SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CHANGE MONOGRAPHS 9

At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainability? Changing Rural Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management

G.K. Karanth V. Ramaswamy

Institute for Social and Economic Change Bangalore SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CHANGE MONOGRAPH SERIES

Number 9 April 2005 ISBN 81-7791-108-2

Series Editor: G. K. KARANTH

© 2005, Copyright Reserved The Institute for Social and Economic Change Bangalore

Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC) is engaged in interdisciplinary research in analytical and applied areas of social sciences, encompassing diverse aspects of change and development. ISEC works with central, state and local governments as well as international agencies by undertaking systematic studies of resource potential, identifying factors influencing growth and examining measures for reducing poverty. The thrust areas of research include state and local economic policies, issues relating to sociological and demographic transition, environmental issues and fiscal, administrative and political decentralisation and governance. It pursues fruitful contacts with other institutions and scholars devoted to social science research through collaborative research programmes, seminars, etc. The Social and Economic Change Monograph Series provide an opportunity for ISEC faculty, visting fellows and PhD scholars to disseminate their ideas and research work. Monographs in the series present empirical analyses and generally deal with wider issues of public policy at a sectoral, regional or national level.

Publication of this Monograph has been made possible through the generous support of Sir Ratan Tata Deferred Endowment Fund, The Swiss National Science Foundation and The Swiss Agency for Development Co-operation. FOREWORD

During 1994 and 2002 a team of scholars from Switzerland and India, all from different research and development institutions got together to carry out research on the theme of Rural Livelihood Systems. The research itself was fi- nanced by the Swiss National Science Foundation within its framework of a longer- term initiative to stimulate South-North Research and Teaching Collaboration. According to this framework, research process on Rural Livelihood Systems (hence- forth RLS) had to share and exchange the results with a number of similar interna- tional research projects with focus on Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The RLS Project had, as partners, scholars from Institute for Rural Management, Anand (Gujarat), SAMPARK, a Bangalore based NGO, Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore and from the Swiss side the Post-Graduate Course on Develop- ing Countries (NADEL), Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich.

Each research institution carried out the research on inter-related themes at different locations in different parts of India. The team from ISEC carried out research, in two phases in a few villages of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka States.

This Monograph brings together the findings of research, mainly focus- ing on Karnataka village. It is in this village that the team of researchers re-exam- ined a few hypotheses pertaining to changing livelihood systems, management of natural resources and emerging rural leadership.

I am very happy that Dr. G. K. Karanth and Dr. V. Ramaswamy have brought these findings together in the form of a Monograph for wider dissemination. I am also happy that besides Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT), the Swiss National Science Foundation and the Swiss Agency for Development Co-operation supported the publication of this Monograph. As in all our other publications, I look forward to a good and critical acclaim for this work also.

April 19, 2005 Gopal K. Kadekodi Bangalore Director, ISEC CONTENTS List of Tables List of Pictures List of Map List of Illustration List of Graph Acknowledgement

Chapter I Introduction 1

Chapter II Kodipalli’s Natural Resource Base 9 A. The Tank and Its Physical Features

B. Land and Pattern of Landownership

C. Pastures and Forest

Chapter III Milestones of Transition 38

Chapter IV Examples of Transition 45

A. Disbanding the Mande

B. Damming the Tank

C. From Marey to Market

Chapter V Leadership and Village Governance: From Participation to 99 Contracts

Chapter VI Conclusions: At Loggerhead or Towards Sustainability? 113

1. Features of a Livelihood System in Transition 2. Nature of Dependence on External Resources 3. Extent of Market Integration 4. Changing Leadership 5. Consequences for Livelihood System and Natural Resources Management References 122 List of Tables

Table 1. Caste, Households, Population and Landownership 21 Table 2: Irrigation Scenario 25 Table 3: Caste and Land under Tank Irrigation 26 Table 4: Area Under Ragi (In percentages) 28 Table 5: Changes in Animal Husbandry (2001) 53 Table 6: Incidence of Sharecropping and Leasing lands (2001) 89 Table 7: Extent of Common Resources in India 111

List of Pictures/Maps/Graphs/Illustrations Picture 1: Kodipalli Tank When Nearly Full (1998) 3 Picture 2. A Stone Inscription at the Malera Kunte in Murampalli, 12 adjoining Kodipalli.

Picture 3: Kodipalli’s Neeruganti at Work 15

Picture 4: Village Cattle on their Way to the Forest 46 Picture 5: The Procession to Mark the Festival of Teppotsava 55 Picture 6: Pressing for a Livelihood in the Market: Kodipalli’s 67 Washerman in Gownipalli List of Map Map 1 : Land Use in Kodipalli 31

List of Illustration Illustration 1: An Artist’s Perception of Marey-Centred Farming System 59

List of Graph Graph 1: Landownership and Incidence of Tenancy 91 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In a research that had many experiments, inter-institutional collaborations and that which spanned over nearly ten years, we have benefited by a large number of people and institutions. Foremost, we are grateful to the people of the two villages and their hamlets in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka: Chinnaramannagaru Palli and Kodipalli. They gave us warm hospitality, and time, besides participating in our research. While at work in these villages we had the goodwill and support of two leading NGOs: MYRADA and RORES. It was our good fortune that we were able to interact with personnel from these organisations who gave us free flowing constructive criticisms, suggestions and ideas. We thank P S Reddy, Dhananjay, Satyappa, Venkatalakshmamma, Bhagyamma, Usha and Malathi, Jangal, Naidu, and Ramesh. To Ms. Veena Krishnamurthy we owe a debt of gratitude both for her sustained interest in our study and useful training in PRA techniques. As representatives of one of the sponsoring institution, friends from the Bangalore field office of Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC) gave us the requisite support. We fondly recall the association of R Suresh, Martin Sommers, Charles Geiger, Chitra Suresh, N Jagannath with our research. Their visits to the field sites refueled our energies and interests. We are thankful also to all the partners in the research collaboration: IRMA (Anand), SAMPARK (Banga- lore) and NADEL (Zurich). Professor G S Aurora who led the research during the first phase of the study, continued to guide us besides taking part in the research feedback exercises in Kodipalli. To him and to Mrs. Ira Aurora we remain thankful. Ruedi Baumgartner and Ruedi Hogger gave us not mere an opportunity to work with them and a wider team of scholars, but also warm friendship and chal- lenging ideas. To them and other friends at NADEL and Swiss National Science Foundation were remain indebted: Ralf Koppel, Monika and Ruedi Haeberli. In ISEC we were privileged to have the support of Directors P V Shenoi, M Govinda Rao and G K Kadekodi and Registrars S N Sangita, M Nageshwara Rao, and M Venkata Reddy. A Krishnappa, K Narasimhaiha, Lakshminarayana, Ramesh and V Hanumaiah ably supported the team of research. We fail in our words to fully express our gratitude to Meera Murthy for her role in this research. Not only did she give us secretarial help but also took part in the research as a field worker. B Akila and Veena Markande helped us in finalising the manuscript with the editorial help from V S Parthasarathy. To them all we remain indebted. We thank Sage Publications India Ltd., for their kind permission to use Illustration 1 and Pictures 1,2,5 and 6 from Baumgartner, Ruedi and Ruedi Hogger (2004). Earlier reporting of our findings and papers based on the research were presented in several workshops and seminars. Professors Abdul Aziz, N Jayaram and R Indira gave very useful comments. To the members of our families we remain thankful for bearing with us: Rajalakshmi Karanth, Puja, Prarthana, Amaravathi Ramaswamy and Sushma.

Bangalore G K Karanth 19 April 2005 V. Ramaswamy Introduction 1

Chapter I: Introduction Prelude In a study carried out during 1994-95, three conclusions among others were arrived at. First that rural livelihood systems (as they are emerging) depend increasingly on external resources. This weakens the necessity for the local management of village-based natural resource and contributes to the unsustainability of natural resource base. Second, the on- going integration of village communities into an enlarged market economy does not further the more sustainable management of natural resources without an appropriate policy framework. Third, effective village leadership in the past was perceived as the capability to organise people and to pool resources. With emerging patterns of leadership, the sustainable management of resources has lost priority in favour of tapping efficiently the external resources from governmental or non-governmental sources. The study was carried out in Chinnaramannagaru Palli (C.R. Palli) of Kadri Taluk, Ananthapur district in Andhra Pradesh.1 The findings of the study were presented to an audience of multi-disciplinary background during which it was suggested that these conclusions could be validated in different field settings. Since such a validation was found possible within the scope of the research project , it was decided to undertake such a study. The result was an attempt to repeat the study with some variations, in the village Kodipalli of Srinivasapur Taluk, Kolar District of Karnataka State. Kolar district of Karnataka was chosen to be the region for this present study for several reasons. In the first instance, a shift from Andhra to Karnataka was for reasons of familiarity with the region of study and also has the same geographical conditions as Ananthapur district of Andhra Pradesh (in which C.R.Palli is located), because the adjoining Kolar District though in Karnataka happens to be a part of the semi-arid tract of Southern India. The region has also a long history of droughts and people’s efforts to harness underground water to catch up with the wider process of commercialisation and globalisation of agriculture. The proximity of the district to a major growth centre such as Bangalore offers attraction to the rural population to migrate in search of livelihood, a theme that has been of considerable importance for the research. The region is also well-known for some of the development programmes being implemented such as drinking water scheme, dairy development, watershed development, women’s self- help groups, tank rehabilitation programmes, integrated child development programme, literacy campaigns etc. Finally, the region has shown rapid growth of intensive sericultural activities (both at farm and off-farm levels) and dairy development, thereby throwing open avenues for women’s employment and empowerment. At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 2 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management

The selection of the village was based on certain guidelines evolved in consultation with members of the Research Forum, which included a NGO which had as its activities the promotion of women’s self- help groups, watershed development, sustainable agriculture, etc. The other considerations for the selection of the village were the size to be between 900-1,200 acres in extent and 250 to 300 households. It was also necessary to select a village that was predominantly a dry village with facilities of minor irrigation. Since the research concerned natural resource management by the village communities, it was necessary to choose one that had the presence of tank, waste lands and other common property resources and preferably a forest. It was also considered that the village should be multi- caste in composition such that interests of different castes and classes could be examined. Further, it was necessary that the chosen village had a considerable history of migration of population. Finally, it was felt that such a village should not necessarily be on the roadside but fairly interior from the taluk headquarters or the nearest major town. We did encounter some difficulties in identifying the village as per the guidelines, largely emanating from one consideration, i.e., the NGO in question operates by identifying the settlements which are not necessarily revenue villages but are also hamlets. Short listed villages, based on our analysis of the secondary data, often did not correspond with what we saw during our preliminary visits to such villages. Amongst the several villages we visited, Kodipalli presented itself as a suitable one because it met with most of the criteria identified for the selection of a village, although the main village itself had less than the number of households than what we have had in mind.2 Introduction 3

Kodipalli: An Introduction On the district main road from Chintamani of Kolar district to Madanapalli of Chittoor district in Andhra Pradesh, one finds travelling through a terrain which is plain on one side of the road and undulated on the other. At about 19 Kms from Chintamani a road branches off to the left to take us to Kodipalli. This road also has the same characteristic as the way that the traveler has a view of the plainson the road from Chintamani to Madanapalli. The road winds itself to a small town called Gownipalli, the main marketing centre for villages of about 10 Kms in different directions including Kodipalli. Gownipalli is also one of the large settlements bordering the neighbouring Andhra Pradesh beyond which as the crow flies, about 40 Kms in the North Western direction one may find C.R.Palli, a village with which we are familiar.3 Village Kodipalli has two hamlets, namely, Dugganakunte and Gandhinagar. From the contemporary administration’s point of view, Kodipalli, is a revenue village with two hamlets. It is also the headquarters of a Panchayat consisting of ten villages and two hamlets as its constituencies.4 Kodipalli thus forms part of Srinivasapur Taluk Samiti and Kolar Zilla Panchayat under the three-tier decentralised system of governance. The members in Kodipalli are elected for the Gram Panchayat in such a way that at least one member is from a Scheduled Caste and the other a Scheduled Tribe woman. The President of this Panchayat can only be a woman from Scheduled caste.5 The factionalism that has been intensified in recent years as a result of elections to the Panchayat can be seen as an important milestone in the history of the village.6

Picture 1: Kodipalli tank when nearly full (1998) At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 4 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management

As one enters Kodipalli, one gets the view of a large tank on one side and the village settlements on the other, the road winding itself through the settlement. Beyond the tank one can see also huge hillocks which by definition is a forest but presenting itself as a vast tract of barren land. As has been the fate of many forests-by-definition, this forest too has no green cover let alone the trees. Depending on the season and performance of monsoon in a year, one gets to see varying extent of tank-bed either open or immersed under water. The tank has an area of 104 acres. Going by the accounts of the people a third of the tank is increasingly dry, which has now become a source of seasonal activity for many an enterprising farmer of the village. One finds here brick-kilns at various stages of their completion. There has also been a gradual encroachment of the tank-bed by the farmers adjoining such areas. The tank is a part of system of tanks receiving water from the upper reaches and catering to the irrigation needs of two other villages which are situated on the other sides of the tank-bed: Gownipalli and Murrampalli. Kodipalli is a multi-caste village. There are four numerically dominant castes: Reddis (also identified as Kapu Reddis, Kapus or Okkaligas)7, Bheri Vaishyas, Nayakas and Bhovis. Kapus or Reddis have been the main landowning caste in the region who have also enjoyed dominance in the sphere of politics. Most members of this caste live in nuclear families, with only about 15 per cent each living in either joint or extended families. About 53 per cent of the households have either five or six persons living in them. Only two households (10.5 per cent) have more than seven persons, while about 16 per cent have three members living in them. In terms of landownership, Okkaligas fare better than rest in the village (see Table 1). Indeed, it is by virtue of their population and landownership that Kapus enjoy dominance in the village. About 37 per cent of the households belonging to this caste own land between 5 and 10 acres, while 26 per cent have more than ten acres. Less than a third of them have lands below 5 acres, and one household is landless. Three households have been beneficiaries of land grants, although one of them now has some legal difficulties in establishing the claims over the land. Five out of the 19 households have benefited from land reforms either directly or indirectly. In relation to the numerical strengths of the castes, Reddys have a marginally greater share (26.3 per cent) in benefiting from land reforms than the rest. Introduction 5

Being an agricultural caste, members of this caste, one would anticipate, to be personally cultivating their lands. However, about a third of the households of Reddys lease out part or all their lands to be cultivated by others, while about 15.8 per cent (three households) have either leased in or are sharecropping with others in addition to cultivation of their own lands. (Only two households have reported that rearing of buffaloes has improved since the time of their parents, while a majority reports it to have been the same).8 However, a third of the households have reported that it has declined over a period. The largest decline, among Kapus, has been in regard to rearing of bullocks: 64 per cent of households report thus. In recent years most farmers with large holding have tended to depend mainly upon machanised tilling of lands by hiring a power tiller. Relative to other castes, Reddys are the largest users of the tanks in the village. About 58 per cent of the Reddy landowners have tanks as a single source of irrigation for cultivation. Not a single farmer in this caste has reported to be cultivating lands without irrigation. Many among them have multiple sources of irrigation: tank and borewell (5.3 per cent), tank and open well (26.3 per cent), and tanks, wells, and pond (5.3 per cent). A vast majority of the Reddys have been living in the houses constructed by their ancestors, with or without some minor additions and repairs. Two households (10.5 per cent) built houses about 16 years ago. House construction among them seems to be a less important preoccupation as the house construction data suggest. Bheri Vaishya as a caste is peculiar to the region. In the past, they were known to have been traders by occupation in keeping with the title Vaishya as per the Varna scheme of stratification. The Bheri Vaishyas went from village to village or towns buying and selling the agricultural produce in small quantities. Like many other castes in the region Bheri Vaishyas of Kodipalli too have taken full time agriculture in recent years. They are distinguished from the Vaishyas in general by their use of a Bullock to carry the load of things they buy and sell.9 The Vaishyas of the Varna scheme, in contrast, were known to be resident traders, largely in urban habitat. Like most other castes, the incidence of nuclear families is high among Bheri Vaishyas (70.1 per cent). Nearly fifty per cent of the households of this caste have households with a size of four to five persons, and about 21 per cent (five households) have six persons in a household. Four households have more than seven persons living in them. Half of Bheri Vaishya households in Kodipalli are small farmers, i.e., with 2.5 to 5.0 acres of land. In relation to other castes in the village, they are the only caste with At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 6 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management a majority being small farmers. A quarter of the households owns less than 2.5 acres, while only one household owns more than ten acres of land. None in their caste has been a beneficiary of land grants made from time to time, carving out the land from the village commons. It is worthwhile noting here that about 41 households have been beneficiaries of such grants, either directly or indirectly (i.e., a member of the joint family having benefited and the proceeds shared). Four Bheri Vaishya households (16.7 per cent) have, however, benefited from land reforms programme. Out of the 24 households of this caste, nearly 59 per cent cultivate their own land, while about 25 per cent have been cultivating, besides their own, lands belonging to others. Four households (16.7 per cent) have either personally, leased out or given land on sharecropping. There has been a considerable decline in animal husbandry among them, particularly with respect to the rearing of bullocks, buffaloes, and sheep. None among the Bheri Vaishyas is landless. Only four out of the 24 households (16.7 per cent) do not have any irrigation source for cultivation, and they stand only next to Korachas in this respect. The rest of the castes in the village have a much higher proportion of households without irrigation. Among those with irrigation source, a majority depend on tanks and open wells. Only one household has a borewell, while the rest depend on tanks, wells, and ponds.10 Bhovi as a caste, constitute the single largest group in Kodipalli. But contrary to the broad-basing process referred to above, here, the Bhovis based on endogamy, occupation and gods to be worshipped are divided into two large groups. The Talla Bhovis specialise in rope making and live mainly in Kodipalli. Mannu Bhovis, on their part, distinguish themselves by their association with earthen work. The Telugu and Kannada term ‘Mannu’ refers to soil or earth. Almost all the Mannu Bhovis live in Dugganakunte, a hamlet which was established entirely for the habitation of the earth workers from the surrounding villages during the late 60s and early 70s. Talla Bhovi and Mannu Bhovi constitute 19 and 26 households respectively. In Karnataka, Bhovis of all denominations are classified under Scheduled Caste category. Traditionally, they called themselves as ‘Oddas’. Because the term Odda does not figure in the Schedule of castes and because increasingly the term has come to acquire a negative meaning, they have preferred to call themselves as Bhovis. They now take it as an offence if referred to as Oddas. (Odda in Kannada has come to mean crude, rough or uncultured). The fourth numerically significant caste is ‘Nayaka’. They claim their origin from the Sage Valmiki, author of the mythology ‘Ramayana’. Introduction 7

They also call themselves as ‘Bedas’. Until recently they were classified as a Backward Tribe and since early 1990s they have been accorded the status of Scheduled Tribes.

The other Scheduled Castes in the village are Koracha and Madigas ; the latter having been an untouchable caste as per the old caste- based social order. There are also a few Muslims known here as Dudekula, who traditionally were mattress makers. The Christian presence is seen among three households who, when situation demands, follow the faith of Christianity but retaining their Hindu or Muslim links.11 At present there are not many service castes inhabiting the village. Currently there are nine households of Washermen caste known here as ‘Chakali’ and four ‘Padmasali’, i.e., the Weavers. There is a lone Lingayat household, a male member of which came to the village originally as a Priest. Today, besides being a priest, the family is also engaged in agriculture. Since about 4-5 years the wife of the priest is working as a servant (Ayah) in the Anganwadi (Child care centre) in Kodipalli.

Notes 1. See, Ramaswamy, et al. 1996. 2 The Research Forum consisted of the other partners in RLS research, and met at least twice a year. The Forum provided a platform for mutual consultation in identifying the research objectives by individual partners, methodology and discussing the findings at different stages of the progress of field research. 3 See Ramaswamy 1998. 4 The Constituent villages are Kodipalli, Avaganapalli, Cheelepalli, Tummullapalli, Karipalli, Nakkalagadda, Murrampalli, Bypalli, Batlaguttalapalli and Kondamari. 5 As per the roster for the term beginning 1996. 6 For growing factionalism in village India and its implications, see Karanth 2002. 7 The caste name Kapu or Kapu Reddy is typically Andhra in origin, although part of Karnataka, Kodipalli and some adjoining villages on the Andhra- Karnataka border have more of Telugu-Andhra character than that of old Mysore. This is in keeping with the fact that the origin was part of Vijayanagara Empire, and during the British rule under the Madras Presidency. Taking on the caste name similar to those in the culturally contiguous area is one of the ways by which broad basing of the castes take place. It is a process by which smaller endogamous caste units with similar cultural trait come together to claim a larger and substantial numerical strength by adopting a common name (Karanth 1997). 8 “Same” does also mean that those who had no animal husbandry in the past do not have now too. At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 8 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management

9 There are two caste myths that trace the origin of Bheri Vaishyas. Both, however, try to explain by trying to articulate the meaning of the expression Bheri with a story. According to one, it is a corruption of the expression ‘Bere’ (the term in vogue both Kannada and Telugu) to denote the ‘Other’ or ‘different’. A Vaishya had a concubine from a different caste in addition to a wife from his own. The children born to the concubine were all called ‘different Vaishyas’ that is ‘Bere Vaishya’. The word ‘Bere’ in due course became ‘Bheri Vaishya’ although the word ‘Bheri’ does not denote the meaning ‘Bere’. The second myth, likewise, emphasises the meaning of the word ‘Bedari’ that is of being frightened. A family with an attractive girl decided to run away out of fear since the local Chief began to be interested in her. Since they were the frightened Vaishyas, who ran away, they came to be known as ‘Bedari Vaishyas’. Bedari Vaishya in due course was corrupted to be Bheri Vaishya (See Thurston 1975). 10 “Pond” as referred to here is stagnant water along the stream or canals from the tanks in the village. As such they are not a dependable source, for water in them is available only if the rains and run off in the streams/canals are good in any given area. Water has to be pumped out through irrigation pumpsets. Officially such lands are not classified as “wet” lands. 11 The conversion into Christianity has been a recent phenomenon in Kodipalli. A Christian priest was threatened with physical harm if he was found propagating. Rumours abound the village constantly that one or the other so- called “ low caste” household is in the process of being converted to Christianity. But the nearest Church is however, in Chintamani, thus not making the process of conversion or following once own faith an easy task. Chapter II Kodipalli’s Natural Resource Base Since our concern here is to trace the links of the livelihood system of Kodipalli as it has evolved over a period, with the natural resource of the village, it is appropriate at this stage to introduce the different natural resources in the village. For the present purpose, we shall refer to three sets of them, namely, the tanks, forest and land. A. The Tank and its Physical Features Together, the hamlet Duggankunta and village Kodipalli have five water-bodies that may be referred to as tanks. They are: i) Yeguva Duggankunta ii) Diguva Duggankunta iii) Kanagalakunta iv) Kodipalli Peddacheruvu v) Gokunta The last of these is located in the forest, and meant for use by cattle taken there for grazing. For long this had been just a water spot without a proper bund or pathway to approach it. During 1996-97, civil work was undertaken to develop this tank but it has remained incomplete because of political faction rivalry. 1 Yeguva Dugganakunta has a command area of about 10 acres with a matching waterspread area, and is located in Duggankuta. During the year 2000 the tank was renovated by removing the silt and strengthening the bund. This forms part of a long chain of tanks, both in the upstream and downstream. The water from this tank is drained into Diguva Dugganakunta. Even as our study was in progress, this tank began to disappear from the landscape. The earthen dam had breached and there was hardly any water stored. Gradually, thereafter, only the stream remained and the dry parts of the tank bed began to be encroached by the farmers. Kanagalakunta2 tank has a command area of about 20 acres stretching almost to the upper end of Kodipalli tank’s waterspread area. Farmers owning lands in the command area are, by and large, from Kodipalli. Kodipalli Peddacheruvu (henceforth, Kodipalli tank) is one of the bigger tanks in the chain of tanks under reference. Our discussion pertains largely to this tank. The name Kodipalli for the village is derived from the tank in the village: ‘Kodi’ refers to the waste-weir of a tank, ‘Palli’ being the Telugu word for village.3 The history of the tank is buried in time, except that the At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 10 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management residents of Kodipalli recall it having been there, even during “their grand parents time”. A few persons recall their parents mentioning of the tank bund having been rebuilt a few generations earlier. It is said that on completion of the repairs, as is customary, a human sacrifice was made. For this purpose, usually a pregnant women is preferred. According to the local legend, an unmarried and a deaf and dumb girl had become pregnant in a distant village. Her brother was said to have brought her to Kodipalli where she was offered as the sacrifice. The brother had been one amongst several migrant workers, of Mannu Bhovi caste. Perhaps he had a greater compulsion to get rid of the family shame in an honourable way. Just as the name of the village is derived from the tank, the livelihood of people in the village too revolved around the tank in a very significant way. The use of the past tense is because it is no longer true and there lies the question of the future of the tank related to the livelihood system. Hence, a special focus on it here. Interface of the tank with the people is to be recognised by the fact that for a very long time there were no open wells even to meet the needs water for the household requirements. The tank met all their water needs. Women, therefore, marched towards the tank each day, perhaps several times, to fetch water in earthen pots. The village’s animal keeper (Aavulodu) invariably stopped by at the tank for the animals to drink water on his entrance to the forest. On his way back too he led the animals to the tank. On those days when the farmers did not send their animals to the forest or for those animals that were not part of the ‘Mande’ the tank was the bathing ghat. Men and women too used it as their bathing and washing ghat. The Dhobi, (Chakllolu, the Washermen) used it to wash the clothes of their patrons from this and other villages. Many more made feast of fish that could fall bait their angles, while for a few it used to be a supplementary source of livelihood. The tank bed that had been not under water, during either summer months or the dreaded droughts, formed a source of ‘famine food’ both for human and cattle population. When lands elsewhere had turned dry, the tank bed formed a major source of fodder. There are quite a few ‘famine foods’ (see Karanth 1995) that are gathered from the tank bed by people, rich and poor alike. A variety of greens and some tubers are much sought after even during normal times. It is also on the tank bed that the Washerman unearthed a white coloured soil (Sondu)4 with detergent value. This is sought both by the Washerman for washing clothes and women particularly of the lower caste to wash clothes and household utensils. Kodipalli’s Natural Resource Base 11

The tank also served as a source of raw material for the potters who left the village about two decades ago. Although brick laid buildings were not quite in vogue, the soil, particularly silt, used to be a sought after raw material to erect walls or the mix of mortar. The rope makers from the Tallu Bhovi caste used the tank extensively to facilitate their craft, which required soaking of the coconut husk or sisal fibre for a week or two before removing the pulp. They had amongst themselves specific locations earmarked for different persons to soak the raw material in the tank. For many more farmers the tank was a good source of manure and in the process there was contribution to the sustainability of the tank: the silt applied as manure meant regular desilting the tank; desilting meant better catchment and water retention in the tank. If these were some of the ways by which the village community found use of the tank, the other way by which it determined the livelihood was the role it played in agriculture. Though the tank is located on the outskirts of Kodipalli the command of the tank is made up of three village communities: besides Kodipalli it consists of Gownipalli and Diguvamurampalli (also, Murrampalli). It may be recalled (see Karanth and Ramaswamy, 1997) that much of the land in the village including that of the command area was at one time owned principally by the absentee land owners of Gownipalli and Murrampalli. The hereditary village accountant too was a resident of Gownipalli. Considering that almost all farmers in Kodipalli were tenants of the landowners residing in Gownipalli or elsewhere, and that cultivation of irrigated land was more important in the agrarian economy, the hereditary accountant (Shanubhog) often tended to be even more powerful than the politically lightweight hereditary headman in Kodipalli. No resolving of any dispute could take place in the absence of Shanubhog even when all the members of the council were present. Most headmen were also not men of letters, which too contributed to the power of Shanubhogs. However, the headmen in these villages including Kodipalli had the responsibility of maintaining and managing the tanks. In this capacity they decided the pattern of allocation of water for irrigation purposes. It was also they who had to keep the time through the indigenous system of earthen pot with a hole. The Patel or the hereditary headman was also responsible for conducting the village religious events and the rituals associated with them. Quite a few rituals revolved around the tank, as shall be seen from description below. At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 12 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management

Picture 2. A stone inscription at the Malera Kunte in Murampalli, adjoining Kodipalli.

