve crucial decision making, transactional competitions and higher financial dealings. There are also exceptions to this. There are cases, like Mariamma of E N Pura, who involve in marketing of cocoons, even in the presence of their husbands. Manamma, by nature, is an out-spoken woman. Though, her husband is the head of the household, it is she who manages the household. She has an adult daughter and a school- going son. The major portion of sericulture work is performed by a skilled labour hired on a contract while Mariamma's role is supervisory. Her daughter also extends a passive support. However, her husband, who is in his early forties, shows least mterest m sen culture and confines bimselfto the farm activities. The major economic transactions have always remained as the domain of one of the male adults in the family. So, women hardly realize the need for an access to income. In many of the households, whether sericulture or otherwise, cash income is generally deposited with woman of the household. This accessibility of women to income is mainly seen as a ritual and the major say always lies with men. ~evertheless, women do take note of income and expenses in the 177 household. Their VOIce tends to be relatively stronger in sericulture households, concerning the question of accountability from their men folle In some households, particularly where they play an active role in sericulture, women control the income to the extent of channelising the expenditure in the right direction. Their needs are generally self restrained with a greater concern for the family and so are met without much resistance. The dominant role of men in decision making process could be observed in the activities like irrigation practices, fertilizer inputs, choice of crops and marketing of the produce. As for sericulture decision are concerned, in those households where women play a role of active support, male members take the women into confidence in any decision making process. The sericulture decisions are made predominantly by men in consultation with women. In those families where women are the main sericulturists, they have a major say in many of the household decisions. There is an inner thirst among women for recognition and concern from the men-folk. Sometimes, there is also a feeling among women., of the disproportionate labour distribution. It is their feeling that men concern themselves with just one or two specific activities that pertain to the family and go in their own way and while-away their time. On the other hand, the whole mind of the womenfolk is fixed in the management and maintenance of the entire spectrum of activities that concern the family and overload themselves with work. This dual nature of the family roles, sometimes, disturbs their minds though they do not raise a voice of dissent lest it disturbs the peace of the family 178 atmosphere. So, it would not be much far from truth if one could say that 'far from being a domestic haven, it is for them the seat of oppression' (Thome 1982). In companson to their non-sericulture counterparts, however, recognition of women's labour is more pronounced in sericulture households. Women in these households seem to be more forthcoming, assertive and self confident. Even, among them., those who have a greater involvement in the activity show a marked difference in these manifestations. The leisure time activities of women are very much limited, whether their involvement in sericulture is high or low. The popular leisure activity of women is chatting which again is constrained to minimum as most of the sericulture households are widely scattered in their farms. Even if they get a little time, they engage themselves in some minor household activities or spend with their children. In some cases, they occasionally visit the cinema houses in the nearby town either as a family or with other women of the hamlet. Some women accompany their husbands occasionally, to the nearby town, to make shopping on the occasion of the festivals and family functions. Concluding Remarks The preceding section on family dynamics and gender relations have brought out the internal dynamics of the family as reflected in role variations of family members and their level of involvement in sericulture. The adoption of sericulture among nuclear families and those with widowed mother is well marked and significantly noticed. It is these types that also show the participation of all adult family 179 members in sericulture. The authority relations among the traditional dyads within the family manifest a transition from the concentrated authority, towards a distributive authority in the context of sericulture. If there is an unsuccessful adjustment, in the distributive system of authority relations, the family, especially, if it is a mixed extended family, eventually collapses to fonn separate nuclear families. In this transitional process of distributive authority relations, individuals themselves go through a process of self-realisation to achieve self confidence, self assertion and an increasing autonomy. The same holds good in gender relations. Women's role in sericulture is determined by their relationship to mam sericulturists and on the number of adult women in the family. These, in tum, have a corresponding relationship in the level of their participation and involvement in sericulture. There is also a correspondent implication of the same in their status and position in the family. Most of the adult women in sericulture families participate in sericulture either actively or passively. When there are two women in the household, older woman involves more in household activity while the younger ones assume an active role in sericulture. As the household work is considered always as that of women, in some of the single woman households, women prefer to play only a passive role. However, women do carry a heavier work load as compared to men, particularly in sericulture households. Women, especially if they are main or active sericulturists and if they are from single-woman sericulture households, do feel over-burdened with their work. In most of the households, men are sensitive to the women's work and take a greater share in the work load at the work-intensive phases of sericulture. Women hardly have any 180 access to land, which in tum, deprive them of many other benefits, including credit. Women's access to information depends on their level of involvement in the activity. As for women's access to returns, it invariably passes on to men. There is now a relaxation of authority in the relations between parents and children, elder and younger siblings and between husband and wife. Those who actively participate in sericulture tend to assert their rights and interests. Of the others, particularly those who have had a greater authority over the former in a traditional setting tend to act with restraint. The major economic transactions still remain as the domain of one of the male adults in the family. So, women hardly realize the need for an access to income. In many of the households, whether sericulture or otherwise, the cash income is generally deposited with the woman of the household. However, this accessibility of women to income is mainly seen as a ritual and the major say always lies with men. ]\;evertheless, women do take note of the income and expenses effected in the household. Their voice tends to be relatively stronger in sericulture households, concerning the question of accountability from their men-folk. In some households, particularly where women play an active role in sericulture, women control the income to the extent of channelising the expenditure in the right direction. The recognition of women's labour is more pronounced in sericulture households than in the non-sericulture households. women in these households seem to be more forthcoming, assertive and self confident. Even, among them, those who have a greater involvement in the activity show a marked difference in these manifestations. In those 181 households where women play a role of acnve support, the male members take women into confidence in any decision making process of sericulnue. However, in those families where women are the main sericulturists, they have a major say in many of the household decisions also. Thus, sericulnue does contribute to the changing relations within the family and its potentiality in enhancing the status of women in rural households. It is worth examining, in this context, the socio-economic mobility and the changing values, which become the focus of the following chapter. 182 CHAPTERVll SOCIO-ECONOMIC MOBILITY AND CHANGING VALUES The impact of Sericulture in tenus of income and employment generation has been a fact well established by many studies as seen in the introductory Chapter. However, the nature and level of its impact on different sections of people and its socio-cultural implications have not been anempted by earlier studies. It is also essential to look into the impact of sericulture, on aspects like education, health and cultural beliefs. Socio-Economic Mobility 'People everywhere respond to economic incentives, perceiving their significance in much the same way as the managers' (Gabriel 1991:2). This response is not the same by all sections of society, which have different socio-economic conditions. In the absence of favourable opportunities, economic improvement is impossible for some. Moreover, economic improvement itself is only a part of total development though it serves many times as a first step in the total social development. In this process, while the social conditions of certain sections could come in the way of participating in a development programme, the result of a development programme itself could be multi-fold and varied. There have been various efforts, governmental and non-governmental, to create favourable conditions through various rural development programmes. Sericulrure is said to be one of the very successful efforts of rural 183 development. It is worth analysing the role of sericulture in SOCIO economic development and the conditions it creates in becoming a successful enterprise. For the purpose of the present study, an attempt has been made to examine the impact of sericulture adoption in terms of changes in economic status of the people and the corresponding social status of those who took to sericulture. While taking these into account, it should be recognised, certain identities of the people remain relatively unchanged, as a result of which they may continue to enjoy a low status notwithstanding the economic changes in their lives. Thus, the members of very low caste may take much longer time to experience a change in social status although their economic conditions may have undergone a significant transformation. Labour Status: In most village communities, besides caste and their economic standing, one important determinant of status is whether or not the members of a household work as wage labourers. One may even fmd that families pride themselves by not even taking part in mutual exchange labour; often they may hire a wage labourer to represent the household in the mutual exchange labour. Indeed such a situation coincides mostly with the very wealthy Land-owners. Further, maintenance of such status symbols depend largely on the availability of wage labourers either within the village or from elsewhere, at their beck and call of such Land-owners. In Seripura, there are persons and households in which none work as wage labourers whether in sericulture or in agriculture. At the other extreme we fmd households which are exclusively dependent on hired 184 labour for agriculture operations. There can be varying classes within this caste. For instance, there are households which neither hire labourers nor work as wage labourers themselves. These are households which carry out agricultural and sericultural operations by using only family labour. There are also other households which get the work done by involving in exchange labour. In this way, the households are able to meet the extra labour requirements through mutual support without engaging any wage labour nor reducing themselves to the status of a wage labour. Those who solely manage with family labour and those who go for exchange labour fall at successive stages in the labour continuum representing the path of mobility. There are also households which make various combinations such as by working for part of a season or for specific operations while not engaging in any other labour. There are also others who hire part of the labour supply or supplement with exchange labour. As for mobility, the new opportunity could facilitate some households to free themselves from wage labour status. Further, they could fruitfully make use of their labour in own-enterprise with minimum level of disguised unemployment. The labourers are normally landless or marginal or small farmers. In the case of the latter, they are engaged ill wage labour, mostly when they do not have adequate irrigated lands or are left with inadequate irrigation resources. How could sericulture bring mobility to these labour classes? One obvious impact emerges from the very act of involving in the sericulture work itself. When sericulture itself commands respectability because of its economic implications and wider interactional potential, labourers tend 185 to share this status by extending their labour to such an enterprise. This is especially true of assured labour. Their status becomes enhanced when they are skilled labour in sericulture. A further way by which mobility takes place is when wage-labour families adopt sericulture and improve their labour status. This possibility is very much realised in the case of some of marginal and small farmers who, earlier to their adoption of sericulture, had involved in wage labour. Not all those who take up sericulture thus move out of their former labour status. However, while some are able to achieve it sooner, others obviously reduce their dependency on wage labour, as they start consolidating their gain in sericulture. There are ample cases for illustration among marginal and small categories in all sericulture areas where there has been a mobility in labour status after successfully adopting sericulture. Karunagaran in M R Pura has been in sericulture for about two years. He owns two acres of land. When he was able to improve the irrigation resource through an IRDP loan, he took to senculture. Now, for the last two years, he has been fairly dorng well 1D sericulture. The scale of rearing is between 100 and 150 dfls, which he manages \\1th 50 cents of mulberry garden. In his family there are four adult members, himself, his \\~fe and two daughters. Earlier, all of them used to go for wage labour After taking up sericulture, he and his Mfe had almost stopped going for wage labour. His daughters, however, continue to go for wage labour when their ser.1CC IS not reqUlred at home. As for sericulture, they manage it by themselves \\ithout depending on any wage labour. A mobility in labour status makes a world of difference for social mobility and recognition. Economic Status:There are other economic indicators of social mobility which too are determined by various factors. Labour status itself is an indicator of one's economic status. Apart from this, the 186 econorruc status IS manifested in the forms of freedom from indebtedness, attainment of self-sufficiency, saving and investment and a comfortable living. Lack of economic freedom is a clear manifestation of indebtedness. The level of economic freedom could be an indicator of one's economic status. In rural India, indebtedness is still a significant phenomenon. Freedom from this bondage definitely goes a long way in enhancing one's status in society. It is one of the significant indicators in the process of one's mobility status. It is the first step on the road to economic mobility. Consequently, it creates self confidence and provides strength to the person concerned to be able to stand on one's own legs. KalaJVanaIl, ill E N Pura., belongs to SC. He is thirty-two years now. He dropped out of school when he was studying fifth standard. He had been working as a contract labour since the age of fourteen. The economic misery forced the family to go for loans whenever need arose. This w-as possible only when he became a pennanent contract labour. For the last two years he has stopped going for contract labour and has taken up scriculture on leased land with the support of his former patron Today he is freed from all bondage and has gained confidence to stand on his 0\\n legs From such economic freedom, the person with confidence moves on further, in accumulating and consolidating his assets that would enhance his social standing. This depends on his economic ability and individual priority. Sometimes, it finds expression by way of increasing the land-potentiality through tapping the irrigation capacity to its maximum. It is also expressed through acquiring lands, expanding the existing enterprises, accruing gold ornaments or lending money or investing in savings and financial enterprises. A mobility to this extent ensures one's access to many of the resources. The forces of production are at one's reach and the person begins to occupy an upper hand in the 187 relations of production. This allows him to have greater access to knowledge and information. Social Status: The person or social group, at the bottom of the scale in the social hierarchy, suffering physical and psychological hardships is left with a poor social image. Once he or she is on the ladder of mobility, the fIrst step this person achieves personally is self confidence with self-realisation. When one acquires the resource capability and self-confIdence to lead a modest living, the person starts to assert hisfher existence. While this assertion brings better recognition and freedom within the family, the society too begins to give a better recognition of hislber social standing. There is simultaneously a change in the dress pattern and food habits. The dwelling place is altered to fit into the present status. The living standard improves with the acquisition of consumer durables and prestige goods. It is not uncommon to see in K K Pura, quite a few sericulturists OMllllg a two wheeler as well as television sets. There are many cases m all villages who have constructed a decent house after having taken up and benefited from sericulrure. Gopalan, ill Senpura, is a small farmer He has been in sericulture for almost ten years. [n tact, he had been irutiated inw sericu[ture almost twenty years back in his parental home. Sericu[ture had been given up then, within two years, due to unfavourable condiuons. He took up sericulture again, after the family partition. During partition, along "'1th four acres of land, he also inherited his share of a loan, amounung w Rs 7,0001- that the family had incurred. Today he is a happy and contended man not only .... ith free of loan, but he has to his bank credit Rs 20,000. He has accounts ill State bank of India and in the Canara Bank. He also has a recurnng deposit ill the Post office. He had bought eighty grams of jewels. He has also unproved Ius imgational facility by digging a well, investing an amount of Rs 10,000 He has boUght an oil engine to pump the water. He claims that all these have been possible mainly due to sericulture income. Today, he commands good respect and SOCIa! recognition in the village. 