Note: The inscription, installed by the hereditary leader of Kodipalli in 1910, asks the fellow villagers to keep ‘our’ tank clean, and not to wash clothes, vessels or animals. The notice also warns people of “cruel punishment” to those who violate the norms The mean depth of the tank is 32 feet. The length of the bund is 402 meters and the height at the mid point is about 42 feet. The tank has a command of 360 acres comprising the revenue jurisdiction of the three villages: Kodipalli has 81.05 acres, the rest is shared between Murrampalli and Gownipalli. Over the years this separation of jurisdiction has tended to be more for the purpose of land records, for in the past (about 50 years ago) much of the land was owned by those living in Gownipalli. This trend, however, continues although there has been considerable ‘change to titles’ to land in the command area, involving people from the three villages. As late as 2002, a few farmers from Murrampalli and Gownipalli had sold their lands to those living in the other villages. Kodipalli’s Natural Resource Base 13

Elsewhere in the region, tanks usually have two kinds of sluices: Gonta Thumu (i.e., main sluice) and the Mitta Thumu. The latter is an elevated sluice, meant to supply water to the land holdings that are located at an elevated plane yet forming part of the tank command area. Kodipalli’s main tank has two main sluices (Thumu, in Telugu, perhaps a corrupt form of English ‘tube’) each of which has several branches. The sluice meant for Murrampalli is located on the far side of the tank from Kodipalli. This is referred to as ‘Murrampalli Thumu’. The main sluice for Kodipalli is referred to as ‘Kodipalli Thumu’, which also caters to the farmers from Gownipalli in the command area. In addition, there is another sluice, referred to as ‘Mitta Thumu’ meaning ‘raised tube’. Mitta Thumu is rarely used, except when the tank is full or nearly full. While the two main sluices supply water to the farmers in the command area, Mitta Thumu has an interesting feature of improvisation of the system to meet the needs of farmers owning lands close to the command but in an elevated plane. On the right side, bordering Kodipalli a few plots are in an elevated plane. When there is an overflow of the tank or when the water runs off through the surplus sluices, farmers in such elevated locales do not have the benefit, even though their holdings are close to the command area. Often, farmers owning such land may have given paths through their holdings for fields beyond and towards the command, or a portion of their land may have been taken up to erect the tank bund. Either to compensate such actions, or to enable them too to benefit from the tank, the Mitta Thumu was erected. Since the sluice gate (tube) is at a higher level than the other main sluices, water flows out of this only when there is sufficient water. Instead of allowing the surplus water to run off, or storing water to an extent beyond the required level to meet the needs, members of the village community who do not form part of the tank’s command area are also given an opportunity to harness the water from the tank. In a sense, farmers depending on Mitta Thumu exercise their rights to use seepage water from the tank. Since the source is uncertain for the farmers, and since it is available for a much shorter duration, they are not levied a water tax. The two main sluices release water to flow on either side of the command, and meets up at Gownipalli before making way into a tank down the stream. The water is collected into the tank by way of run off during monsoon from the hillocks in the catchment area. One of the hillocks constitutes what on paper today is the forest. At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 14 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management

Managing the Tank There are at least two different, but related, dimensions involved in managing the tank. Since the responsibility concerning the two does not lie with the same agency, they need to be highlighted. The first pertains to the physical maintenance of the tank and the second to the distribution of water to the users in the command area. As regards the first, tanks which are with a command area of 4 to 40 hectares (10 to 100 acres) fall under the jurisdiction of the Zilla Panchayats. Those with 40 to 2,000 hectares (100 to 5,000 acres) come under the Department of minor irrigation. It is the responsibility of the respective departments to effect major or minor repairs and meet the costs. Under this principle, the tank in Kodipalli comes under the jurisdiction of public works in the cell of minor irrigation. However, by convention, the farmers have the responsibility of periodically clearing the feeder channels and the pathways, the distribution-canals, and effect minor repairs such as plugging a leak somewhere or repairing the sluices etc. In recent years, however, the tendency has been to depend upon the department concerned for all repairs, minor or major. Like in most parts of Southern India the responsibility of managing Kodipalli tank was, in principle, vested with the village leadership. They organised voluntary labour to annually or periodically desilt the tank, clear the pathways of water flow into the tank and the upkeep of the tank bund as well as the canals down stream. Desilting took place not so much as a separate task as the manner in which tank rehabilitation takes place nowadays, but by facilitating various off-farm activities such as animal husbandry, laying brick-kilns, removal of alluvial and so on. In order to facilitate these activities cart roads that traditionally led to the tank’s dry bed from different directions were ensured to be kept open and no encroachment was permitted. Indeed it was the responsibility of the leaders to ensure proper maintenance of such roads leading to different amenities including the tank. Such maintenance was through participation by the people. Failing to contribute meant imposition of a fine or even ex-communication by the village community. Maintenance and management of the tank in the past may be seen as having been part of an organic whole of the rural livelihood system. The rituals and festivals, the cultivation patterns, the needs of the different sections of the people, etc., reinforced each other and necessitated a proper management of the tank. There were separate specialists, whose responsibility it was to look after the tank and distribution of water to meet the needs of farmers to irrigate their crops. Neerugantis, the water overseers, held this position Kodipalli’s Natural Resource Base 15 and succeeded to it by hereditary principles. A few households of Nayaka caste have been the Neerugantis of the Kodipalli tank. Because there are two main functional sluices, one meant for Murrampalli and the other for Gownipalli and Kodipalli, there has been a division of labour among the Neerugantis serving as the functionaries for each of the sluices.

Picture 3: Kodipalli’s Neeruganti at work Although many changes have taken place in the contemporary management of the tank in Kodipalli we may reconstruct the practice as it was about three decades ago. From the point of view of such a reconstruction we need to bear in mind that the tendency is for the people to recall the practice of management when the tank was full. Conventions, however, determined the pattern of use also when the tank was not full or when the tank did not have adequate water. It should also be borne in mind that the reconstruction of the management pertains to a point of time when there were no wells, open or deeper wells, at least in the command area. Nor had there been any mechanical means by which water could be lifted form the tank or the canal, contrary to what may be found today. The management, largely governed by conventions, was also essentially participatory, involving farmers not merely from Kodipalli but from the two other villages as well. Conventionally, therefore, farmers in the command area met along with the leaders to assess whether or not two crops could be raised with the available or expected water in the tank. Such a meeting used to take place whenever the water level in the tank At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 16 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management reached what the people considered the final level, given the rainfall in a year at the appropriate time. Past experiences and conformity to the expected cropping pattern enabled the farmers to arrive at such a decision. Depending upon the decision the frequency of releasing water was also determined. If the tank had water to its full capacity, i.e., ‘level at which the stone is fully immersed’, the question of regulated distribution does not arise. For, there was plenty of water that could support two crops in a calendar year and might be more as well. It is, however, not every year that the tank gets water to overflow to such an extent. Having determined the frequency of letting out the water, the question now is of allocation of water-flow time to meet the needs of the farmers in the downstream. The management of a tank in terms of distribution of water and the upkeep is intrinsically linked to each other. In other words, the physical structure of the tank, the height at which the distribution gates or sluices are situated, the capacity of the tank, the feeder channel etc., are all taken into account while determining the pattern of distribution of water. Ideally the cropping pattern, i.e., one, two, or multiple crops, is also determined by the structure and capacity of the tank. The capacity of the tank is always expressed by the people in terms of the number of crops that can be raised in a year, given the extent of command area. Farmers in Kodipalli assess that the tank was capable of supporting two crops of paddy about fifteen years ago, at the end of which a dry crop could be raised5. But, in recent years, there has been siltation of the tank, thereby reducing the water-holding capacity. According to the people, there is a huge rock, the height of which is about 8 feet, in the tank. Siltation has been to an extent now that the rock is no longer visible, having been covered by silt. Consequently, one crop of paddy is what the tank can now support and if there is adequate water, farmers in the command raise vegetables, ragi, or similar semi-dry crops as a second crop. Several factors are borne in mind in the decision to release water from the tank. There is always an element of speculation involved in the decision-making, for it is based not only on the availability of water but also of what is anticipated as the flow into the tank. Much of the speculation is governed by the “grandfather knowledge” and faith in “what the stars fore- tell”. There are auspicious ruling planets and star positions, which have, for generations governed farmers’ agrarian practices. There are also indicators in the natural environs of the village suggesting prospects for rains and crops for the year or specific seasons. The difficult task for the farmers is to decide based on a combination of facts and anticipation. While facts can Kodipalli’s Natural Resource Base 17 be unalterable, anticipation may result in highly variable situations. Even though farmers have a tendency to place a greater faith in the “grandfather knowledge” based anticipations there have been instances of their speculations having gone wrong. In this regard, two principles play a crucial role. First, the decision to release water at any given time is with a concern to support and protect the standing crops. Second, such a decision should not have negative consequences but to ensure that towards the end of the year, particularly during summer months, there is adequate water to meet the needs other than agricultural in nature such as for cattle, household requirements and for the artisans. Generations ago when the tank was built the concern for the latter was ensured by placing the outlet sluices at a certain height so as to ensure a minimum water left in the tank for these purposes6. Since the tank’s capacity is understood to be to support two crops much importance is attached to the process of assessing the fact (i.e., water level at a given point of time) and the anticipated water flow into the tank. Individual farmers on their part begin to sow seedlings in the nursery, which usually coincides with the on-set of monsoon. By the time the nursery is ready for transplantation, farmers begin to anticipate release of water from the tank. A decision is taken to release water if at the end of a month there has been enough water to support that crop. This decision usually coincides with a majority of the farmers beginning to prepare the ground for transplantation by flooding the plots and ploughing the fields. If this is a normal situation when the monsoon keeps its date with the tank and the fields, the dependence on water from the tank may be less critical. This is because the transplanted paddy fields would be receiving adequate water from the rains and the run-off besides seepage from the tank.7 In a normal monsoon year, therefore, the first crop of paddy may, at best, get an initial support from the tank following which there may be a decision to slow down the water outflow from the tank so as to conserve it for a second crop. Should there be an unfavourable monsoon, meaning that the tank has not received adequate water, the decision will be to support the existing crops and do away with the idea of a second crop unless the monsoon improves. Earlier a reference was made to three situations. The first pertains to one in which the tank receives water to its full capacity even as the monsoon is still active or by the time monsoon ends. If such a situation is to occur, the farmers are, by and large, assured of two irrigated crops. This is because since the monsoon is still active or the tank gets full as the monsoon At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 18 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management recedes there is abundant seepage besides the run-off from the streams and whatever the rains can bring directly, helping the first crop. A second crop too can be supported with available water in tank. The second situation may occur directly or as a succession to the first situation. That is, when either at the end of the monsoon or a couple of months after the end of the monsoon the tanks may have water just about half of its capacity or less than that. If it were to be at the end of the monsoon the decision would be to support the standing crops. If the decision is to be taken just when it is time to begin activities for the second crop, usually around the months of December-January, an assessment is made of its adequacy to support a crop of paddy as a second crop. If it is assessed to be inadequate, then the farmers may have to opt for ragi or other semi- dry crops. They may also choose to grow vegetables such as tomatoes, chillies, onion, or even sunflower. In either case the decision to release water should not affect the availability of it for non-agricultural purposes. The third situation pertains to a near drought condition under which there has been inadequate rains and the tank has not received enough water. Alternatively, it could also be the position in the tank following the release of water for the first condition. Under this situation, there will be insufficient water to the extent that the stone slab indicating the levels of water is fully visible. If it were due to the former reason, measures taken to combat or cope with the drought would also be applicable to the farmers in the command area. If they had already sown paddy seedlings in the nursery, it was allowed to be grown as a dry crop, or for grazing the cattle. If it was for the latter reason, i.e., at the end of a first crop, the decision was to raise a dry crop in the command area. This applied only to farmers willing to take a risk, for not all undertook to raise a dry crop when the tank was close to being empty. Even among those who raised a dry crop, it was only a portion of their holdings in the command that was sown and usually with an alternative irrigation source assured. The rest was left fallow. It may be seen that the description thus far has been about the different situations that vary, and the decision is about the discharge of water. A few norms followed need to be highlighted at this juncture, notwithstanding the description above. If at any time it is felt that the water in the tank is not sufficient to irrigate the standing crops, emphasis is laid on a regulated flow of water. The flow through the channels then is regulated by releasing water through different channels by turns. That is, on certain specified days the water is released through each channel. This is meant to save the standing crops and to give an opportunity to each farmer in the Kodipalli’s Natural Resource Base 19 command to harness water that is now becoming scarce. In the past, when the water level went far below the sluices it was permitted to lift water manually. Farmers used to erect a manual lift (Telugu: yetamu) to harness water. This used to be done under the supervision of village leader or one of his representatives. In order to prevent farmers from over-drawing on the dwindling resource, a time slot was allotted to each farmer. Time was kept by using an earthen pot with a small hole in it, through which water used to drain within the allotted time. Coinciding with the draining of water in the pot was the turn for a farmer to lift water from the tank. The potter was responsible to provide such a pot to the use by the community. One important set of functionaries that played a crucial role in the matter concerning discharge of water was that of the Neeruganti. As pointed out earlier, two families were responsible for holding this office, one each for Kodipalli and Murrampalli sluices. Over generations these two families have partitioned amongst themselves, and today there are six Neerugantis who function by rotation each year. The responsibility of the Neeruganti is to carry out the decision of the village community in regard to discharge of water. In the past, he was expected to perform several duties concerning the physical and ritual aspects of the tank. With respect to the former, he was expected to 1) ensure supply of water to each plot in the command area: 2) keep a watch over the command area and the crops in them; 3) prevent misuse of water, theft or grazing by stray cattle in the fields; and 4) upkeep of the physical structure of the tank as well as the channels, besides assisting the leader in time-keeping during the lifting of water. As regards the ritual services, he was expected to assist the leader in the celebration of the festival of tank, Teppotsava.8 He was also expected to assist the leader in the performance of the ritual of Sagubadi, the commencement of agricultural operations each year in the command area. At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 20 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management

B. Land and Pattern of Landownership

According to the land records Kodipalli has an area of 1,505.07 acres of which 541.21 acres are cultivable. An extent of 117.38 acres has been designated as forest, with 673.08 acres as wasteland and Government grazing land (Gomal). There are seven households, which do not own any land, twenty households (12.5 per cent) owning less than one acre, and 48 households (30.0 per cent) having land between 1 to 2.5 acres. Thus, nearly 47 per cent of the households in the village are small farmers. In terms of caste, the largest extent of land is held by the Kapus who amongst themselves own about 123.74 acres of land. They are followed by Bheri Vaishyas who own 105.68 acres. Considering the resident population among different castes, the highest per-capita land owned is by the Kapus (1.19 acres) followed by Bheri Vaishyas (0.83 acres), Nayakas (0.78 acres), Madigas (0.75 acres) and Koracha (0.65 acres). There are only 6 farmers who own land more than 10 acres, three of whom are Okkaligas (See Table 1). Using PRA technique, the people of the village were asked to do a wealth ranking of the village households. The ranking as was evolved participatively does not differ significantly from the data that was gathered by canvassing household schedules, but it has important qualitative differences. First, let us consider the understanding of classification in terms of wealth by people themselves through PRA. Participants in the exercise of wealth ranking were mainly men while women had shown interest in doing a social mapping in terms of identifying the households, streets, places of importance etc., by using colours and drawing on the ground. The men had been asked to rank the members of the village in terms of the perceived economic standing of the people in the village, taking into account the land they own, house in which they lived, subsidiary occupations and incomes. The participants were more or less clear as to who the poorest and the richest were. As researchers we introduced two other categories, namely, those with an “Average” wealth status (meaning neither poor nor rich) and the third who were just above the poverty line but below those of the average income status. Interestingly enough the ranking was done at least twice: first by a set of four persons, and, by those who joined later. As was noticed, there was not much shifting around of houses into different groups by the two sets of participants. Village people have, by and large, a clear notion as to who belonged to which economic category. Mere ownership of land does not seem to be a decisive indicator of the wealth status of a person. Instead, Kodipalli’s Natural Resource Base 21 Per HH Land owned in acres 2.10 2.50 4.31 7.10 2.58 2.36 3.07 4.35 1.91 4.06 1.77 2.54 3.86 1.00 3.78 0.42 0.63 0.81 1.34 0.45 0.46 0.61 0.93 0.5 0.83 0.39 0.74 0.81 0.38 0.8 Per capita Land owned in acres 1 5 1 1 1 1 10 10.01 plus acres 5 7 1 4 1 6 1 4 29 5.01 to 10.0 acres 1 12 5 2 1 2 4 12 1 2 4 46 2.51 to 5.0 acres 1 2 3 1 1 5 7 7 6 4 4 6 1 48 1.01 to 2.5 acres 3 1 2 2 7 1 2 1 1 20 Up to 1 acre Landownership Classification 1 3 1 1 1 7 Landless Table 1. Caste, Households, Population and Landownership 5 12 127 101 23 46 10 84 72 127 32 31 76 8 754 Persons Land in acres 2.10 7.50 103.32 134.87 10.30 21.27 6.13 78.25 36.20 105.60 12.38 22.83 61.78 3 605.53 HH 1 3 24 19 4 9 2 18 19 26 7 9 16 3 Household Survey Caste Lingayat Bhatraj Bheri Vaishya Okkaliga Padmasali Chakali Dudekula Nayaka Tallabovi Mannubovi Chinnadasari Koracha Madiga Christian Total 160 Source: At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 22 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management how efficiently and profitably resources are combined including that of land, manpower and intelligence, to live independently and be a patron to others, seemed to be important considerations in determining the wealth status of a person/household. Thus, many of those who in our classification based on land ownership may be considered as a small or medium farmer were either poor or rich farmer from the point of view of the people themselves. Thirty- four people (implicitly, households) were classified by the participants as “Rich” and a similar number of persons under the category “Very Poor” in Kodipalli. In Dugganakunte, the Bhovis who constituted the population of the hamlet insisted that they all worked as labourers and as such all are poor. After considerable discussion they accepted the suggestion that there existed a difference among themselves based on landownership, knowledge, education, employment and health of the family members. Eight households were ranked as “Rich” who enjoyed greater prestige and a high social status. The second group which was also held in high esteem but lower in terms of economic status than that of the former, consisted of five households. The third group referred to as being “Average” had four households, while the fourth consisted of nine, making up the “Very poor” category. Contrary to Dugganakunte, which has a homogeneous population in terms of caste, the participants of Kodipalli were more forthcoming in wealth ranking. Thus, in addition to identifying the very rich and the poor, 29 and 31 households were classified into the category of “Average” and “Just above poverty line” respectively. 9 Did the wealth ranking as was done reflect the economic status of those who participated in the exercise? A majority belonged to the middle two groups. There is also the question whether the ranking would have been any different if it had been done by women either exclusively or with men also as participants with them. Considering the traditionally ascribed low status to certain castes such as Madigas, Nayakas and Bhovis, landownership pattern among them in Kodipalli seems to present a favourable picture. From Table 1 we see that the Mannu Bhovi and Talla Bhovi have a per household holding of 2.93 and 1.43 acres respectively. The Nayakas have a high of 3.8 acres while the Madigas and Korachas have 3.71 and 2.30 acres respectively. Among the different castes, particularly the so-called low castes, landownership has been a result of at least two factors. First, many of them have been recipients of Inam land. In a village with a large tank, it meant receiving Inam of wet lands. Thus, Madigas, Nayakas and Chakali have come to own land through Inam. The traditional village office of Neeruganti Kodipalli’s Natural Resource Base 23

(Water overseer), Chakali (Washerman) and Ooru-Madiga (similar to Thoti elsewhere) have been endowed with a gift of land in return for their services. The second reason is the result of the features of the agrarian social structure of Kodipalli. As was pointed out earlier the entire hamlet of Dugganakunte came into existence as a consequence of a re-settlement of the population and by granting land that had been the village’s wasteland. Thus, as many as 26 Mannu Bhovis of Dugganakunte came to be the owners of land. Although the title deeds for the land were given to them only a few years ago, they have, however, been in possession of the land for over 25 years. The other feature of agrarian social structure has been the significant extent of land that had been transferred from absentee landowners to the resident, tenant/share-croppers following the Land Reforms that were implemented in different phases. Between 1960s and early 80s, many tenants/share- croppers benefited the right of occupancy of such lands.10 During the PRA and subsequent revelation through oral history it was learnt that almost all Talla Bhovis who now live on the eastern end of the village adjoining the tank in Kodipalli came to acquire the land which once belonged to a Brahman absentee landowner. It is claimed that he gifted away the land to the Bhovis to enable them to construct their own houses on the sites formed on this plot of land. The Bhovis had a different version to narrate. While the land belonged to the absentee landowner, they had an advantage. The landowner, who owned considerable extent of land in different villages in which he was officiating as the Village Accountant/ (Shanbog), had the prospect of loosing a considerable extent of land under the Land Ceiling Act. He, therefore, invited many of his former tenants to buy up a house site in the land under reference, although the price was nominal. In either case the Brahman landowner seemed to have been reluctant to sell the land to the dominant caste Reddis and Bheri Vaishyas. A further dimension of the background of the housing area of Bhovi was that the Government acquired the Brahman landowners’ land for housing purposes and free sites were distributed. The landowner had the option of contesting the acquisition. Instead the owners sold un-acquired portion of the land at nominal prices to those who were not beneficiaries of the free sites. Coinciding with this was the absentee landowners giving up the claims to their land under the Land Reforms implementation reign. Although the tenants and sharecroppers rarely sought legal course of action to share their claims for Occupancy Rights, the tenants usually entered into an agreement with the landowners to buy the land at the prevailing rates. For At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 24 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management purposes of minimising the costs of transaction and registration of the land titles in their own names a few went through the formal procedure of Land Reforms. In any case, a majority of the tenants/share croppers were the Bhovis, Nayakas, and Madigas. Reddis and Bheri Vaishyas who enjoyed a higher ritual status tended to avoid engaging themselves as tenants or sharecroppers of the so-called high castes such as the Brahmans. This was because of the socially degrading experience that some of the low castes had to undergo at the hands of the high castes. As a result, the chief beneficiaries of land transfers that took place in the wake of land reforms were the tenants and sharecroppers from such castes which traditionally were considered as low in status. An important difference is to be borne in mind while speaking of distribution of land among different castes. This difference comes from the point of view of whether or not they have access to irrigation. Sources of irrigation have been through the tank, open wells in the past and now tube wells (See Table 2). The tank, which has a total area of 40.20 acres, has a command area of 337 acres. Of this, about a third is being owned or used by the farmers of Kodipalli, the rest being controlled, owned or used by those of Murrampalli and Gownipalli. Table 3 shows caste of farmers who own land in the command area of the tank, either in Kodipalli or Dugganakunte. From among the farmers in Kodipalli it is the Bhovis who have a greater share of land in the command area within the jurisdiction of Kodipalli. Bheri Vaishyas, in keeping with their tradition, had taken to leasing in or sharecropping in the command area to raise mainly the Betel wines. In due course, aided by the land transfers that took place in the wake of land reforms, if not the land reforms itself, they came to establish claims to the right of occupancy. The land in the past in the command area was predominantly owned by the Brahman landowners from Gownipalli and the Reddis of Murrampalli. While the Reddis of Murrampalli have retained land in their jurisdiction they too had been leasing out the land to others in Kodipalli. The other main source of irrigation is by way of sinking tube wells and open wells. Open wells have been possible in certain tracts largely in the command area itself. There are 24 open wells but many of which are not perennial. The first tube well in Kodipalli was sunk during the years 1974-75. As late as December 1997 there were twenty-two tube wells, water from which was extracted either from the use of electricity or diesel. Kodipalli’s Natural Resource Base 25

Table 2: Irrigation Scenario

Land Ownership Landless No irrigation Tank Borewell Tank + Tank + Total Categories Borewell Open Well Landless 100.0 8 Up to 1 acre 84.2 15.8 19 1.01 to 2.50 acres 33.3 62.5 4.2 48 2.51 to 5 acres 37.0 43.5 2.2 6.5 10.9 46 5.01 to 10 acres 13.3 56.7 10.0 20.0 30 10 acres and above 11.1 22.2 44.4 22.2 9 Total 8 54 72 1 12 13 160 % 5.0 33.8 45.0 0.6 7.5 8.1 100.0 Cropping Pattern Kolar district presents the classic case of a radical transformation in the cropping pattern in the state of Karnataka. We find a mere 3.8 per cent of cultivable land under food crops during 1993-94. This transition implies the erosion of a solid basis of interdependence between livelihood systems and natural resource regime. Traditionally, the cropping pattern was ragi and where assured irrigation was available, paddy and sugarcane. Ragi enabled intercropping of several pulses, oil seeds and cereals and other minor millets. Kolar was also a district known for its recurrent droughts (See Maclachlan 1974). One of the strategies by which farmers began to cope up with droughts was to migrate as the Mannu Bhovis do even now, to engage themselves in construction work. Inspired by the Green Revolution and the spread of new technologies, availability of subsidised loans etc., farmers began to sink deep wells to irrigate the crops they cultivated. Kolar thus has one of the higher numbers of deep wells in the southern part of Karnataka (12,860 during 1993-94). Kodipalli is gradually trying to catch up with this trend. Ground water is available at a depth of 350-400 ft although closer to the tank it is much less. As the groundwater began to be increasingly harvested, the cropping pattern too underwent a corresponding change. So much so that during 1997-98 hardly one acre of land was under ragi under dry conditions while about 150 acres of land supported ragi in irrigated holdings (See Table 4). The point to be noted is that when ragi is grown under wet conditions it is grown purely as a food crop to be sold either in part or in full. But it does not support the other requirements, which in the past cultivation of ragi did in dry tracts.11 At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 26 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management Total in Nos. 24 19 8 9 18 19 26 7 9 16 5 (In percentages) No irrigation 16.7 87.5 33.3 27.8 36.8 34.6 85.7 22.2 50.0 60.0 54 160 33.8 100.0 With other sources 4.2 5.3 5.6 3.8 4 2.5 Landless 4.2 5.3 15.8 11.1 6.3 20.0 8 5.0 2.51 and acre 10.5 5.6 4 2.5 2.01 to 2.50 acre 0.08 0.05 11.1 3.00 0.02 Land Under Tank Irrigation 1.51 to 2 acre 11.1 1 0.6 1.01 to 1.50 acre 4.2 21.1 5.6 11.1 7 4.4 0.76 to 1 acre 16.7 31.6 16.7 3.8 6.3 15 9.4 Table 3: Caste and Land under Tank Irrigation 0.51 to 0.75 acre 8.3 5.3 33.3 11.1 5.3 3.8 10 6.3 0.26 to 0.50 acre 16.7 15.8 12.5 11.1 5.6 5.3 15.4 11.1 12.5 18 11.3 0.01 to 0.25 acre 20.8 22.2 22.2 36.8 38.5 14.3 22.2 25.0 20.0 36 22.5 Caste Bherivaishya Okkaliga Padmasali, Bhatraj, Lingayats Chakali Nayaka Tallabovi Mannubovi Chinnadasari Korha Madiga Christian Total in Nos. Kodipalli’s Natural Resource Base 27

In the farming system revolving around ragi it was possible to grow avariety of minor crops like tur dal (pigeon beans), avare (field beans), jowar, mustard, bajra, castor, til (linseed). The sowing of the seeds was meant to be of a culturally determined pattern of mix such that the standing crop presented itself in an ideal form. The agricultural waste supported several other dimensions of the rural livelihood system. The harvest of groundnut, ragi and field beans coincided with the festival of Sankranti while the harvest of linseed coincided with the festival of light (Deepavali). It was customary that on Sankranti day the animals were worshipped and were fed with boiled groundnut and field beans which, it was believed, would clean the system and make the animals fit to pursue the onerous task of ploughing once the monsoon would arrive. They would also be fit and fetch good price in the cattle fairs that follow the festival of Sankranti in the month of January in different parts of the state. The stalks of jowar would be harvested during the months preceding Sankranti and it was a part of the rhythm of life during this period: prior to the harvest, every farmer would sit on the sit-out in his house to feed his bullocks in the twilight hours of the day. The processing of all the harvested produce took place on the threshing floor around the months of January-February. The prepared threshing floor accommodated the re-enactment of interdependency among several farmers who would share one floor but work together in processing the produce from each of others’ farm. Such simultaneous activities also enabled a regulated manner by which compensations to the service specialists could be made. The service specialists would visit the threshing floor, collecting the portion that was kept aside for them. With the changing cropping pattern the first casualty has been the threshing floor and implicitly a change in several other dimensions of the livelihood. In the following sections we look at the consequences of the disappearance of the threshing floor and the manner in which it occurred. At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 28 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management Total 8 19 48 46 30 9 160 100.0 More than 2 acres 11.1 1 0.6 1.51 to 2.0 acres 4.3 6.7 4 2.5 1.01 to 1.5 acres 2.1 2.2 3.3 3 1.9 0.76 to 1.0 acres 10.4 17.4 13.3 17 10.6 0.51 to 0.75 acres 2.1 1 0.6 Table 4: Area Under Ragi (In percentages) 0.26 to 0.5 acres 10.5 4.2 8.7 13.3 12 7.5 Up to 0.25 acre 10.5 2.1 2.2 4 2.5 No Ragi 100.0 78.90 79.2 65.2 63.3 88.9 118 73.8 Land Ownership Categories Landless Up to 1 acre 1.01 to 2.50 2.51 to 5 5.01 to 10 10 and above Total % Kodipalli’s Natural Resource Base 29

C. Pastures and Forest The purpose of treating pastures and forest together in our discussion of the third important set of natural resources is meant to reflect people’s perception of this resource. In Telugu language the expression adavi is meant to refer to the forest, but as a usage it pertains to an important source of fodder, firewood and green manure. Even if one were to be going to the wastelands for the above purposes within the village limits, one would claim to be on her way to the adavi. What we thus find is a closely inter-linked perception towards the forest as a source of pasture and woods. Kodipalli bears no exception to this. For the people in the village forest is not only what we generally understand as forest but also all areas that are bushy, waste lands, or pastures are forests or adavi. Just as the tanks in Kodipalli are a part of a larger chain of tanks, one feeding the other below it, the forest too forms a part of a range. Immediately to the south-east of the village settlement of Kodipalli (for Duggankunta, it is to the east) there is an extent of 117.95 acres of forest. This is a revenue forest, that is, the jurisdiction is that of the Department of Revenue and not that of the Department of Forests. Beyond this forest, there is one more which is within the jurisdiction of the Department of Forest, an extent of about forty square kilometers. This is known as Addagal Nelavanki State Forest. Further to this is the reserve forest known by the same name (Addagal Nelavanki Reserve Forest), beyond which lies the Rayalpad State Forest and Rayalpad Reserve Forest. What is to be noted here is that Kodipalli is at the foot of a vast range of forest. A designated extent of the state forest adjoining Kodipalli’s revenue forest is accessible to the residents of Kodipalli for the purposes of foraging, green manure and fodder. Likewise, other villages bordering this state forest also have a predesignated extent of the forest open to them. This has been the convention among different villages surrounding the state forests in the region. Thus, Addagal Nelavanki state forest is apportioned among the villages surrounding it for purposes of grazing, foraging, green manure, etc. The extent thus assigned usually functions as a bridge between the village’s revenue forest and the reserve forest. Here lies the structural factors that can explain the poor state of the different kinds of forest. In order to make this explicit, let us take the case of Kodipalli’s revenue forest and the assigned state forest. We may first begin by giving an account of the eco-history of Kodipalli’s wastelands and woodlots/forest. According to the land records pertaining to the village, there was an extent of 1,310 acres of different common resources, including the forest, tank, pastures and other wastes. At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 30 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management

We may recall that what is today Dugganakunta and Gandhinagar hamlets were once vast extent of wastelands. Over the decades, almost at regular intervals there have been state sponsored programmes of bringing wastelands under cultivation through a process of privatisation of such commons as was available. Some of the schemes through which privatisation was made possible were: Grow More Food scheme (1940s and 1950s); Depressed Class Land Grants schemes (1930s); Land for the landless (1950s through 1970s) and Regularisation of Encroached lands (1970s through 1990s). More than 2 lakh hectares of land was thus granted over the past three decades. Criticisms are often made of the strategy to enhance agricultural production at the cost of village greens and wastelands (see, Nadkarni and Karanth 1995, Karanth 1997). Indeed, it is often questioned whether such policies have borne in mind the ability to support other ambitious programmes such as enhancing the milk production in the country through Operation Flood, without adequate concern for pasture land for grazing of the animals (Nair and Doornabos 1990). Such a process prevalent in the sub-continent as a whole has not left Kodipalli and the surrounding regions unaffected. Thus, over the decades as much as 31 per cent of the common pool resources have been privatised in Kodipalli. Much more has been encroached, although the land records do not show this. Thus, nearly one third of the commons have been encroached and rights over them have been regularised, while a larger extent is awaiting regularisation. There are at least two immediate consequences of this process. First, anticipating a liberal policy of regualarisation there has been a tendency on the part of the rich and the poor alike to attempt further encroachment. Second, with the declining area of the commons, particularly of the pastures and wastelands, the pressure has been mounting on the forests, both of which have been classified as the state forest and the revenue forest. Evidence of both is available in abundance in Kodipalli. The revenue forest is only on paper and there exists hardly any trees or green cover. This has been a result of excessive felling of trees, and not allowing any regeneration of the green cover by the people dependent on the forest for their livelihood. As the village’s wastelands began to deplete due to encroachment and regularisation, people began to go deeper into the forest for the purposes of grazing their cattle as well as for foraging. Gradually, as the pressure resulted in deforestation, people also began to encroach the forest area adjoining the fields and tank’s catchment. Consequently, the total extent of land earmarked as forest has now begun to deplete. Technology has further aided this process. Although the lands here are undulated, with the help of bulldozers and tractors they have been able to level the ground and reclaim or convert the land suitably for cultivation. Kodipalli’s Natural Resource Base 31

Map 1 : Land Use in Kodipalli (Prepared by Mr. Hanumaiah, based on the Revenue Map 1961) Where water is not available, deep wells are punched to extract groundwater. Thus, not only has the revenue forest depleted, the process has begun to affect the adjoining state forest. To assess the impact, we may rely upon the accounts of description of the forest in the past and compare it with what is presently available. People recall that the forest beyond the tank was dense and known for the inhabitation of wild animals. Some animals such as cheetah, bears and wild pigs, often caused harm to the domesticated animals or crops grown in the fields nearer the forest. Indeed, when sugarcane was an important crop in the command of Kodipalli main tank, it required groups of farmers to keep a watch during nights by taking turns among them, to prevent attacks by wild animals such as fox, bears, and wild pigs. Hunting too was a favourite pastime among the villagers, not merely from Kodipalli but also in the surrounding regions. It was a symbol of high status for wealthy landowners and village leaders to possess arms such as guns or rifles, which they used in hunting the animals. Adventurous young men used to go to the forest on a full moon or on festival nights as part of the revelries to hunt animals. People recall the hunting expeditions after the Ugadi and Ganesh festival, when rabbits were chased and killed using sticks. Many had trained dogs pressed for such games. The forest was also a home for a variety of faunas: peacocks, rabbits, deers, hyena, and the like. Nomads specialising in bird hunting used to frequent the forest for their catch of birds at regular intervals. At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 32 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management

If the above is a picture painted about the fauna in the forest, the ones on the flora is even more colourful. Women were always afraid of going alone into the forest, for it was so thick that the daylight rarely penetrated the paths. Much gossip in the village was also about the thieves and other anti-social elements who might have been hiding in the forest. They recall with pride and regret today of its wealth in the past. The forest was famous for the valued sandalwood trees, which also attracted smugglers. Some of the other important trees that were valued and found in plenty in the forest were neem, atti, yelachi, byala, tamarind, nerale, mango, banian, boorga, chigare, jack, pongamia, antuvala, black and white jali, bamboo, etc. Many of these trees served the needs of the people: timber, soaps and shampoos, fruits, green manure, firewood and agricultural implements. Some important shrubs and bushes consisted custard apple, a variety of berries, medicinal plants and bio-mass (bandari, tangadi, ryali, yekka, etc.). Grasses both for house roofing and making of brooms were also available in plenty. For those hungry and poor, there were a variety of famine foods: greens, roots and tubers of different kinds. Colletion of honey was an important activity among the people, both for domestic use and for the market. For the village service speciailists, many of the raw material for their craft were available from the forest. Farmers undertook to supply wood from the forest to have their requirements made by the carpenter: ploughs, carts, doors, windows and furniture. The washerman depended on the yields of some trees and shrubs, which could help him with his occupation: the fruit of antavala tree had the use of a detergent. It was also a common practice for the farmers to go to the forest in groups during the summer months to harvest the soap nut fruits from the trees to meet their annual requirement of soap nut powder. Collection of pongamia and neem seeds was also a regular feature by those who needed it for their domestic use as well those engaged in selling them in the market. When it was time to make jaggery after the harvest of sugarcane, groups of farmers used to set up a mill (ale mane in Kannada, Gaanaga illu in Telugu) to crush the cane. Firewood to cook the sugarcane juice was collected from the forest by these groups of farmers. They used to go away to the forest for a day or two to gather firewood and transport it to the site where the mill was installed. Likewise, whenever a wedding was to be conducted in any household, representatives of the households in the community formed a group to gather firewood needed for the mass feeding. Formation of such groups involved a principle of reciprocity and an obligation to return the help taken. Kodipalli’s Natural Resource Base 33

Although the village had plenty of area that could be used as pasture, it was also a practice to lead the animals to the forest for grazing. This was especially during the months when the fields were sown or crops were standing in them. In the forest, it was much easier for free grazing, although caution needed to be excercised to prevent any attack by the wild ones. The cattle herd of the village, Mande, was invariably taken to the forest by the person responsible for grazing.12 As with the tank and land, there is a close cultural link between the forest and the village community. 13 This may be seen in several ways. First, almost every family has a lineage name, which is often that of a tree or a form of stone, besides foodgrains. Thus, there are families which bear the lineage name such as Kanaga, Yepa (neem), Gangareni, Byala or Bilvapatre which pertain to trees. Likewise, there are some who have names of plants, e.g., Jilladi, Pula, Pula-Yelaka, etc. Those bearing names of stones are Sunnaparayi (limestone), Kanikarayi, and the like. Some have names associated with foodgrains or oil seeds such as Sasuvulu (of mustard), Jilakara (of cumin seeds), Nugulu (til), etc. These households consider the objects as sacred and abstain from consuming them. On ritual occasions these are used for the purpose of worshipping. Such trees or stones found in the forest are venerated by the respective members of the community. 14 While entering into matrimonial alliances, care is taken that the objects which have a totemic value for the two parties are compatible to one another. For instance, an object that is representation of oil will not mix with anything that represents fire such as til with limestone. Likewise, there is an avoidance of marrying within a lineage since it would amount to incest (see Charsley and Karanth 1998). Deep inside the forest assigned to the community in Kodipalli, there is a hillock on top of which are found two huge rocks. For people of Kodipalli these rocks have a special value, for they refer to them as Anna-thammula gundulu (Telugu: Brothers’ Rocks). The imagination of the people may have led to the naming of the rocks thus, for they both are sturdy and represent an unchanging relationship. As a family value what every householder desires and preaches the children is to have such a stable relation among brothers. The unmoving rocks here symbolise such a relationship. Day or night, prosperity or famine, rain or shine, the two rocks remain as they do now. Members of the community in Kodipalli go there in times of their distress as though to seek redress. Whenever there is a drought faced by the community, the members go there to offer a black goat as sacrifice, the meat of which is cooked and partaken by all. The entire community is expected to participate in this ritual, leaving the village depopulated for the At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 34 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management day. Elsewhere in Karnataka this ritual is called vanamahotsava or vanabhojana, meaning feastng in the forest. Such events are closely associated with droughts and famines (see, Karanth 1995a). In the Andhra village, on which we have reported earlier (see, Ramaswamy, et.al. 1996) this ritual is referred to as Palumaru Devara. What is sociologically significant in such rituals is that the members of the community would symbolically take the ill luck that they have encountered with to a place beyond their usual habitation. Further, rituals of this kind reinforces a concern for the forest, partiuclarly around the spot where the event is observed. The spot chosen by the people of Kodipalli is, further, symbolically appealing to a tie that has hitherto been strong between themselves and prospects of survival. Hence, their going to the forest to make a sacrifice of an animal and spending the day there.15 All in the village, irrespective of their caste, or faction alliances are expected to make contributions and participate in the event. Another important ritual associated with the forest is Adavi Munidevara. A childless couple or a family with illness of a person for a long time undertakes to perform this ritual in the forest. It is observed under a banian or mango tree. The former has the property of letting out milk-like substance when the branch is cut. Milk here is seen as a representation of the mother. Mango, likewise, is a fruit bearing tree, and bearing a child is comparable to bearing fruits. Most fertility myths have the incidence of a sage gifting a mango, eating which results in the conception of a child for the woman. On the occasion of performing the ritual, members of the family, as well as close relatives and friends are invited. Two makeshift images of a male and female deities are prepared out of mud. The shrine under the tree is believed to house the deity adavi Munidevara (the snake god in the forest). A black goat or cock is sacrificed, and the blood is mixed with rice and offered to the images and the deities. Following this, food is cooked there and is shared by all present. This ritual is expected to result in curing the illness or enabling a woman to bear a child. Often, the ritual is observed first to undertake a vow and it is repeated once more when the wish is fulfilled. What is of importance in the ritual here is the close link that the forest has with the cultural belief and practices among the members of the community. Conventionally the maintenance and management of the pastures in the village were vested with the village community. While assigning land for different uses, such as pastures, wastes, etc., there used to be a conventional scale borne in mind. For every four or five heads of cattle an extent of land was expected to be available as pasture. Indeed, consideration was shown Kodipalli’s Natural Resource Base 35 to differentiate the animals since their requirement for grazing also varied. In other words, the ratio of land meant to be pasture was calculated on the basis of whether the animals were buffaloes, sheep, pigs, donkeys or horses. Adherence to such a scale implied sustainability of not only the natural resources but also of animal husbandry as an activity. According to a former Patel of Kodipalli a minimum of 30 acres of land was assigned as grazing land for every 100 cattle.16 This was considered as the minimum land needed for the maintenance of 100 cattle. Village can have more land than this but not less. There has not only been a decline in animal husbandry but also decline in the quality of pastures. One big stretch of land that was pasture measured 447 acres, much of which was underused. Perhaps the proximity of the forest too encouraged the disuse of the pasture. In any case, farmers from a neighbouring village, for whom this patch was closer, sought to cultivate the lands here. Since the local leaders had interests in that village too, this was encouraged, and in due course most of this land was confirmed with titles to the farmers from the neighbouring village. Today, the people of Kodipalli regret this, for the farmers in the neighbouring village have developed the lands with facilities for irrigation, and are now fertile. In recent times, the residents of Dugganakunta hamlet have begun to encroach pasture land belonging to another village that is adjoining it. Those who are affiliated to the faction which is now in power have already received ownership rights over the lands encroached by them. Those affiliated to the faction opposed to the ruling party are waiting for their party to return to power such that they too can get the rights over the land. Kodipalli had a big stretch of Gomal lands (447.27 acres), which were not used by the villagers. Over the years these lands were not maintained well and their management was neglected. This led to the degradation of the pasture. As people of Kodipalli say the villagers of Avaganapalli did not have any pasture and they used to graze their cattle there. Over a period of time, none from Kodipalli used to take their animals to this stretch of land. Gradually, people of Avaganapalli began cultivating the lands unauthorisedly and sought rights of occupancy over such lands for themselves. Officially, it is necessary that the farmers of Kodipalli file a statement of no objection for privatisation and regularisation of these lands by the department concerned. Initially, Kodipalli leaders supported the claims made by their neighbours keeping political interests in mind. Following the regularisation, these lands were well developed and are now productive. Farmers of Kodipalli now repent the loss. At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 36 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management

Notes

1 See Chapter V, p. 104 for an account of this. 2 The name Kanagalakunta is derived from the flora that had been once abundant in this part of the village. Prior to the 1950s, that is before the formation of Duggankunta as a settlement, there used to be a thick growth of pongamia trees. The telugu term Kanagala refers to pongamia. In the recent times, there hardly is a treee in the neighbourhood of the tank. 3 There has been a tradition of naming village settlements after the tank located in such villages (See Raju, et al 2003), for a further discussion on association between tanks and livelihoods. 4 Some preconditions for availability of Sowdu are that there should be adequate water logging, plenty of shades and presence of palm trees. All the three have been declining on the foreshores 5 In earlier times this used to be ragi under semi-dry conditions. As shall be detailed below, presently it is ragi or vegetables such as tomatoes, chilies, beans, brinjal etc, or an oil seed crop such as sunflower. 6 This approximates what we may refer to as “the past”. This however does not preclude changes to have taken place prior to the so called ‘past’. 7 Unlike in the coastal belt or elsewhere paddy fields in semi arid zones may not always get adequate replenishments by way of rains directly. The exception however being on such days when there is a heavy down pour and continuously for hours together. 8 The image of the presiding diety of the village is ritually carried on a float as part of the festival. See below, Chapter IV (B), for a description of the festival, and recent changes in the management of the tank. 9 It must be emphasised that the concept “Just above the poverty line” is our understanding of the expression the people made use of. The expression they had used was those who can survive without having to starve. 10 At the time of reporting the information pertaining to the exact extent of lands thus transferred had not been made available to us. We expect that once the elections are completed the official machinery would be able to give us the necessary records to fill the gap of data in this respect. 11 Ragi, besides being a staple food grain, was used as a means of wages to be paid to the workers and to the service specialists annually. It also was stored for a longer period as an insurance against the vagaries of the nature and came in handy for exchange among friends and dependents in times of crisis. 12 See below for a description of Mande as an institution. 13 For an analysis of this phenomenon, see Greenhough (1982). 14 Such beliefs and practices are associated with animism as a form of religion and totemic forms of worship (see, Greengough 1982). Kodipalli’s Natural Resource Base 37

15 On this day when the village is temporarily deserted, the thoti, thalari and such other village functionaries are expected to keep watch over the village. Old persons and those who are sick, or pregnant, or persons with a ritual pollution are exempt from accompanying the rest to the forest. 16 Information provided by Mr. Pattabhiramaiah, former Shanubhog of Guddahalli near Anekal (Bangalore Urban District) was helpful to explore elsewhere. At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 38 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management

Chapter III Milestones of Transition As was pointed out earlier, the study in Kodipalli was with a purpose: to validate the three hypotheses that were arrived at the conclusion of the study conducted earlier in C.R.Palli. The first and the second hypotheses have a large set of themes and evidence that overlap and therefore in our analysis that follows we tackle them together. Although the third hypothesis too may draw the evidences from the analysis of the first two hypotheses we take up the third hypotheses separately. An attempt has been made in this section to trace the major landmarks en-route the transition of the livelihood system of the community in Kodipalli over the past five to six decades. We begin by a few observations about the method with which the following understanding of the process of change is arrived at. Interaction with outside research agencies, sometimes also with development agencies by a rural community is often coloured by the contemporary pre-occupations in perceiving the past by the people. Our first contact with the village was a few months after the elections to the local bodies and as such, people were divided in their loyalties on the basis of who should have been the elected representatives at various levels. Not very far from Kodipalli lives a person who held a very high ranking position in the Legislative Assembly. By virtue of his position he had the ability to bring development assistance to the remote corners of the taluk. Even though each village may have its own leaders, people had access to him directly through his trusted lieutenants. This resulted in shifting loyalties within the erstwhile factions of almost all village communities. Kodipalli is no exception to this. There is a small coterie of leaders who are allies of the aforesaid state level leader, which is opposed to another faction that had wielded power during the previous regime of power led by Congress. This shift in loyalties resulting in intense factionalism greeted us as we made our entry into the village. Even though RORES as an organisation has been successful in enlisting participation by a cross-section of the women population in the village, they too are often found vulnerable to the faction feud that is carried on in the village. Our own common interests with RORES, therefore, did not clear us completely to have equal access to all sections of the population as we entered Kodipalli.1 Under the circumstances, the exercise of PRA and group discussions held a sway of influence over the views of the people while narrating the developments as they unfolded in the recent past as well as their perception of the major events in a time line. Milestones of Transition 39

Added to the problem of faction-loyalty guiding the perception, was the even more difficult challenge of making the people to speak in a language that social scientists could understand. Experience of research in C.R. Palli and our pre-occupation with the three key hypotheses for the present phase of research had also tended us to take it for granted, at least initially, the wave-length in communication. This impulse was soon checked and the efforts to gather information about the history of the village afresh in a different socio-cultural milieu bore fruit. Yet, the cumulative memory of a community seems to be confined to a few generations before it, particularly concerning the very origin of the village. Thirdly, the presence of a few Western scholars accompanying the Indian social scientists tended to give an impression that ‘some thing big and good is about to be planned for the village.’ Joint visits initially with RORES representatives gave further strength to such an expectation, and therefore, there was a tendency to speak of the ‘bad times now while in the past everything was rosy.’ It took a couple of months before people of Kodipalli could recognise the purely academic content of our research, although we had envisaged that some action plan could be generated for RORES to follow up with, especially in regard to rejuvenating the community based institutions to manage the local natural resources. It is within this set of limitations that we are able to present an account of the livelihood system of Kodipalli as it evolved. As regards the very origin of the village, a visitor to it is shown the relics of a fort, which now consists of a few metres of stone wall built crudely. Within this fort, it is said, lived the members of two or three households.2 The numbers vary depending upon who is narrating the story (see below). The specific year when this occurred is lost in the memory of the people. People seem to recollect the ‘original-settlers’ status of these said families who now have a role to play in the village affairs, particularly those involving the temple rituals, management of the tank etc., or having been recipients of the earliest Inam of land. These are the families, which today are identified as the Reddori family, i.e. the family of the Reddy; Neeruganti family; Bhovi Appanna family and Nagarta Namadari family. It is unclear whether Appanna, being a Bhovi, lived within the fort or outside it. The Reddori family must have been in-charge of the settlement, for a descendant of it today continues to be an important leader of the village. His father and grandfather too were leaders. Neeruganti, as the name denotes, was one who took up the responsibility of overseeing the distribution of water from the tank: an office, which a member of this family held on arrival in the village. The office may have been assigned to the family when a member of the caste traditionally associated with it moved into Kodipalli. At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 40 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management

But the family continues to be referred to as Neeruganti family. The Bhovi family, likewise, either landless or a tenant household, came with the other landowning castes as a dependent. It is also possible that all the households that first moved into the village were tenants of the landowners living in Gownipalli or elsewhere, cultivating the land in Kodipalli. There are stories pertaining to the Madigas, formerly an Untouchable caste which has also played a key role in the formative years of the village. The Madigas are said to have lived outside the fort on the southeastern side. Having been members of an Untouchable caste they had no access to water from the sources used by the Reddis and other higher castes. A small tank is even today referred to as the ‘Madiga Tank’ (in Telugu, Madiga Kunta) that met all the water needs of the caste. An act displaying the presence of mind by the Madigas explains one of the Inam lands that has been given to them. About a hundred and fifty years ago the fort was to be built since there were frequent attacks by a band of robbers known in the Southern Karnataka as ‘Panju-Kallas’ (i.e., the torch bearing thieves).3 It is said that a band of soldiers who were passing through this area once decided to attack the fortified settlement to take away whatever foodgrains that were there. Having sensed the impending danger, the alert Madigas were said to have beaten their drums so loud that people from Gownipalli and elsewhere came running to the rescue of the residents of Kodipalli. The legend mentions that as a reward the Madigas were given a plot of land which continues to be known as Madiga Manyam. These people are also known as Ooru Madigas, who are entrusted with the duties of keeping a watch over the village. Traditionally, they were responsible to take possession of the cattle that strayed, kept a vigil over the village especially during the festival when entire village population would have assembled on the outskirts leaving the streets empty. There was a ritual entrance to the village referred to as the Ooru Baagilu. A stone with inscriptions depicting the image of sun, moon and other solar objects is now located at the door steps of one of the houses which at one time may have been the site where the fort wall was. The Ooru Baagilu itself has shifted along as the village expanded. Whenever a religious event is to be observed, it either starts or ends at the Ooru Baagilu. If a child is sick, curd is poured over the stone, and worshipped. Only one of the houses that was originally built continues to be a dwelling unit for the descendants of the family, while the rest have moved on to build larger and better houses for themselves elsewhere. The temples too have been shifted from time to time. There is also a stone on the road leading to the forest. Offerings are made to this stone whenever a cattle is sick. Milestones of Transition 41

Not much is known about the expansion of the village in terms of houses and population since its inception. A few hypothetical observations can be made about the growth, going by the land records. There is evidence to show that most of the lands that form the revenue village of Kodipalli at present was either owned by the high caste landowners of residents in Gownipalli and elsewhere. Indeed, it should be emphasised, Kodipalli was an agrarian satellite of a social structure with its nucleus in Gownipalli so much so that those who lived in Kodipalli were all tenants and/or sharecroppers. Historically, in southern Karnataka it was mainly the high caste Brahman, Lingayat and the like who had a lion’s share in ownership of lands that were fertile and/or richly endowed with irrigation sources. The tank of Kodipalli thus goes as the heart of an agrarian social structure controlled and regulated by landowners resident in Gownipalli, and to a lesser extent by those in the adjoining Murrampalli. Perhaps it was for the convenience of the landowners that a settlement came into existence at Kodipalli, to keep watch and ward of the standing crops, regulation of the flow of water from the tank into the fields both during day and night, processing the harvested foodgrains etc. These might have been found to be easier if the cultivators were close to the fields than elsewhere. This peculiar feature of landholding pattern, wherein the landowners lived elsewhere while the tenants lived close to the field, establishes a basis for the pattern of the livelihood as it emerged over the decades. The hereditary headman, accountant (Karnam or Shanubhog), the village servant-cum-messenger (Thoti) and the other functionaries (e.g. Thalari of the village) all lived in either Gownipalli or Murrampalli. This pattern of managing the village functionaries is very much in keeping with the tradition of the former being entirely at the disposal of the dominant landowners. Since the landowners here were residing at Gownipalli or Murrampalli the functionaries were easily available at beck and call. Besides, the headman, shanubhog etc. were in charge not merely of the lands and people in Kodipalli but also in several other villages that were contiguous to Kodipalli, Gownipalli and Murrampalli. Given the fact that the jurisdiction of the village officials went beyond the single village, their residence was also in such a place where they could easily commute. The emphasis on the residents of the village functionaries is necessary because in this phase of the history of Kodipalli, there seem to have been a greater outward orientation towards the patrons who lived outside the village. But this orientation was qualitatively different from what was to follow a few decades later. Thus, there was essentially supra-local patron-client relations that had developed, more or less, unilinear in fashion At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 42 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management

between the tenant cultivator, his labourers on the one hand and the landowner resident elsewhere, on the other. As such there was little scope for a pervasive and enduring patron-client relations amongst the residents themselves living in the village. One could therefore, have witnessed relatively autonomous households each or several of which had their ties with those in Gownipalli and Murrampalli. Given the nature of dependence of tenant cultivators upon the landowners, the feudal subordination of the former to the leadership that controlled them from outside was near total. The relative autonomy and loyalty to the leadership resident elsewhere gave little scope for politics of power within the village during those days. One leader of three generations ago is remembered even now for his benevolence, foresight and ability to command respect to his authority. It is said that the leader, Thimme Gowda, could ensure that the conventions were followed to the last detail simply by sending a message from his own village without having personally to go to Kodipalli. He could mobilise a committed band of volunteers who would pitch a road, clear a path either to the tank or to the forest or desilt the tank when it was silted up. The festivals were held as per the calendar of events and in consultation with the leaders. It was Thimme Gowda who is credited to have encouraged widespread conversion of non-cultivable land for cultivation and resettling people in depopulated areas. This is how the hamlets Dugganakunte and Gandhinagar are said to have come into existence. Thimme Gowda lived until the late 80s but by then several developments had already begun to occur altering the centre -satellite relations that existed between Kodipalli residents and those of Gownipalli or Murrampalli. As the new democratic institutions began to take shape and roots in the post-Independence period, the seats of traditional authority underwent a smooth transition, at least initially, whereby the erstwhile leaders succeeded to the new bases of power and authority. It was mainly the old status - economic and social - which enabled such a transformation. The advantage in the initial years was their ability to combine the traditional bases of authority with the opportunities of the new rational legal authority. In the case of Thimme Gowda, as may have been true of many such leaders, he was also able to command a certain degree of charismatic authority. This combination was possible largely because of the economic basis of power and authority, i.e., landownership, which had remained more or less intact with him. As the 1970s wore on, there were changes in Thimme Gowda’s personal life as well as in the emerging political order that regulated the economic spheres of life among the people. Personally, Thimme Gowda Milestones of Transition 43 had more than one concubine besides his wife. It is also said that the site where Dugganakunte now stands for a few years, housed one of his concubines. But closer at home in Murrampalli he had another woman from whom he had a few children. There had been disputes over claims as to who would inherit his vast estate. New contenders to the offices hitherto held by him were emerging from within Kodipalli. Democracy was thus challenging traditional leadership. These disputes and challenges had weakened Thimme Gowda considerably, besides his advancing age. 1960s was also a time when much was being said about the impending land reforms in most parts of Karnataka, as elsewhere in India 4. Significant changes in landownership pattern had already begun to occur preempting the real effects of land reforms. The absentee landowners with propertied interests in Kodipalli began to sell away a considerable extent of land. Given the nature of close interdependence between the landowners and tenants/sharecroppers the choice was first given to the latter to buy up the land. Those who could afford made an easy bargain, while many others had to borrow from private or other sources to raise capital. The intense nature of inter-dependence between the individual tenants and the landowners is evident by the fact that even after two decades of ‘successful’ implementation of land reforms there continues to be a significant number of households engaged in sharecropping with the landowners resident in Gownipalli. This is possible because many landowners have retained small portions of their land so as to escape the ceiling laws on holdings but yet retaining some for their own livelihood. As many as 21 households (13 per cent) in the village are now engaged as tenants or sharecroppers, cultivating the lands of landowners resident elsewhere. The suggestion that is being made with this evidence is that the tenants/sharecroppers of Kodipalli enjoyed the confidence of the landowners then and now and this resulted in a smooth transition in the titles to the land. As was pointed out in the foregoing section, the chief beneficiaries of this were Nayakas, Korachas, Madigas and Bheri Vaishyas, although the Reddis are not an exception.