188 The person makes further attempts to improve the social identity by displaying the ability to expand the social networks and interaction. Thus, the social status is further manifested from the type and nature of interaction in the wider society. This is very much true in the case of progressive sericulturists. The visit of higher level officials and project evaluation staff with department vehicles has been a common sight during the period of NSP implementation. During such occasions, the extension staff sometimes insist on the officials to visit the sericulturists of different hamlets that come under their jurisdiction. This is for the sole reason that it gives a recognition for the existing sericulturists and a motivation for the potential sericulturists. Prospective Groups of Mobility Not all sections of the people in a village have equal opportunities to take to sericulture. There are sections, based on different criteria, for whom sericclture becomes meaningful by way of its impact and implications. Regarding employment prospects of sericulture for the rural population, Sinha (1989:158) says that about 90 per cent of the employment in sericulture go either to the landless and to the marginal farming families that hire out their labour, or to the sericulture families. This is because, as he claims, silk production activities are all in informal sector and are menial in nature. Considering resources and returns, the sericulturists themselves could be seen as belonging to one of the following categories: 'subsistent', 'intermediate' and 'affluent'. Those who belong to the 'subsistent' categories practice sericulture on a small scale, with 189 rrurumum resources and live largely on its income. The intermediate have relatively better access to resources and, though cultivate other crops, their main attention goes to sericulture. The income from sericulture for them means so much, in terms of a decent living. For the affiuent category of sericulturists, sericulture is one among the many commercial cash crops. The first and the last categories approximately correspond to the marginal and the large farmers. The small and medium farmers may correspond to the middle category or go along with the first and the third categories respectively. Considering the scale of operation, intensity of involvement and motivational purpose, the sericulturists could be categorised as clientele sericulturists, progressive sericulturists and capitalist sericulturists. The capitalist sericulturists are those who adopt sericulture on a large scale on commercial terms, exploiting the resources to their maximum advantage The progressive sericulturists involve in sericulture on a moderate scale and do it successfully. The clientele sericulturists practice sericulture on a smaller scale and look for models and guidance mostly from the progressive sericulturists. Even here, the marginal and small farmers generally correspond to the clientele sericulturists, the medium, to the progressive sericulturists and the large to the capitalist sericulturists. The sericulture areas are mixed with all types of these sericulturists. Some of these categories may well overlap with each other. For instance, the case Velayudham of K K Pura, husband of Easwari (case no. lOin appendix I) is one where a small farmer could become a progressive sericulturist. Velayudham had been in sericulture since 1972 and many of the later year sencultunsts owe their initiation into sericulture to this leading sencultunst 190 Sunilarly, Kannappan in Seripura (Case no. 1 in Appendix I) who holds a similar posiuon and enjoys social reputation is only a small land-holder. These are exceptions as for E N Pura where the medium farmers dominate the scene. Sericulture is only one of the several cash crops for the affluent and capitalist categories. They hardly gain any mobility because of sericulture. Instead, it operates to retain their already high economic status. They take up sericulture purely for commercial motive or due to . class envy'. Class envy is in operation, when someone above, in the class hierarchy, threatened by the one below attempts to overtake his position through adoption of an economically vibrant device, adopts the same device to re-establish one's supremacy. In some cases, it could also be a 'class rivalry' in which the motivation for taking up a particular enterprise emerges from a person belonging to a same class category. A similar process is the 'sibling rivalry', which takes place when one of the brothers adopts an enterprise, in the present case sericulture, because his brother has adopted it and seemed to fare well. In all three cases, what operates in the adoption of the enterprise is not a positive inclination towards the enterprise but a diametrical motivation. From the pomt of VIew of mobility, the first two groups of sericulturists in both categorisation, need greater attention here. In more than one way, the respective groups in each categorisation correspond with each other. Both these groups attribute their mobility to sericulture. Along with them come the labourers who benefit from sericulture, because of its employment potentiality if nothing else. The progressives constitute a separate category of their own. The subsistent., clientele 191 sericulturists and the labour class, overlap with each other along class and caste lines. Progressive Sericulturists: The progresslve sericulturists are those who readily accept the advanced packages of technology, are innovative in their adoption, excel in their performance and serve as models and referents for other sericulturists. For the same reason, they are the ones who have greater access to the officials and extension network. 10 a way, it is a vicious circle, working complementarily. For Keesing (1990: 59), the 'progressives are likely to be those who have the greatest access to resources and power, and who can use them to expand and capitalise on their position of advantage'. 10 his opinion, it is these progressIves, 'who seize on green revolution technology, avail themselves of loans, and make themselves agents and brokers of change to the caste'. Sericulture, however, has proved that even the marginal resource categories could be able to establish and become progressive sericulturists, as mentioned earlier. Once someone could prove to be a progressive sericulturist, then, naturally, that person begins to have a greater access to the officials and extension network. The case of Kannappan of Seripura and the case of Mahendran of K K Pura, (See Cases in Appendix 1), are typical illustrations of persons who had risen to become progressive sericulturists from nowhere and have largely benefited out of sericulture. While many have struggled their way out towards progress, the most likely group to become the progressives are the medlUIll categories. The medium farmers who are devoted to sericulture show a consistent performance and considerable economic and social mobility. 192 The case of Tba..'1g3vel of E N Para (See Case No.2 in appendix I, for the d.!scnpnon of the case) is a typical example of a progressive sericulturist belonging to the medium caregory The success in sericulture has not come easily for him too, though he had better access to resources. He could., however, stabili~ his life only "lth the help of sericulture. In spite of being a medium farmer, the greater part of the anennon goes only for senculture. The same is the case "lth all his brothers. R.:1gu\ ann uf Senpura. a medium farmer, had been exposed to sericulture since the rrud 70s. when he was part of the Joml family and his brother was the main sencultunst He tumse1f became the main senculturist in 1983, when he took up senculture. Ul the same year when the famiJy was split and the land was pamtioned. Toda~. he c1auns that mth sericulture income, he had dug a bore-well, and thus lIDproved Ius Imganon source Along "lth this, he has also increased his scale of senculture operauon He had constructed a water channel from his well to his 1ands He was also able 10 construct a pukka house. ~ow, he says that he also lends money for mrerest He has now reduced his involvement in sericulture as his son has taken over the senculture management from him, recently. \fost of the progressive sericulturists have been long-time sericulturists. \\ith an experience of more than ten years. Their performance ill senculture has brought them a reputation and respect \\ithin the ... iUage. They are also the ones who can withstand any sudden adversines in sericulture. The progressive sericulturists, as they gain experier,ce and stability, gradually turn into 'gentle-men sericulturists', reducing their direct involvement in sericulture and increase the use of hired labour or contract labour, under their direct supervision. \10han.1 Kumar of K K Pura, for U1staDce, has practically stopped his mvolvement lD sen culture except for the preparauon of the chawkie worms In such cases, the partlclpauon of the women members of the famiJy IS also reduced though not totaJly absent Even this is seen as a manifestation of mobility. As a step further, they either turn to become capitalist sericulturists or give up sericulture itself to plunge into some other lucrative business. Sericulture for the Poor: For Mencher (1978: 10), economic development is . a process of steady rise in the material conditions of living, of the vast majority of the population, instead of rise confmed to only one sector'. She continues to say that 'the Indian villages are still populated with most weaker sections who hardly gain anything from most of the development programmes'. In the present context, the concern of mobility then, becomes more relevant and significant for three dlsadvantaged categories, one based on class, another based on caste and the third based on sex. It would be worth understanding the role of sericulture, in the process of mobility of these categories. This would enable the developers and researchers in gauging the social relevance of sericulture The term 'poor' basically refers to the economically vulnerable section of the society. Within these strata, there could be varying categones depending on the level of accessibility to property and resources. In a village context, the poor mostly comprise of the agricultural wage labourers who would include most of the landless, marginal and a section of the small landholders. How could sericulture become relevant to them? What role does or can sericulture play in facilitatmg the social mobility and thereby enhancing their social identity'} Sericulture could become relevant to the poor either directly by becoming sericulturists themselves, or indirectly by involving themselves as lessee, shareholders or labourers. More than 50 per cent of the sericulturists in Seripura belong to the marginal and small land-holding category. In the case of K K Pura and M R Pura, they form more than 75 per cent while they form only one fourth of the sericulturists in EN Pura. How have they fared in their social mobility? The impact of sericulture is definitely manifested 194 among the marginal and small categories, though with initial benefits of improving their labour status and stabilising their economic life. Quite a few who have earlier depended on wage labour to supplement their agriculture income have become free from the status of wage labour and moved up to the level of engaging wage labour. This is clear from the cases that have been cited in the beginning of this chapter while talking about the mobility in labour status. This, they feel, has reduced the strain of hard work and 'patronial' dependency on the one hand and enhanced their social prestige on the other. Many of them have also improved their living standard in terms of food habits, dress pattern, etc., indicating their social mobility. Given the opportunity and basic resource accessibility, it is this group which has the highest motivation and commitment in exacting the maximum returns in sericulture. In other words, those who have limited irrigated land and adopt a greater portion of it for sericulture tend to involve themselves more in the activity and reap good results. However, the adoption of sericulture by the marginal fanners is proportionately less as compared to the higher land categories. This is probably due to certain limitations that they face as the following: • Lack of suitable soil for mulberry cultivation; • Lack of or limited source of irrigation; • Lack of adequate space for rearing; • Lack of capital for initial investment to establish the mulberry garden and the rearing infrastructure; • Lack of access to or of timely availability of credit; • Lack of access to information and knowledge; and • Lack of alternative sources of subsistence in case of crop failures. Thus , those who face constraints are not much different from the landless categories except in their accessibility to land. Can sericulture 195 make any difference in their lives? They cannot directly benefit from sericulture as they face the above constraints. The other alternatives are that either they be extended external help to overcome some of these constraints or they go for land-lease or share-crop. There are a few who have gone for sericulture after tapping their irrigation potentiality either through their own resources or through external credits mostly of government agencies and benefited from it. There are others who have access to sericulture through lease-lands or share-cropping, which, in turn, have helped them in achieving socio economic mobility. There are vel)' few, however, who come forward to lease t.~eir land out unless there are other compulsions to do it. After having Wlsuccessfully attempted to take up sericulture themselves, some of them have leased out their lands but only to other sericulturists. There are a few others who have leased out their mulberry land, on yearly basis eIther to their own relative or to a former labour client. In such cases, the economics does not always work much in favour of the leased-in party. ~oreover, considering the risk factor in sericulture they lack the necessary self-confidence to go for such arrangement whereas at least they are sure of some income in wage labour. A few want to benefit from sericulture without sacrificing their labour. Thus, they depend on the wage labour for its accomplishment. They are mostly those who belong to the larger land-holding categories. They prefer to go for share-crop. This is for the obvious reason that the labour commitment is better in such arrangement than otherwise as the labourers themselves have a share in the returns. Rangarajan in E N Pura is one such case. However, there are not many instances of such cases. 196 As for the labour utilisation, sericulturists are able to make use of the differential labour types to sustain in sericulture. Some labour classes, particularly the contract labourers, do not like to continue any more in their present status but for their financial compulsions. It is the same economic factor that operates as a major constraint in taking up sericulture by themselves. There are a few cases of former sericulture based regular contract labourers like Kalaivanan in E N Pura, who have now taken up sericulture on leased land and do fairly well. This probably indicates that if only the financial constraints and the basic infrastructure are taken care of, this group could become the right target for sericulture development among the weakest of the weaker sections. Thus, it shows some way out to overcome some of the constraints. However, neither the accessibility to such solutions is readily available nor the solutions themselves are sustainable unless accompanied by focused approach and adequate institutional support. The state sericulture departments including that of Tamil Nadu have evolved certain schemes to extend a viable support to the weaker sections especially the scheduled castes. One such scheme envisaged the intervention of the NGOs to take sericulture to the poor. This was with the objective of making sericulture an effective alternative for the poor. However, this did not produce the intended results as there were many constraints and shortcomings in the process of implementation (Gregory et al. 1995). In the rural scenario, a majority of the poorer sections, most of whom are also landless, generally belong to the scheduled castes. This is evidenced by the core as well as by the supportive villages of the present study. So, they do require special attention and a selective approach. 197 The Case Of Scheduled Castes: Scheduled castes constitutionally present a single category and stand apart as one group in the minds of the non-scheduled castes. They do not, in reality, fonn a single entity among themselves. There is a social distance maintained among different sub castes with one another. Even among them, generally those at a higher stratum are relatively better off than those at a lower level This gets reflected even in their participation and perfonnance of sericulture. The participation of the scheduled castes in sericulture is very meagre as most of them have to face many of those constraints outlined earlier. The major constraint is the lack of access to land. Nevertheless, there have been a few persons who are engaged in sericulture. Their performance, however, is not satisfactory except in a few cases. Those who are relatively more successful than their other kin were usually the ones who had earlier worked at the non-SC sericulturist households as pennanent contract labourers. They also continue to have a working interaction with their former masters, even after taking up sericulture. This is evidenced by the case of Murugan of EN Pura. In E ~ Pura, there were seven SC sericulturists who took up sericulture. Cnfortunately, six of them had given it up, within a year or so. The only survivor is a former pennanent contract labourer Murugan who had earlier worked in a sericulture household. Today, after taking up sericulture, he continues to get advice and support from his fonner patron. He, in turn, extends labour support, whenever his fonner patron faces a labour crisis. All the SC cases of drop-outs in E N Pura belong to Palavam SC, a sub-casle, which is placed in the upper strata among the 198 SCs in the village. All the drop outs own cultivable lands but do not have any experience of sericulture. Moreover, the drop-outs, did not have a desire and nor possessed the adequate capability to take up sericulture. Their motivational level had also been very low. Land being the major requirement for sericulture, they were persuaded to take up sericulture with the sole motivation of a subsidised credit, only to meet the target of identifYing the SC sericulturists. They took up sericulture mainly for the lure of material benefits. In contrast, the only surviving sericulturist belongs to 'Samba' another sub-caste positioned at the lower strata among the SCs. He has no land but has long years of sericulture experience as mentioned earlier. He took up sericulture on his own and continues to have a working relationship with his former patron. He is doing sericulture with lease-land and has been largely successful. Similar is the case with Mariappan in K K Pura. He is a Palavam, a Scheduled caste. He was owning three acres of dry land. He had been working as a contract labour for nearly fifteen years in a particular Gounder family, which has been in sericulture for more than ten years. Two years back he dug a weU, with the help of a loan under IRDP scheme. This had helped him to adopt sericulture, which was readily encouraged by his patron. He approaches his former patron, whenever he needs any assistance. He also extends his help when the patron needs his labour. His wife and daughter continue to be the assured casual labourers for his former patron. In general terms, inadequate preparation, poor motivation and lack of proper infrastructure had only resulted in poor retwns. In 199 addition. the prc'ffilseJ ,redlt IS too meagre and rea,hes to\.) late to the beneficiaries The beneficiaries. hanng already lost a few crops, were just waiting tor the whole amount of credit only to give up senculture itself. One "i:he maJ0r [Olemal handl,aps as perceived by some of the non-SC seri-:u.:rurim IS related to the work ethics of the SCs. They opine that the SC s are D01 able to cope up ..... ith the heavy labour intensl\e narure 0f sen culture work-ethics, which requires strong moQva:JJ:l. :ow .:ommionent and risk-aosorbing ability. Such a \iew could be based on sele-:tiw perception and preconceived notion. It could even be true of some of the non-SC sericulturists too. It has been noted that some SC sericulrurists. at times. take up wage labour even at the cost of their OV.Tl reanng. Because, they consider that the money they earn through daily wage is more handy than whatever comes after a month or so. As Keesing (1990:59) opines, in the context of a prejudiced view of the administrators, 'what presents itself as tradition-boundness and superstition in the eyes of the development administrator is likely to be a grun realism, given the economic situation of the less advantaged villagers' . Generallv the few SC sericulturists who sustain for long in -' sericulture realise that they have achieved a better status today than earlier. \1oreover, they enjoy a better social identity than their non sericulturist kin. There IS a greater social interaction and exposure and they feel a greater confidence in themselves and in their ability. ~evertheless, barring a few exceptions, they are not at their best in garnishing the maximum utilisation of the enterprise. This is because 200 they still possess certain external hanclicaps, pertaining to their access to infrastructure and internal handicaps, pertaining to self-perception and the attitude of others towards them. There is no dispute over the relevance of sericulture for the scheduled castes. Their initiation into sericulture, however, requires considerable preparation, adequate attention and appropriate follow-up action. This is much more pertinent since there is a great amount of pessimistic and preconceived approach especially at the lower functionaries and among the non-SCs, in bringing the SCs into the sericulture-fold. The Gender Mobility • Involving women in development plans and programmes is essential both for increasing the effectiveness of development projects in rural areas and for achieving equity within the household. Women's involvement in sericulture too is double-fold: for the development of the industry and for increasing the status of women. How far this objective has been realised as for sericulture is concerned? The present study as well as other stuclies have clearly demonstrated that sericulture involves more female labour than male labour. The question is how skilled they are and how crucial are their activities in the perception of the sericulturists. Looking at the division of labour in sericulture, their activities in sericulture are hardly considered to be highly skilled. Moreover, the female part of the family labour is relatively lower as compared to that of men. Further, female labour continues to be cheaper in the rural labour market while the value of male labour is sometimes three-fold, irrespective of the work. The 201 hired female labour becomes handy for filling in the female labour gap of sericulture within the family. There have been efforts to make the women become proficient with sericulture so that they could mange the entire sericulture activity on their own and with efficiency. The intcnted objective of such efforts has also been to expose women to a productive employment which would in turn reflect in their status and position in the family and in society. Such efforts do not always achieve the intended results due to some internal contradictions and inherent limitations. For instance, the extent of involvement of family female labour in sericulture is related to the number of women available within the family. With a high frequency of nuclear families in sericulture and with the household chores still continuing to be the sole responsibility of women, it would be highly demanding on women. Their involvement in sericulture is thus in addition