Notes 1 As research progressed we were able to succeed in establishing links with both factions. 2 These households are credited to be the earliest to be settled down in an area which came to be known as Kodipalli. At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 44 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management

3 Given the political instability particularly caused by the wars between Tipu Sultan and the British forces, there had been widespread incidence of robbery and lawlessness. Some of the known bands of thieves were ‘Kandars’, ‘Panju- Kallas’ etc. This was around the years 1770 and 1850s. See, Rao 1927, S. Gopal, 1971, Rothermond 1977. 4 See Pani, 1983; Damle 1989; Karanth 1995. Examples of Transition 45

Chapter IV Examples of Transition The purpose of our analysing the process of change in the rural livelihood system in the community of Kodipalli has been two-fold. First, to understand the process in itself, and second, with a view to validating a few of the hypotheses that we arrived at following an earlier study in the village CR Palli in Andhra Pradesh. Following the pattern of changes and the direction as described in the foregoing section, it is worthwhile now to make a detailed examination of changes in certain respects. Such changes as have been chosen reflect not only some features of the livelihood system, but also their links with the issues of natural resources and rural local governance. We shall discuss four themes: • the decline of some of the traditional institutions which had emphasised interdependence of the people, and concern for local natural resources (Disbanding the Mande ); • the changing concern towards one of the key resources, namely, the Tank (Damming the Tank); • the manner in which the community has gradually got integrated into the market economy (From Marey to Market); • And, finally the process of change in the role and character of rural leadership (Leadership and Village Governance). After having examined these issues, we should be in a position to addressspecifically the hypotheses with which the study was concerned, and to be able to present our conclusions. A. Disbanding the Mande One of the organic links that existed between the livelihood system and natural resource management is to be seen in terms of the arrangements that the community made to look after the cattle population of the village. Elsewhere we have referred to this as Ooru Mande. It may be recalled here that there used to be a notion of ratio of cattle population and the extent of grazing land reserved. This was meant to maintain a manageable equation between the demand and supply in such a way that the grazing land was not overused. Likewise the institution of Ooru Mande ensured several dimensions of keeping the resources sustainable and at the same time permitting the cattle owners to attend to their own work. At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 46 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management

Picture 4: Village Cattle on their way to the Forest (Picture taken near Hospet, Bellary district, Karnataka)

The convention was that one of the households in the village, usually one without land and poor in economic standards, was retained as responsible for cattle herding. A couple from the household would take up the responsibility of leading the cattle every day to a nearby grazing yard or, as in the case of Kodipalli, to the forest. The cattle from the respective households are brought to a meeting point in the outskirts of a village settlement from as early as six in the morning. The meeting place is referred to as the spot of Mandalu. By about nine in the morning the herder (referred to as ‘Avalodu’) will leave with the animals to the forest. It is his responsibility to ensure that the cattle do not stray into the open fields with standing crops. The herder is leads them to a spot where the green or fresh grass is available and from time to time to a water- spot. He is responsible for the safety of the animals and ensuring that they do not fall prey to the wild animals inhabiting the forest. By about six in the evening he comes back with the animals to the village. Most animals find their way back to their respective houses. Every day the Avalodu is entitled to consisting of a breakfast and a dinner from two houses. Having eaten as much as he and his wife would, they pack some for their meals in the noon and the rest would be taken home by the other members of the households for their breakfast and/or lunch. Upon their return in the evening the, couple goes to other two households to collect their supper, which they take to their house to partake with the members of the family. By alternating between the patrons who serve meals to them, four households each day, they get to be fed by all in the village over a period. Having completed one full round, they commence Examples of Transition 47 all over again to be fed by the first house. If they happen to be members of a caste who cannot accept food from certain castes, they receive foodgrains and vegetables from such households. Providing food to the herders is only one dimension of the arrangement meant to compensate the services rendered by them. The other dimension is payment either in kind or in cash. A measure of ragi or paddy was given in the past for each animal entrusted to his care. In recent times, this payment is being made entirely by cash. About 20 years ago, it used to be Rs.5 per animal per year. About 6-7 yeas ago this payment reached Rs.10 per animal. From those who cannot afford to provide food to them they accept a little extra money. A third form, by which the herder is compensated, is by giving him the right to collect all droppings by the animal at the spot of Mandalu and in the forest. As soon as the animals leave for the forest vacating the spot of Mandalu, one of the members of the herder’s household removes the droppings to a manure pit maintained for this purpose. Likewise, they collect the droppings in a basket and carry it from the forest on their return in the evening. The manure thus collected is sold to other farmers in need of farmyard manure. This income, coming in at least thrice or four times a year was substantial in those days. For, there used to be as many as 250 to 300 animals entrusted to his responsibility. About 15-20 years ago chemical fertilisers had not yet made the kind of inroads that they now have made into the agrarian economy of Kodipalli. There used to be frequent competition among the big and progressive farmers in the village to buy as much manure as possible from the herder. It was not uncommon for the herder to take money in advance from the farmers to tide over his monetary difficulties by promising to sell the manure to them when the pit would be full. As an economically dependent person, the herder used to find it difficult when big farmers would compete to buy manure from him. In due course, he began to sell the rights to collect droppings to anyone who paid huge money in lumpsum and in advance. This person, in turn, would auction the manure through competitive bidding. Selling away the rights is also because it spares one person from the family from having to collect the droppings at Mandalu. In addition to these three forms of compensation, the herder is also eligible to receive a share of foodgrains at the time of harvest at the threshing floor, and gifts of food, clothes and some money on special occasions. One of the other things he gets from his patrons, particularly the rich ones, is a pair of clothes for himself or saris for his wife and dresses to his other members of the family. This is because the clothes get torn more frequently At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 48 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management for him and those who go to the forest with him, since there are several trees, plants and shrubs which are thorny The herder is also expected to be a local veterinary specialist in the sense that if any animal fell ill, he should be able to cure it. If he is unable to do it by himself, it is his responsibility to go to the nearest village where indigenous medicine is available for the ailment. At the annual festival of Sankranti he has a special role to perform. It may be worthwhile noting here that Sankranti is essentially an agrarian festival, and in particular the cattle in the households have a special status on this day. No plow animal is put to work on this day. Having fed them twice a day for nearly two months with the stalks of jowar and pruned field beans plants, the animals would have come to have a shine, sturdy and ready to take on the work for the next agricultural year. On the day of Sankranti, they are given a special wash, their feet fitted with new horseshoe, horns painted with colours and adorned with balloons, and they are worshipped. The rest of animals likewise are also given a bath and sent to the forest as usual. By sunset that evening they return to a spot near the entrance to the village from the forest. A shrine is located here dedicated to the image of Katammaraju, said to be an incarnation of Sri Krishna who himself was a cattle herder. Dried twigs and firewood are laid across the path leading to the village, which is lit up later. The cattle herder waits at the shrine for women from the village to arrive with their offerings for the deity. One of the persons from the village would have contributed a cock to be sacrificed on the occasion. The headman who too arrives on the scene with a loaded gun fires a shot into the air after worshipping the deity and lighting of the pile of dry wood. Hearing the shot, the cattle run into the village crossing the fire. The Ooru Madiga would have gone about announcing the run of the cattle such that none is hurt by the cattle running helter-skelter. The person whose animal is the first to cross the fire is expected to either supply the cock or meet its cost to be sacrificed in the festival during the following year. Following the event at the entrance of the village a procession of the priced bullocks in the village is lead by the headman. Accompanied by the image of one of the deities from local temples and to the music performed by the Ooru Madiga, barber etc., the procession goes through the different streets in the village. It was, in the past, customary that the bullocks owned by the headman lead the procession. Since there is no Avalodu at present in Kodipalli, a priest officiates during the worship of Katammaraju, and sacrifices the animal. The procession is now given up for a combination of reasons. First, none except the followers of the headman’s faction would Examples of Transition 49 like to take part in it, let alone recognising the customary status to him. Secondly, owing to factionalism, none make the monetary contribution to meet the expenses involved. Even those of the headman’s faction refrain from contributing since all in the village would not contribute. Finally, both the factions do not press for a procession since there is always a likelihood of a situation going out of control and old passions getting themselves vented if all are to assemble for the procession to begin. About 15 years ago one household belonged to the Koracha caste was holding the responsibility of Ooru Mande. He was an old man, and was carrying out his duties with the help of his wife. Being landless, his children were working as agricultural labourers in Kodipalli. Following the death of the old man, there was none to succeed him as Avalodu. His children were unwilling to take up the responsibility. It is worthwhile mentioning here that although the compensation is good to the extent that it provides some food, clothes and some money, young men do not prefer this job for several reasons. First, many of them find it below their dignity to go from house to house to collect food for the act resembles that of a beggar. Often they may be made to wait before the food is given and find the experience to be one of humiliation. It is also not uncommon for some to give away food from overnight, which by noon turns bad. The work in the forest too is unexciting. If they work as agricultural labourers they earn as much as 10-15 rupees per day whereas the earning from looking after the cattle comes once a year and may not be adequate in keeping with their capabilities. The village community found a Nayaka household to be suitable for looking after the Mande. But this arrangement broke down about ten years ago (1992-93). The person, referred to as Avula Nagappa, owned a small plot of land. His only son did well in studies and completed B.A degree with an additional degree in education. He now works as a temporary teacher in one of the private schools of Gownipalli. Soon after the completion of his studies, he felt that his father was doing a menial job not in keeping with his new status as a degree holder. He, therefore, succeeded in persuading his father from giving up the responsibilities, much against the wishes of the people in the village. Since then there has been none identified as a person responsible for Ooru Mande. Instead every household has made an individual arrangement by sending one of its members to graze the cattle either in the forest or the available wastelands. Although everyone feels that the village should reappoint a person in charge of Mande, there has not been any progress. At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 50 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management

The institution of Ooru Mande, therefore, has also been an important casualty of the process of economic and social change that has been engulfing the livelihood system in Kodipalli. With as much as 648 acres of land classified as wasteland and a vast extent of open forest, Kodipalli had an impressive cattle population at one time. There has now been a substantial decline in the extent of grazing land available, and the forest is the main resource for this purpose. One major advantage of having a centralised institutional mechanism for looking after the cattle such as the system of Ooru Mande was that there was no need for a member from the respective household to go to the forest every day for the purpose of grazing the cattle. This in turn meant that the forest had less number of people and their frequency of visiting the forest who, either intentionally or unintentionally, would have caused harm to the trees and plants. Those who had to go to the forest to fetch firewood or timber would have to do it separately as is now becoming the case with no Ooru Mande in operation as an institution. In the absence of Ooru Mande now, a few families pool their animals together for the purposes of grazing. By turns a representative from each household undertakes to graze the cattle in the forest. This way the other members in the household are now free to attend to their other work. Those who can afford wages hire a labourer to be sent as their representative on a specific day if no member is available to go to the forest when the turn of a household comes. The representative sent from some of these households is also usually a school going boy or girl, who may miss the school on such days. For many, this is an usual means of induction into farm household responsibilities. The households, which come together in this manner, are those sharing several common interests, besides being members of the same political faction. They also maintain a pattern of mutual exchange of labour during the times when group labour is required for work in the fields. It is also a pattern that such households usually have more or less the same social and economic background: caste, landownership and wealth status. A few elders in the village lamenting on the depleting forest wealth observe that the increasing rate of plundering the forest is a result of no Avalodu for the Mande being available. Presently, each person going to the forest returns with a head load of firewood, often having to chop them from young trees. Having spotted a reasonably well grown tree, planted by the forest department, farmers now return to the forest stealthily during nights and fell the tree and in due course transport it to the nearest hiding place. Their main worry is to shift such booty without being trapped by the forest Examples of Transition 51 officials when still in the forest limits. Once they come out of it they can always claim that the stolen property is their own and that it is being brought from their own fields or those of their friends. According to our informants, the major threat to the forest has come from those who depend on it for grazing purposes. The Forest Department has, in turn, undertaken to raise a nursery and replant the trees. There hardly is any tree worth the comparison despite these efforts. People with a concern for the forest still wish to revive the institution of Mande and reappoint an Avalodu. But it has not been possible. This is because, before choosing such a person the village has to have a meeting of all the cattle owners. In recent years it has become harder to assemble the entire village population for any decision-making collectively. They are divided among themselves in terms of political loyalties and as such whenever one faction makes a move the others boycott it. We spoke to two prominent leaders, both heads of their respective factions. One of them pointed out that participation in community affairs was on the decline, because of penetration of politics in village affairs in every respect. People at the helm of affairs themselves were corrupt and were using their position for personal gains or distribution amongst their close followers. Money collected for community affairs were not accountable and those holding charge had no sense of accountability. This was pointed out as a reason for the breaking down of Mande, near non-participation of people in Sankranti festival and not holding the festival of Teppotsava, all the result of conflicts between the two factions. The leader of the other faction, who traditionally had the responsibility of giving the leadership to these festivals and institutions, was passing the buck back to the other faction. He was explaining that people in the village want all disputes to be resolved in one go. “Thus, if I want to revive Mande the other faction wants a statement of accounts for the previous festival which has nothing to do with Mande. Instead they could seek a clarification for the passage for the cattle being blocked, which would actually expose them. For, it is their men who have blocked the passage by encroaching it. But they would not raise that as an objection. Likewise, they bring up matters totally unrelated to an issue at hand. Consequently, no group decision is possible. Even the meeting to decide the manner in which water in tanks is to be distributed is not held in recent years. The Neeruganti decides the matter as if he has all the authority and knowledge.” Another old man remarked that it was possible to assemble the dumb animals at the spot of Mandalu, but not the intelligent persons from At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 52 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management the village at any one spot.” But the social reality is also that the leaders now have little authority with them in this regard. For, in the past, following the meeting of the cattle owners, a person needed to be cajoled to accept the responsibilities of being an Avalodu. It was not uncommon for the village elders to highlight the person’s lack of alternative economic base for a reasonably good livelihood and the offer of employment as Avalodu was seen as a way out to provide such a means. Today, even if a person is willing to undertake the task on his own the community is unable to meet and decide on entrusting the responsibility. The net result is, like most other participatory institutions in Kodipalli, Mande too has been disbanded. Examples of Transition 53 10.4 8.7 10.0 22.2 14 8.8 Improved 12.5 10.5 18.8 15.2 3.3 11.1 21 13.1 (In Percentages) Improved 25.0 47.4 54.2 54.3 53.3 44.4 82 51.3 Declined 25.0 42.1 35.4 32.6 43.3 66.7 61 38.1 Declined Same 5.3 2.1 8.7 16.7 22.2 13 8.1 Changes in Rearing Bullocks Same 12.5 5.3 2.1 4.3 3.3 6 3.8 Changes in Rearing Sheep 75.0 47.4 33.3 28.3 20.0 11.1 51 31.9 None then and Now 50.0 42.1 43.8 47.8 50.0 22.2 72 45 None then and Now 5.3 2.1 16.7 11.1 8 5 Improved 5.3 2.1 4.3 11.1 5 3.1 Improved 12.5 21.1 8.3 37.0 26.7 33.3 37 23.1 Declined 25.0 26.3 10.4 15.2 10.0 44.4 26 16.3 Declined Same 4.2 8.7 22.2 8 5 Table 5: Changes in Animal Husbandry (2001) 75.0 68.4 87.5 80.4 90.0 44.4 129 80.6 None then and Now Changes in Rearing Buffaloes Changes in Rearing Goats 87.5 73.7 85.4 54.3 56.7 33.3 66.9 None then and Now Total in Nos. 8 19 48 46 30 9 Total 8 19 48 46 30 9 Land Ownership Categories Landless Up to 1 Ac. 1.01 to 2.50 Ac. 2.51 to 5 Ac. 5.01 to 10 Ac. 10 Ac. and above Total (No) 160 % 100.0 Total Land Grouped Landless Up to 1 Ac. 1.01 to 2.50 Ac. 2.51 to 5 Ac. 5.01 to 10 Ac. 10 Ac. and above Total 160 107 100.0 At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 54 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management

B. Damming the Tank As may be anticipated many changes have taken place both in respect to the management of the tank and the role of Neeruganti in Kodipalli over the years.1 However, the changes in regard to the tank and the role of Neeruganti have not been as sweeping as in the case of other common pool resources or village functionaries.2 Unlike in the past, most decisions are now taken by the Neeruganti himself without a formal meeting of the community members ever taking place. The Neeruganti, on his part, takes the decision based on the conventions that have been established by the erstwhile leaders. He rarely takes the main responsibility for the upkeep of the tank’s structure which has been taken over by the state agencies. His role is now confined to having to inform the village leaders about the repair being needed or of an impending threat of a breach of the tank bund. He rarely plays an active role in the watch and ward duties. In place of strict vigil over the distribution of water governed by the principles outlined above, he is now more subject to the monetary incentives given to him by a patron or influenced by the party/faction affiliation of the farmers in the command. He rarely ever cleans the distribution channels, instead farmers who are dependent on it may have to get it done on their own or by hiring labourers. Consequently, farmers often resort to modify the channels so as to benefit either by getting more water or by encroaching the land meant for the channel. Most Neerugantis today are less dependent on the income from holding the office, although they continue to show interest in holding the office. One of the reasons for this interest is a hope that some day they are likely to be treated as government servants and be eligible to receive a monthly salary as do the other village functionaries such as the thotis or Ooru Madiga.3 In addition to the customary payment of grains as Marey, they now receive a cash payment also from their patrons. Celebrating the Overflow: Teppotsava A reference was made earlier to the existence of an organic link between the natural resources, in this case the tank, and the livelihood of the people particularly led by the leadership in the village community. We may now refer to the festival of Teppotsava, which is held whenever the tank overflows. The level of water in the tank in every village is an indicator of not merely how the rainfall in a season has favoured the community but also the community’s interest in the resources itself. The tank-bund has a small structure that lets out the surplus water Kodi (Surplus weir) whenever the tank has received surplus to its full capacity. This happens when the rains Examples of Transition 55 have been good and the catchment has been functioning. Indeed one of the most talked about topic in the village as the monsoon progresses is to assess how many more days of rain would it take for the tank to over flow. Along side this speculation is also a concern for the physical fitness of the bund to remain intact and not cause loss of crop and harm to life by a breach, if any. When the tank does indeed overflow, this spot assumes everyone’s curiosity. Groups of men and women take time off from their chores to visit the tank to witness what is usually a rare event. Comments are made about the previous occasion when such an overflow had been witnessed. It is not uncommon for some to sprinkle flowers or break a coconut or even drop a coin into the tank to hail the auspicious event. The real concern at that time, however, is the potential surplus rain which may lead to excess collection of water and a possible damage to the tank.

Picture 5: The Procession to Mark the Festival of Teppotsava The religious and ritual aspect of livelihood system in most rural communities is characterised by anticipation of good luck and prospects at the commencement of a season or work and an expression of gratitude when that is fulfilled. We noted above how, for instance, the Hindu New Year festival of Ugadi coincided with the ritual of Sagubadi heralding a symbolic commencement of agricultural operations in a year. The event also has the almanac reader to inform the members of the community as to At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 56 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management

‘what the stars fore-tell’ and what to expect in the year. Likewise, when the crops are ready for harvesting there is the festival of Attanapalli which is in a way an occasion for ‘thanks giving’.4 Likewise, the tank too assumes a religious significance when it gets filled and begins to over flow. To mark this occasion within a few days or weeks the members of the community usually observe the ritual of Teppotsava. In some villages it may be of a minor event observed as Gangamma Puja (see, Ramaswamy 1998). When holding it in an elaborate manner and on a grandeur scale it is the festival of Teppotsava. In Kodipalli, the event assumes even greater significance as it involves members of the community in three different villages who have been sharing the water from the tank. It also implies a coordination of activities between the members of the three communities with a common purpose. The ritual of Gangamma Puja takes place usually as the water commences to flow into the tank through the feeder channels. On this occasion women from the Headman’s house accompanied by women from other households in the village proceed on a pre-designated day to worship at the tank bund. They carry on their heads a vessel containing water, green grass, fruits and flowers and a sweet delicacy prepared with jaggery and flour. This procession takes place to an accompaniment of music played by the hereditary musicians of the village. The hereditary washerman spreads clean cloth on the ground over which the procession goes. The washerman is expected to hold the torch. The flowers and delicacies carried by women are offered to the presiding deity at the tank bund, where men would have already prepared a temporary shrine for this purpose. In both the villages the officiating priest sacrifices an animal, usually a goat or sheep. It is the privilege of the Headman and his family to lead this procession, without whose participation the event cannot be considered as official. Held during the evening, usually the day is marked by festivities and gaiety. Following the ritual every household is expected to send a representative to make up a team which has the responsibility of clearing the channels in which the water flows into the tank. This is to ensure smooth flow of water into the tank in the following year too. Sometimes clearing the channels may also be carried out prior to the commencement of monsoon, either before or after Ugadi. The Headman decides the contribution to be made by all the members of the village community. In Kodipalli worship of the tank is conducted in an elaborate manner during the festival of Teppotsava. On this occasion too it is the responsibility of the Headman to mobilise resources and people from the three villages, to offer an animal sacrifice, usually a buffalo and to ensure participation by all Examples of Transition 57 the members of the community. Responsibilities of the Headman include arranging the resources required, erecting temporary sheds, fetching different images of the different deities from the three villages which converge on the tank bund, allocating and delegating responsibilities to different sections of the community etc. A widow of a former headman, residing in Murrampalli narrated her experience of Teppotsava, then as a young bride. Her husband who was a leader for the three villages used to buy large quantities of fruits, flowers and other requirements and this used to be stored in the first floor of the house much before the festival. He undertook to mobilise people and contributions to have the festival observed on a grand scale. The house would be full of relatives from far and near and there would be mass feeding for several days before and after the festival. Among the invitees for the occasion were officials and political leaders in the region, who would all take part both in the festival and dinner at the house of the headman. Often the Headman would go ahead and spend money without waiting for the people to make their contributions for holding the festival. In present times, the decision to hold the festival is taken jointly by the leaders of the three villages. The date convenient to all the three village community members, but that which is also auspicious, is decided upon.5 Contributions are expected from every household in the villages, although for those not owning land under the command area of the tank it is meant to be voluntary. The individual contributions to be made are also determined by the leaders on this occasion, and it is related to the extent of land owned by each member in the command area. The rest in Kodipalli also contribute especially since on the day of Teppotsava, the images of different deities are taken out in a procession. Each household on that occasion makes the offering of fruits and flowers, and perform Puja, besides sacrificing a goat or a cock. Their contribution is, therefore, meant to meet the expenses towards the village festival that coincides with Teppotsava. Whether by farmers in command area or elsewhere, an option is available for those unable to afford monetary contributions to render their labour or services. Thus a person may volunteer to join the team responsible to build the temporary shrine or fetch material from the market, and so on. Monetary and other material resources are to be mobilised at short notice for Teppotsava, for there is no certainty that it would be held each year at a predetermined time. For other festivals, there has been a practice among the members of the community to float a thrift fund (a rotating credit fund), which generates income for the members of the group to meet the expenses on their part towards the festival. Bit since Teppotsava has been an important festival, even though occurring at unpredicted intervals, people At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 58 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management in Kodipalli have been operating a fund for the purpose. One such fund has grown in size to an extent that there is now a deposit in a commercial bank of over Rs. 40,000. Owing to a variety of interpersonal rivalry and factional feud this money has not been drawn upon in recent years. C. From Marey to Market That there existed a pattern of exchange of services among different sections of a community, on a more or less customary frequency, is now a well-established fact. In return for rendering such services the specialist received payment in kind. This system of exchange has come to be known by different terms in different parts of the country. As a pan-Indian phenomenon this came to be referred to in sociological and social anthropological literature as Jajmani system6. In Karnataka this is known as the system of Adade, Mirasi, Aya, Baluti or Babathu. In the Telugu speaking areas, it is known as Mirasi or Marey7. Under the system as has been operating in different parts of southern India, members of certain castes, who own land, customarily receive services or goods by caste specialists specialising in them, to be compensated by an annual payment of a predetermined quantity of food grains. However, needless to point out that there is bound to be variations from region to region within a state in the manner in which the minute details of the terms and conditions under which the system operated. For instance, in the Malnad region of Karnataka as early as about 40 years ago there has been a combination of payment in kind and cash to the village servants (Harper 1959). Services rendered to the patrons in their cultivation of food crops were being compensated in kind, while for commercial crops the compensation was in monetary terms. Cropping pattern and frequency of cropping too determined the specific arrangements in the system of exchange of goods and services. Contrary to the popularly held belief that the system was change- resistant, what we find is evidence for its adaptive nature. For instance, there can be variation in the extent to which different castes were included or excluded in rendering or receiving the goods and services. In one village a potter may have been a part of the system, while in the next or a few miles away, his counterpart would not be a part of it even though he would carry out this trade with monetary transactions. In other words, what we referred to as Jajmani relation is only pan-Indian ideal type, but the system in practice suited the needs of the community in specific local situations, One neglected dimension of analysis of the system has been the role of natural resources in it. Functionaries such as water-overseer, the herdsman etc, or a potter may find a place in the system only if the corresponding Examples of Transition 59 natural resources were present or accessible in the vicinity of the community. Although this is an obvious correlation a mention of this needs to be specifically made. This is because at a time when the customary basis of Jajmani-like system is fast eroding in practically every part of the sub- continent (See, e.g., Lerche 1991, Karanth 1987), remnants of the institution persists often when such resources play a crucial role in the livelihood system of rural communities. This is a point to which we shall return to after we have introduced Marey in Kodipalli.

Illustration 1: An artist’s Perception of Marey-Centred Farming System (Drawing by Mrs. Ira Aurora, as used in Research Feedback in Kodipalli 2000)

Having been a multi-caste village, Kodipalli has a history of a full contingent of service specialists functioning within the framework of Marey, the local name for the Pan-Indian Jajmani system. As was pointed out earlier, it consisted of specialists such as washerman, potter, rope-makers, weavers, blacksmiths, barbers, cattle-herdsman, and the village servants such as thoti, talari, Neeruganti, Ooru Madiga, etc. As is the pattern elsewhere, nearly all of them were functioning under the principle of heriditary succession to the office. Such services that involved a larger number of patrons often resulted in dividing them among the specialists. For instance, a barber or a At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 60 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management washerman household may among the brothers divide the patrons whom they served. This pattern usually was the result of a less number of households specialising in the craft or services. Since the village elders, including the leader, would also be among the adjudicators of the process of division of joint family, the decision to divide the patrons was usually respected by the latter. However, a patron was free to choose who should serve him or to household, and there used to be frequent alternations in the choice thus made. Further, two brothers in a patron household had the obligation to retain the services of the specialists to serve the family as was done prior to the division. It is only in recent times that many of these principles have lost relevance, which we shall discuss shortly. The other pattern by which the division in the household of the service specialists was accommodated was by rotating the tenure of rights on an annual basis. Thus the six Neerugantis in Kodipalli have formed batches of three persons, each batch serving in one year followed by the other. While the mode of payment to the village functionaries was in kind (foodgrains), the quantity paid was determined by the extent to which their services were required or used by the patrons. Thus, specialists such as barbers and washermen received their wages based on the number of persons who received their services. Every married couple in the household was considered a unit. For one couple they received eight seers of ragi, or paddy if that was grown by the patron. If a household had more than four couples, the oldest couple was not accounted. In the case of washerman, the women who had reached menopause was thus exempted by this principle. Likewise, the extent of land owned or the number of ploughs put to use formed the basis for payment to the functionaries who rendered services for the purposes of agriculture. These specialists were the blacksmiths, potter, Neeruganti, thoti, thalari, and Ooru Madiga. For every plough or a pair of bullocks put to use eight seers of ragi or paddy was paid to them. In regard to the person who looked after the village cattle, Ooru Mande, the payment was in combination of a fixed sum of money per animal, besides a measure of ragi. Members of his household were given food by the patron households. Depending upon the size of his own household he may decide to collect food from a certain number of households each day. For instance, to feed four or five persons in his household, he may decide to call on about eight to ten houses each, separately for breakfast and dinner for a certain number of days in a month. By and large, the above patterns of payment are to the functionaries who served individual households. Most specialists who rendered service Examples of Transition 61 to the village as a whole might also receive annual wages in the same manner, but often they were also compensated by way of a gift of land. For instance, the thoti, thalari, and Ooru Madiga were given a plot of land as inam. Rights over this land, in principle, are tenable as long as they continued to render the services. Ever since the implementation of land reforms, this principle has no validity, although the same households continue to render the services besides retaining rights over the land gifted to them. However, gift of land does not exclude annual payment by the individual households who took their services. Further, land was not given as gift only to such specialists who rendered services to the village as a whole, but also to those who served individual households, e.g., washerman, barber, priests, etc. Gift of land ensured continuity of service relations with either the village or the individual households, while among others there used to be frequent turn over of the specialists. In other words, it is among those without a gift of land that there used to be frequent changes. In case one specialist decided to give up the office of rendering service applicable to his caste, attempts were made to find a successor from the same caste within the village or find a visiting specialist from a neighbouring village. It may be recalled that some of the service specialists, particularly those required to assist the hereditary headman and accountant, in the past, were residents of Gownipalli where they and the landowners lived. A point needs to be made concerning the pattern of payment to the specialists. This is in regard to the frequency of payment. For a majority of the specialists, the payment was at the time of harvest of the main food crop, i.e., ragi., and at the time of removing the grains from the fields to the house or the storage pit. On the final day of processing the grains on the threshing floor, functionaries presented themselves before the landowner or the tenant. On this occasion, the heap of grain is worshipped before transporting the produce. As the heap is piled up, separate portions are made and kept aside as payment to the specialists. The first to be kept aside is the share meant for the god, which is given away to the priest. If the harvested crop is paddy, i.e., crop from the wetlands, it is the responsibility of the Neeruganti to measure the harvest and pack them into bags. Besides being paid his annual wage on that day, he is paid an extra measure of grains for the service he renders on the day. Neeruganti is the only specialist who is paid the annual wage on the day, the rest having to receive their payment at the house of the landowner on a subsequent day. An unique feature of the last day at the threshing floor is that after having removed the heap, what is left on the floor is all meant to be give-away. The landowner or one of his At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 62 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management representatives distributes them to the service specialists and the poor who may have assembled or those who may have worked regularly as wage workers. If the landowner is a wealthy one, he may leave as much as one or two bag full of food grains, provided the harvest for him has been good and profitable. Conventionally, the grains thus left behind was considered to be the right of service specialists, poor and loyal workers. The expression in Telugu conveys the place of the last day of threshing floor in the community’s livelihood system, particularly in the emotional sphere. The usage among the farming community is that the heap belongs to landowner, and what lies underneath it to the poor. If a farmer does not leave sufficient enough for distribution as is the custom, he may be labeled as “one who removes grains even from under the heap”8. Finally, scholars who have studied the institution of Jajmani system have observed that the system was exploitative and that the compensation paid was not sufficient. To a certain extent this may be found to be true in Kodipalli if we consider the quantum of food grains received by the specialists, especially as times began to change and the ratio of land to services as a basis for payment began to be underplayed. However, the annual wages paid to the servants were only a portion of what they received from the patron households, while an equal, if not more, share of other benefits too accrued to them through the year. For instance, they would be given gifts whenever there was a special event in the patron’s household, especially when there was a birth or marriage, housewarming etc. During village festivals, some were entitled to a share of the meat of the animal sacrificed, or food offered to the deities, etc. It was also not uncommon for a few households to give money towards the expenses for the specialists on such occasions. The specialists were, on their part, exempted from having to contribute money for holding the events such as Teppotsava, Gangamma festival or Attanapalli. Occurrence of disputes between patrons and the service specialists or among the specialists themselves was not uncommon. In the latter instance, it was usually a result of persisting difference between brothers who might share the work following a division in the family, or after the death of one of the brothers. When a person died, conventionally it was the children of the diseased who succeeded to the office, but complications arose if there were no male children. Ideally, the right to serve goes back to the other surviving brother or his children only if the service was such that it cannot be performed by a woman (e.g., Neeruganti). If the specialist service involved a grant of Examples of Transition 63 land, or even otherwise, there was always an attempt to adopt a son so as to carry on the family occupation. This was often resisted by the surviving brother who might claim the office to himself, alhtough he may have no objections to the adoption. Likewise, if the diseased had a daughter or two, the husband might claim to succeed to the office. Conventially this was allowed, but disputes might arise from the surviving brother who might challenge the right to succeed. In all such cases, just as any family dispute was resolved, the elders of the village intervened and adjudicated the matter. Although this was not a simple process, since faction alliances might complicate the decision to be acceptable to both the parties, attempts were made to follow the conventions or maintain status quo. If the decision was not acceptable to either party or both, it was usually taken to a court of law or to the revenue official head (the Taluk Magistrate, who is also the tehsildar) for adjudication. However, Kodipalli had no such incidence in recent decades, although there was dispute between nirganits serving the sluice meant for Murrampalli. In regard to the disputes between service specialists and patrons, the more frequent types were concerning non-payment of Marey wages, changing the specialists, refusal to serve a patron for reasons unconnected with the institution, etc. Here too the role of the village elders was a key factor in resolving the dispute. More often than not, the leaders might take a decision favouring the landowning patrons than the specialists, for they needed the support of landowners in their political ventures. Disputes or absence of them, it was ideally the responsibility of the village elders and the leader to supervise the smooth functioning of the system. For instance, when it was the time for the Neeruganti to determine the frequency of releasing water through the channels, or requisitioning the services of thoti, thalari and Ooru Madiga for making arrangements for a forthcoming festival, the leader’s role assumed importance. If any of the service specialists were found to be lagging behind in rendering their services contrary to the conventions, the matter would be reported to the leader. He would, on his part, warn the specialists, or advise accordingly. Finding an alternative specialist or permitting the specialists from the village to undertake work under Marey elsewhere (as has been done in the case of washerman who undertakes work in the neighbouring village of Avaganapalli) was also the responsibility of the village headman. Decline of Marey One of the most frequent terms with which rural social change is being analysed is by looking at some of the institutions that governed the At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 64 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management community’s social, economic and cultural aspects of livelihood system. A few decades ago it was in terms of changes in caste, kinship and family and marriage. Although these institutions continue to play an important role, but in ways different from what they used to be earlier, the institution of Jajmani- like systems too have assumed importance in recent years in examining the nature and direction of social change for several reasons. First, the institution is not merely a social-cultural one but also, at the same time, an economic one in nature.9 Thus, it is not merely the caste and hereditary occupations that were combined to render services that were ritual in nature, but also economic. In the cultivation of land, services and goods produced or provided by artisans and other specialists played an important role and these were exchanged customarily under this system. As has been pointed out in the foregoing section of the description of Marey in Kodipalli, these services were provided in exchange principally for food crops, that too the staple food crop, such as ragi or paddy. Over the years in most parts of rural India, there has been a gradual substitution of food crops by commercial crops such as sugarcane, pulses, groundnuts, and other oil seeds, etc., besides horticultural crops. In other words, the economic changes that are sweeping rural communities and their livelihood systems have brought to the fore the impact of such changes on institutions that combined caste, occupations and customary system of exchange of goods and services. Hence, a renewed interest in studying the changes in the system of Jajmani-like institutions. Secondly, rural communities have become much more politically conscious than ever before, and the rate of such conscientisation has been even more rapid owing to the frequent elections to different bodies at different levels. The decentralised system of governance, with various amendments to the Constitution, formation of Grama Sabhas, and the process of identification of beneficiaries of the different welfare programmes have been augmenting this process. Earlier a reference was made to the fact of how contractors undertaking civil construction works would not even claim reimbursement if the party in power had changed, just as those supporting an opposition faction would not attempt to get a work contract awarded. What this points out to is a growing rigidity with respect to alliances to the political leaders to the extent of rejecting opportunities for earning a handsome income.10 One should hasten to add here that factionalism is not a recent phenomenon in rural communities, but the rigour with which they are now pursued is much more intense than ever before. As a consequence, even attending weddings or community activities have become extremely and Examples of Transition 65 consciously selective, based on party and factional alliances. A few decades ago such avoidance was restricted to the key leaders and the more vocal or visible supporters while the rest had an ambivalent alliance. Increasingly the spirit of avoidance (of the faction opposed to their leader) is percolating strongly even among the supporters. Given such a process, the impact of them over institutions which emphasised community’s interdependence has become critical. Jajmani-like institutions are no exception to this process. Hence, the renewed interest in studying the impact upon them. Thirdly, many of the goods and services that were provided or exchanged under the Jajmani-like system have become dispensable, since modern machine technology has been offering newer or more efficient ones. Yet, there seem to be resilience among some, which are preferred by certain sections of the rural community. These changes too have begun to attract the attention of students of rural institutions. Decline of Marey in Kodipalli: At the outset it needs to be emphasised that we do not wish to attempt an economic determinist interpretation of factors responsible for the decline, although we may suggest that the transition in this regard has been from Marey to the Market. Although different factors have played a key role, the integration of Kodipalli’s economic life into the wider market beyond the village is a significant one, and it is in this context that our analysis proceeds. Nearly all the households in the village had been patrons of the service specialists within the framework of Marey. It was only such households belonging to castes that were ineligible to be part of the system as patrons that were left out, although some could obtain these services and goods by paying the money for them. The castes that were formerly Untouchable could not obtain the services of the washerman, barber, priests, while from a few others such as thoti, thalari and Ooru Madiga, they received the services on a complimentary basis. The most important services that were subscribed to by nearly all landowning, eligible castes, under the system of Marey were those for which land grants were made: thoti, thalari, Ooru Madiga, barber, washerman, and Neeruganti. The last mentioned however was subscribed to by farmers only if they owned land under the command area of the tank, irrespective of caste. Next in importance were those rendered to the village as a whole, for which it would not be easy to refrain from making the annual payment. This was because the whole community needed their services, and if any refrained from making the payment due to the specialists the village elders usually intervened on behalf At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 66 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management of the specialists. Avalodu, the cattle herdsman was also retained by nearly all, irrespective of the caste of the patron, who owned any cattle. Indeed this was the only service which had patronage from almost all the households in the village, although the service was not “village oriented” as that of thoti, thalari, etc. Incidentally, both Neeruganti and avalodu had no ritual services, which were central to their responsibilities, to render. Hence, a majority of the households from almost all castes entered into Marey relations with them, so long as they owned land in the command area or reared cattle. The question that needs to be answered is what were the causes for the decline of Marey and how did the process occur? Answers to the question could be both in a generic sense (as applicable to the system as a whole) or with respect to specific craft or services. As a point of departure we shall present a few cases to first familiarise with the factors and processes of change leading to the decline. Following this we may arrive at a general explanation for changes in the system of Marey as a whole. Washerman Subbanna: A member of washerman caste locally known as Chakalollu, Subbanna has been serving the village Avaganapalli which adjoins Kodipalli. He is now about 40 years of age. His father too had served as a washerman in Avaganapalli, and Subbanna succeeded his father in 1978 following the father’s death. In return for the service rendered in that village, his ancestors had been recipients of a land grant in Avaganapalli. Subanna had been compelled to sell that land in order to raise money to sink a borewell and improve cultivation in Kodipalli where he has been a resident. Subbanna’s family owns about 8.75 acres of land in Kodipalli, including about half an acre that is now irrigated with the help of the borewell. Even though a few years ago he had owned land in Avaganapalli, he chose to live in Kodipalli because all his kins lived in the latter, while none of his caste persons inhabited Avaganapalli. In addition to the land that was given to his ancestors as service inam, he was paid 32 seers (about 35 kg of ragi or paddy) per married couple in a household. If one of the sons in the patron’s household was married, he received no additional payment. Only if there were two married sons, he received additional 32 seers. He also received occasional gifts of food, money, and a bundle of hay for his cattle from all patron households.11 Examples of Transition 67

Picture 6: Pressing for a livelihood in the Market: Kodipalli’s Washerman in Gownipalli

Having served for about ten years in Avaganapalli, Subbanna decided to give up the service there for a variety of reasons. First, he had wanted to develop the lands in Kodipalli which he had inherited from his father. Secondly, he had found the patrons in Avaganapalli not being regular and prompt in making the annual payment to his services. Compounded by these two factors was the unprofitable nature of his work as a washerman in the distant village to which he had to commute whenever called upon. Besides these the cost of detergents was going up, especially since he could no longer have access to the soap-like soil, chaulu, which used to be found in plenty on the tank bed in the past. Use of factory made soaps became necessary since the patrons would insist on them, as they were more concerned about the durability of the clothes, which they were now wearing. From cotton clothes they had gradually switched over to nylon, and tericott and polyester clothes, often custom tailored for them. Patrons had been refusing to pay additionally towards the cost of soaps and detergents. Thus not only the indegenous detergents were becoming difficult to get, the cost of soaps and detergents available in the market were unaffordable. The technique of washing clothes was also becoming unacceptable to the patrons. In the past he used to boil clothes in a vessel, the process known as ‘Ubbu”, but the modern dresses are not suited for this process. At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 68 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management

During summer months availability of water also posed a problem for the washerman, especially if the monsoons were not good. Often he would face the dilemma of washing clothes in the same water, usually muddy, in which cattle were also washed. The patrons found this unacceptable, since not only the clothes appeared dirty even after washing, but they smelt foul too. On top of all these factors, the confirmation of occupancy rights over the inam lands following the implementation of land reforms, he found it easier to sell the land and invest the money in developing agriculture in his own village. Even as a washerman in the neighbouring village he had taken to sericulture requiring greater attention to it. In order to sink the borewell and rebuild his house he needed to raise loans from as many sources as possible. In order to accomplish this he began to spend more time with the leaders capable of obtaining a loan for him from different institutional sources. This too kept him away from his traditional calling. Having succeeded in raising these loans, and in improving agriculture, he found it no longer beneficial to follow the traditional occupation. His social status too is no longer in keeping with a low occupation as washing clothes. Village Servant Venkatappa Venkatappa is about 56 years of age and is Madiga by caste. His father Erappa served as the village servant referred to in the region as Ooru Madiga. Following the death of Erappa, Venkatappa succeeded to the office to serve as Ooru Madiga. The work of Ooru Madiga involved removal of the carcass and burying them near the tank. The owner of the dead cattle usually informed him to remove the body. In the past he used to extract the meat from such animals and distribute the shares of it to his relatives besides keeping something for himself to cook. The skin of the animal was sold at Gownipalli, usually to a Muslim trader in hides. During 1976 he received Rs. 10 for the skin of a buffalo which today fetches him between Rs. 60-100 depending upon the size of the animal and the condition of the skin. The proceeds were to be handed over to the owner of the animal. In return for his services of removal of the carcass and disposal of the skin, he used to get wages as applicable for a day. If he retained the proceeds with himself he was expected to make a pair of chappals or belt to fasten the yoke of a plough on the bullocks or cows. During late 1960s, he recalls, an epidemic of viral diseases that afflicted the cattle in his village, resulting in the death of numerous bovine population. His workload was so heavy those days that he had to take the help of a fellow relative in removing the carcass. Examples of Transition 69