to several other activities in household and in agriculture. Moreover, such propositions are set aside sometimes by women themselves as they realise that they would be overloaded at the pleasure of their male-members. Women do not hesitate to articulate their reservations on this issue as done by some women in K K Pura. They do not want to know more about sericulture. This is not only for the fear of the risk involved in it but also for the fear of losing their men's longer presence within the household premises, under the pretext of sericulture. As for the status mobility, the situation is varied. No dramatic change is visible among women in the context of sericulture. This is mainly because the hold of economic factors is still in the hands of men. Some ofthese aspects have been presented in the chapter on 'Family and 202 Gender Relations'. It has to be reiterated here that the value of family female labour is more realised in sericulture than in the traditional agriculture. For this reason, the women who show greater inclination to shoulder the sericulture responsibility gets recognition, which is reflected in the interactional relationship and making of crucial decisions. On the other hand, the case of Kanaga in E N Pura (Case No. 7, in Appendix I) is a case of the opposite reactions where the husband does not see enough support coming from his wife. Radha's involvement in sericulture is poor because of her health incompatibility with sericulture. The situation is aggravated when the husband is a witness of the greater involvement of family women in sericulture, in the households of his brothers. Changing Values Any mobility in status brings along with it a changing way of life. Changes could be discerned in the attitudes of people and towards certain values in life. There may also be changes in the belief system. The effort here is to look into the conditions and attitudes of the sericulture families, towards education, untouchability and notions of purity and pollution, and hygiene. An effort is also made to look into some of the beliefs of the people, in the context of sericulture. The sericulture impact on personality growth is also analysed. Education: The sericulture families exhibit a greater awareness about the importance of education. In all their conversation this is reflected. However, the practice does not reflect this. 203 In some of the sericulture families, however, there is a tendency for children to absent themselves from school. This is more during the last days of rearing worms when the worms start spinning the cocoons. This is especially true among the marginal and small farmers who have been new to sericulture. The children are very useful in keeping watch on the worms from any possible attack from hostile creatures. Chinnathambi in Seripura is a small farmer, with less than three acres ofland. He is primary educated. He has been in sericulture as main senculturist, since the mid seventies, when sericulture was started in his parental family. The family was broken in 1983, and he started his own sericulture. He used to make use of the services of his elder son, who was in his fourteen, in 1993, to take watch of the spinning worms, starting from his childhood. However, in the late eighties, when there was a severe labour problem., he had to make use of his services fully, for sericulture. Lately, he has been using the services of not only his eldest son but also of his second son and of the daughter, all of whom are between ten and fourteen years. His daughter helps her mother in the household chores, while the boys show an active involvement in sericulture. In the last days of rearing, if need be, they even absent themselves from school However, he has not stopped any of them from studies. For one reason., they learn the technique of rearing, which comes handy in a few years tlIne when they have to say good bye to theIr education. Furthermore, their involvement becomes an effective substitute in the context of labour scarcity. However, this tendency soon disappears as the sericulturists gain experience, expand their social networks and interact with more and more officials. It takes a positive turn, as they improve their standard of living in the process of successful sericulture crops over the years. It also disappears as sericulture passes on to the second generation. In all the study villages, the impact of 'convent education' IS widely discerned. The economically well off families in the village prefer to send their children to English-medium schools. Interestingly, most children going to the English-medium schools in these villages are from sericulture families, who have improved their living status with the help of sericulture. 204 The family of Mahendran in K K Pura (case no. 3) can be a case of illustration. He has made it a point that his daughter and son should study in an English medium school. He has chosen this school for his children, which is located four kilometres away from his place, foregoing the local school. He believes that he has to impart the best education possible to his children. He insists that it is a manifestation of one's socio-economic status in the village. Similar is the case with many young sericulturists in Salem and in other villages, who have consolidated their gains from sericulture. The spread of education among the youngsters in the villages is sometimes detrimental to agriculture as the educated youth do not want to involve in purely manual labour and work in the fields in the hot sun. The advent of sericulture has, however, helped retaining some of the educated youth in the village itself by adopting sericulture as a productive occupation. The positive attraction in sericulture for the youth is that it not only provides a productive occupation for them, but also requires skill and is mostly indoors. This is eveident form the preference of the educated youth in the rural areas for sericulture over agriculture. This is especially true of those who have completed secondary schooling or high school or college drop-outs. Better performance in sericulture could also be observed among the educated youths than others. Untouchability and Notions of Purity and Pollution: The interaction with the so-called polluted castes is still an area that is kept alive in the village context. Today, the traditional barriers of caste are breaking gradually, if not radically. It is, indeed, 'drastically remodelled' (Mencher 1970: 199). Such a change is a result of the changes taking place both among the oppressed sections and among the dominant ones. It is both as a result of attitudinal maturity and economic prosperity. 205 With a new wave of constitutional protection and privileges, a powerful change has been underway among the lower castes themselves, realising their loss of identity in the course of their centuries old oppression. Sanskritisation has been one form of this emerging consciousness (See for e.g., Dube 1955; Gough 1970; Srinivas 1962). Nevertheless, while the changes are more in terms of visible alternatives , the inner attitude and invisible prohibitions still continue to have their way in the rural scenario (e.g., Mencher 1970). Seripura is not an exception to these processes. The discrimination of the lower castes had been practised till there was a visible protest about twenty years ago. Today, all visible discrimination has been given a go-by. However, some of the traditional services are still continued, though with better terms and conditions and with less frequency and amidst protest from the younger generation. The SCs are still forbidden from entering the living houses of upper castes, though the space of restriction is dwindling over the years. Pollution is continued to be observed as regards drinking water, dining, etc. This is true even among the different SC communities themselves. Do the sericulture families show any difference? Though the lower castes have been in agricultural operation for years, their involvement in sericulture has necessitated an atmosphere of closer proximity and interaction. This has led to new equations and relationship. In some cases the terms of labour relations have even transformed into friendly interactions as evidenced in K K Pura. The SCs are still kept out of the living premises. If the rearing is within the living premises, they are kept out of the rearing places also. This is 206 probably to keep out of any social acnmony. Thus, though they are ahead in certain ways, they are still behind in many other ways, particularly in the social and cultural spheres of life. Hygienic Values: Sericulture has given a new health culture to its adopters. Cleanliness and purity are not mere words but supreme deities for most of the sericulturists. This is borne out of the importance that these values receive, in the context of silkworm rearing. There are specific and elaborate rules that are to be observed in silkworm rearing. It involves some disinfectants like formalin, which has to be constantly used to clean one's hands before and after handling the silkworms. These things that are repeatedly flashed into their ears by the extension agencies and fellow sericulturists make them conscious of this factor. Not all sericulturists follow these instructions in letter. Nevertheless, even without taking the assistance of external disinfectants, most of the sericulturists, make use of the locally available materials as cow-dung and smear the floor and keep the surroundings clean. The sericulture households can even be identified, sometimes, by this aspect alone. This is quite obvious especially among some of the scheduled caste households in K K Pura. Traditional Beliefs: There are many beliefs that are prevalent among the rural households, which often come in the way of practising sericulture. In many households, the intervention of supernatural elements in the performance of activities like sericulture is strongly believed. This is true especially of those sericulturists who are left with fewer resources in high risky situations like sericulture. Nevertheless, 207 such beliefs are not uncommon even among the higher economic groups. as evidenced by Muruganandarn of K K Pura. Muruganandam IS a young urunamed man who has taken up sen culture five years back. He belongs to a medium land- Some even go to the other extreme to prove that they are least bothered about such beliefs. Selvendran in E N Purn, for instance, takes pain to prove that even smoking hardly affects the worms. Though he is aware of such belief, he says that the VlolatJOn of this belief has not affected the worms. So he does not bether smoking, even dunng brushing of the worms, feeding, bed-cleaning, or spInning. He is also aware of dcath pollution, after-shave or after haircut pollution, wluch he does not adhere to However, be is cautious to say that he does not violate these thmgs at home as his mother will object to this. Chinnaathtbal, the widowed mother of a nutritious meal worker In E N Pura, IS a passive participant in sericulture activities. Sbe says thaI the POOJas thaI were regularly performed in the early years of sericulture has been totally glV(:n up in recent times. In ber opinion, as long as there is no trouble, such thmgs are not given any importance. According to her, lizard IS not killed as It has not become a nuisance as for as their rearing is concerned. Sericulturists also tend to rationalise some of the traditional beliefs. This is very much evident in the killing of lizards. Killing of lizards continues to be a taboo among some sericulturists, while it has been given a go by among other sericulturists. The simple reasoning is that it is observed as a taboo as long as it does not interfere in the life line of the people. It is violated when it comes in the way of their livelihood, by eating away the silk worms. The sericulturists adhere to this traditional belief as long as it does not affect their silk worms and 208 become a menace. With better protection, some are able to overcome this problem. There are some sericulturists who discard some of the beliefs by conviction on experimentation. This is the case with Velayudham one of the progressive sericulturists in K K Pura. Velayudharn has been one of those who has been believing that the women should not involve in any kind of sericulrure work during their menstrual period. However, he has to face with difficult times, for want of labour, at crucial phases of silkwonn rearing. In one of the rearing, he kept a separate lot of worms to be attended by his wife during her menstrual periods. To his surprise, there was no effect whatsoever and the yield was as promising as the other part of rearing. From then onwards he has given up this belief and has been able to convince others to a considerable extent. He, however, insists that such women can be allowed to work only after a purificatory bath. He also insists that he uses such labour only when he has no other go. His belief now is that the women need rest on those days to maintain their health rather than to keep them away as pollutants. Such beliefs are not given much weightage among many of the Palani sericulturists. Rajarnani, one of the progressive sericulturists in Palani asks, 'When I employ a woman labour, how will I know whether she is in the state of pollution or not.' He, however, insists that a purificatory bath is taken by women in menstruation. Some people believe in fate. Such beliefs are reinforced when they meet continuous failures in spite of their concerted efforts to 'maximise' the protection and provide a 'desirable environment'. It is not uncommon to see people to attribute such failures to the time ('Namma neram sariyi/lai') and give up sericulture, looking for better 209 time to return to it. Sometimes, such failures are also attributed to 'evil , eye. In recent times, a new practice is spreading among the rearers. They play film songs and music in the rearing sheds for two reasons. One is to reduce the drudgery of the work and to please the labourers. The other is the belief that music has a beneficial effect on the worms leading to vigorous eating and healthy gorwth. Personality Changes and Social Values: Sericulture has a special bond with the individual sericulturists in moulding their personality and out-look. The major role, in this transformation, is directed towards the main sericulturists. It has been seen earlier that the personal factor plays a crucial role in the successful adoption of sericulture. Likewise, sericulture also plays a crucial role in making the sericulturists successful in society. The process of self-transformation has been found to be inherent in the changing authority relations, status and mobility as analysed in the previous chapter. The series of self transformations expected to take place in the process of successful involvement in sericulture include self-realisation (of one's real worth), self confidence, self assertion and dignity. These are essential elements of personality growth. Sericulture provides ample scope for such transformation. The individual involved in - sericulture has to take multiple decisions at every stage of its progress. Some of these include the identification of leaf maturity, the quantity of layings to be bought, the choice of the race (whether Bivoltine of Cross-breed., etc.) the grainage, the mode and nature of incubation of the laying, the identification of the 210 maturity of the laying and the method of brushing, recognition of the disease symptoms, and the appropriate application of disinfectants, spacmg of the worms, moult-setting and watching of the growth of worms, gauging labour requirements, determining ways and means to maintain an appropriate temperature and hwniditv_ , and choosino'" the appropriate market for sale of the cocoons. Anyone who is seriously involved in sericulture has to undergo this process of decision making with a presence of mind and appropriate reading of the situation. This has to go on repetitively. In addition to these directly related activities, he or she has also to contact a number of people and officials concerning the various requirements of sericulture. A person has to develop good rapport, and excel in human relations. All these factors contribute in the moulding of the personality. This creates a visible change in them, which is reflected in their growing stature within the context of their living. Most of the sericulturists who are successful in sericulture also exhibit a sense of humanness and a discretionary power. For the same reason they tend to conunand respect in the village. Some of the human values are related to untouchability and gender equality and finds a progressive expression and manifestation among such people. Concluding Remarks An attempt has been made to examine the process of socio econotnlc mobility of different sections of people as a result of sericulture. Socio-Economic mobility manifests itself in better living standards, improved quality of life and dignified way of existence. The 211 changes are seen in tenns of mobility in labour and economic status, and social status. Large farmers hardly gain much from sericulture by way of mobility, besides incremental value. Moreover, their perfonnance too is not better than the other category of farmers. The medium fanners show a consistent perfonnance. They have adequate resources and motivation to be engaged in sericulture. They demonstrate considerable economic and social mobility. They command respectability and become models of development for others, for it is among them that change in living conditions is more pronounced. They develop close interaction with the bureaucracy. They also become the carriers of some of the urban features to the villages. Progressive sericulturists mostly belong to this category of farmers. The impact of sericulture is evident among the marginal and small categories too, though with the lower level benefits as improving their labour status and stabilising their economic life. The concern of mobility is relevant for three disadvantaged categories, one based on class, another on caste and the third on gender. The poor mostly comprise of the agricultural wage labourers. Sericulture could become relevant to the poor either directly by adopting sericulture, or indirectly by involving themselves as lessee, shareholders or labourers in sericulture. A Majority of the marginal sericulture fanners had earlier depended on wage labour to supplement their agriculture income. After having successfully adopted sericulture, some of them even have moved up to the level of hiring labour. This has reduced the strain of hard labour and 'patronial' dependency of the past on the one hand and enhanced their esteem on the other. 212 However, the adoption of sericulture by the marginal farmers is proportionately less as compared to the higher Land-owner classes due to certain resource constraints. These constraints put most of them at the same disadvantaged position as most of the landless except with regard to their access to land. If they have to benefit from sericulture, either there has to be some external interventions in overcoming many of these constraints or they go in for land-lease or share-crop which is rare among them. There are a few who have taken to sericulture after tapping irrigation potentiality either through their own resources, which is minimal, or through the utilisation of IRDP and other schemes, which involve bureaucratic procedures. The participation of the Scheduled Castes in sericulture is very meagre as most of them have to face similar constraints as that of the poor, in general. This is, in addition to other handicap like poor self confidence and self-esteem, born out of the social stigma that they suffer. A few SC sericulturists who sustain for long in sericulture do manifest a better living status. Moreover, they enjoy a better social identity than the non-sericulturists among them. There is a greater social interaction and exposure and they exhibit a greater confidence in themselves and in their ability. Though the involvement of women's labour IS more ill sericulture, their activities in sericulture are hardly perceived to be highly skilled. Moreover, female labour continues to be cheaper in rural labour market while the value of male labour is sometimes three-fold., irrespective of the work the latter do. Therefore, hired female labour becomes handy for filling in the labour gap for sericulture within the family. However, the value of family female labour is more realised in sericulture than in the traditional agriculture. For this reason, women 213 who show greater inclination to shoulder the sericulture responsibility get a recognition that is reflected in crucial decision making. Some women consciously decide not to take an active role in sericulture , lest they lose their men's patronage and intimacy that is possible under the pretext of sericulture. In some of the sericulture families, mostly of marginal and small categories, there is a tendency to withdraw their children from schools, on the final days of rearing, when the worms start spinning cocoons. However, this tendency soon disappears as they gain experience and expand their social networks and interactions. It takes a positive turn, as they improve their standard of living in the process of successful sericulture crops over the years. Most children going to the English medium schools in these villages are from sericulture families, who have improved their living status with the help of sericulture. The educated youth in the rural areas prefer sericulture to agriculture activities, in the event of their rural unemployment, which otherwise drives them towards urban centres. Sericulture has created a new health consciousness and a sense of cleanliness among the sericulturists. In quite many households, the intervention of supernatural elements in the performance of activities like sericulture is highly believed. This is true especially of those sericulturists who are left with fewer resources in high risky situations like sericulture. Some of the sericulturists tend to rationalise the traditional beliefs like lizard killing. There are some sericulturists who discard some beliefs after due experimentation, as for instance, the belief related to purity and poliution. 