As Ooru Madiga he is also expected to make announcements of any news or events, or decision of the village council. He beats his drum (Telugu: palaka), crying aloud through the different streets of the village. He is also expected to accompany the procession of images of village deities, by beating the drums. The festival of Teppotsava involves a good deal of music being played and beating of the drum is one among them. He is expected to arrange for extra drummers, often having to hire their services from neighbouring villages, and take part in the festivities. He receives an extra payment of money to meet the costs of hiring drummers from the neighbouring villages. He is also expected to lead the procession of the animal to be sacrificed throughout the village when members of different households offer their worship. During such processions he is also paid some money and a gift of grains. People also give him some liquor to drink. As Ooru Madiga one of the important duties that he has to perform is that he is a bearer of news particularly of birth and death. Incidence of either results in a temporary ritual pollution among the close affines, and they have to observe several kinds of avoidance during the period of pollution. When communication between villages was difficult it was the duty of the Ooru Madiga to run errands and messages to the relatives who might be living in surrounding villages. Carrying the news of death by a person unrelated to the bereaved family was important for several reasons. First, under a polluted status, members of the family would not go to the houses of others, even close relatives. Secondly, until the tenth day or eleventh day of the death there would be many rituals that needed to be performed requiring their presence in the village. Hence the need for the services of a person from outside the caste. When buses were not available in the past to go to different villages, his father used to walk the distance. The relatives having received the news used to give him a measure of grain and some money towards expenses. After the dead body was removed to the graveyard back in the village, and burial, the Ooru Madiga received rice, vegetables, and fruits and flowers that were earlier offered to dead person. Thus the responsibilities of Ooru Madiga included personal services as well those rendered for the village as a corporate entity. During the mid- 1970s, the law that had been enacted to abolish the village offices was implemented. Many hereditary village functionaries became legally redundant following the implementation of the law (Mysore (later, Karnataka) Village Offices (Abolition) Act, 1967). Some village officials were absorbed into the bureaucracy, provided they had the requisite qualifications and met the At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 70 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management age requirements. The Patel, Shanubhog were the two offices among whom most were absorbed as the newly created post of Village Accountant, Agricultural Extension workers, etc. Lower servants such as thotis, thalaris, and Ooru Madigas also benefited from this move, though not all were successful in their attempts. Venkatappa was among the fortunate ones, who was absorbed into government service as a peon to the village accountant, with a designation of Grama Sahayaka (Kannada term, meaning Village Assistant). This was during 1976, when he was being paid a sum of Rs. 150 per month. Even after such an employment he had continued to work as Ooru Madiga until about ten years ago (1994), and continued to receive Marey payment as had been the convention. He has been now receiving a salary of Rs.1,300 per month, and soon there is expected to be a revision in the salary as applicable to all the state government employees. The reasons for his giving up the traditional occupation was not only an improved economic status following his government employment, social status too, but also because there was a gradual decline in the number of persons who patronised him. A majority of the people in Kodipalli visit Gownipalli almost everyday in one connection or the other. Buses and other modes of transport are easily available, although it is a common sight to observe loads of passengers on the rooftop of the buses. In short, physical movement of people has been much higher than ever before. As a result, messages to be sent can now be done personally or through any other who is likewise going to different villages. Whenever there is now a death, it is a common practice among the bereaved families to print a post card, with a black outline, making the obituary notice. Typically a card would bear the photograph of a person on the reverse of the card, and on the obverse the date and time of death would be indicated. It will also indicate the calendar of events concerning the final rituals, to which an invitation is extended through the letter. These cards are either mailed to distant places, while to such places with a large number of friends and relatives, a member of the bereaved family may go personally to hand over the card. A person who does not carry the personal pollution on account of the death usually undertakes to distribute the cards.12 Moreover, in recent times taboos on travel, touch pollution during the period of mourning are all relaxed, and members of a bereaved family may delegate the responsibility of distributing the cards to one among them. If there are relatives who are expected to be present for the burial itself (married daughters, sons, or brothers and sisters of the deceased) arrangements are made to communicate the news and to bring them before it is too late. With Examples of Transition 71 the availability of public motor transport, or some one to ride a two wheeler, the news is communicated much faster on the day of the death itself, and even before the burial. One other dimension of change in rural networks is that there has been a geographical expansion of the area covered by them. No longer the relatives of individual households are all located in the nearby villages. In other words, there has been a greater rural urban linkages than rural-rural linkages of the past, particularly involving marriages, place of work and residence, besides the market. Communication of death or birth news therefore has to travel much wider than what could be covered by a Ooru Madiga as in the past. More over, telephones and mobile phones too have made inroads very strongly into the village’s communication network. The net result is Ooru Madiga is no longer needed for this purpose. Likewise, another important task that he performed also has become more or less redundant. This pertains to the removal of the carcass. The incidence of sudden death of animals, particularly milch and plough animals has been on the decline for a variety of reasons. First, veterinary services are available much more easily than before, and medicines too are available in Gownipalli at a walking distance. A veterinary doctor or his assistant visits the village once a week and once or twice a year he immunises the animals to prevent the occurrence of epidemics and deaths of animals on a large scale as have been reported in the past. Further, the presence of a voluntary organisation RORES in the village as well as in the neighbouring areas has also contributed to the improvement of health among animals. RORES has been supplying herbal medicines to the farmers to cure ailments of cattle and people alike. Health camps are also frequently organised for free check up of cattle and people. They also swing into action whenever there is a threat of epidemic affecting the lives of bovine population. Second, unlike in the past, the attachment that the farmers had towards their cattle has been waning. Almost once a year or two years, farmers indulge in exchanging their plough animals13 in one or the other cattle fairs. The result is that at any given point of time farmers ensure having healthier and sturdier animals, and their susceptibility to diseases causing death is much less. Thirdly, the inhibitions preventing sale of animals, particularly older ones have gradually given way to a market determined attitude. Thus, as soon as a cow or a buffalo begins to go dry, a farmer does not hesitate to sell it to a trader who supplies them to an abattoir. Although the religious value towards killing milch animals persist, people find a way out by justifying that they sold them to a third person not knowing what he does with them. Change in attitude is to be noticed particularly with respect to sick animal that is no At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 72 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management longer useful to the household or the farming activities. They find their way sooner to the market or to visiting merchants. As if these reasons were not enough to deprive the Ooru Madiga of animals whose carcass he had to remove, there have been changes also in the status of the person. He no longer wishes to eat the meat of a dead animal, for he can easily afford to buy fresh meat from the market. Further, caste consciousness among the former Untouchable castes has also encouraged persons to refuse removal of carcass and/or eating meat from a dead animal. Farmers on their part are also increasingly resorting to bury the cattle in their own fields, hiring the services of wage labourers and transporting them on a bullock cart to the site of burial. Some even bury them deeper and place a stone on top to prevent nocturnal animals finding a meal for themselves. These too have made the role of Ooru Madiga in this respect redundant. Some are out of his own choice while a few others reflect the presence of market driven sentiments. Observation of festivals, particularly of the kind that required his participation too has become less predictable in village communities in recent decades. For instance, Teppotsava, or Gangamma Puja is no longer held each year, sometimes even when the tank is full or has overflown. Reasons for these have been discussed earlier. In any case, whenever such events are observed service, specialists such as Ooru Madiga, is hired and monetarily compensated. As long as he had a service bound tenure over the land that was gifted to him, he had a sense of obligation towards the village community with respect to discharge of duties traditionally expected of him. Following the implementation of land reforms, and confirmation of occupancy rights over the land that was associated with the office of Ooru Madiga, his commitment too has been on the decline. He may now refuse to work when his services are sought. In fact, Venkatappa no longer accepts the work even if offered sufficient money. Instead, his brother-in-law now accepts the work both for cash and kind payment. The number of households who give Marey to him is only a handful. His work is also confined to that which the leaders or influential persons ask him to do. Venkatappa’s son, who has separated from his father to establish an independent household, also joins him on occasions, and they share the proceeds. They refer to the little grains received as Marey as “alms” given by a few landowners. One of the reasons for Venkatappa’s lack of interest in performing the duties of Ooru Madiga is his economic status. It was earlier pointed out that following the abolition of village hereditary offices, he was given employment by the government. By local standards, and given his social Examples of Transition 73 and economic status then, this was a boost to his social and economic standing in the village. He had cultivation rights over 1.5 acres of land in the tank’s command area, which was by virtue of holding the village office. In addition he had been successful in encroaching and regularising the rights over land of an extent of four acres. Because the permitted extent was only two acres per person, he had made his wife too a party to encroachment, and when land was granted it was registered in his wife’s name. In addition to these lands (5.50 acres) he had inherited three acres of land from his father. During his time, largely from his income as a government employee, he was able to improve the quality of land that he had owned. By sinking an open well and later punching a borewell he was able to convert three acres of land into an irrigated holding. Here he used to raise mulberry. Since his work both as a village assistant and Ooru Madiga took much of his time, he did not engage in rearing silk worms. Instead, he used to sell away the mulberry leaves to other farmers. Half acre of his holding is a tamarind orchard and is a good source of income for him. Between the Village and Town: The Case of Chinnareddori Byrareddy Byrareddy, 77 years of age, is an example of acquiring a gradual urban orientation, besides having been one of the earliest in the village to have sought formal legal intervention to redress a dispute in the village. He is also known for his leadership qualities, particularly in managing and maintaining - in the past - one of the key natural resources of Kodipalli, its main tank. Byrareddy is married to Byamma, from the nearby village of his ancestors. They had two sons and a daughter. The younger son died of lung cancer about ten years ago. The surviving son, Narayanaswamy, is an advocate, practicing in Bangalore. Narayanaswamy lived in Kodipalli for sometime, following a degree in Commerce from the University. This was during 1984-86, when he contested the elections for the local body of Mandal Panchayat. It was largely due to his father’s persuasion that Narayanaswamy contested the elections, and won with a convincing majority. To mark this victory, the father Byrareddy hosted a community meal during which time people were thanked for the support extended, by offering customary betel-leaves and areca nuts (veelya). Byrareddy had bigger plans, to get his son elected as the Chairman of the Mandal Panchayat. But this was also the years when the old order of hereditary leadership was making a desperate bid to retain the base of power with itself. Thimmegowda, the leader hitherto, wanted to return to the seat of power, and sought the help of Byrareddy. Narayanaswamy soon returned to Bangalore, having acquired legal education earlier, to practice as an advocate. Part of his earnings has At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 74 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management gone to rebuild the old house in Kodipalli, and more importantly, establish a private educational institution in Gownipalli. Belonging to one of the dominant castes in the village and the region, Byrareddy owns about 14 acres of land. By local standards, this is considerably a large holding. He has been successful in bringing a major portion of his holding under irrigation: four acres irrigated through a well, besides holding two and quarter of acres of land in the catchment of the two tanks, Kanagalakunta and Kodipalli tanks. Since the age of 16, he has been an agriculturist, and like his father, he too has been a keen supporter of cockfight as a pastime. Most of his lands are situated in the coveted areas adjacent to the village settlement. A few years ago he converted one acre of this land to form house-sites and sold most of them to the fellow villagers at attractive prices. Byrareddy has experience also in betel-leaf gardening. He had raised a betel-leaf garden in a plot of land he owns in the tank’s command area. Though he has no open well there, he gets sufficient water to irrigate the garden. The harvest of betel-leaves is sold in retail or in wholesale at the weekly markets in the surrounding villages, including the one at Gownipalli. Until a few years ago, he used to go personally to the markets to sell the leaves and other vegetables. Presently he has no betel- leaf garden. The land has been converted to be paddy fields, and entrusted to a sharecropper like the rest of his land holding. For the past few years, he and his wife have been moving back and forth to village from Bangalore where his son lives, or Chikballapur where his daughter lives. Having spent all his life in the village, he is unable to get adjusted to the life in urban areas, but at the same time does not have the will to live all by himself in the village either. During the year 2001 he had returned to the village with this wife to live there more permanently. He had even bought a buffalo to engage himself in milk vending. What we find then is Byrareddy, whose daughters are married and the only surviving son is showing greater interest in his profession of legal practice and as educational entrepreneur, both outside the village. This is in quite contrast to what he as a young person did, with a keen interest in farming and cockfights. For the past few years, Byrareddy has been letting out all his land on sharecropping or fixed rent basis. In recent times he has been trying to bring commercial farmers from outside the village to lease-in the land for a year to two in return for a fixed sum of money. Such leased farming has been on the rise in many parts of Kolar District over the past ten-fifteen years. There are three types of arrangements. Under the first, a plot of land with assured irrigation is leased out for raising a single crop, such as Examples of Transition 75 tomato, or any vegetables that would last for about six months. The rent is fixed in advance, anticipating the profits from such a crop to the enterprising farmer who is leasing in the land. During 1997-98, the sum used to be around Rs. 10,000 per crop per acre. This resembles the arrangemnt in which farmers in the past used to enter into a sharecropping pattern of cultivation specifically for a given crop, with the exception that it now involves money rather than sharing the corp. The implications are: A) the landowner no longer runs the risk of a crop loss, which is borne entirely by the lessee. In the past, the loss used to be shared by both lessee and the landowner. B) The landowner no longer is required to patronise the village servants, nor have any obligations to compensate their services to the village, since he will not be cultivating the lands. If for domestic purposes their services are taken, a cash payment is made at the time. The lessee on his part is only interested in raising whatever crop possible on the land mainly to sell the produce in the market at competitive prices. Most often, such enterprising lessees are non-residents of the village, and with extensive contacts with wholesale merchants in major towns and cities. Their links are also often cultivated by other commercially oriented farmers in the village. The second type of leasing out the land involves more or less the features described above, except that the arrangement is not specifically for a crop. Instead it lasts for a year or two. The rent is fixed for the whole period, and ranges between Rs. 15,000 to 20,000 per acre. The former type usually involves lands that are located close to a motorable road and nearer the towns. The latter type may involve lands that are fertile, but not necessarily adjacent to a motorable road. The third type is similar in every respect to the first two mentioned, except that the arrangement is for a period of ten to twelve years, or more. The quality of land is also not necessarily good, and may lack irrigation facilities. The lessee here undertakes to develop the land, including leveling the land, punching a few borewells, and fitting them with submersible irrigation pumps. He will also undertake to fence the entire holding and make arrangements for motorable access to the land. Additionally he may even construct a field house to sheleter the implements, tractor and a few workers during the day. The sum fixed as rent depends on several factors: facilities already available, access, quality of land, potentialities of irrigation, etc. It varies from Rs. 3,000 to Rs. 5,000 per year, payable annually or in advance for the entire period. The lessee usually enters into agreement with several farmers owning lands adjoining each other, such that the total land forms a large managable unit for commercial farming. One important consideration At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 76 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management is that the lessee leaves behind all improvements effected on the land of respective landowners when the arrangement is terminated at the end of the contract period. It is because of the improvements which the landowners benifit from that the rent is much lower at Rs. three to five thousand per year. The respective farmers, on their part, would not have got as much as that the rent they receive under the contract, since the land would have been dry. Byrareddy has entered into the second type of contract mentioned above, and during 1998 he was looking for a person from Andhra Pradesh who is considered to be more trustworthy and liberal in fixing the rents. He is thereby setting a trend in Kodipalli for lease farming, although at present there are as many as 35 farmers engaged in sharecropping and tenancy arrangements. The difference is that the lessees concerned in the emerging system are from outside the village and the rents fixed are much higher than the ones offered if the lessee is from within the village. Lessees from within the village have been carrying on commercial farming, but they do not usually pay the rent upfront as the outsiders do. Byrareddy has been insisting on payment in advance from his lessees. From the point of our concern, i.e., the decline of Marey and integration of the village livelihood system with the market we need to note a few consequences by anlalysing the case of Byrareddy and others who are following his footsteps. First, he has gradually withdrawn from the village institutions, particularly in having to contribute towards the holding of calendrical events. As a follow up, he has no obligations towards not only the Marey specialists, but also agricultural labourers who used to work for him in the past. Secondly, he himself is now more dependent on his son and daughters for his requirements, thereby reducing his dependence on the fellow villagers or the community. The community on its part also feels that he is a person who is in between the town and the village. If they go to him, it is usually to seek a favour to be done for one of their own children, to facilitate an urban based employment, or matrimonial alliance etc. The three cases that have been presented above have implications on our understanding for the changing rural livelihood systems, dependence on external resources, and changing concerns towards the management of natural resources. Both washerman Subbanna and village assistant Venkatappa provide ample indicators of the change necessitating people’s dependence on external resources. In the process of such a growing dependence we also find an accompanied change in the livelihood system. One major element of the rural livelihood system revolved around the Examples of Transition 77 institution of Marey, cultivation of food crops and a pattern of inter dependence among the members of the community. The process of market integration further hastened the process of changing both the livelihood system as well as dependence on local resources. In due course some sections of the population begin to be, indeed, completely dependent on the resources from elsewhere in pursuing their livelihood. We may examine a few cases to elaborate the point. These cases are drawn from the hamlet of Dugganakunte besides two from Kodipalli. It may be recalled that almost all residents of Dugganakunte are Mannu Bhovis by caste, whose traditional occupation has been earth work. They have in recent times began to specialise as migrant workers engaged in civil construction works such as laying the roads, working as labourers in Watershed Development projects undertaken by the state and in house construction in and around Kolar district. Some even go as far as Bangalore to build houses. Over the years two important persons have emerged in the hamlet, both leading to rival factions. Each of them has a team of workers from within the village and elsewhere working regularly for them. They return to their village once a week usually by Monday evening so as to be present for the weekly market at Gownipalli on Tuesdays. Having bought the household requirements for the coming week they return to work wherever their contractor leader takes them. There are some households in which only an old person is left behind while both men and women members of the household may join the migrant work force. Mestri Venkataramanappa: Mestri Venkataramanappa makes an interesting case because he has had a long history of different occupations: a labourer, a construction worker, cattle herdsmen, and now a civil contractor. In his case we find features of changes resulting in migration from one village to another. He was a young boy of about 15 years when his father migrated to the settlement which later came to be known as Dugganakunte in Kodipalli limits. A few details, concerning the migration of the family needs to be mentioned since it throws light on perception and incentives on migration by people. The village Nakkalagadda houses a population, all of whom are Bhovis by caste, historically specialising in earthen work and known also for their semi nomadic characteristics. This caste has been even now associated with construction and repairs of tanks. They moved from place to place in groups in search of work returning only briefly to their place of origin from time to time. As though in keeping with this the Bhovis of Nakkalagadda used to go in search of work in different parts of the district in Kolar and beyond. Many in the At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 78 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management settlements were landless labourers and those who had some land had found it either to be insufficient to support the family or unable to work on it since they were migrant workers. The period prior to migration of Venkataramanappa’s father (late 1960’s and early 70’s) was also characterised by new turns to development practice. The two Chief Ministers of Karnataka during this period, Sri.Veerendra Patil, who was succeeded by Sri. Devaraja Urs had been engaged in a struggle to consolidate their political base. One of the means with which they could achieve this was by initiating a considerable number of development works involving laying of roads, construction of houses for the poor, schools and hospitals and development of agricultural infrastructure. Many of the small ponds that are now to be found in the Srinivasapur taluk are all identified as results of such initiatives. Consequently there was plenty of work available for the Bhovis of Nakkalagadda. Around the same time the big tank known to day as Dugganakunte tank had breached. Patel Thimmegowda, the traditional Headman of Kodipalli and Murrampalli had been responsible for getting a work contract awarded to repair the tank and constructed a new tank up the stream which has come to be known today as Chinna Dugganakunte tank, i.e., small tank. There was also a mystery involving the lands of Thimmegowda around this time. He had been attempting to bring more land under cultivation than what belonged to him. With a view to doing this he needed workers who could only be enticed by offering something more than mere wages. This was by way of tenancy. In any case Thimmegowda could not have cultivated all the lands that he conserved by himself, for, he lived in Murampalli and was busy most of the time as a politician battling to preserve his political base. On the part of the workers willing to migrate there were three incentives. First, the readily available work for those willing, as labourers to repair the tank for a contractor. Second, readily available work with Thimmegowda with an opportunity for tenancy. The added advantage being they would be tenants of wet lands with an assured irrigation. The third incentive was even more attractive: there was vast stretch of waste lands that were available for encroachment, which was only possible by being able to be physically present on the site. Thus, for a few families of Nakkalagadda the invitation to go to work in Dugganakunte came as a boon. Venkataramanappa’s father who had owned two acres of land in Nakkalagadda decided to move into Dugganakunte. The land that he owned was given away to his oldest son, who remained there to look after cultivation. He moved into Dugganakunte with his wife and two sons. Examples of Transition 79

Encroachment was not an easy task. Thimmegowda was not willing to easily let others take away the land, which he had cleared. Although they were adjoining his, he was trying to establish his claims over it. But there were others who too were interested in it and in the other lands that were now being attempted to be encroached by the immigrant workers, including Venkataramanappa’s family. It is said that the landowners of Kodipalli too were keen on staking a claim on these lands for themselves just as those from Avaganapalli were interested in the lands on which the migrant workers were trying ot establish a claim. There are stories narrated about houses being torched, fear of ghosts put into the minds of the people living in Dugganakunte such that they would vacate the lands and return to Nakkalagadda. There was also resistance on Thimmegowda’s claims over the land. It came to be known much later to the astonishment of the workers-cum- tenants when they were attempting to file claims for confirmation of occupancy rights under the Karnataka Lands Reforms Act. It was revealed to them that the landowner Thimmegowda had no legal documents to support owning any lands there and in fact all along these ‘tenants’ had been actually cultivating lands that had been encroached by Thimmegowda without any legal sanction. In due course, however, most tenants succeeded in claiming their occupancy to land although many among them had not received the titles to land from the department concerned even after 25 years of filing the claims. The bureaucracy was nevertheless favouring Thimmegowda because of his economic and political strengths for which reason many tenants from Dugganakunte had been misled. During these turbulent years, there had been a period when Venkataramanappa and his father were passing through economic hardship, as did several other households in the newly formed settlement. In order to be able to get the benefits that were available from the government they had to halt their disputes with Thimmegowda on the matters concerning lands. They had to remain in the village so as to make their occupancy of the lands more visible. Consequently, many had to remain in the village although there was work available outside as construction workers. It was during such a phase that Venkataramanappa’s family undertook to be the cattle herders for the animals of Avaganapalli. The erstwhile herders there had given up the work and there was a vacancy with none from the village willing to undertake. Although Venkataramanappa by then had begun to work as a labourer he was now more drawn into being a supporting member of the household, responsible for cattle herding. They were paid Rs. 10 per At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 80 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management animal per annum for looking after the animal, with rights to pick the dropping which could be used or sold as farm yard manure. The arrangements were all similar of what has been described in the context of herders in Kodipalli and may not be repeated here. The family worked as herders for about 10 years, until 1984-85. From time to time Venkataramanappa used to work as a construction worker and would go away with a team of workers to different parts in the region. His employer was actually a sub contractor who was carrying out work on behalf of a bigger contractor. In due course, he became a supervisory worker. This involved his ability to bring a gang of workers from his own village all of whom work for the main contractor. The gang of workers owed their allegiance to the person who mobilised them into a group. They would all be paid a wage as applicable to any worker while the gang leader would be paid a bit extra for having been able to supply workers. As a gang leader it would be his responsibility to ensure the safety of the workers, make arrangements for their accommodation at the work site, make initial payments of wages as advance and arrange for their food on a cost sharing basis. He was thus emerging to be an important person in the village for, many workers in the village used to work for a gang leader elsewhere. On their part they found working for a gang leader who is a person from within the village was advantageous in many ways. The second level of graduation came to Venkataramanappa when he succeeded in getting a sub contract work for himself. This was when an official awarded him the work of erecting gully checks at the rate of Rs.7 per meter. The workers were paid Rs. 5 as wages and the remaining was to be the earnings for Venkataramanappa. The first few assignments that he got were all connected with laying gully checks, contour-bunding etc., as part of the Soil Conservation Programme by the Department of Agriculture. Since he was able to break-even during the first few assignments like this he now began to explore possibilities of getting bigger contracts. This he was able to do by approaching officials of government departments where there would be construction work available. At this point it is perhaps appropriate to introduce a local rival, but much older in profession, to Venkataramanappa. This is Chinna Swami. Venkataramanappa and Chinna Swami were at one time wage labourers and had worked for the same gang. Chinna Swami had emerged as independent contractor much earlier and Venkataramanappa was only following his footsteps now. Frequently they were competing for the same work. Indeed the workforce in the hamlet Dugganakunte is divided into Examples of Transition 81 two camps, working as a member of the gang for either of them. In recent years both of them have begun to get good number of work assignments, ironically, owing to the emphasis on people’s participation in Watershed Development undertaken by the government departments. As long as Venkataramanappa was a full time resident and labourer or a tenant farmer in the village, he remained to be economically impoverished. Indeed it was to overcome this and to meet his economic needs that he began to move out of the village. What he has today is a result of his dependence on opportunities outside the village. The work involves having to spend money considerably. First it is by way of advancing the money to the workers, (much of which remains as loans repayable to him). Secondly, bribes have to be paid to the officials who pass the bills for payment, besides spending money lavishly in hosting parties to the officials in various departments so as to remain in their good books. Yet, he has managed to invest substantially in improving the assets he owns in his village. Like him many other workers in the village also have been able to plough back the income from being migrant workers. As members of the Scheduled Caste they have been beneficiaries of a variety of programmes: housing, land development, irrigation, electricity etc. The two important persons in the village, Venkataramanappa and Chinna Swami with their contacts with bureaucracy have also been successful in bringing benefits to the village. Venkataramanappa’s orientation to farming like most others in the Dugganakunte hamlet has been to grow paddy or other cash crops so as to keep the household running. The main income to them comes from being construction workers. Having been away for most part of the time, the migrant construction workers have not been able to devote much time to the development of the lands as perhaps has been done in Kodipalli or elsewhere. Women are largely entrusted with the responsibility of running a household and farms on a day to day basis. Most commercial farmers growing tomatoes and other vegetables have established direct contact with buyers in Bangalore or elsewhere. These traders send a goods-pick up van to upload the stock of vegetables each day during the season for sale in the wholesale markets of Bangalore. The quantity transacted is much less than in Kodipalli not only because there are less number of households but also fewer farmers are engaged in such farming. With these cases as a background, let us now proceed to seek an explanation at a more general level for the transition from Marey to market. At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 82 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management

Factors Responsible for Decline of Marey: Penetration of the Market From having been a satellite-agrarian community (to the absentee landowners of Gownipalli), following the land reforms implementation during the 1960-70s, Kodipalli tended to become an independent village in its internal governance. Economically, however, it is still oriented towards the town Gownipalli, and its market. But agricultural production continued to be food crops based, both for domestic consumption and surplus to be sold in the market. A major change began to occur during the 1980s, particularly in its agrarian economy. This involved a gradual shift from food production to production of commercial crops. First it was for sometime the economically rewarding activity of sericulture. Following the widespread incidence of crop losses, farmers began to switch over to other cash crops, such as cottonseed production, potatoes, tomatoes, sunflower, and groundnuts. Development of agriculture for cash crops coincided with extensive use of fertilisers, pesticides and sinking of open-wells and later borewells. Loans for the last two mentioned too began to be made available through the commercial banks and other state sponsored lending institutions such as the Primary Land Development Bank. Sections of the population such as the Scheduled Caste and Tribe were benefited by free sinking of borewells for improving their agriculture. Thus a considerable extent of land that had been hitherto dry began to be benefiting from irrigation. In addition, schemes of development began to benefit different sections of the community, thereby making it possible for many of those who rendered services under Marey also to benefit. Consequently, they too were able to improve their economic conditions, adopt better technology of cultivating their lands. When agricultural technology was thus undergoing a change, it was followed by changes in cropping pattern, to an extent crops grown hitherto were almost given up. Farmers began to purchase their staple food grains from the market or the public distribution system. Consequently, there was little that they could give as payment in kind to the specialists. One of the foremost factors that we need to take note of is the rise in commercial crops in Kodipalli. Cultivation of ragi which used to be the main agricultural activity about two decades ago began to give way to other crops such as mulberry, sunflower, groundnuts and vegetable crops. This was possible because of considerable improvement in the irrigation facilities in the village. Earlier, farmers in the command area were concentrating on growing paddy, which a majority do even now. Those outside the command area were concentrating mainly on raising crops under dry conditions. Examples of Transition 83

Gradually with the availability of financial support from various state sponsored institutions and under various schemes, farmers were able to get loans fairly easily. The emergence of one particular person as a leader in the village who began to have considerable influence in one of the main lending institutions, the Primary Land Development Bank, also made this possible. Further, families, which sent their sons to urban employment were also able to raise additional funds for the improvement of lands, as we noted from the case of Byrareddy. There are many more who have tapped their urban contacts to raise money or loans to invest in agriculture. Improvement in agriculture invariably means a departure from crops that were traditionally grown, and turning to commercial crops. Further, even those in the tank command areas have gradually begun to devote to commercial crops and vegetables for at least two reasons. After the first crop with assured water from the tank (during normal monsoon years), most farmers in the command have begun to grow vegetables like tomato, brinjal, cabbage, field beans, etc. instead of ragi under dry conditions as in the past. As a consequence, the relations with agricultural labourers, including the Marey specialists have tended to be in monetary terms rather than in the conventional manner of annual payment in kind. One further point of comparison needs to be clarified at this stage. It is not that farmers never grew any commercial crops in the past. Commercial crops in the past were only supplementing the other food crops, and that did not prevent farmers from making Marey payment in kind. For instance, they grew sugarcane on a large scale in the command area. The specialists who did render their services were then compensated in kind, and on annual payment basis as applicable to Marey system. Some compensation was also made in terms of a share in the commercial crops. Thus sugarcane growers gave two balls of jaggery and two bundles of sugarcane that could be carried as a head-load. Not only did cultivation of sugarcane declined in recent years; but farmers who grew it had also stopped crushing cane by themselves to make jaggery. Instead they were selling the harvest of sugarcane to agents or directly in the weekly market at Gownipalli. Each ball of jaggery today costs about Rs.20 and weighs about a kilogram and half. The cost of sugarcane given away would cost about Rs.100. These were in addition to what the specialists would have got as Marey in kind. Farmers on their part too began to find the payment to be on the higher side, and preferred to simply pay wages to the specialist rather than payment in kind that had better value in the market. This holds true to the case of presently grown commercial crops and vegetables. At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 84 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management

The second important factor is closely related to the first. As has been a predominant pattern in different parts of the country, payment of agricultural wages began to be entirely in cash than the erstwhile payment in kind. This induced many specialists also to seek cash wage payment, since most of them would also be working as agricultural labourers. Having once got used to being paid in cash, with which they could meet their immidiate needs in the market, they preferred cash for all their labour. This included services rendered under Marey as well. Combined with the farmers not growing food crops, commercial crops being costlier than what could be paid as wages, and easy availability of food grains through subsidised public distribution system both farmers and service specialists preferred work arrangements for which cash wages could be paid. Thirdly, as noted in a few of the case studies, there began alternative sources of income for the service specialists. Some, as the Ooru Madiga began to receive a cash wage for their employment with the government. A few others began to have independent agricultural income, which was possible through frequent land grants made to them. Many more were now able to invest in improving the land for better yield and monetary returns. All these also kept them away from being available at the beck and call of the patrons, who in turn began to feel that it was a waste of food grains to make prompt payment to the service specialists. The one service that is being practised more or less true to the prescriptions of the system of Marey is by the water overseers. They too are no longer as dependent on the Marey for their livelihood, though the income forms a major supplementary source. Younger brothers, sister’s husband and other relatives living as members of the household among the water overseers now take greater interest on behalf of the families traditionally associated with the work. As may be seen in the case of Neeruganti Venkatappa, many of them own considerable extent of land in the tank’s command, besides being sharecroppers of landowners from neighbouring villages. Being Neerugantis they stand to gain in terms of access to water in the tank. It is also widely alleged that they favour such landowners who give them extra money to get water on favourable terms. Integration with Market Economy and Consequences to Natural Resources Our discussion of Marey was essentially to indicate how the expansion of market economy was making inroads into rural institutions, which in turn began to lose their bases. We may now turn to the questions of how penetration of market economy is affecting the management of Examples of Transition 85 natural resources, and to what extent the existing policies have been supportive of making natural resources to be sustainable. Although appearing at different points in the foregoing, there is ample evidence of the process of village economy being integrated into a larger market economy. To recapitulate we may list some here. First, there has been a near disappearance of subsistence cropping, and with it the associated institutional structures. The threshing floor, which signified the arena for enactment of rural relationship of interdependence, too disappeared, since there was no need for it under the regime of commercial crops. With it also disappeared the institution of Marey, which included several hereditary offices concerned with the management of natural resources. The Ooru Madiga, who was concerned with the land and resources administration as having been a general assistant to the traditional headman and Village Accountant, no longer works as he did in the past. Likewise, the potters have disappeared. The Washerman who was concerned with the tank not getting silted up does not work any more. Instead, he washes clothes with water from an irrigation pump or elsewhere where factory made clothes do not get smelly or soiled. Neeruganti releases water based on a convention but not on the basis of a participative decision. The concern for a second or third crop has gradually disappeared. The foregoing discussion on Marey was essentially to indicate the consequences of the extension of marketing economy upon the institutions in rural livelihood system, in this case, Kodipalli village. We noted there how one of the essential bases of institution, namely, cultivation of land for food crop purposes had given way to commercial crops. Believing on this understanding we shall now proceed to answer a question how the penetration of market economy has affected the management of natural resources. In part we shall also attempt to trace the issue of the existing policies by the state to have been supportive of making natural resources base to be sustainable. Although appearing at different points in our reporting so far the ample evidences of the process of market integration we may attempt, briefly, a recapitulation of highlights of the process. First, there has been a near disappearance of subsistence cropping, in the manner in which it was done twenty years ago. The subsistence crop, ragi, was grown to facilitate not merely to have all the foodgrains required for the household, but also in such a way that it supported the needs of the farmstead. The system also facilitated a rhythm of social and cultural life in the community with more or less predictable frequency and regularity. The threshing floor, created for the purposes of processing the yield harvested, At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 86 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management facilitated different sections of the community to take part in different activities. The disbursal of grains to be paid to different specialists, gifting away to the poor a proportion of the foodgrains, were all part of the climax of an agricultural calendar-year. Elaborate preparations were made much before the processing began on the threshing floor. The plough animals, ropes to fasten the animals to the yoke, brooms to sweep the foodgrains into a heap, baskets and winnows, gunny bags and other packing material etc. For months the bullocks were fed and looked after. Men prepared them for the onerous task ahead by feeding them with the stalks of jowar and the cuttings from field beans plant (Anupakaylu; dolicos lab lab). Even before the commencement of activities connected with the threshing floor, there used to be exchange of the bullocks and other plough animals in any of the cattle fairs in important temple towns or elsewhere, in which the old pairs were sold and new ones bought. Groups of men and women would sit together to make ropes out of Sisal fiber or coconut fiber, if not buying them from local rope makers. With the sweeping changes that took place in regard to the cropping pattern by almost all farmers taking to commercial crops, there was not only disappearance of ragi but also the threshing floor. In turn, all the activities of interdependence between people and dependence upon the local resources began to disappear. commercial crops such as tomatoes, potatoes, sunflower, groundnuts etc., laid emphasis upon resources from outside. In place of farmyard manure there was a greater emphasis on chemical fertilisers. There were also now pesticides which began to make in-roads into the agrarian economy. Wages too were now paid in cash. The high point of wage disbursal was that it took both the labourers and the employing farmers to the market town of Gownipalli. For it was here that the produce was sold and the worker received his wages there. Gownipalli has peculiar features in relation to the people who go there from different villages. Different spots have become well known as meeting points for the people of specific villages, and from within the villages there are meeting points for members affiliated to different rival factions. Thus, if a person was looking for a farmer from Kodipalli belonging to the faction lead by the former headman, all he or she has to do is to go to the huge pupil tree close to the bus stand where he and his supporters assemble each day. At any point of time there is always one or the other person from the faction who would know the whereabouts of the rest. Commercial crops no longer necessitated the roles of the village functionaries under the system of Marey. Consequently, any concern that was there for the natural resources, which supported different crafts and Examples of Transition 87 services, was no longer institutionally required. The potter, who in his own way contributed to the desilting of tanks even if in patches, was no longer functional. In fact, among the several service specialists who migrated from the village in search of livelihood, potter was one of the most. For some time a potter used to visit the village during specific seasons, from a different village, to sell the earthenware. But soon this too had to be stopped for he had no buyers. The earthen vessels which used to be the containers for seeds and grains were gradually replaced by gunny sacks and plastic bags. Usually fertiliser bags made up of thick polythene serve this purpose. Plastic bags and vessels of various sizes and shapes replaced earthen vessels and troughs. For cooking purposes, not only was it below ones status to use earthen vessels but there were steel and aluminum vessels that were now sold. Each day there are at least two bicycles with loads of either plastic- ware or metal-ware that are rode into the villages by vendors. There are also some selling steel vessels or exchanging them for old clothes. Potter was thus replaced by the machine made vessels and as a result the tanks lost an important patron. The rope makers too have been gradually losing out ground in the agrarian economy. Not only there has been a decline in the extent to which ropes were used in agriculture, availability of material also has declined. Sisal and coconut fibers were the major sources of raw material for them. Sisal was available in the village as well as in the neighbouring villages that formed the main plants with which fencing of the fields was possible. It was also beneficial to the farmers in the past to let the blades of the Sisal plant to be cut periodically by the rope makers. Farmers in the past allowed free cutting of Sisal blades. Gradually they began to insist on a certain length of ropes to be given in return for letting the raw material to be taken by the craftsmen. Shops in Gownipalli began to sell machine made ropes both of coconut fibre and nylon, the latter being more durable and elegant. The demand for Sisal began to decline. In addition to this, market enforced commodities of hardship, the artisans began to encounter two further problems, one the little ponds that served as a water place to soak the Sisal before the pulp was removed began to go dry largely owing to the changes in the landscape. The little ponds had less flow of water into them for a variety of reasons. Farmers in the adjoining areas began to instal a diesel run irrigation pump to extract as much water as possible to get better yields in their fields. The watershed too began to change with more and more waste lands coming under cultivation under private ownership thereby altering the natural course of rain water percolation into ponds. Sinking of deep borewells deeper and deeper also began to deplete the water table to an At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 88 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management extent that these ponds began to go dry particularly during the times when it was a peak season for the rope-makers. Second problem encountered was that the farmers began to switch over from Sisal as a fencing plant to barbed wires and other plants that took less space thereby permitting extra space for cultivation of commercial crops, and that shed less shadow. Sisal plants themselves became an object of commercial production. There were now entrepreneurs most of whom in no way connected traditionally with ropemaking too began ventures of manufacturing ropes from Sisal by using simple technologies. These ropes too were more favoured by farmers and traders alike owing to their elegance, fine finishing and cost affordability. Since about ten years there has been a discovery of Sisal fibre for industrial use as well. Agents have been buying up Sisals wherever they are available to be supplied to small and medium scale industries engaged in extracting fibre out of them for use in fabrics of different kinds. In any case Sisal is rare to be found in Kodipalli and in surrounding areas. Coconuts, which are another source of raw material for rope- makers, have also been hit by market dynamics. In the past almost every item from a coconut tree was of use to the farmer one way or the other. It is for this reason that coconut tree had a religious veneration as Kalpavriksha, the eternal tree capable of giving everything. Although it continues to serve most purposes even now such as brooms, firewood from the coconut pods and shells, the rope makers have lost out in this regard too. Consumption of tender coconut as an equivalent to a soft drink has had a phenomenal rise both in rural and urban parts of the country today. In the past the farmer would extract coconut shells by separating husk around it. The nuts would be taken to the market to be sold or an agent would buy it from them in the village. The separated husk found a major source of fuel in the house especially for heating the water to bathe. They were also sold to the local rope-makers. Husks from hundred coconuts were sold about ten years ago at the rate of Rs.5. Some time later it went up to about Rs.10 and even more. Farmers with large number of coconut trees rarely now process the yield thereby denying an important raw material for the rope- makers14. Almost every coconut farmer has a regular arrangement with a vendor who buys tender coconuts from him. It is also a common sight to see vendors pushing their bicycles each morning with a load of tender coconuts and a sickle from the village to the town. The vendor retains the tender coconuts to the thirsty or sick who visit the town. There are about 4 to 5 young men in Kodipalli who also engage themselves in this business from time to time. Thus a person in need of some quick money may approach Examples of Transition 89 a farmer with a tree ready to harvest to buy from him the coconuts. Unlike the visiting vendors he need not pay the money affront. On a lucky day he is able to sell about 50 to 60 tender coconuts within about 2 to 3 hours, return with a profit of about Rs.70 to 100, and settle the dues with the tree owner. Such a part time vendor may still have time to attend to his usual work whether as a wage labourer or working in his own fields. The net result is that the rope-maker has no raw material to work upon. This is yet another way by which resources have found a marketable use than supporting the livelihood of local craftsmen. A second feature of market integration is lease farming, of the kind which we encountered with the case of Byrareddy. When repeating the features of lease farming we may highlight the consequence of it for use and management of natural resources. Our observations here are not restricted to Kodipalli where only a milder version of leasing has begun to take place. Elsewhere in Kolar district the more rigorous versions have begun to have deep impact both in livelihood systems and on natural resources.

Table 6: Incidence of Sharecropping and Leasing Lands (2001) in percentages Land Ownership Total Leasing Mortgage- Share- Lease- Mortgage- Share- Categories in Nos. in in in out out out Landless 8 12.5 12.5 Up to 1 acre 19 15.8 1.01 to 2.50 acres 48 6.3 10.4 2.1 2.1 4.2 2.51 to 5 acres 46 10.9 2.2 6.6 2.2 13.1 5.01 to 10 acres 30 6.7 6.7 23.3 3.3 3.3 10 10 acres and above 9 22.2 22.2 44.4 Total 160 8 7 20 4 3 15 100 5 4.38 12.5 2.5 1.9 9.3 The landowner who leases out land for a year or two does so for different reasons, each of which may get reflected on what happens to the land and the flora unit. In a majority of the cases it is because he is growing older and does not have enough support from within the farm household. Children, or grand children, have taken to non-agricultural occupations and are not residents of the village. The other reason is that the farmer has non- agricultural interest dominating his orientation: he may be a middleman (broker), contractor, politician or a trader, if not holding a job that makes him commute from village to elsewhere. Thirdly, there are also farmers who believe in change in the course of bad luck by giving up what they normally do. Thus leasing out the land for a year or two for someone else to take At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 90 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management risk, such farmers able to regain a streak of luck which they may have missed for a few years in succession. Finally, there are also some who find it to be not a worthwhile task especially having to manage men, material and animals since the returns do not match the efforts. Many of them may also find the wages payable to the labourers to be higher or may themselves be agricultural workers as well. Above all these there are some who find it difficult to invest on their own to develop the lands. Some or all these reasons (most of which are not necessarily mutually exclusive) now encourage a farmer to lease out the land on a commercial basis. An agreement that may last for a number of years is entered into on the strength of which the lessee sinks borewells, bulldozes the land to make it of even level and affect several other improvements. Even as a farmer has begun to entertain the idea of leasing it out, his priorities would be to first fell as many trees as possible to be sold as timber or firewood. The second is to stop making any investment to improve the quality of the soil. The third is to leave it fallow at least for a season so as to keep the land ready for lease at short notice. Fourth, he may even sell whatever cattle he may have since he has no use for them. In other words, the resource that was hitherto used with a concern for the future now assumes the value of a commodity that can be pledged for designated length of time. On the part of the lessee who has taken on the farmer’s risk besides the risks of a trader, his immediate concern is to maximise his returns. Ideally he aims at recovering in advance what he is likely to spend on rentals, future losses, and the investments on developing the land - all within a short period of time. He is aware that a good crop in the market is likely to follow a slump in the following year, for farmers in the region will sow that which has been a success in the market in the preceding year. The lessee’s arithmetic of lease farming is based on the principle of gaining in the average while aiming at higher profits in each crop. In other words he may get as little as Rs.10, 000 against an expected 40 to 50 thousand rupees or more per crop at one time. But he is also aware that in the cycle of crops he is likely to hit a bumper “jackpot” that is likely to wipe out a previous or even a future loss. With this as his purpose, his goal is to extract as much as possible out of every rupee invested on land that he has leased in. Although in short run he may gain, from a long term point of view it is the owner of the land and the neighbours who lose a lot more than what they may have gained in the short run. This is by way of abuse of resources such as land and groundwater. The owner, in course of cultivation of land practiced a Examples of Transition 91 rotation of crop from time to time, thereby facilitating the regeneration of nutrients in the soil. The lessee farmer, on his part, would have made such permanent alterations to the land that it is only suitable for growing a crop after crop without a break and scope for a rotation of the crops. Since the commercial crop that he grows is dependant on water he sinks as many borewells as possible and extract water by using alternative sources of fuel, be it a diesel run generator set or diesel run irrigation pump. The pumps run continuously without adequate time for regeneration of resources. Water table has already begun to decline in Kolar and is likely to reach critical levels if this were to go on.

Graph 1: Landownership and Incidence of Tenancies

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0 Leasing in Mortgage-in Share-in Lease-out Mortgage-out Share-out

Landless Up to 1 acre 1.01 to 2.50 acres 2.51 to 5 acres 5.01 to 10 acres 10 acres and above

There is yet a policy by the state to regulate sinking borewells indiscriminately. The restriction is applicable only if an institutional loan is raised for the purposes, which too is not difficult to by-pass with the right connections and with the right amount of bribe to the officials concerned. When more and more people resort to lease farming of this nature, what is likely to appear as a landscape in the coming years is one of vast stretch of At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 92 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management land all under many crops with rarely any trees. In the place of birds humming one may listen to the music of the irrigation pumps running without any rest for change in notes. A consequence of this, though not without relevance to the natural resources, is the changes in the wage structure of the labourers. With a view to maximising the yield and thereby increasing the profit, the lessee also has a tendency to apply chemical fertilisers and pesticides indiscriminately, often far beyond the required limits. Application of chemicals in this manner result in diminishing the nutrient value inherent in the soil and leading to changes in its physical quality as a whole. Soil becomes sandy over a period of time rendering the land not ideally suitable for cultivation in due course. Large scale production of commercial crops as being done not only by the lessee farmers but also owner cultivators has little to offer to the natural surroundings in relation to the culture of mono cropping in place of seasonal bio-diversity in farming. The bio-mass from such crops has little value to the farming system. Almost all commercial crops including groundnuts, tomatoes and potatoes have little utility from the point of view of fiber or bio-mass and some even as fuel. Instead some of these crops such as tomatoes draw upon the dwindling resources in the vicinity. Hybrid varieties of tomatoes that are heavy make the plants to stoop thereby decreasing the potential for higher yields. To avoid this and maximise yields, farmers have begun to erect a supporting pole to a height of about 5-6 feet. These sticks have to come from the nearby trees or from the eucalyptus plantation in the adjoining forests. Harvest of these trees is not legal. The sticks required are to be slender and straight which means it is the young eucalyptus plants, which are cut stealthily. Lessee farmers who need them on a large scale will have to buy them in the market. Most towns in Kolar now have wholesale markets trading in such sticks and Gownipalli is no exception. Not all sticks that find their way to such markets come from legal felling of trees. Commercial farming, including lease farming, therefore contributes very little to the natural environs of the countryside while drawing so heavily from already dwindling village wood lots and the open access forests. Indeed the rate at which replantation takes place in the forest is so quick that there are now persons in rural communities who specialise in undertaking the contracts to raise nurseries or lay trenches in the forests. Emergence of such a specialisation is quite similar to those of others such as the brokers, instant vendors and the civil works contractors. Examples of Transition 93

Commercialisation of agriculture as is occurring in Kodipalli and in surrounding areas is such in nature that the agricultural produce has very little use - within the village. In short, crops are raised just as any commodity to be sold in the market. This is true not only of agriculture but also of dairying. Although farmers may use the produce for domestic consumption until the final harvest, almost none is processed within the village and stored for a year round consumption. This is quite in contrast to the earlier pattern of cultivation. Ragi, jowar, tur dal and other pulses, mustard, oilseeds etc., were all cleaned and stored in the village. A marketable surplus was determined based on the need such as the ceremonial requirements, wages in kind and other forms of exchange to be first met, the rest to be sold as and when the need arose for money. 15 Processing some of the produce within the farmstead facilitated a mutual exchange of labour among the members of the community, besides providing for generation of re-usable agricultural wastes for different purposes within the village community. To that extent there was reason for interdependence for people to be valued and seeking alternatives for re-usable agricultural wastes minimised in the past. Instead, there is now a growing dependence on alternatives. Cattle feed in place of the wastes from oil extraction, electric stoves and cooking gas in place of fuel from agricultural wastes are some of the examples of alternatives that are now found in the market. Not only the market has been more frequently visited, monetary income has also been able to make the farmers afford such alternatives. Thus not only has the market penetrated the farming system and therefore, the village community, but also the community has grown more dependent on the town and the market in the place of enduring relationship of interdependence between the farmers within the village. We now find an enduring relationship between the farmers and the urban trader, buyer or the middlemen or the commission agents. Almost each farmer now has nearly a Marey like, enduring relationship with a goods van owner or its driver; with the wholesale merchant of grains, and other agricultural products, potters, fertiliser and pesticide dealers. Besides these, he also has urban artisan and craftsmen with whom he has a more or less enduring relation. These are mechanics who can retire the tractor (a tiller or harvester) and irrigation pump, besides sprayers and other gadgets which support their commercial agricultural ventures. Although payments are made in cash at varying rates with the market determinants for the services of these specialists it is now uncommon that they too are given ‘gifts’ of basket of tomatoes or potatoes which are harvested from time to time. At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 94 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management

A major difference in ‘Marey’ of this kind is that the former patrons are now the clients; clients of the market created artisan and craftsmen. It is not, therefore, uncommon to find a wealthy farmer or his representative waiting for one of these specialists to return to his ‘shop’ from wherever he may have gone such that he may be taken to the village on a two-wheeler to render his services. The greater the urgency, the higher the fee. Some such specialists in Gownipalli are, ironically, caste- related services specialists who are displaced from the traditional Marey system. It is in this sense that we find a significant transformation from Marey to the market to have occurred. It is ironic that the displacement took place because their services in the old order were beginning to be found redundant. Many of those acquire new skills, skills that were at the time of their displacement were yet to find a patron. Transformation of the agrarian economy in Kodipalli kept pace with those elsewhere and it was not before long that these skilled persons were now sought for their new services. A fourth manner in which consequences of the extension of the market and integration of the rural economy took place may be explained by the growth of Gownipalli as a major market town. A routine of almost every farmer in the radius of 10-12 kms from Gownipalli includes at least one visit to the town by foot , bicycle, motor cycle or a public transport facility, if not by a bullock cart. The purpose of the visit is not just to have the comforts that are available in the town but also to buy and sell the goods needed for the emerging farming system. The weekly market on Tuesdays is as hectic as in any major town. Although in far corner of the district bordering a different State, Gownipalli weekly market attracts buyers and sellers from as far as Bangalore, Madanapalli, Kolar, Chintamani, and such other major trading centres. During other days the town begins to be buzzing with activities from around nine the morning until late in the evening. Emergence of Gownipalli as such a market centre is not without consequences for both the livelihood system and for the natural resources. Let us list a few in this context. First, most men in the household leave for the town at more or less predictable time in the day either in the morning, or in the afternoon, the other half having been devoted for work in ones own field or as wage labourers. During the time that they are away from the village all the responsibilities of running the household or looking after the farm related activities are delegated to the women. Indeed there is a considerable percentage of the economically active women in Kodipalli (See, Sandhu 1998). This does not, however, mean that they are economically empowered, Examples of Transition 95 notwithstanding the two self-help groups for thrift funds mobilised by the NGO, RORES. When the men of the house are away in the town, women take care of the regular activities related to the farm, especially harvesting and packaging the yield to be sold in the market later in the day or the following day. If there are any cattle, it is women who may have to take them say for grazing or arrange for stall feeding. Buffaloes and milk yielding cows especially crossbred are almost entirely their domain. The town also offers a variety of opportunities for both men and women to earn a reasonably good income. As was mentioned earlier about the instant tender coconut vendor there are many more who indulge in selling vegetables, ropes, foodgrains, fruits, sheep and goats on a commercial basis or as a regular vendor. There are some who specialise being middlemen in a range of “commodities”. For example, a person may specialise in brokering, buying and selling of cattle, sheep, goats, cocks and hens etc. There are others who specialise in selling a basket or two seasonal vegetables. A few more specialise in buying things in town and vending them elsewhere or going from market to market. On our way back once to Bangalore we found a person from Gownipalli selling sickles and scythes in the market at Srinivasapur. He was expected to return the same day after selling his ware and proceed to Chintamani weekly market the following day with a fresh stock of the products. There are many from Kodipalli who likewise sell betel leaves, greens, vegetables and other horticultural produce such as lemons, mangoes, arecanut etc., not only in Gownipalli but also in other market places. Old man Lakshmana Setty, for instance, earns his bus fare and other expenses involved in visiting his son at Bangalore by taking things from the village to market and from the market to the other market places to be sold in retail. The presence of a growing town like Gownipalli also has its impact on the natural environs in the surrounding areas. First, many houses in the town still dependent on wood for fuel. There are, therefore, specialists in the town as well as in Kodipalli who are engaged in smuggling firewood from the forests adjoining the village. The route to such specialists is closer if went through Murrampalli. Each day one may find not less than 8-10 bicycles ridden by persons returning from the forest with a manageable load of wood. The surrounding villages also plunder the forests likewise and thus by the poor are men to be sold within or outside the village or both. Finally, a few observations on the policies may be made at this juncture. Although emerging as an important agricultural market town, Gownipalli is yet to have an Agricultural Produce Marketing Yard nor has there been proper linkage especially between horticultural produce marketing At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 96 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management societies of the State government and the farming community, a result of frequent economic disasters to the farmers. The year 1998 had been a good-tomato-year, though not necessarily for the farmers, 1997 was a disaster year. Roads leading to anywhere in Kolar district were all strewn with discarded tomatoes. The year 1997 also witnessed a mini riot in the wholesale market at Chintamani. We may also recall a recent incidence of firing and arson in another market town of Sira in Tumkur district. Here there was a glut in market for groundnuts. From the point of view of constrained policy alternatives we need to take note of the following: While land reforms, particularly abolition of tenancy was a major step in social and economic change, commercial farming has brought some of these forms of tenancy back into vogue. Although seen with favour in the context of liberalising economy, the consequence of lease farming need to be taken note of from the point of view of threats to the natural resources base: ground water resources, soil quality and lack of concern for green cover. While the lease farmers have not lost interest in the lands, the community depending on it have threats of finding themselves nowhere. Neither do they possess alternative skills nor have they continued to inculcate values of sustainable agriculture. Farm extension work needs also to be carried out in finding alternatives that are reusable in commercial cropping. The emphasis here is upon the sticks used in supporting the drooping tomato plants. There is soon going to be a problem of waste management in the countryside as well if not to the extent that it has become a problem in the urban areas. Use of polythene bags, plastic sacks and the like has been on the raise. The manure pits which had the farmyard manure value in the past have now become a dumping yard for waste material brought from the urban markets. Dependence on the market for seeds, often patented, have also threats of wiping out the livelihood pattern in village communities. The recent loss of groundnut was so heavy that farmers had no seeds left for the next year’s crops. The deaths by suicide in Bidar is still in memory of those concerned. There are some in Kodipalli who have specialised now in growing sunflower and cotton for seed purposes. Even after having failed to produce a yield that would meet the required standards of certification, thereby incurring a huge financial loss, they were willing to take out the next crop in anticipation of better performance. There seems to be an inverse relationship between commercial cropping and agricultural extension in remote areas such as Kodipalli. In other words, while there is a good deal of emphasis on scientific precision in view of the quality of the seeds to be distributed to the farmers there is insufficient importing of appropriate techniques and strategies to Examples of Transition 97 the farmers who produce such seeds. If the produce misses the requisite standards and until there is a commensurate price gain, the farmer gets a reasonable return. But if he fails to meet the required standards, he stands to lose and heavily. Scientific knowledge, therefore, needs to be directed at the farmer besides imparting him knowledge about the fluctuations in the market that he picks up by hard or easy way on his own. Before concluding one may refer to the extension services once more by recalling a recent episode in Kodipalli. Agricultural Extension wing of the agricultural department headquarters in Srinivasapura had convened a meeting of the farmers in the command area of the Kodipalli tank. The farmers assembled to listening to the visiting officials who were recommending them to use a particular paddy seeds for the forthcoming paddy crop. Some farmers who were present on the occasion and with bitter experience of such extension programmes in the past were sceptical who took an argument with the official. One may cite neeraganti Munivenkatappa here: “If the seed that you are recommending is really as good as you claim it to be, going by our past experience, we are not likely to get even a single grain by the time we reach your office. What we may really get is some low grade seeds which none has cared to take so far. Farmers with considerable influence with officials in your department would have taken the best by now and have commenced a nursery for them long before you may have proceeded on holding a requisite number of farmers’ meet for extension work”. The lessons to be drawn are many from this statement. There seems to be little respect for farmers’ perspective of good and bad quality of seeds although the poor seem to be one that are redistributed in plenty. Farmers on their part have also lost faith in what is being recommended by the officials in the department concerned. Those who had close proximity to the offices of the department seem to have a better chance to get the best that is available. On the part of the farmers there is greater faith in the local private vendor whom they can hold accountable if a crop failed on account of poor quality of seeds. To conclude our observations pertaining to the State policy, we may recapitulate that there is still a good deal desired with respect to understanding the consequences of commercial farming for the natural resources and for the livelihood systems in rural communities. While scientific precision is sought at certain levels it does not necessarily percolate at the level of the practitioners, the results of whose efforts are subjected to certification, but not their efforts themselves. At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 98 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management

Notes 1 The physical features of the tanks in Kodipalli, and the pattern of management of distribution of water have been discussed earlier. See, Section II (A). 2 These are discussed below. 3 These other servants receive a salary when they are employed or absorbed as employees of the village Panchayat or the revenue department. Those who are not absorbed thus have a long standing demand with the government for monthly wages and regularisation of their services as employees of the state. 4 In other parts of Karnataka this event is known as the festival of Muniyappa, the presiding deity over the fields and the standing crops (see Karanth 1995). In Kodagu district the festival is Huttari or Puttari. (See Srinivas 1952). Its worth noting here that such thanks giving-like rituals in agriculture is usually in regard to the crops that form the staple food crop. 5 Besides seeking auspicious time in several way, concern is also to find the day to be one which permits meat eating. For there are certain days when people abstain from meat eating, e.g., Mondays and Saturdays. 6 William Wiser (1969) gave the classic introduction to the system. For a critical analysis of the literature on Jajmani system, see, Beidelman (1974), Gough 1981, Dumont (1972), Pocock (1962), Karanth (1987), Cladwell (1991). 7 For a description of Marey in C.R.Palli, Andhra Pradesh, see Ramaswamy, et.al. (1996). 8 “Raasi kindra kuda idise leda?” (Telugu). Can’t you leave something under the heap? This is also how a miser may be addressed. 9 One of the earliest debates about the nature of Jajmani system in India concerned its religious character vis-à-vis economic character. The former was emphasised by Pocock while Dumont took the latter view. A third view has been to examine it as a combination of both (See, Karanth 1987). 10 This is not to suggest that there is no floor crossing by supporters or leaders themselves. At the village community level it is much less than at higher levels. For, at the village levels, the matters of difference are much more personal than those at higher levels. Hence the tendency for firm loyalties. 11 The hay received was not separated from the grains. in principle, it was to be processed and the straw to be used as fodder 12 Wedding invitations are also likewise distributed. Unlike the wedding invitations, persons closely related to the bereaved family would not object to a member of the family not personally visiting to invite. 13 Although the transaction involves sale of old and buying of new pair of animals, farmers themselves consider it as ‘exchanging animals’. In the past attachment to animals resulted in retaining the animals longer with them, and thus running the risk of diseases and death was much higher. 14 Farmers with some irrigation easily have about 5 to 10 coconut trees as part of a ‘garden’ although some may have been even more depending upon the extent of land amenable to irrigation. most other farmers will have at least one or two coconut trees to meet the domestic requirements both for cooking and retail purposes. some have a tree in the front or backyard of their house as well. 15 See Wolf, 1966, Nadkarni and Borkar (1975) for farmers’ behaviour in determining marketable surplus. Leadership and Village Governance: From Participation to Contracts 99