214 Sericulture plays a positive role in moulding the personality of the individual participants. It also facilitates the individual rearers to develop a broad and progressive outlook in life. This is sometimes reflected in their interaction with the so-called untouchables of yester years as well as in the gender approaches. It has provided opportunities to put into test some of the abilities of the individuals in the process of rearing. One of the areas of opportunities in sericulture that has contributed in moulding the personality of individuals is the network and social relations at the wider level. The following chapter takes a look into this aspect to understand the role of sericulture in the sphere of human interaction and social relations. 215 CHAPTER VIII SOCIAL RELATIONS AND NETWORKS Sericulture contributes towards greater social interaction at all levels. It not only reinforces dependency relations with certain households within the village but also renews and consolidates kinship linkages. It initiates interactional exchanges between individuals within the village, for knowledge-update of sericulture as well as for sharing the ups and downs of silk-worm rearing. It also establishes new interactional networks with sericulturists of different villages through periodical contacts to gain wider linkages. It also brings the sericulturists closer to the government officials and bureaucratic set-up. An attempt has been made here to highlight these these social relations and networks in terms of individual, familial, kinship and inter-caste interactions. Further, it has also been attempted to identify the opportunities of linkages outside the village, including inter-village networks and bureaucratic interactions. Friendship Interactions The study of different villages reveals that sericulturists tend to be out-going and initiate new friendship cliches and strengthen the existing relationships. Such relationships are well evident in the K K Pura where many of the youngsters have taken up sericulture with success. Frequent interactions among a group of sericulturists and informal exchange of ideas are very common among the sericulturists of the cluster. As it has been seen earlier, most of the main sericulturists 216 tend to be younger in age. This stream of youngsters sometimes become a constant source of energy and attraction for their age-mates to adopt sericulture. Such a possibility produces more opportunities for greater interaction among them. This kind of interaction widens their world of experience and knowledge. It also turns out to be a productive relationship. The tendency among the youngsters to move out from their villages towards greener and gentler pastures become substituted with an effective alternative available within their reach, as sericuIture. The major opportunities of interaction, in the process of rearing pertain to collective decisions regarding the timing of rearing, procurement of DFLs and marketing of the cocoons. During rearing, there is bound to be regular interactions regarding the progress of rearing and mainly if there is encounter of disease symptoms and unsatisfactory growth of the worms. Through such interactions, the sericuIturists also exchange among themselves their varied experiences, their official encounters and the latest developments concerning sericuIture. Such interactions mostly take place at common places of encounter, street comer meetings and tea stalls. The friendly sericuIturists see to it that the timing of their rearings approximately coincides with each other, with a few deviations. The source of layings is another important matter, which involves serious discussion and decision making. This is generally done based on the performance of the previous rearing of different sericuIturists as well as on the consideration of the general trend. The simultaneous rearing also helps them to plan out their marketing strategies. For instance, in K K Pura, it is not uncommon to see a group of sericuIturists plan out a long 217 trip on a hired matador to a distant market at Kollegal or Ram ~agar When a group of sericulturists returns from their marketing trips. those sericulturists who are awaiting their tum for marketing their cocoons, throng them for knowing the latest market rates and the prevathng trends. Though the rates are generally flashed through radio and news paper, the first-hand information of the fellow sericulturists provides a realistic picture, facilitating them better, in their choice of the market. Many a times, such trips turn out to be a sort of merry trips and an occasion of joy and bliss as it brings them the fruit of their month-long intensive-labour and anxiety. It is to be noted that the individual interactions many a times transcends the boundaries of caste-barriers. It would not be surprising to see, for instance, even a scheduled caste rearer becoming part of such companionship, as it has happened in the case of Marimuthu of K K Pura. It is such aspects in sericulture that overcome the social evils like untouchability. Family and Kinship Relations Familial interaction and kinship collaboration are one of the key factors in the operation of sericulture enterprise. There are any number of cases in the study villages, which prove to illustrate the influence of inter-familial and kinship networks in the adoption as well as in the successful operation of sericulture. Family interactions many a times overlap with the individual and kinship interactions. The general areas of interaction at the family level include the sharing of rearing space, exchange of equipments, exchange 218 of labour, etc. These sometimes extend even to the supply of mulberry leaves at times of need, and seeking of service and knowledge at times of emergency and distress. The property divisions among the siblings sometimes facilitate in the expansion of the enterprise. All the sericulturists in the village, for instance, can be grouped into a few sets of kindred families within each caste identity. Similarly, the genealogies of the sericulture families in the E N Pura as well as in other study villages also reveal a stream of close kinship relations among most of the sericulturists. This brings out the possibility of diffusion of sericulture through kinship influence either directly or indirectly. As is seen, the expansion of sericulture has become multi-fold as the sericulture families expand and become nuclear. Thangavelu of E N Pura is an unmarried youth when he started sericulrure in 1975 with just 0.60 acre. It was when the family was undivided (See case No.2, in Appendix n. Today, all his brothers are married and living separately. All oftbem have adopted sericulture and on a larger scale. The total operation of their mulbeny gardens stands out to be about 10 acres. There are, however, a few instances of drop-outs from sericulture as they become nuclear. In such instances, as in the case of Rajamani of E N Pura, it is mostly due to the inadequacy of family labour that leads to their giving up sericulture. There are a few cases, in which sericulture has been adopted by the sibling families in successive years. In some of these cases, the sons of the sibling brothers are the ones who assume the mantle of the main sericulturists. As for the kin interaction, the sibling interaction is more a negative factor than a positive one. The poorer interaction among the sibling families is mostly due to the intra-family rivalries that prop into, in the context of parental family situations and later, in the context of 219 property divisions. In some contexts, such a rivalry results in sibling envy, and thus indirectly influencing the siblings to adopt sericulture in case their rival sibling has done it already and reaping its benefits. It is the same process which operates when a disinterested sibling in parental family adopts sericulture, once he establishes his own nuclear family. There are a good many cases of such instances. The sibling rivalry tends to be eased out at the level of descending generations, unless it is deep rooted. In such cases, sericulttire adoption becomes a mutually beneficial and a collaborative venture between such families. This is evident from the cases of Ilaiarasan and Ramkannu as well as of Rajesh and Krishnan of E N Pura. The kin interaction among affinal families, however, is mostly positive and concrete. Even here, the flow of interaction among the affinal relations is more of giving to the sister's side and receiving from the wife's side. However, the same may not be true, if the interaction is between those of the subsequent generation. Among such households, it is seen that there is a free exchange of equipments, labour and even there is a free usage of rearing places. The interaction is also extended to the choice of the race and the procurement of the layings as well as in the choice of markets and selling of cocoons. There has also been a greater motivational pressure and later, an infrastructure adjusnnent in facilitating one another to adopt sericulture. This is well demonstrated by the cases of Sundara Rajan and Pushpavalli in Seripura. Sundara Rajan is the brother of Pushpavalli. Sundara Rajan bas been doing scnculture since 1975. I-lis sister bas become familiar Wlth sericulture and bas been involved in the work along with her brother. When she was married, her family was brought to the village and settled there Itself with a piece of land. She continued.to involve In the sericulture activities at her parental house Due to some family problems, her husband deserted her and went away .. As a woman with two girls attending school, she could only look for a venture like sencu1ture to come to her 220 rescue. She has been doing sericulture for the last four years. She totally depends on her brother. They pool out the resources and put them into maximum use. For them., it is almost a collaborative venture as the activity is carried out by both herself and her brother's fumily with mutual exchange of resources and labour. The case of Kannamma, the SC widow in K K Pura (see Case no. II in Appendix I) is another instance of sister's dependency on her own brother for support. The intensity of interaction, however, is not unifonn with the families of all sisters, if there are more than one. This is evidenced in the case of Sundara Rajan' s elder sister. Sri Devi is another sister of Sundara Rajan in Seripura. She lives in the same village with her husband and children. She too is practising sericulture. However, she does not receive the kind of attention that her sister receives from her brother. One reason for the poorer interaction is that she is not in a state of requiring extra ordinary help from his brother as is the case with her other sister. Secondly, she married a person of her choice, which has contributed to the poorer interaction of her brother with her family. There is also a general trend that the flow of support from a brother is generally more to one's younger sister than to the elder sister. The kin interaction could also be discerned among the second and third degree kin of the sibling brothers, especially among the sericulturists of the marginal and small farmer categories on similar lines. It is more pronounced in areas of labour exchange and in the exchange of equipments. In E N Pura for instance, the first parallel cousins Selvaraj and Bhoopathi have resorted to collective silkworm rearing to reduce the labour requirements by avoiding the duplication of labour. In the procurement of DFLs as well as in the marketing of cocoons, many go for collective undertaking and mutual ~0Il. There is also a preference for labour within the affinal kin families who may not be sericultwists and may be at a lower status in the class-stratification. Thus, 'most small Land-owners tend to employ the landless of their own caste, if at all possible, and employ the 221 relatives when available' (Mencher 1975:253). It is felt that such labour is more reliable and devoted than the labour across the caste-lines. This is very much true in the cases of Rangarajan and Dhaneswaran families in Seripura. Rangarajan has married the sister of Dhaneswaran. He is a srnalI fanner and has access to irrigation sources. His son Abu who has failed in tenth standard has taken up sericulture and has been" doing it for the last five years. His Uncle Dhaneswaran is only a marginal fanner with no access to irrigation. In his family, he, along with his wife and daughter, take up wage labour. However, his wife and daughter are involved in sericulture work at Dhaneswaran's house whenever their labour is required. It is Abu's finn belief that the labour of his aunt and cousin is of high value and committed than the ones engaged from non-relatives. Resorting to assistance and solace of the kin sericulturists during the time of emergency and social necessity is another area of kin interaction. If there is any urgent social function to be attended to, the main sericulturists usually do the essential part of the work and leave the work in the charge of the wife with due instructions or to a reliable relative or a skilled labourer to attend to the essential requirements. Thus, the kin interaction becomes one of the sources of reliability, during the times of emergency. At times, a particular batch may be creating anxious moments during which, the main rearer requires comfort and guidance. The kin sericulturists and the sericulture friends are resorted to for the same. In many cases, these are mutual and highly valued. Community and Village Relations The traditional village life had been interwoven by collective c0- operation and mutual dependency. The village population generally included, along with the peasants, the service castes as smiths, carpenter, potter, weaver, cobbler, washer-man, oil-man, barber and a class of menials. All of them worked almost exclusively for satisfying the needs 222 of the village population. There are different areas of interaction among the castes within the village, the important ones being jajmani relations, labour relations and credit relations. However, today, many of these relations have given way to alteration of these relations. Jajmani Relations: Elder's study of Rajpur village shows how even the appearance of competitive technology has led some of the jajmani relationships obsolete (1971:121,126). Newell (1970) too points to the weakening of jajmani relationship. Similar observations have been made by others too (e.g., Harper 1959; Epstein 1962). In the context of sericulture, Karanth (1987:2218-22), finds that the institution itself is adapted to suit the changing needs of the people both in the past and in recent years. Karanth (1995: 108-11) also notices an increased demand for the services of artisans, in the context of Sericulture. In Seripura, only the traces of the jajmani system continue today. Though some of the services like that of barber and washer-man continue to operate, there are significant variations in its present form. The services are preferably paid in monetary tenns. There are only a few including some of the sericulturists who continue to maintain the traditional relationship. The discontinuation has been mainly due to the unsatisfactory observance of the tenns and conditions on either sides. Added to this is the availability of the services on better terms and the diversification of economic interests by the service castes. They render seTVlces on monetary terms. The traditional service of 'Thoti' (messenger), by one of the se families, belonging to the Parayan, is continued. The Vanniars have their own 'thoti' while the KVGs and other non-Se communities have a different 'thotti'. Most of the land- 223 holders continue to provide the annual grains 'merai' to this household. Most of the households maintain their traditional bond with these service castes, if not on practical terms, at least in attending to their ritual functions. For carpentry work, the people of Seripura depend on the carpenter in the neighbouring village. Most of the larger land-holders continue to maintain their relationship with the carpenter on traditional terms. The smaller land-holders pay for their services on monetary terms. Two of the SC families have learned to attend to some of the minor carpentry works including that of sericulture. Some of the traditional service castes have moved out of the village, in search of better prospects, while some have diversified their economic interests. in this context, it could be noted that in Seripura, three of the seven washer-men families, who own some lands, have adopted sericulture. They are also highly satisfied with its returns. This is true of K K Pura too, where one of the washer-men has found sericulture more rewarding and satisfactory. However, he continues to carry out his traditional occupation too with proper division of labour. Those in the Washer-men caste who continue to carry out the traditional service, though only partially, have also started making use of their traditional means for diversified purposes. For instance, the donkeys that had been traditionally used for the transportation of the linen are also made use of, today, to transport the grains from interior lands. Labour Relations: Sericulture develops specific labour relations and involves specific strategies in the maintenance of such relations. These have been dealt with in detail in Chapter V on Labour Relations, 224 Strategies and Prospects. These only require further emphasis, in the context of the analysis of interactional networks as regards labour in the context of sericulture. The nature of sericulture operation is such that there needs to be an assured labour system for its successful performance. This is especially true when there is B. greater dependency on hired labour. As seen earlier, there are a few types of labour that ensure such assurance. What is emerging is that the nature of demand for labour and the status of labour class are undergoing radical changes. The traditional regular contract system is evidently disappearing in Seripura. This change, however, has not much affected the practice of sericulture as the system operating in the village is labour-reductive and family-labour-intensive. It is labour-reductive because of the practice of branch-feeding instead of leaf feeding and the reduced number of batches and increased scale of operation. It is family-labour-intensive as it is practised mainly as a household enterprise with a high involvement of family labour. The traditional regular contract system of labour, however, is still very much practised in the K K Pura and E N Pura. With the advent of sericulture, this system that has traditionally been confined to the large fanners, has been adopted even by the medium and large fanners who have taken up sericulture. Nevertheless, the change processes are obvious even in these areas. The terms and conditions have to be revised for better, in the interests of the labour to sustain the system. Moreover, the skilled contract labour system has started emerging, in E N Pura as a substitute to the traditional system. 225 A kind of exploitation could be evidently seen in the traditional labour system, with extracting maximum labour with minimum compensation and allowances. Such labour had also traditionally been from one of the so-called 'untouchable' castes of yester-years. Today, one could discern a change process in the approach to such labour. The sericulturists tend to develop a sort of friendly relations with such labour and it becomes a kind of interactional bond than labour-bond. This is mainly because, the persons involved in such situations are youngsters and somewhat educated. Yet, the SC labourers are hardly allowed entry into the dwelling house, if the rearing is carried out in a part of the house. They are not barred from attending to sericulture work as long as it is carried out in a separate shed. However, they are not allowed inside the house in case the rearing is done within the dwelling house. Some of them argue that they do not like to entertain this not because they believe in such things but because, by doing so, they may invite the displeasure of their own caste men. In such cases, the labour within the caste and \vithin the kin becomes handy. In the place of non-kin and purely work-based labour, there is also a phenomenon of making use of the labour available within the kindred families. This is very much evident in Seripura. The exchange labour has also become increasingly evident among the sericulture families. This creates a mutual responsibility among the concerned families and reinforces their relational bondage. Credit Relations: The capital investment being quite significant in sericulture, credit becomes one of the major sources in meeting the demand. There are credit interactions at the institutional level as well as 226 at the non-institutional level for different purposes. Generally, the credits that are sought for the benefit of sericulture are mostly of the institutional ones and hardly anyone goes for private credit. The non-institutional credits are availed from local finance companies as well as from group credit schemes called chit funds, and private money lending known as 'Kandhu Vatli'. The purposes for availing credit are varied. These include agricultural needs like cultivation of crops, buying of draught animals, as well as of buying mulching and meat animals. Credit is also sought for the performance of life cycle rituals like naming ceremony, initiation ceremony, marriage, child birth, etc. Family needs like construction or repairing of houses, religious needs like celebration of festival and pilgrimage, etc., also involve credit requirements. Also during emergency needs like hospital expenditure and performance of funeral rites, credit is sought by the people. As for sericulturists, credit relations would relate to the situations of credit transactions where they are involved in, either as a receiver or as a lender. As for the availing of credit, the sericulturists invariably seek institutional credit, for the purpose of mulberry cultivation, constructiion of separate rearing shed and for buying equipments. Credit is one of the major developmental components of sericulture. Not all sericulturists have gone for credit benefits for different reasons. One of the main reasons for not approaching for bank credit is that the bankers hesitate to extend credit facility to the sericulturists. The bankers claim that the sericulturists are not prompt in repayment as they show poor recovery rate. There are also no repayment linkages. Such are the 227 responses of the bankers in M R Pura and E N Pura. For one thing, unlike other agricultural crops, credit available for sericulture purposes is relatively high. The loan-waiving policies of the Government encourage the borrowers not to repay the loan while the bankers hesitate to take action on the defaulters for fear of political repercussions. There are some who do not want to avail the loan facility for fear of unnecessary harassment by the bankers. Such responses are not uncommon in Seripura. Though the poor repayment affects the other sericulturists in availing the credit, they are least interested in easing out the process as evidenced from the following case. Selva Kumar, a sma1l farmer sericulturist in M R ?urn, asks how the bankers could punish the others just because somebody else had been the credit defaulters. He, bowever, continues to say that the bankers want them to be informers of the date of marketing the cocoons by the defaulters, so that they could extract the money from them. He says, 'how can I betray my fellow fanner?' There are quite a number of sericulturists in all the study villages who had benefited from the credit schemes, though many had not been prompt enough to repay the loans. The main reason, they say, for the non-payment of loans is that the crops are not satisfactory. By involving in the process of credit transactions, the sericulturists are exposed to an intensive process of interaction with different officials at various levels. Many a times, it also brings a bad experience to them. Nevertheless, the sericulturists have become a major source of money-lending to their labour-clients in those study villages where attached labour system is prevalent. In such cases the labourers are advanced a reasonable amount of loan at the time of need or of crisis, free of interest. Some of the sericulturists also act as financiers or money-lenders for many of the needed villagers, either through a formal 228 system oflending or through an infonnal arrangement This is OUe in the case of E N Pura as well as in Seripura. Some of the established sericulturists in Seripura show greater interest in joining the Chit funding within the village though the group does not exclude the non sericulturists. Intra-village Interaction: The villages generally exhibit a caste togetherness rather than a village identity. In Seripura, for instance, each of the major communities has its own caste leader called 'Oor Gounder', the succession of which is by inheritance. Any dispute at the family level is taken to the leaders of the respective communities for solution. There is hardly any instance which bring people of different communities in the village to have intensive social interaction. In Seripura, some political alignments are visible along caste lines. Most of the non-SC communities have been supporting the dominant KVGs and participating in the caste-based celebrations and worship while the Vanniars maintain a separate identity. As for sericulture, the place for rearing is one of the major problems, most of the sericulturists face in the village. Even if they could manage this within their household premises, they need space for the mounting of the worms and for aeration for the worms to carry out their spinning activity. As a majority of the sericulturists are the K VGs, the caste as a whole had decided to rent out their hall Cchaavadi') for the activity, without baning the sericulturists of other communities. It is being hired for R.s 50/- at a time and the sericulturists belonging to any caste (all sericulturists belong to non-SCs) are allowed to hire it. In times of rush, even more than one or two engage the hall for carrying out the activity. 229 However, there are very few sericulturists from Vanniar caste in the main village itself, none of whom hire this hall for the purpose. A few sericulturists of other non-SC communities, however, are making use of this facility. There is also a system in some sericulture villages whereby the equipments, especially the chandrikas are given on hire basis. This is done either on a large scale as a regular work or by the regular sericulturists who do this when they are not rearing the silkwonns. Hiring on a large scale had been practised in the K K Pura though it was given up later as it had not been successful. The occasional hiring of the equipments is resorted to by some in all study villages though some others do not prefer this for fear of infection of diseases. Inter-village Interaction and External Linkages A significant factor underlined in Karanth' s study is the increased interaction with the neighbouring villages, both in terms of frequency and purpose, following the advent of sericulture (1995: 111-2). This is true of the villages under the present study too. Senculture has widened the networks of interactions far beyond the village boundaries. Sometimes, the village has earned name in wider circles because of the presence of sericulture. Inter-village Interactions: The major areas of inter-village interactions include the purchase of sericulture equipments and mending of the worn-out equipments, credit transactions and friendly visits of sericulturists. For the purchase and repairing of sericulture equipments including the trays and Chandrikas, all the study villages depend on 230 other villages. Though skilled persons may sometimes be available In some of the villages as in E N Pura, all do not prefer to undertake such works unless the raw materials are available in the village Itself The sericulturists either go for bulk-purchase or in phased manner. Some manage with second-hand materials till they gain confidence to expand the scale of sericulture and realise the need to go for fresh equipments. If fresh ones are needed, the concerned sericulturists visit the villages and give order. When the materials are ready, they go and procure them and bring them mostly by bullock carts. For mending, the sericulturists generally approach the artisans in the same or in the neighbouring villages who would be able to attend to such works. Sometimes, such persons periodically move from village to village to attend to such works wherever needed. In E N Pura, one of the SC caste families does undertake the repairing of the sericulture equipments. They do not produce the equipments on a large scale though they do it occasionally, buying the raw-materials from a distant village. Bureaucratic Interaction: The sericulturists have ample opportunities to develop closer linkages with the government officials at different levels. If the sericulturists are on the progressive side it brings recognition and status to them. The main link of interaction at the local level is the extension staff. Sericulture has a well-established extension net-work though it has not produced the intended results (Gregory 1993a). The extension staff have regular interactions with the sericulturists under their jurisdiction. If true to the call of duty, the staff would make at least two visits during the period of rearing of every sericulturist. Thus there is a good bond developed between the sericulturist and the extension staff. In reality, however, such a bond is 231 not much discerned, with exceptions. Nevertheless, very few sericulturists would like to develop an open animosity with the extension staff, barring exceptions. This is because they would not like to lose any benefit that may come on their way, by losing the favour of the extension staff. The progressive sericulturists too do not antagonise the extension staff lest they lose the proximity with higher officials. The same is true of the extension staff also, who too try to maintain a cordial relationship with the sericulturists. The other major avenues of interaction with the department officials would include the occasions of regular procurement of layings and of marketing of the cocoons. Apart from this, most of the sericulturists have the opportunity for training programmes unlike the non-sericulturists. In reality, not every training programme achieves its intended results because of the less insistence of attendance and the distant location of the training spots. Another area of interaction with officials is associated with credit interactions. All these avenues of interaction bring a high level of recognition for the village-folk. In the process, the sericulturists develop wider contact and gain rich experience and knowledge. This is evident from the interaction level and maturity of the sericulturists in different villages of study. Network Analysis J .A. Barnes (1972: 26-7) identifies three main types of relations in the network interactions. They include the symmetric, asymmetric and non-symmetric relations. It is, however, not very clear, how the non- 232 symmetric relations are distinguished from the asymmetric relations. The distinctions between these two types have not been elaborated except citing the example of labour assistance and credit-debtor relations, corresponding to the above categories respectively. What is understood from an analysis of interactional networks is that most relations are based on reciprocity with a few exceptions. The content of reciprocity may differ in some relations. This is clearly the case in buyer-seller and creditor-debtor relations. In some cases, along with the difference in the content of reciprocity, there could also be an element of exploitation, involving a dominant-dominated relation. This is the case with most of the barter system as well as with the patron client relations. There could be a few relations, which are devoid of reciprocity. This can happen in the context of fiiendship or even among certain kin relations. The relation is symmetric when the interacting persons are in the same plane with similar reciprocity. The relations could be asymmetric, when the interacting persons are playing different but socially accepted roles. Those relations which lack reciprocity would fail in the category of non-symmetrical relations. In addition, there are also relations between individuals, that are unequal and sometimes even exploitative, which may be termed as dysymmetric. From the above analysis, all these types could be identified in different dimensions, in the context of sericulture. The fiiendship interactions mainly belong to the symmetric network relations where the persons on both sides interact, standing on a same plane. These are mainly of 'reciprocated friendships or neighbourliness' to put it in the 233 words of Barnes (1972: 26-7). Among the kinship interactions, the relation between the first cousins would also fall into the similar type. The exchange labour between kin families is another instance of symmetric network relations. The asymmetric relations would include the established credit relations, casual labour relations as well as the bureaucratic relations. The non-reciprocal kin relations, as in the case of sister's and brother's families, would fall under the non-symmetric relations. The permanent contract labour and patron relation is an instance of dysemmetric relations. Concluding Remarks The chapter has given the diverse interactional openmgs and networking in the social milieu of sericulture. The friendship interactions assume special significance in the context of sericulture. Close kinship relationships are discerned among most of the sericulturists. There is also a diffusion of sericulture through kinship influence. Sericulture facilitates the consolidation of kin-relations through mutual exchange of sericulture resources and knowledge. Such interactions also help easing out the burden of high investment in sericulture. Exchange labour is also discerned among the close relatives. Some sericulturists prefer to engage hired labourers from their own non sericulture kin-families. Such relations are found more among the affmal kin than among the families of brothers. As there is a decline in the jajmani interactions of the service castes, sericulture has come to the rescue of some of them who have some access to land and irrigation resources. The labour interactions 234 have taken a new dimension with the introduction of sericulture. The labour intensity of sericulture has necessitated alternative labour strategies and facilitated in developing new labour equations in the context of sericulture. The patronial relations of the past have been replaced with friendly relations, to ensure an assured and committed labour. This has also helped reducing the tensions and distance between the higher and lower castes. The necessity of obtaining some of the sericulture inputs has helped developing certain dependency relations with certain artisan communities within and outside the village. The regular visits to the markets have provided opportunities of urban encounter. The bureaucratic interactions and visits have attributed a sense of prestige value to the sericulturists. Thus, sericulture, as a commercial and as a household enterprise, has become a significant factor in the life of the sericulturists in particular and of the village as a whole. It has facilitated in expanding the limited boundaries of the individuals, families and of the village and in creating new linkages and social networks. The sustainability of such relations and networks, however, depends on the sustainability of the enterprise itself, within the social framework of the village society. 235 CHAPTER IX SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS: SERICULTURE, DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE In the early years of rural planning, agriculture received greater focus of development efforts. However, there has been a realisation in recent decades that land alone cannot provide a livelihood to the growing population. There was also a recognition that urban areas cannot go on accommodating the migrant rural population. Consequently, the development of off-farm sector assumed wider importance. The strategies of the planners thus included development of agro-based village industries which can contribute to employment and meet the development objectives. Similarly, in the initial years of planned development, there had been an overemphasis on the economic concerns, without giving much attention to the socio-cultural basis of rural life. However, there has been a growing awareness in recent decades that the development strategies would hardly benefit the rural masses unless such strategies reflect the socio-cultural concerns of the people and respond to the ground realities of rural life. Thus, to evolve the planning strategies in the right direction and to identify the right targets, a proper and better understanding of the process of rura1 social change became important. Sericulture is one of the agro-industries that has been attracting considerable rural population, especially in South India. Introduction of sericulture in some parts of Tamil Nadu., as elsewhere, has initiated different processes of socio-cultural changes, which forms the focus of 236 the present study. The study has been undertaken with the following objectives: I. To identify the pattern of the occupational and agricultural diversification in the context of sericulture and of its impact upon labour relations. 2. To assess the impact of sericulture upon family and its internal dynamics and gender relations. 3. To study the impact of sericulture on different sections of rural population and assess the mobility status with special reference to the weaker sections. 4. To study the type of changes in the mutually interdependent traditional relations and the nature of social networks in the context of sericulture. The core field of the study is Seripura., a village in Dharmapuri district of Tamil Nadu. Some other sericulture villages in the districts of Salem and Dindigul also form as supportive fields for greater understanding of the change processes and corroboration of some of the findings. Summary of Findings The study has largely identified the different processes of change, along the stated objectives. Agricultural Diversification, Sericulture and Labour Relations: The first objective of the present study was to examine the socio-economic processes and prospects in the context of sericulture. In Seripura, agriculture, sericulture and wage labour are the three major 237 activities, all of which are land-based. There is a moderate involvement of work force in animal husbandry too. The non-land based activities include business, salaried service, traditional labour, etc., which have attracted a marginal proportion of the work force. Agriculture serves as a source of cash income for about three fifths of the households. Ground nut has emerged as a major cash crop in the village, occupying more than one fourth of the total cropped area. Even the subsistent crops like paddy has assumed a commercial nature. Mulberry, the land-base of sericulture, occupies just six per cent of the total cropped area. Yet, sericulture has demonstrated its high potentiality not only for its commercial richness, but also for its change processes in every aspect of socio-cultural life of the rural households. Sericulture has expanded the economic base of the village and enhanced the process of commercialisation. Sericulture, which is confined to the irrigated landholders alone, is a major source of income for about 22 per cent of the households, constituting about three fourths of the sericulture families. Though it has been adopted by different castes, its predominant presence is obvious among the dominant caste, as evidenced not only in Seripura, but also in other villages studied. The performance is also better among the dominant caste than among other communities. Sericulture is more successful in complex nuclear family types and among the medium-size land-holders. Contrary to general assumption, the proportion of hired and male labour is higher than the family and female labour among the higher performers while the reverse IS true among the lower performers. 238 In Seripura, there had been a large-scale migration, during the mid-eighties, because of the severe drought situation. This largely reduced the availability hired labour force in the village. In the late eighties, the agricultural situation improved with the adoption of diversified and commercial crops. This, coupled with an increasing labour scarcity, led to a higher demand for labour, resulting in the emergence of alternative labour strategies. The labour intensity of sericulture in the context of labour scarcity has necessitated not only in finding alternative labour strategies but also in altering and redefining the traditional rural labour relations. The emerging importance of task contract system in agriculture and the exchange labour system in sericulture are seen as the results of labour scarcity. Sericulture has also responded to labour scarcity by changing some of the rearing practices, as for example, from leaf feeding to branch feeding and reducing the number of crops by increasing the scale of each crop. Moreover, in the emerging situation, the total family labour requirement in agriculture became proportionately far less than that in sericulture. Further, with the displaced family labour, many of the smaller land-holding families have to fmd an alternative, either by adopting sericulture or become part of the hired labour. On the other hand, the bigger land-holding families with their traditionally out-of-field family labour, could find a gracefully adaptable employment status within the household premises, in the adoption of sericulture. Given the regular and inevitable work nature in sericulture, one of the major concerns of the sericulturists is an assured and uninterrupted supply of labour. In this context, sericulture makes the best use of the permanent and the crop contract labour as well as the assured casual 239 labour. All such labour types provide an assured supply of labour, along with the family and exchange labour. Skilled labour is another emerging phenomenon in sericulture, offered on contract basis as well as by casual labour. There are also caste and class variations m labour relations. Engaging a particular labour type reflects the class whereas assuming a particular labour type reflects the caste variations, both implying the status values. The larger land-holders generally engage a permanent contract labour as well as permanent and assured casual labour, ensuring uninterrupted labour supply. On the other hand, the smaller land-holders confine to the unattached casual labour. The exchange labour type is prominent among the landowners of the same caste, especially among close relatives and among the smaller land-holders!. A majority of the landless and of the hired labourers are from Scheduled Caste population. Among the~ most of those who assume the attached labour status generally have a very low status in their own caste. On the other hand, those at the top, most of whom also have access to marginal land holding, tend to assume the unattached labour types, which implies greater dignity as compared to the former. Family Dynamics and Gender Relations: This relates to the second objective of the study. The family dynamics and gender relations have brought out the internal dynamics of the family as reflected in the role variations of the family members and their level of involvement in sericulture. The familial interactions among the family members have taken a new tum with differential labour involvement and productive work contribution. The adoption of sericulture among the simple nuclear 240 and matro-nuclear families is well marked and significantly noticed. It is these types that also show the participation of all the adult family members in sericulture. The authority relations among the traditional dyads within the family manifest a transition from the concentrated authority, towards a distributive authority in the context of sericulture. There is now a relaxation of authority in the relations between parents and children, elder and younger siblings and between spouses. Those who actively participate in sericulture, tend to assert their rights and interests. Of the others, particularly those who have had a greater authority over the former in a traditional setting, tend to act with restraint. If there is an unsuccessful adjustment, in the distributive system of authority relations, the family, especially, if it is a mixed extended family, eventually collapses to form separate nuclear families. In this transitional process of distributive authority relations, the individuals themselves go through a process of self-realisation to achieve self-confidence, self assertion and an increasing autonomy. The same holds good, in the gender relations too. Women's role in sericulture is determined by their relationship to the main sericulturists and on the number of working adults in the family. These, in turn, have a corresponding relationship in the level of their participation and involvement in sericulture. There is also a corresponding implication of the same in their status and position in the family. Most of the adult women in sericulture families participate in sericulture either actively or passively. When there are two women in the household, older woman involves more in the household activity while the younger one assumes an active role in sericulture. As the household-work is considered always as that of women, the women, 241 especially in some of the single-woman households, prefer to play only a passive role. However, women do carry a heavier work load, over their shoulders as compared to men, particularly in sericulture households. Women, especially if they are main or active sericulturists and if they are from single-woman sericulture households, do feel over-burdened with their work. In most of the households, men are sensitive to women's work and take a greater share in the work-load at the work intensive phases of sericulture. Women hardly have any access to land, which, in turn., deprive them of many other benefits, including credit. Women's access to information depends on their level of involvement in the activity. As for the women's access to the returns, it invariably passes on to the men. Major economic transactions still remain as a domain of one of the male adults in the family. The women hardly realize the need for access to income. In many of the households, whether sericulture or otherwise, the cash income is generally deposited with the woman of the household. This access to income is seen mainly as a ritual and the major say still lies with the men. Nevertheless, the women do take note of the income and the expenses effected in the household. Their voice tends to be relatively stronger in sericulture households concerning the question of accountability from their men-folks. In some households, particularly where women play an active role in sericulture, the women control the income to the extent of channelising the expenditure in the right direction. The recognition of women's labour is more pronounced in sericulture households than in the non-sericulture households. Women's 242 labour has found greater recognition among the successful sericulturists. The women in these households seem to be more forthcoming, assertive and self confident. Even, among them, those who have a greater involvement in the activity show a marked difference in these manifestations. In those households where women playa role of active support, the male members take the women into confidence in any decision making process of sericulture. However, in those families where the women are the main sericulturists, they have a major say in many of the household decisions also. Socio-Economic Mobility and Changing Values: This relates to the third objective of the study. The process of socio-economic mobility that sericulture has effected in different contexts and conditions has been elaborately brought out in the study. Sericulture has brought in more cash transactions among the people. The socio-economic mobility manifests itself in better living standards and improved quality of life. The changes are discerned in terms of mobility in labour status, economic status and social status. Socio-economic mobility has found expression among all categories of the sericulturists in different dimensions. The large farmers hardly gain anything from sericulture by way of mobility except for the material benefits. Their performance too is not better than the other category of farmers. The medium farmers show a consistent performance. They have adequate resources and motivation for sericulture. They manifest considerable econOIDlC and social mobility. They command lot of respectability and become models of development for others. They develop close interaction with the bureaucracy. They also become the carriers of some of the urban features to the villages. Some of the progressive sericulturists mostly 243 belong to this category of fanners. The impact of sericulture is manifested among the marginal and small categories too, though with the lower level benefits of improving their labour status and stabilising their economic life. The concern for mobility is relevant for three disadvantaged categories, one based on class, another on caste and the third on sex. In a village context, the poor mostly comprise of the agricultural wage labourers. Sericulture could become relevant to the poor either directly by adopting sericulture, or indirectly by involving themselves as lessee, shareholders or labourers in sericulture. A majority of the marginal sericulture fanners who were earlier depended on wage labour to supplement their agriculture income have even moved up to the level of hiring labour after their successful! adoption to sericulture. Such mobility has taken away the strain of hard labour and the 'patronial dependency' of the past, on the one hand, and enhanced their social prestige, on the other. The adoption of sericulture by the marginal farmers is proportionately less as compared to the higher land categories due to certain resource constraints. These constraints put most of them at the same disadvantaged position as most of the landless except in their accessibility to land. If they have to benefit from sericulture, there has to be some external intervention in overcoming some of these constraints. Or else, they should go for land-lease or share-crop, which is not very common, due to some inherent limitations. There are a few who have taken to sericulture after tapping their irrigation potentiality either through their own resources, which is minimal, or through the utilisation of IRDP and other schemes, which involve bureaucratic constraints. The participation of the scheduled castes in sericulture is very meagre as 244 most of them have to face similar constraints as that of the poor. This is, besides their own handicaps like poor self confidence and self-esteem, born out of the social stigma that they suffer. The few SC sericulturists who sustain for long in sericulture do manifest a better living status. Moreover, they enjoy a better social identity than their non-sericulturist kin. There is a greater social interaction and exposure and they feel a greater confidence in themselves and in their ability. Though involvement of women's labour is more in sericulture, their activities in sericulture are hardly perceived to be highly skilled. Moreover, the female labour continues to be cheaper in the rura1 labour market while the value of male labour is sometimes three-fold, irrespective of the work. The hired female labour becomes convenient for filling in the female labour gap of sericulture within the family. The value of family female labour is more realised in sericulture than in the traditional agriculture. For this reason, the women who show greater inclination to shoulder the sericulture responsibility get a kind of recognition that is reflected in the interactional relationship and making of crucial decisions. Some women consciously decide not to take an active role in sericulture, lest they lose their men's companionship that is highly available under the pretext of sericulture. Some of the social values concerning education, health and inter caste pollution have acquired progressive meaning among the sericulturists along their socio-economic mobility. Some of the traditional values have also found reinterpretation, applying the economic rationality. In some of the sericulture families, mostly of marginal and small land-holding categories, there is a tendency to stop 245 their children from the schools, on the last days of rearing, when the worms start spinning. However, this tendency soon disappears as they gain experience and expand their social networks and interactions. It takes a positive turn as they improve their standard of living in the process of successful sericulture crops over the years. Most children going to the English medium schools in these villages are from sericulture families, who have improved their living status with the help of sericulture. The educated youths, in rural areas, who show least interest in farm activities and generally look for greener pastures in urban centres, show greater inclination towards sericulture. Sericulture has created a new health consciousness and a sense of cleanliness among the sericulturists. In many households, the intervention of supernatural elements in the performance of activities like sericulture is highly believed. This is true especially of those sericulturists who are left with fewer resources in high risky situations like sericulture. Some of the sericulturists tend to rationalise the traditional beliefs like lizard killing. There are some sericulturists who discard some beliefs after due experimentation. One such belief relates to purity and pollution. Sericulture plays a positive role in moulding the personality of the individual participants. It also facilitates the individual rearers to develop a broad and progressive outlook in life. This is sometimes reflected in their interaction with the Scheduled castes as well as in the gender approaches. It has provided opportunities to put into test some of the abilities of the individuals in the process of rearing. One of the areas of opportunities in sericulture that has contributed in moulding the personality of individuals is the social and network relations at the wider level. 246 Social and Network Relations: This relates to the last objective of the study. Sericulture has provided new interactional avenues and enhanced social prestige and status. The study has brought out the diverse interactional openings and networking in the social milieu of sericulture. The friendship interactions assume special significance in the context of sericulture. Close kinship relationships are discerned among most of the sericulturists. There is also a diffusion of sericulture through kinship influence. Sericulture facilitates the consolidation of kin-relations through mutual exchange of sericulture resources and knowledge. Such interactions also help easing out the burden of high investment in sericulture. Exchange labour is also discerned among the close relatives. Some sericulturists prefer to engage hired labourers from their own non-sericulture kin-families. Such relations are discerned more among the affinal kin than among the families of siblings. As there is a decline in the jajmani interactions of the service castes, sericulture has come to the rescue of some of them who have some access to land and inigation resources. The labour interactions have taken a new dimension with the introduction of sericulture. The labour intensity of sericulture has necessitated alternative labour strategies and facilitated in developing new labour equations in the context of sericulture. The patronial relations of the past have been replaced with friendly relations, to ensure an assured and committed labour. This has also helped reducing the tensions and distance between the higher and lower castes. The necessity of obtaining some of the sericulture inputs has helped developing certain dependency relations with certain artisan communities within and outside the village. The regular visits to the markets have provided opportunities of urban 247 encounter. The bureaucratic interactions and visits have attributed a sense of prestige value to the sericulturists. Thus sericulture, as a commercial and as a household enterprise, has become a significant factor in the life of the sericulturists in particular and of the village as a whole. It has facilitated in expanding the limited boundaries of the individuals, families and of the village and in creating new linkages and social networks. Theoretical Relevance of the Study The study has adopted the socio-anthropological paradigm of the structural-functional perspective ill understanding the change processes of a rural society. Every system is constituted of a structure with a function. This is true of a society, an institution as well as of an enterprise. When two systems interact with each other, it necessitates certain structural and functional alterations and modifications, if the respective systems have to sustain, succeed and survive. Both have to be responsive to each other. In the process, better structures evolve, manifesting in functional improvements and implications. It is also an imperative of an interactional process that there is an intervention, inviting a reaction and a response acting dialectically. This is very much part of any process of development and plarming. The present study has demonstrated how sericulture and society have been involved in an interactional process and what effect has been created as a result of such interaction. It has identified some of the key players in the different social institutions. It has also looked into the nature and impact of the various interactional ties in the dynamic set-up 248 of the village, within the context of a developmental intervention, like sericulture. The intervention of sericulture into society as a development strategy has had a dual perspective, namely, development of sericulture through society and development of society through sericulture. Attempts have been made to identify both these processes, in the present research, though with a major emphasis on the change processes in the socio-cultural life of a rural society in the context of sericulture. In other words, the study has looked into some of the socio-cultural processes that have set in, with the advent of sericulture. These processes have been discerned mainly in the labour relations, interactional dynamics of family relations, socio-economic mobility and value dynamics and in the social and network relations. All these processes have been found to be linked to sericulture and mutually interrelated with each other. Closely related to the structural-functional perspective 1S the 'change continuum', in which Coletta (1990:86) attributes a structural transformation on the one end and a cultural change on the other end, in the process of making development intervention effective. On the one extreme, it is to improve the access to resources by creating necessary atmosphere to achieve the structural transformation. On the other extreme, it 1S to initiate changes in socio-cultural values through education and training to achieve cultural change. While both these initiatives provide a congenial atmosphere for the adoption and sustainability of the development strategy at different levels, the middle path has been suggested to be effective. In this context, an understanding of the indigenous processes has also been stressed for a better formulation of the initiatives. Further, this perspective becomes important in the context of a concern for sustainable development both 249 at the societal and at the strategic levels. It has been effectively used In the present study, in the context of sericulture. The study also finds the 'change and continuity' paradigm as very much part of this change process, wherein 'the village society is dynarmc enough to accept change and responsive enough to assess it without serious institutional dislocations' (lshwaran 1970: 18). The study has also initiated certain conceptual fonnulations and reclassifications of certain phenomenon that w0 11ld be of use in the studies of socio-cultural change. There are many studies related to family structure. But then, the available family typologies are not adequate enough to accommodate certain family structures that are becoming increasingly common, especially in an era of transition, from tradition to modernity. For this reason, a modified and comprehensive family typology has been suggested and used in the present study, for brevity and clarity. The effort here has been to make use of the available concepts and use additional attributes for further classification. The main addition in the new typology has been the inclusion of certain types, by prefixing the tenns, 'matro' and 'patro', to the nuclear and extended families. They correspond to the respective family structures, with the presence of either father and mother alone, which have been increasingly discerned in the emerging situation. In the analysis of authority relations, the relationship dyads have been examined and a process of change from concentrated authority to a distributive authority, corresponding to the degree of productive realisation, has been discerned. A research perspective for gender relations has been developed to Wlderstand the gender issues in development interventions. 250 In the analysis of socio-economic mobility, a useful mobility paradigm has been drawn, in tenns of labour status , economic status and social status, to comprehend the process of mobility. This has also been realised to be reflecting in the self-transcending processes, which include self-realisation, self-confidence, self-assertion and self-dignity. In identifying the social categories in the process of mobility, two sets of categorisation have been developed. Considering the resources and returns, the farmers and, in the present context, the sericulturists could either belong to subsistent or intermediate or affluent category. Similarly, considering the scale of operation and the operational base and motives, there could be clientele or progressive or capitalist farmers/sericulturists. Many a time, though not always, the latter set of categories may correspond to the fonner set of categories, respectively. A few other concepts that have emerged, in the analysis of identifying the process of mobility include class envy and class rivalry as well as sibling envy and sibling rivalry. Envy implies a negative interactional link between the unequals and the rivalry implies the same between the equals. What is essentially in operation here is the process of diametrical motivation, which seems to be operating in the adoption process of an innovation. The concept of gentlemen farmerlsericulturist captures a section of people who themselves least involve in the activity except in its managerial aspect. All these processes, categories and concepts, however, need further examination and effective operationalisation. 1. A. Barnes (1972:6-7) identifies three main types of relations in the network interactions, which include symmetric, asymmetric and non symmetric relations, though with less elaboration. In the light of the 251 present study, the categorisation of network relations has been widened and redefmed. Accordingly, the relation could be symmetric when the interacting persons are in the same plane with similar reciprocity. The relations could be asymmetric, when the interacting persons are playing different, but socially accepted roles. Those relations which lack reciprocity would fall in the category of non-symmetric relations. Finally, those relations which involve an element of inequality and exploitation between the interacting individuals, may be termed as dysymmetric. Thus, in the study of the rural socio-cultural change processes, as a result of a development intervention, some of the existing theoretical perspectives have served as effective tools in providing the base and direction to the study. On the other hand, the study itself has served as a base for the formulation of certain new concepts and categories as well as in the reformulation of certain existing concepts and categories. It is believed that this would effectively facilitate the research perspectives of future studies of socio-cultural change. A Concern for Sustainable Development Mahbub ul Haq (1996:5-6) maintains that 'the development plans must specify not only what is being produced but how it is likely to be distributed'. For him, the 'development plans must contain a human framework for analysing their performance'. Human dimension has become an increasing concern in most of the development planning today. It is for the same reason that the World Bank sponsored National Sericulture Project (NSP) had made a special emphasis on the human 252 dimensions of the project, concerrung the weaker sections and the gender factor. As the present study has demonstrated, sericulture has proved its vast potentiality in the development of rural society. It has successfully adopted the appropriate labour strategies in the rural scenario. It has brought about a greater labour awareness and provided opportunities to overcome disguised unemployment of the farm families. It has provided a constructive dynamism in the family system, balancing the present with the past especially in the fast changing rural scenario. It has consolidated some of the kinship bonds and at the same time expanded the social networks of the sericulturists substantially. Attempts are being made, through sericulture, to reach out to the weaker sections of the society. It has facilitated in enhancing their social identity and in achieving a significant degree of socio-economic mobility by way of improving their standard of living. It has also facilitated in creating a greater awareness about educational and health values and in overcoming certain oppressive beliefs. Sericulture has provided new interactional avenues, moulded the personality and enhanced social prestige and status of the individual participants and family. However, all the benefits that have been highlighted above, have not found uniform expression. Some of the manifestations of the impact show a definite pattern and direction in terms of resource accessibility, social position, personal factors as well as of the sustainability of the development intervention. While sericulture Wldeniably extends its horizon with its extensive labour absorption, the benefits of such enterprise have not 253 substantially been channelised in improving the life of the labour class and of the weaker sections. As for the labour prospects, sericulture has very limited scope. The attached labourers show least interest in continuing in their present status but for their financial compulsions. On the other hand, it is their economic condition again that acts as a major constraint in taking up sericulture by themselves. As witnessed in the field., there are some sericulturists, who try to motivate their own contract labourers to take up sericulture independently. They also assist them in creating necessary infrastructure facilities. Some such labourers have taken up sericulture on leased land and do fairly well. These labourers could become the right target for sericulture development, provided they are relatively freed from their financial constraints. The sericulture developers and implementing agencIes have to look for alternatIVes and viable contingency plans and execute them carefully with dedIcation. The target of the development agencies whether government or non-government., must go beyond its production orientations It IS heartening to note that the departments of sericulture in recent years are taking efforts to generate such developmental strategies. There have been instances of failures in the implementation of such plans. This is mainly because of the poor formational and preparatory base at the level of the weaker sectIOns and also due to lack of sustained efforts, coupled with preconceived notions and prejudices. If only these pitfalls are adequately taken care of, the sericulture enterprise would really become one of the most successful strategies in the process of rural development and change. Sericulture, as one of the important rural enterprises, could also become an effective model for other similar rural enterprises. The sustainability of such efforts agaIn depends on the 254 sustainability of the enterprise itself, within the social framework of the village society. People tend to choose a crop that is less labour intensive, risk free, cost effective and high yielding. They also base their choice on the existing or emerging status of different crops. There is no doubt that sericulture yields high returns and has proved to be a successful enterprise. At the same time, it has got other handicaps as well, on its own and also in its relevance to the weaker sections. These issues need focused attention and selective consideration. Unless sericulture exceptionally proves to be highly remunerative to combat its heavy odds, it cannot continue to be a very attractive sustainable enterprise for long. One factor, which would prove its competitiveness is its greater sustainability. The initial years of J\SP have seen great strides while the last years of the project have manifested a high decline in the growth of the enterprise and put a question mark on its sustainability. While efforts should be on to expand sericulture, the attention should not be any less in combating the productivity constraints and consolidating the existing sericulture. Mahbub ul Haq (1996: 16) identifies four essential components in the human development paradigm. They include equity, sustainability, productivity and empowerment (Ibid. p.16). All these four components have been reflected in the perspectives and analysis of the present study. The study has focused on the socio-cultural processes of change, in the context of sericulture. It has also indicated certain ways to overcome some of the constraints in the sustainable development of both, the enterprise and the society. 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He has solely confined himself to sericulture with an active participation of his wife also in sericulture. He has got one son and a daughter both of whom are doing their schooling in different places with hostel accommodation. Kannappan was last in his family, with two elder brothers and one elder sister. His elder sister got married when he was ten years old. 'W'hen he completed his sixth standard, he was prevented from studying by his eldest brother who took up teaching after his teacher training course. After a break of one year, however, he continued his studies. He was not treated well. He used to go to school, after taking some ragi porridge 'W'hen he was studying in seventh standard, his eldest brother took his share of property and settled separately. As the second elder brother was working as a Post :vtaster, Kannappan had to take care of the lands also along with his studies. Within a year, the second elder brother also left them to reside in his in-law's house though he continued to have his property links and control over the household affairs. He started sericulture when he was in the tenth standard. Initially, he was involving in sericulture, during non-school hours and managing the work other times with labourers. The boys were available for one . 2" rupee salary at that time. Having failed in SSLC (eleventh standard), he discontinued his studies and started involving in full time farm work. He was residing with his father and he used to take care of cooking too. Others used to make fun of him. After two years, at the age of 19, he was married. They moved their residence to the garden from the village. With difficulties to manage sericulture without additional work force in the family and all his sweat. having no direct benefit for him, as the income was continued to be controlled by his second elder brother, it was leased out to a person at a nearby village, for about four thousand rupees a year. This arrangement went on for four years. He had to shoulder all the responsibilities and do a lot of work with hardly any recognition. So, Kannappan insisted on partition. Under the terms of partition, he was to receive ten thousand rupees from his second elder brother, but he received only two thousand. As a compensation, he left the mulberry garden which went to him under the terms of partition, and the land adjacent to it for use, for one year. He could make 20 000 rupees from sericulture and 10, 000 rupees from cotton within a year. Along with this he started his own mulberry garden. The land and the garden of his brother were returned after a year. His brother continued to have sericulture but on share basis with another person until his son himself was ready to involve in sericulture, after his studies. Today, his family is able to lead a moderate life according to the village standard. He cannot deny that his wife has also played a key role in this story of success. They have been able to consolidate their gains from sericulture. They have been able to construct a house, a pukka one which is impossible for many, by the village standard. His attachment to sericulture too has become strong. Sericulture has become an obsession for him today. In the village he is considered, by many as an authority in sericulture. People give weightage to his views not only regarding sericulture but also on many aspects. Today, he can walk in the village with his head held high. 267 Case No.2: Thangavelu, A Graduate, Medium Farming Progressive Sericulturist (E N Pura) Thangavelu belongs to a nuclear family with his wife and a three year old nursery going daughter. He owns about 6.S acres of land. He has been pursuing serieulture with masterly skill. Apart from scriculture, he has also taken up cultivation of other erops including paddy, growldnut, lowar and vegetables. He had attempted to pursue other productive enterprises, before he finally gave a serious thought to adopt sericulture in a productive manner. The family conditions have also played a role in the process of these trials and experiments It was in 1972 that Thangavelu got the idea of sericulture as a rural enterprise. At that time he had just joined the college for pursuing his graduate studies. He got mulberry cuttings from one of his distant relatives in the neighbouring village, who had just been in sericulture for a year. He used to attend the morning and evening feedings. For the rest of the time, he had left the work under the charge of his two younger brothers. While his elder brother discontinued his education after 7th standard, the first and the second younger brothers had dropped out from schooling after their ninth and eighth standard, respectively. In 1975, he completed his degre€ course. In the same year, his sister got married. After his degree, he took an active part in sericulture along with his first younger brother. Meanwhile, he was also looking for a useful employment. It was at this time, one of his friends had given an idea about processing of food products. He had applied for starting one himself. Having got the sanction, he went for a six month training, in 1981. The work was begun in partnership with the proprietorship I attached to him. The work went on well for two years. The food products included pickle, jam, fruity, aerated water, fruit juice etc. There was competition. Land was bought for the company. But, later, the 268 factory started running on a loss which he could not withstand. Since the family was extended, he was questioned about his decision. He had a debt of Rs 35, 000 to be paid with interest. At this juncture, it was sericulture which came to his rescue, in repaying the credit. In 1984, preparations were on for his elder brother's marriage. It was proposed that his marriage should also be held at that time. Since there was no place to accommodate two families, both the marriages were delayed for some time. He wanted to marry his college-mate for which there was opposition in the beginning, though later accepted. Both marriages were held simultaneously. There was an infonnal division of lands and separate fanning. Only in 1986, there was a fonnal partition of lands and property. Company share was also demanded to put in for partition. His father was not interested in land management. His elder brother refused to take charge. So he took charge of the family management. After partition, the fIrst younger brother continued to be with him who looked after sericulture. As he started involving in food processlllg smce 1981, sericulture was taken up on rotation, with a greater involvement of his second younger brother. All through, they also had a contract labourer who was assisting in sericulture along with his involvement in farm activities In 1984, they almost decided to give up sericulture but for his second younger brother who was ready to look after it. Sericulture was carried out by his younger brother along with his involvement. Having unsuccessful in other ventures, Thangavel started taking greater interest in sericulture. In the course of his involvement in sericulture, he realised that sericulture too could very well meet his aspirations and challenges. This realisation inspired him to invest his best efforts in sericulture. His involvement and success has not only inspired his own brothers but also many others in E )J Pura. In the story of his success, he admits that his wife too has played a significant role (refer case 6). Today, he enjoys 269 respect and dignity not only within the village but also among the sericulture department officials and other bureaucrats. Cases 1'0. 3: Mahendran, a Small Farmer (K K Pura) \1ahendran is 38 years old. He is a medium farmer. He is SSLC educated. He discontinued his studies due to the family circumstances when he had to shoulder the family responsibility as his father became ill. He took up sericulture and had been in it since 1972. He was married in 1981 and the family was partitioned in 1982. His is a nuclear family, today, with wife and two children, a girl of eight years and a boy of 6 years. Both children study in an English-Medium school, located at a distance of about four kilometres. They commute every day by a van. He takes up the cultivation of different crops along with sericulture though the latter receives much attention as compared to other crops. He has a contract labour to assist in the agricultural works as well as in sericulture. He manages sericulture with family and permanent contract labour up to the fourth moulting if the rearing is at a moderate scale of 150 DFLs. If he takes up a rearing of 250 DFLs, he goes for hired labour from fourth instar onwards. Looking back, he feels that he has come a long way and improved his living status, to a considerable extent. He has bought some lands. He has improved his inigationai source and has been using electric pump-sets for inigation for the last several years. He has constructed a semi-concrete house with moderate comforts. His is one of the few households that own a television-set in the village. He is planning to plunge into business soon giving up sericulture though he does not hesitate to attribute his success largely to sericulture. 270 giving up sericulture though he does not hesitate to attribute his success largely to sericulture. B: An Unsuccessful Young Sericulturist Case ~o. 4:. Murugesan, of a Large Farming Mixed Extended Family (M R Pura) Murugesan is twenty years old. He is wunarried. He has got three brothers, all married. All are living along with their parents. They possess 12 acres of land, out of which one acre has been devoted to sericulture. \1urugesan got into sericulture after he failed in the ninth standard. He has been in sericulture for the past three years. In spite of being in an extended family with about six adult males and five adult females, the only persons from his family, who extend some help for him, in the activity of sericulture, are his mother and one of his brother's son. Sericulture has not yielded good results, the average yield ranging between 13 and 17 Kilograms for 100 dfls. Yet, he has not given it up as he continues to hope for 'better times'. He has taken M.5 mulberry variety. There is no problem of water. He applies adequate quantity of chemical fertilisers as advocated by the officials. However, farm yard manure is poorly applied, which is clearly reflected in the yield level. Further, his efficiency in rearing and management is low and the protective measures from insects and flies are poor. He himself realises this and is eager to take up training. As an individual, he shows considerable involvement, though he is not happy about the poor co operation he gets from his family. He has to depend on others for every need of sericulture as the returns in sericulture are far below the level of investment expenses. He has to depend largely on the hired labour, which also contributes to poor yields. Again, he has been doing 271 sericulture only as a leisure time activity, though he would like to intensify his involvement if he gets better yield. C. Women Sericulturists of Three Sibling Families Case I\ o. 5: Prema, An Active Sericulturist and a Wife of a Passive Sericulturist Husband (E N Pura) Prema is a mother of a three-year old boy, who is attending the kindergarten school in the neighbouring village. She has a greater participation a in sericulture activity, along with her usual household activity and attending to her son. She assists and supervises the sericulture activity while the permanent contract labourer plays a leading role in it. However, any major decision in the process of rearing, like moult setting etc., should have the consent of the head of the household, who, by nature, is less involved in the activity since its inception 18 years ago when he was the eldest brother in his parental family. He had even opposed, tooth and nail, his brothers for taking up sericulture in those days. Later, he himself had realised its worth and accepted it even in his own family, when they became nuclear. Case No.6: The Case Of Shilpa, a Graduate Wife of a Progressive Sericulturist Shilpa represents yet another type. She is mother of a two-year old boy and a four-year old daughter. The daughter is attending the kindergarten in the neighbouring village. Shilpa is the only adult woman in the household. In spite of being a graduate, she is not much different from her less educated village women in playing the traditionally expected role of a village woman. Her husband is quick to remark: 'In a village context, one cannot help it'. She carries out all household activities and attends to her children. In addition, she intensively 272 participates in the sericulture activity, along with her husband, at all phases of the rearing. in the later phases, however, the pennanent contract labourer also joins them along with other customary casual labourers. She is also expected to be ready to attend to her husband's needs as well as to replace his role in sericulture at any time, as her husband has a wider contact outside and he may have to be away at any time. Presenting her role, her husband (refer case 3, in the appendix), a graduate himself, exhons: 'Her contribution is remarkable and he has high regard for her. Sometimes, he even feels guilty, thinking whether she is overburdened. It is the division of labour that exists in the village context. Yet, he tries to support her to the extent possible, within the limitations of his nature of work. She is usually consulted on all major deciSIOns. Case :\0. 7: The Case of Kanaga, a Non-Participant wife of an Active and Successful Sericulturist Kanaga is physically weak which does not allow her to participate in sericulture. She attends only to the household chores, taking care of her four year old naughty boy and looking after the livestock. in addition, she has to attend to her husband's needs. However, her husband is unable to reconcile himself of her limitations as he .... itnesses the hard work put forth by his sisters-in-law. So, he takes all the decisions, sericulture or otherwise and he least involves his ....ife In any of these. In this case, Kanaga's role in decision making is practically nil. She hardly gets any recognition for her role as a housewife. 273 D. The Case of a Daughter Who Was an ACtiH Sericulturist Case :\0. 8: The Case of Saroja (E :\ Pura) Saroja wa5 the youngest daughter III the faIl1lly who was unmarried till recently. She was t.l)e only adult person in her family other than her parents. So, in this household, it was she who took an active part in the sericulture activity. She managed the whole activity herself, of course with the support of her mother who was more involved in the household activity and of her father who was more preoccupied with the agriculture activities and outside contacts. Their scale of operation had been small and they engaged the hired labourers at the last phase of the activity, if needed. However, the procurement of dfls and marketing of cocoons were considered to be her father's prerogative. Now, she is married and gone and their garden is uprooted. The reason for uprooting is claimed to be due to destruction of the plants recently because of the breach of the tank. Her father claims that they would again take up sericulture. While recognising his daughter's contribution by way of sericulture activity he still feels that it is much less compared to what he had spent for her marriage. D. The Case of a Teacher-Trained Woman Sericulturist Case :" Meena is a 21 year old, unmarried young girl Having completed her teacher-training course after her intermediate education, she joined the elite class of job seekers, two years back. Suited very much to her achieved status which restricts her to carry out the traditionally female attached works of agriculture in the SlUlTIy day-light, sericulture has become a stop-gap occupation, in her pursuit of arm-chair employment. 274 Being the eldest and the only daughter to her parents and also excelling in her studies, she is liked by all in the family. Their house is located near their farm, isolated from other households. They belong to the agricultural caste of Kongu Vellalar Gounders which is a dominant caste of that area. Both the parents of \1eena are educated up to primary level. Meena has two younger brothers both of whom are not so bright in studies. Being intelligent and the only daughter to her parents, Meena seems to enjoy a preferential privilege over her brothers in work involvement and other kinds of freedom. After the completion of her intermediate education, Meena was left to the choice of either taking up college studies or to go in for teacher training. Having an ambition to become a teacher due to the respect and reverence it evokes as a public personality along with an interest to get a job at the earliest, she under-went teacher-training. However, even after completion, she has not been able to secure any job. She had to confine herself to her home, sometimes, involving in the agricultural activities, though unwillingly. Thus, she was to undergo a mental agony for about 6 months until sericulture came to her rescue. \1eena made a ten-day visit to her uncle's house during the summer 1989. Her uncle being a sericulturist, suggested to Meena that she could not take up sericulture as a stop-gap. Having experienced the positive impact of sericulture, he thought that it would fit her condition at that moment. Though not attracted very much towards sericulture, she gave some thought over it and began to keenly observe how it was done. 'It would not be a bad idea to start sericulture', she thought. She hated working in the hot sun, especially after completing teacher-training. The fact of spending most of the time within the household under the shade, elicited from her an immediate positive response towards taking up 275 sericulture. Her uncle promised her all help to impart the necessary know-how in her new enterprise. She came back home after her visit to her uncle's house with a new proposition having only to be approved by her parents. Though she got a tacit approval from her mother, it was not easy for her to get the approval from her father. He was objecting on the grounds of lack of proper infrastructure and the costs involved. However, she was able to secure his approval to initiate the sericulture activity in her house. Her uncle's help notwithstanding, intensive extension service was also available in sericulture activity. Though she started with only 30 cents of land, she has now extended it to one acre within a year. She gets continuous extension help III obtaining advice regarding the number of dfls to be indented, the ways of enhancing leaf production (mulberry cultivation) and necessary care to be taken during silkworm rearing. So far, the rearing was undertaken in one part of the household while a separate shed is getting ready which may come into operation very soon. The returns from sericulture has so far been quite satisfactory as compared to any other crop. Her parents are doubly satisfied with her and have allowed her to extend the mulberry area. They also provide her all necessary infrastructure needed for sericulture. Her involvement in agricultural works is minimal. She attends occasionally to the leaf picking activity. Otherwise, she is confmed to the sericultural activity within the household. She attends to leaf chopping, feeding, bed-cleaning and moult setting. The feeding is done 4 times a day approxImately around 6 am, 11 am, 4 p.m. and 10 p.m. She is assisted by her mother and brothers in feeding, especially during peak days. She does not have any problem in obtaining instructions from male field staff. She also do not find it difficult to interact with male strangers. 276 Meena hardly attends to other household activities which are mostly taken care of by her mother. She assists her mother in the morning cooking during non-sericulture days. Apart from this, she does not have any major work-obligation to fulfill. Her mother is also becoming proficient in sericulture which may eventually be passed on to her once Meena settles in life. The involvement of Meena in sericulture activity has not, in any way, stopped her in her efforts to look for a teaching job. And in case if she gets one, what would be her role in sericulture? By all means, she is well aware of her temporary nature in the involvement of sericulture, at least as far as her parental family is concerned. She is passing on the skills to her mother as well as to her brothers who seem to be gradually mastering the art. As long as she is there, whether with or without job, she would be the main sericultwist in her house. Will she continue the activity after her marriage? She says, 'it depends on the conditions and the new environment'. Left to her liking, she would definitely take up sericulture in the new family too, depending on the availability of resources. With all the involvement of Meena in sericulture activity, she has to depend on her father, for marketing the cocoons. She believes that it is a masculine work and only they can do. But, she involves herself in the deCISion related to the choice of market and plays a major role in other sericulture decisions. Her contribution to the family income being substantial, she is listened to and her demands are well attended. Still, she does not take courage to deviate to the extreme from the traditional expectation of women. She gets, more than her brothers, enough dress to her liking. She occasionally goes to the near-by towns on her own and with her friends for purposes of shopping and at time for films. And yet, her external interaction is only minimal. No preferential treatment is 277 gIven In servrng of meals except that she has to assume the role of serving to the male members in the absence of her mother. E. The Case of a Wife of a Progressive Sericulturist Case 1\0. 9: Easwari (K K Pura) Easwari belongs to Nattu Gounder, a caste hierarchically equivalent to the Kongu Vellalar GOWlders of the area. She is in her early thirties. She is SSLC educated, which is quite high, compared to her contemporaries in the same village. She got married 12 years back when she was introduced to sericulture. Her husband is a progressive sericulturist who had been identified by the Central Silk Board, to spread sericulture in the area, with a monthly honorarium. He is referred as 'agent' by the people and has been on this responsibility for the last 5 years. He has got about 17 years of uninterrupted sericulture experience. He is one of the few pioneers of sericulture in that area. His fIrst YOWlger brother who is a sericulturist resides at a distance of about 2 kilometers away from their family. They have a daughter who is doing 5th standard in a convent school. They established their own family, two years ago when the second and last YOWlger brother of her husband, working as truck driver, got married. He along with his family and mother resides just adjacent to Easwari . 5 residence. Easwari seems to have shown least involvement in sericulture during the fIrst three years of her married life. She was new then to sericulture. However, her husband was one of the very few sericulturists, at that time. Then, she increasingly started involving herself in the sericulture activity as it was inevitable. However, as her involvement was needed only at the supportive level, she had confined herself to the 278 activities of leaf picking, feeding, bed cleaning, sorting out the unequals, sample picking, mounting and cocoon collection. Now, having been in it for about eight years, she has learnt, by experience, the so-called crucial activities of chopping of leaves and moult setting. She makes use of her competency in those aspects, only when her husband has to be away. Even then., she would get all the necessary instructions from him, and would follow them by letter. Since her husband is a full time sericulturist and has a solid experience, she feels that there is hardly any necessity for her to master the nuances and the technicalities of the activity. Moreover, her husband himself could manage most of the activities at the earlier stages, if it is just up to 100 dfls. He, on his part, hardly expects her to involve in the activity except at the last phase of operations. When the scale of operauon is more, she extensively involves herself in the activity. During those times, her daughter also helps them, especially on holidays, in the sericultural operation. Marketing of cocoons is always the concern of her husband. Easwari had so far visited only Salem market and that too, only once, which was combined with some other work. Hired labourers are engaged mainly at later stages for leaf picking, bed cleaning, sorting out the unequals etc. The involvement of Easwari in leaf picking has been reduced in recent years due to extensive heat, affecting her health. Easwari is quite cheerful and welcoming. She also appears to be knowledgeable about things and forthcoming with her opinion Her major work relates to household chores. She does cooking, attends to the needs of her daughter, sometimes helping her in studies, keeps the household clean., takes care of the cattle, milks the cow and supplies the milk to the society. She becomes fully engaged with all these activities. So, whenever she has to involve in sericulture operation., 279 acti vities of leaf picking, feeding, bed cleaning, sorting out the unequals, sample picking, mounting and cocoon collection. Now, having been in it for about eight years, she has learnt, by experience, the so-called crucial activities of chopping of leaves and moult setting. She makes use of her competency in those aspects, only when her husband has to be away. Even then, she would get all the necessary instructions from him, and would follow them by letter. Since her husband is a full time sericulturist and has a solid experience, she feels that there is hardly any necessity for her to master the nuances and the technicalities of the activity. Moreover, her husband himself could manage most of the activities at the earlier stages, if it is just up to 100 dfls. He, on his part, hardly expects her to involve in the activity except at the last phase of operations. When the scale of operation is more, she extensively involves herself in the activity. During those times, her daughter also helps them, especially on holidays, in the sericultural operation. Marketing of cocoons is always the concern of her husband. Easwari had so far visited only Salem market and that too, only once, which was combined with some other work. Hired labourers are engaged mainly at later stages for leaf picking. bed cleaning, sorting out the unequals etc. The involvement of Easwan in leaf picking has been reduced in recent years due to extensive heat, afTecnng her health. Easwari is quite cheerful and welcoming. She also appears to be knowledgeable about things and forthcoming with her opinion Her major work relates to household chores. She does cooking, attends to the needs of her daughter, sometimes helping her in studies, keeps the household clean, takes care of the cattle, milks the cow and supplies the milk to the society. She becomes fully engaged with all these activities. So, whenever she has to involve in sericulture operation, 279 her work-load becomes heavier, though she does not take it as a burden. In addition to this she attends to the limited agricultural operations also, like weeding, irrigation etc. Easwari's only daughter gets up early, along with her father. While she engages herself in study, her father attends to the feeding of the worms. Easwari gets up a little late but before dawn. She begins her day's work, by cleaning the house. Then she attends to cattle and milks the cow. On non-sericultural days, her husband himself would attend to this. Then Easwa.ri starts cooking. Meanwhile her daughter completes her study and helps her mother in cleaning the vessels. Then she gets ready to go to school. After attending to the feeding work, her husband takes a break, going to the tea stall for gossiping over a cup of tea. Easwari waits for him to have her breakfast. If it is too late, she will have her breakfast alone. Then, if she has to attend to the sericulture activity, she attends to leaf picking along with hired labourers if engage~ and then joins her husband along with the labourers in bed cleaning and later, feeding. Then she serves her husband foo~ after which she takes her own. If there is enough time, Easwari, as also her husband may take a nap in the afternoon. Then, feeding is done again after which, Easwari would go for evening leaf picking for night and early morning feedings. Then the cattle are fed. Then she starts cooking for the night. Normally cooking takes about one and half hours each in the morning and in the evening. There are no immediate households nearby, which would allow her to spend more time for chatting. However, occasionally she goes to her distant neighbours and also they come to her for chatting in the evening. Easwari keeps off from sericulture activity and other agricultural operations during the menstrual days. Her husband opines that if menstrual women attend to sericulture activities (due to excess heat) 280 their menstrual days would be more than the normal. He further adds that if pregnant women attend to such activity, abortion would take place if it is within three months. As for sericulture activity, the decision making is entirely the responsibility of her husband. However, if her husband is in a dilemma regarding certain things, she will also be consulted. The decision on agricultural operations are also the concerns of her husband. It is Easwan's contention that such decisions need not involve her at all. All major decisions, however, are finalised by her husband after taking her also into confidence. As far as the involvement in sericulture activity is concerned., Easwari strongly believes that women better play the supportive role especially when there is a competent male in the household. She also opines that the presence of a competent male, it is very difficult for a female to assert her competency with full confidence. She also opines that men are kept within the household when they are involved in sericulture. And so, women hardly have any desire to free them from this confinement F. The Case of an SC Sericulturist Who is a Widow Case' o. II: Kannamma «K K Pura) Kannamma, a widow, who is in her late thirties belongs to the Palavam (Pallar) community of SCs. She is illiterate. She was married about twenty years back, but lost her husband about two years ago. This had forced her to assume greater responsibility to run the family. She has two sons, aged 15 and 12. Her elder son dropped out from school after completing his fifth standard due to family compulsions and financial constraints. The younger son is now in the fifth standard for 281 the second consecutive year. has her parents and two younger brothers living one kilometre away from her residence. Since she was married in the same village to her own maternal uncle, the interaction between her parental family and her family has always been stronger and its intensity has further increased after she became a widow. Kannamma owns five acres of land though only 2 acres are inigated. that too only partially. The well and the pump-set are shared with two others, related through her husband. Sericulture entered in the household of Kannamma in 1978, with the hope of providing better prosperity. The poor performance had forced her husband to uproot mulberry in 1983 and to become a migrant labourer which looked promising, that time. A crop loan of Rs. 5,000/- was also obtained for banana cultivation, in the name of her mother-in-law as the lands were in her name. This venture also ended in failure, only to leave the loan to swell in over-dues. Banana cultivation has later been replaced by crops like spiked millet and tapioca. The lands still continue to be in her diceased mother-in-law's name. The loan has been waived by the government and only an interest of Rs. 500/- had been paid as intimated by the Bank officials. After the death of her husband, the burden of fending the family fell on her. Sericulture was then becoming popular and widespread as a profitable crop. Thanks to the best efforts and support of her parental family, especially of her brother, that she could initiate sericulture activity once again, in her household, by allotting a small portion of about 30 cents of land for the cultivation of MR2 mulberry, a common variety in the area. The absence of an adult man in the house and a need for such a person by Kannamma brought her brother Kuberan to take a leading role in her household responsibilities. All practical needs and the external 282 interaction are attended to by her brother who is at the same time accountable to her at all levels. Kuberan is 26 years old, an illiterate, but a knowledgeable young man. He himself is a silkworm rearer though he does not possess any rearing shed. He rears either in his sister's house or in his o\\n house. There is no electricity connection to his house though her sister's house has been connected. He extends his sister all possible help. He spends most of his time at his sister's house and takes his meals either at his O\\n house or at his sister's house. He O\\nS about 90 trays and 30 chandrikfs which are commonly used by both households. J..:.annamma starts her day's work with cleaning the cow-shed and then s\\ eeping the front portion of her house. If there is rearing, the first feed is given by her brother in the early morning before dawn. By that time, the boys in the house get up and attend to their morning duties. She then twns her attention to the kitchen to prepare something for morning and for noon. The common staple food in the morning preparation would generally be that of spiked millet. The boys attend to the feeding needs of the cows and then take their breakfast. If her brother is around the place, he also joins for breakfast. After that she takes her breakfast. During the days of rearing and when she takes up morning wage labour, the cooking is mostly done by one of her sons, especially the younger one. On such days, one of the boys carry the morning meals to their mother. v.. nen she is a\\ ay from house on some purpose or have some other work to be engaged in, the YOWlger son does cooking while the elder son goes for grazing the cow. In normal days, she does the cooking. The staple food at night is rice. Kannamma generally attends to leaf picking work along with her mother and brother in the morning and evening either in her O\\n or in her brother's garden. She helps her brother in feeding the silkworms. All other activities are taken care of by her brother. Kannamma depends 283 heavily on her brother for sericulture activity. The major part of the work is taken care of by her brother. However, she seems to be well aware of all activities in sericulture though she lacks confidence in some of the crucial activities like moult setting, leaf chopping etc. In case of his absence, she follows his mstruction and also gets some help from the higher caste neighbours with whom they have labour-landlord relationship. On other days, she works on her own garden or goes for wage labour whenever it is available. She attends to work like leaf picking, jowar harvesting, weeding etc. The interaction of Kannamma with external world is very much limited. The marketing of cocoons is left to her brother. She hardly makes any ,islt to the nearby tov.'Tl or goes for a cinema. However her sons are permmed occasionally to go for a film and she gives some money to them. Karmarnma spends time in chatting with the neighbours. 284 APPENDIX - II Comparative Features of Study Villages Features Core Field Supportive Supportive Supportl.ve Field 1 Field 2 Field 3 Name of the Seripura* E N Pura M R Pur a K K Pura Village District Dharmapuri Dindigul Dindigul Salem Taluk Palakkode Palani Dindigul Rasipuram Nature of Single Single a group of a group of the Field Village Village Villages Villages Nature of Clustered Clustered Clusterdl Clusterdl Settlement Scattered Scattered DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE No. of : 200 462 239 351 HouseHolds ! Total Population 955 1732 973 1470 Average Size 4.8 3.7 4. :1. 4.2 of Family Percentage M:3.2; M:3.2; of the F:11.6; F:9.3; - - Widowed AlI:7.2 All: 6.2 Sex-Ratio 94 96 95 89 Literacy M : 63.3 M : 79.7 M : 7 1 . 0 Rate F : 44.2 F : 48.8 F :43.4 - All: 54.1 All: 62.2 All : 57.8 Major Kongu Kongu Mooppanar Vanniar Communities : Vellalar Vellalar (66.1) (26.3), and (42.8), (34.8) , Maniakkar Kongu Population Vanniar SC: Pallar (8.8) , Vellalar (percen tage) (7.7), (20.8), SC - (25.0) , Boyer Parayar Kudumban & Nattu (7.7), SC- (19.0), Mathari Gounder Parayar & Mathari (19.7) (7.1), Chakkiliar (14.6), SC- (20.8) Total Palavam, (54.4) Parayar, Arunthathi ar (20.2) , ST - Malayali (14.0) Total Number Of 17 13 7 15 Communities I SOCIO-ECONOMIC PROFILE Land holding Status Landless 42 (21.0%) 255(55.2%) 89(37.2%) 91 (25.7) Marginal 44 (22.0%) 052(11.3%) 89(37.2%) 99 (28.3) small 61 (30.5%) 093(20.1%) 41(17.2%) 84 (24.0) Medium 40 (20.0%) 041(08.9%) l7(07.1%) 60 (17.1) Large 13 (06.5%) 021(04.5%) 03(01.3%) 17 (04.9) Av.Acre per Landholder 4.6 3.7 2.61 4.27 Major Source of Income: Land(incl. 40.0 % 23.4 % 41.4 % 65.1 % Seri. ) Farm Labour 30.0 % 54.5 % 38.1 % 26.8 % Dependency Rate 35.5 30.9 - - SERICULTURE PROFILE Seri . Farmers Landless 0 01 ( 3.7%) 0 0 Marginal 10 (20.0%) 01 ( 3.7%) 14 (45.2%) 32(36.4) small 16 (32.0%) 05(18.5%) 10 (32.3%) 36(40.9) Medium 18 (36.0%) 10(37.0%) 06 (19.3%) 11 Large 06 (12.0%) 10(37.0%) 01 (03.2%) 06 Total (%to Total HHs) 50 (25.0%) 27 (5.8%) 31 (13.0) 85 (25.1%) Av.Acre per Serio Farmer 6.2 11.3 3.32 - Av. Mulb. Acreage 0.8 1. 44 1. 06 0.97 Mulb. area 6.5% 2.0% 8.4% - DFLs/Acre/Yr 824 763 - - Cocoon Prdn/ - Acre (Kgs) 274.2 237.0 - Yld/1OODFLs 32.0 31.1 20.5 Note.. Informatlon has been lnc1uded wherever It lS available and computed. * The names of the evi11ages are only fictitious 286