Chapter V Leadership and Village Governance: From Participation to Contracts In different contexts it has been pointed out that there was, in the past, a clear notion of the village’s common assets and resources. The assets included Gomals (community grazing lands) and other wastelands, tanks, village woodlots, accessible portion of reserve forests, etc. The village leaders had the responsibility of regulating their use and protecting them from unauthorised use. There were a set of conventions governing the use, control, and management of these assets. Whenever they were violated, it was the responsibility of the village leadership to punish the offender, the punishment too being governed by conventions. The responsibility, implicitly, therefore, was not merely to manage the use of these resources but also to make them sustainable. That society in rural India has experienced multi-faceted changes over the past fifty years, which, in turn, has affected the institutions governing the use and management of natural resources locally is now a well established fact. One of the consequences of such changes is to be seen in the decline of the role played by the village leadership in managing the community’s natural resource base. To a large extent, the explanations for the decline in common property resources in India (see Table 7) may be attributed to the changing character and role of rural leadership. For the purpose of understanding the changing role of rural leadership we have here identified the styles of management in the past and present. The past here is refereed to as “traditional”, and the present as “the emerging leadership”. Since much of our data is based on people’s perception of the situation both in the past and present, the patterns characterised as traditional has a varying time reference. It could mean a fifty years ago or a hundred or even more. Likewise, the present would mean the more modern democratic methods of electing the leaders who make up what has come to be known as representatives of local bodies under the regime of local self governance, that is, Panchayati Raj. It should be recognised that elected representatives had begun to replace the traditional hereditary leaders even as early as about forty years ago but during the transitional phase there had been a significant continuity in the sense that traditional leaders were now being `elected’ to the office (see, Rudolf and Rudolf 1968; Rangarao 1980). In other words, there was an overlap of traditional and modern leadership patterns until there was a new way of legitimising leadership. We have seen, for instance, the case of Thimme Gowda, the erstwhile hereditary At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 100 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management headman of the villages Murrampalli, Gownipalli, and Kodipalli who got himself elected to the Village Panchayat in a couple of elections. Likewise, Subbareddy I of Kodipalli too was elected to the formal offices having been a traditional leader of the village community in the past. Leadership in rural India in the past was mainly associated with the hereditary offices held by the respective families. Kodipalli has been no exception. Until the abolition of the hereditary offices (1962-63), ‘Reddy’ and ‘Karnam’ were the important offices overseeing different aspects of life in the village. Reddy (the village headman) was more or less ‘the feudal chief’ of the village with Karnam comparable to a minister. A few elders from the prominent lineages were all members of the Panchayat or the council. In addition, the traditional village social structure had a number of village functionaries who were responsible for different types of services rendered under jajmani relations. With the support of the village functionaries, the Reddy/ Patel along with the Karnam/ Shanubhog were managing the village affairs consultatively. It was normally the responsibility of Reddy and Karnam to protect the village property, which included village tanks, forest, gomal etc. In addition, they were responsible for resolving disputes or punish the offenders through Nyaya Panchayat.1 These roles of the village leaders have been discussed in foregoing chapters in the context of the tank, and forest management. The traditional leader had the responsibility of conducting various rituals related to agriculture, tank, cattle management, natural calamities, droughts, fairs and festivals, and the village temple. For instance, the rituals in agriculture began with the worship of new ploughs (and other agricultural implements) on the day of Hindu New Year, Ugadi festival. Likewise, several agricultural and animal husbandry related activities involved different rituals, all of which were carried out under the guidance of the village leaders. Commencement of ploughing was with the ritual of Sagubadi. Attanapalli is a festival to worship the standing crops, and it involves the sacrifice of an animal. Offerings were likewise made during harvest of crops and processing them. Most important feature of these rituals and festivals, from the point of view of leadership and natural resource management are the following. There was a necessary participation by all sections of the community and the events necessitated an orderly manner in which the resources were to be used. Thus, for instance release of water from the tank followed a pattern, which was regulated by the council of elders. Likewise, the pattern in which animals grazed in the common grazing yard also was subject to the Leadership and Village Governance: From Participation to Contracts 101 management by the village elders. The rituals associated with each of these events re-affirmed collective orientation of the community towards the resources. The organic link between the livelihood system and the manner in which resources were used and managed, as has been emphasised in our discussion of the different resources in Kodipalli, was possible essentially because of the role played by the leaders. In this section we describe the manner in which leadership in the past contributed to the maintenance of this organic link, thereby contributing to the management of the natural resources to meet the needs of the livelihood systems of the members of the community. At this stage, lest an impression of glorifying the past is given, we need to also recognise that what is being reconstructed here is only an ideal type of good governance although they may not have been scientifically recognised to be contributing to sustainability. For, there are instances where the leaders themselves have been accused of misusing their authority for selfish interests and neglecting those of the community. However, we emphasise here the positive side of their role since it appears even that is missing in the contemporary patterns of leadership. Life in village communities about fifty years ago had important events as major landmarks in bringing the community together. Some such events may have been to do with the observance of a village festival or other festivals of an annual frequency marking the beginning of a New Year or birthdays of important gods and goddesses. For example, there is the festival of Ugadi, the Hindu new year; Sankranti, the harvest festival; Deepavali, the festival of lights, just as there are festive occasions to celebrate festivals of Ganesha, Gowri, Rama, etc. On each of these occasions the festivities were marked by having to observe one or the other rituals centred around the immediate natural resources such as land, water, forest, trees etc. Since these events necessitated participation by the people of nearly all castes living in a village, it was also necessary for someone to mobilise people and guide them. This was usually the village Headman assisted by a council of elders. Some such festival discussed earlier are Sankranti, Teppotsava and Gangamma Puja, Ugadi and Sagubadi, etc. In each of these the important feature of the leader’s role was to raise the contributions to be made by the people, facilitate their participation in the events, and mobilise the services of various specialists concerned, etc. In addition, there were practices customarily enforced to ensure the regulated use and management of the resources. The responsibility for this was mainly that of the leader. We may recall that the tanks in At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 102 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management

Dugganakunta hamlet were erected or repaired under the leadership of Patel Thimmegowda, the hereditary headman of the villages. We may also recall here the stone inscription installed at the foot of a tank in Murrampalli instructing the people as to what purposes the water could be used. A few other examples may be cited to illustrate the role of the leaders. With respect to the tank, it was the responsibility of the village Headman in the past to annually determine on a designated date, the pattern with which the flow of water from the tank was to be permitted. This was usually after the tank had received sufficient water from the catchment area following the monsoons. The Headman used to convene a meeting of all the farmers in the command area. Elders who may not have had lands in the command area would also be present to endorse the decision taken. Based on the water level in the tank and the estimated requirement, the extent and frequency of distribution of water was determined collectively. The frequency of release of water as determined was also in keeping in mind not merely the need of water to the farmers but also for women, cattle and other artisans in the village. Should there be a disputed claim and counter claim the Headman and the village elders arbitrated and suggested a workable solution to the problem. The decision would be binding on all concerned. The Neeruganti, the hereditary water overseer, who was also present on the occasion, would be instructed of the decision accordingly. Conventions that had been hitherto in practice largely guided the decisions. In the absence of a wristwatch or a clock, the farmers depended on an earthen pot with a tiny hole in it. The flow of water out of it would determine the time permitted for flow of water form the tank or its channels into the fields. Farmers who had not taken part in the clearing of channels, desilting the tanks and the channels or in making contributions to the festivals related to the tank would now find it difficult to justify their actions. The gathering decided to ex-communicate or boycott an offending farmer, although there has been no memory of this ever having taken place. Ensuring participation in this manner was a chief role by which the leader contributed to the upkeep and sustainability of resources like the tank. By acting as an adjudicator, and as an overall supervisor throughout the year, the leader also contributed to the regulated use of tank as a resource and in principle, prevented misuse of the resources. Likewise the leader regulated the use of common land, forests and other resources. What we thus find is an organic link between the village leadership and the management of natural resources within the pattern of livelihood in Kodipalli. We now may contrast the role of village leaders as it evolved over a period of time with what we encounter in Leadership and Village Governance: From Participation to Contracts 103 contemporary Kodipalli. This we shall do in two phases, first by introducing some of the leaders in Kodipalli and later to arrive at some general comments on the style of their functioning drawing implications for the hypothesis concerning leadership and natural resource management. At this stage it is necessary to recall that Kodipalli as a village had been an agrarian satellite of landowners residing in Gownipalli. As landowners they commanded a near-feudal authroity over the tenants in Kodipalli. Besides their landownership status, their high caste status too contributed to such a pattern of authority. The legal-rational bases for such an authority was derived from the fact that the hereditary headship (Patel) and accounts management (Shanubhog) were vested with persons living in Gownipalli or Murrampalli, who also owned considerable extent of land in Kodipalli. Within the village of Kodipalli, one household which was politically prominent, is that of Subbareddy. Traditionally, his had been the headmen’s family and had been responsible both for civil and religious administration of the village. Subbareddy resembled his great grandfather (father’s grandfather) Subba Reddy I, both physically and in body build. The office of Patel of the village was lost much earlier, to a Brahman from Gownipalli. The Patel and Shanubhog, both residents of Gownipalli, looked after the dealings with the government officials while Subbareddy I was more concerned with the internal administration in Kodipalli. People recall even now the awe with which Subbareddy I was looked upon. He would have a word of advice or a critical comment on every thing that he saw. If a farmer was found to be lax in his work he would be chided. Likewise, if women were found to be not up to the expectations in proper housekeeping, even that would be admonished. Whenever he sent words for members of the community for any collective action, the response used to be unanimously positive. When Patel of Murrampalli undertook the repair work of the tank, Subbareddy I is also said to have contributed by way of mobilising voluntary labour and other material resources required. Subbareddy I, as for as contemporary memory can trace, is the third in the line of leaders. His father and grandfather too were powerful leaders. His grandfather is said to have been the person who relinquished the hereditary office of Patel in favour of the one in Gownipalli. The reason for this is not known. It was thus that a Brahmin from Gownipalli became the Patel. However, the roles concerned in village leadership continued to be vested with representatives of Subbareddy’s family. A few occasions in the village mark this position of preeminence to such families. For instance, the ritual commencement of agriculture each year (Sagubadi) is always At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 104 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management lead by a member of this household. Likewise, the person presiding over in village’s dispute adjudication process and of supervising the distribution of water from the tank in the village was traditionally male representative of this household. Similarly, women from this household led the procession carrying articles with which a worship was to be performed in any of the temples on special days. Both as headmen of the village and the wealthiest landowner, it was his privilege to be the host for any guests from the bureaucracy to the village. As part of his Reddithanam2 he was responsible for issuing commands pertaining to all agricultural activities and those related to animal husbandry as well as ritual matters. Disputes arising out of division of property between brothers in the family, matrimonial discord, wayward behaviour by individuals, thefts or extra marital affairs, etc., were all brought to his notice. Thus, his leadership role concerned not merely matters affecting collective interests of the village but also the behaviour of individuals in the households. Even matrimonial alliances were established only with the concurrence of the leader. In this sense the livelihood system established was essentially one which he determined. His own contribution to it was, nevertheless, in keeping with what tradition had passed on to him as model and that which was looked at by the neighbouring village communities. A leader of his time was, therefore, more concerned with what the people from the surrounding villages would say about the manner in which he conducted the village affairs in his jurisdiction. A common expression found in the narrative of the descendants of any leaders suggests such a preoccupation: “padaaru pallilo maa Reddy peddodu” (in 16 villages our reddy was the biggest and famous). There also used to be a networking of leaders from villages in a region who among themselves would `exchange notes’ and share ideas concerning village governance. All this, however, does not mean to say that there were no rivalries and enmity between the leaders themselves. Often, inter-village disputes involved transgression of rights over common pool resources (pasture, forest , tanks, etc.,) bordering two or three villages. Although Kodipalli had a tank shared by three villages, there does not seem to have been any serious dispute of this kind. Likewise, the description of leaders does not exclude the possibility of intra-village factions challenging the authority of one by the other. In the very early times, at least in Kodipalli the economic standing of the leader’s family and his own status in the neighborhood marginalised the significance of any faction within the village. Leadership and Village Governance: From Participation to Contracts 105

Subbareddy I was succeeded by his elder son Gummireddy. Not much is remembered of his role as a leader. His son, in turn, Venkataswamyreddy succeeded Gummireddy. A pious man, Venkataswamyreddy undertook to construct a temple dedicated to the deity Chowdamma. He was also running a thrift fund. Following an allegation that he had cheated the community by spending the money of the fund to meet some personal needs, he lost the position he enjoyed in the village. We are now speaking of the decades 1950s and 60s. Several changes were beginning to occur in the village, particularly as a result of land reforms and the land transactions that followed it. Many households which had hitherto been merely tenant cultivators and subservient to the landowners of Gownipalli now began to be independent landowners. There were also political changes beginning to occur. Elected representatives were emerging as a challenge to the traditional leaders. There were leaders at different levels: the members of the legislative assembly who would seek the support of traditional leaders or their opponents to get themselves elected. There were also representatives to the newly created body called the Taluk Development Board, for which too aspirants began to solicit support from leaders or their opponents. In addition to these, there were elections to the village panchayat bodies. The result was, on the one hand, opportunities for many aspirant leaders to challenge the position of the traditional leaders. Even though in the initial few years the traditional leaders or their sponsored candidates might have succeeded in getting elected to these bodies, their opponents had by then found a new arena to establish themselves as “leaders”. Tradition and economic status, which in the past had regulated the extent of factionalism, were no longer capable of keeping them on a low key. Modern democratic processes at different levels of governance brought to the fore the potent of inter-group rivalries into the open. During such turbulent period, combined with accusation of misuse of funds, Venkataswamyreddy could not make much of an impact. He withdrew from public life. By mid 1980s there was a major change in the system of administration at taluk and village levels. This was the introduction of the three-tier system of decentralised governance. A member of the erstwhile leader’s family found an opportunity to return to centre stage because of these changes. Venkataswamyreddy’s younger brother’s son Subbareddy, was a young man, and out of school during this time. He joined the newly formed political party Janata dal and supported candidates contesting elections for the position of membership in the mandal panchayats. Given At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 106 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management the popularity of the newly formed political party there was a landslide victory for the candidates supported by young Subbareddy. It was a period when the administration at all levels, such as village, taluk, district and the state, were all by one party. This enabled Subbareddy to make a major departure from the hitherto known patterns of local governance. Instead of relying upon the counsel and participation in local governance by the members in the community, he was now acting in accordance with the political equations worked out by those beyond the village. Thus a decision he had to take concerning the holding of a Teppotsava was determined not so much by the convenience of the local people or what the customs prescribed, but the convenience of a political leader who would grace the occasion. For Subbareddy the visit by a prominent leader marked triumph in several ways. First, he would send signals of growing regional importance of himself to the opponents within the village who were now be far more formidable . Secondly, the visit by such a leader would also give an occasion for him to present the demands for development activities in the village, and seek assistance from the government. Thirdly, he would also draw the support of many fence sitters by convincing them he is now more powerful. Finally, the bureaucracy at the village and taluk level would also take note of his proximity to the new leader, thereby gain influence and clout with the officialdom in getting the work done without any bureaucratic delay. It was also during his reign that several middle level leaders began to emerge within the village. This was mainly because Subbareddy chose to remain a kingmaker than being a contestant himself. One such leader was a person from the Bhovi caste who went on to become one of the directors of the Land Sevelopment Bank. Venkataswamy was earlier a supporter of congress party. When he was denied a ticket to contest a village panchayat election he defected to Janata dal. Subbareddy recalls with pride the circumstances under which he supported the candidature of Venkataswamy. After a few years of being an elected member of the gram panchayat he went on to play a key role at the taluk level as Director of the PLD bank. Today Venkataswamy is a much sought after person throughout the taluk. There is a very delicate balance of equations between Subbareddy and Venkataswamy. Subbareddy is conscious of the growing status of the latter and does not openly say anything against him. Subbareddy is not free from accusations of neglecting the village. Each morning, by 7 or 8 a.m. he leaves for Gownipalli and from there to the taluk headquarters or the town of Chintamani. In fact, the gossip in the village is that he is in debt and has been neglecting agriculture in preference Leadership and Village Governance: From Participation to Contracts 107 for politicking. As though to confirm this he lives in a very modest house and members of his family are poorly dressed. It is only now that there is some economic rigour in the household, which is largely the result of efforts by his brother Ravi who is gaining a reputation of being a good farmer. But there is also growing tension in the joint family among the brothers and their wives. A major thing that is recalled about Subbareddy’s forefathers is their ability to mobilise men and resources at short notice for village events. In contrast, the common comment made about Subbareddy is that he lacks the moral authority to accomplish such a fete. The puja related to Katamma on Sankranti day in 1998 is an indicator of his style of leadership. There were hardly about 10 or 12 women at the site of worship and sacrifice, Subbareddy himself arriving on the scene much later than the rest. The pair of bullocks that he possessed paled in comparison to those of his rivals or even some of his own supporters. The event passed off without any significance to the village as a whole. A common complaint made against him is that he is more keen on getting civil works contract awarded to himself rather than letting it for others or to mobilise local participation as in the past. For two consecutive terms he has undertaken the task of repairing the tank bund. A thrift fund meant for mobilising money to meet the expenses of the Teppotsava is said to have been misused by him. People alleged that he refrains from calling any meeting of the community members since he would like to avoid the embarrassment of the issue raised for discussion. Being a close associate of a leading politician in the state he recently managed to get a contract for installing a drinking water system in the village. It is said that he made a lot of money out of this project and was able to build an extension to his house. During 1998, he also held a contract to lay asphalt to the road from Kodipalli connecting the main road leading to Gownipalli. He also had another contract for the road linking Morampalli to Gownipalli. It may be recalled here that contractors supporting an opposition party will refrain from seeking any work if their own party is not in office. Implications for Natural Resource Management The scenario of rivalry between leaders in the village indicates the dependence of the leaders upon persons elsewhere to find money, material and support for developmental work within the village. Although the traditional leader performs the duties connected with collective rituals, the spirit of maintaining the resources with people’s participation is missing. Thus, we find the celebration of Teppotsava to be an occasion to display one’s own At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 108 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management regional clout. In the past, it may be recalled, the festival also marked the beginning of the activities connected with clearing the feeder channels to the tank as well as cleaning the canals out of the tank. This is now more or less given up. Instead, an appeal is made to the visiting dignitary to sanction a scheme of tank rehabilitation, award a contract to clear the feeder channels, etc. Likewise, the rejuvenation of Mande, which can take place by convening a meeting of all the members of the committee, has not taken place. But the meeting is deferred with a view to avoiding embarrassment of having to account for misused money. However, presently there has been a transition of leadership from those who held traditionally as their birthright to those who are now democratically elected. The latter often come from families that in the past had been dependent for their own livelihood on the more dominant families/ lineages. Thus it is a member from the Scheduled Caste, most of who in the castes in the past had eked out a livelihood by engaging themselves as farm servants, bonded labourers or tenants, who got elected as a Panchayat member. Although initially this leader was meant to be a dummy for the erstwhile leadership, in due course, the person found his shoes and indeed grew prominent politically even beyond the boundaries of the village. He was elected as the President of the Taluk’s Primary Land Development Bank, a key position with authority to sanction loans for land improvement to persons of different caste and class background throughout the taluk. His political advancement today resembles the career path of many political leaders of higher level who began as panchayat leaders and members of the PLD bank. But this does not, however, preclude the other elected members to be subservient to the more dominant leaders such as the one we discussed. The traditional leaders too alter their strategies so as to remain in the limelight and to have an influence over the processes. Now we find some of the natural resource to be an instrument of enhancing the power base. For instance, the common property resources in land such as the grazing lands, waste lands etc., which in the past were seen solely as a community asset, is today seen as an asset which could be distributed under land grant rules. The result is, not unexpectedly, creation of a political clientele for the leaders themselves. Likewise, the forest is seen as a source of revenue for the panchayat or as a source of income by way of undertaking civil works or contracts of raising nursery etc. Although the leaders openly proclaim the need to protect the forest, in fact they stand to gain both economically and politically if the forest is under pressure. Today, in contrast, the basis of considering one efficient is when the leader Leadership and Village Governance: From Participation to Contracts 109 is able to secure the release of an offender from the clutches of a forest guard of the Forest Department! The community participation that was witnessed a few decades ago in maintaining the tanks under the leadership of the village is gradually declining, if it has not disappeared altogether. If there is a breach in the tank bund there is now a competition among the dominant persons in the village to obtain a contract of civil work from the department concerned rather than mobilising local resources to effect a repair, even if it is an ad hoc measure. The following incident may illustrate the point. During December 1998, there was heavy rainfall, and the Kodipalli tank had begun to show signs of breach. Several people pointed out this to the village elders, but none took any action. One night, there was commotion in the village with the threat of the dam breaching. The village messenger was commissioned to go beating the drum to announce the call for volunteers to help to prevent any major damage to crops and people living in the low lying areas. Although the calamity was averted, voluntaring to join a team of people for rescue operations was minimal and after much persuasion. The dominant leader, not the elected one, admitted to having claimed releif from the department concerned under an emergency relief scheme, although the work had been accomplished by voluntary labour. A more elaborate civil contract assignment was later given to him to effect repairs to the tank bund. So intense is the competition for award of civil contract work among local leaders, and the political party affiliations are so strong too, that some contactors refuse to claim the full settlement of money towards the work carried out if the party in power changes from one to the other. This is what occurred in regard to the work meant to develop a small tank (Gokunta) in the revenue forest adjoining Kodipalli. For long there had been complaints of lack of an approach road, and proper dam for the tank. A civil contract was awarded to a follower of the faction opposed to those in power. The work was undertaken, a dam was nearly completed. But, any further work came to a grinding halt because of a change in leadership in the Panchayat. The contractor refused to finish the work, nor submit claims for reimbursement of the costs incurred for the work done thus far. His justification was that it would be below his personal esteem to submit the claims and have it approved by the Panchayat consisting of members opposed to his political party affiliation and to his political patron at the taluk level. Accompanied by the transition of the kind noted above is also a gradual decline in the collective orientation of the village when it concerns the observation of rituals and festivals linking the natural resource. For At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 110 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management instance, even if the traditional leader, by virtue of having traditionally been responsible to lead the festivities or rituals, is to take up the initiative to observe a festival or a ritual, participation in them by the village community is largely patterned by political affiliations. It is not uncommon, therefore, to find a Gangamma Puja to have been represented by the families of the elected members or families who are supporters of a candidate who had lost the elections. Sagubadi takes place or not, many farmers now commence agricultural operation without waiting for the Headman to do so. In Kodipalli, the festival of Teppotsava took off the ground after considerable pursuance by older people in the village while the traditional leader was too proud to take the initiative. His reluctance was based on his perceived sidelining of himself by the village community in several matters while giving importance to the new leader, although the latter was at one time his own sponsored candidate. There are also allegations of misuse of funds by the leaders, traditional or modern in both the villages. The leader offering to get the required support from outside has gradually replaced the concern for development of natural resources and protecting them by mobilising the community. This is by way of government grant: a grant such as for a scheme of rehabilitation and modernisation of the tank, a programme of afforestation, implementation of watershed development etc. Although the implementing agencies may insist on people’s participation in each of these schemes the participation tends to be highly selective and only so as to fulfil the rider of participation. But often participation tends to be only on paper. Thus what we find is not only a lack of concern by the leaders towards the natural resource as may be compared with the kind that the communities had witnessed a few decades ago, but also a tendency for dependence upon external sources for developing or regenerating natural resource base. In recent years there has been a rediscovery of people’s participation, local leadership and other erstwhile rural institutions in matters concerning the management of local natural resources (see, e.g., Chopra, Kadekodi and Murthy 1990). Evidence from Kodipalli (and earlier, from C.R. Palli in Andhra Pradesh) indicates that there is significantly an insufficient commitment on the part of the emerging leaders to mobilise local resources in managing the natural resource base locally. The commitment on their part to mobilise people’s participation seems to emerge only when the donor agencies be they the state or others, whether through the official machinery or the NGOs specify it as a pre-requisite. Too often we find initiatives of such kind replacing both the elected and traditional leaders. This is since people’s participation often tends to pave way for an Leadership and Village Governance: From Participation to Contracts 111 alternative leadership to arise which in practice has been contrary to what democratic or traditional patterns of management have seen in most South Indian villages, as in C.R.Palli and Kodipalli. The challenge would be to tame both the traditional and modern political leadership to facilitate smooth people’s management of natural resources.

Table 1: Status of Common Property Resources in India, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka

Barren Land Pastures

Years India Andhra Karnataka India Andhra Karnataka

58-59* 81.212 5.900 2.187 32.386 3.046 4.369 67-68 33.438 2.092 0.867 13.891 1.160 1.670 68-69 32.416 2.127 0.833 13.825 1.157 1.704 73-74 26.269 2.330 0.867 12.939 0.989 1.558 77-78 21.427 2.337 0.872 12.365 0.954 1.452 81-82 20.223 2.302 0.847 12.050 0.917 1.314 87-88 20.391 2.269 0.801 11.848 0.881 1.135 91-92 19.485 2.073 0.801 11.676 0.831 1.097 93-94 18.975 2.090 0.800 11.176 0.779 0.899

Land under Miscellaneous Trees Fallow Land

Years India Andhra Karnataka India Andhra Karnataka

58-59* 14.105 0.703 0.914 59.770 7.487 3.366 67-68 8.068 0.308 0.369 20.830 2.991 1.760 68-69 3.992 0.308 0.317 23.082 3.400 1.710 73-74 4.157 0.274 0.309 20.453 2.788 1.640 77-78 3.976 0.265 0.329 22.858 3.759 1.687 81-82 3.623 0.270 0.329 23.049 3.385 1.562 87-88 3.535 0.264 0.326 29.605 4.641 1.359 91-92 3.643 0.262 0.316 24.222 3.834 1.415 93-94 3.657 0.253 0.316 24.036 4.442 1.508

Forest Land Non-Agricultural Land

Years India Andhra Karnataka India Andhra Karnataka

58-59* 130.107 14.712 6.674 33.501 4.071 1.985 67-68 62.373 6.117 2.757 15.600 2.067 0.880 68-69 62.676 6.117 2.824 15.743 2.115 0.863 73-74 65.579 6.307 2.885 16.439 2.060 0.968 77-78 67.107 6.172 2.919 17.636 2.127 1.031 81-82 67.417 6.161 3.030 19.506 2.191 1.082 87-88 66.858 5.836 3.061 20.809 2.260 1.174 91-92 68.024 6.281 3.075 21.528 2.352 1.192 93-94 68.421 6.246 3.076 22.035 2.474 1.217

Source: Compiled from Fertilizer Statistical Year Books:1963-64, 1970-71, 1976-77, 1980-81, 1984-85, 1990-91, 1994-95 and 1996-97, Fertilizer Association of India, New Delhi Note: * Figures for the year 1958-59 are in acres At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 112 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management

Notes

1 Nyaya Panchayat is the process of adjudication and arbitration of disputes by the village elders. 2 Rule by the headman and village elders to maintain a certain village culture and livelihood patterns irrespective of the caste of the headman (see Karanth (2004). Conclusions: At Loggerhead or Towards Sustainibility? 113

Chapter VI Conclusions: At Loggerhead or Towards Sustainability? The central purpose of the study undertaken in Kodipalli was to validate three hypotheses that had emerged out of an earlier study in an Andhra Pradesh village. The three hypotheses were related to the sustainability of local natural resources in the context of emerging leadership patterns, ongoing integration of the rural community with the expanding market, and dependence upon external resources for the livelihood system. Stated explicitly, the three hypotheses are as follows: 1. Rural livelihood systems (as they are emerging) depend increasingly on external resources. This weakens the necessity for village-based natural resource management and contributes to the unsustainability of its natural resource base. 2. The on-going integration of village communities into an enlarged market economy does not further the more sustainable management of natural resources without an appropriate policy framework. 3. Effective village leadership in the past was perceived as the capability to organise people and to pool resources. The emerging patterns of leadership, the sustainable management of resources as last priority in favour of tapping efficiently the external resources from governmental or non-governmental sources. The first and the second hypotheses have a large set of themes and evidence that overlap and therefore, in the analysis in the foregoing chapters we examined them together. Although the third hypothesis too may draw the evidences from the analysis of the first two hypotheses we take up the third hypothesis separately. Although the specific situations in the two villages, in Andhra and Karnataka, were not entirely similar, there were reasons to anticipate similar results in the village of present study, Kodipalli. In this concluding chapter, we are now in a position to state that the three hypotheses are seen to have been confirmed with the evidence available. We shall proceed now to conclude our findings, keeping in mind these hypotheses. The method followed is, first by recalling the major features of a changing livelihood system. 1. Features of a Livelihood System in Transition The oral history or Kodipalli as we encounter it paints a picture of the village as having been an agrarian satellite of Gownipalli, which has inhabited by most absentee landowners, particularly those belonging to At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 114 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management

Brahman caste. In keeping with this, many of the village functionaries too lived close at hand to the landowners in Gownipalli. Although the village had a traditional headman, the legal status of being Patel was with a Brahman from Gownipalli. Besides, there had been a prominent leader from the neighbouring village Murrampalli, who held a considerable influence over the life and processes in Kodipalli. This, he was able to achieve, by being a member of the dominant caste (Kapu-Reddy or Okkaliga), and kin links with important residents of Kodipalli. In addition, around the 1950s he was an elected representative of the Village Panchayat whose jurisdiction included Kodipalli. The mid 1960s was also the period during which much was said about the impending land reforms, resulting in absentee landowners selling away the lands to the tenants. Although most of the lands under the tank’s command remained in the hands of the landowners elsewhere, Kodipalli farmers too began to acquire ownership rights either by buying up the land or through the reforms. Technological changes found their way into the farming system and practices, as a consequence of which by mid 1990s there hardly was a farmer who raised ragi, the staple food crop of the bygone days, under dry conditions. Instead, commercial cropping was widespread, by growing crops such as groundnuts, sunflowers, and other oil seeds, vegetables such as potatoes, tomatoes, field beans, etc.51 Labour intensive crop such as sugarcane which had been in vogue for sometime was given up because availability of labour was increasingly difficult. Paddy continued to be raised in the wetlands, and in areas that were irrigated with wells and borewells. The town of Gownipalli began to emerge as an important commercial centre, attracting people from the neighbouring villages more frequently than the hitherto weekly-market day. Many from Kodipalli began to specialise as middlemen, brokers, and as traders. The market town began to acquire several characteristics associated with a small town, and therefore, an emerging urban centre. With increased monetary transactions, several of the institutions in the community in Kodipalli began to lose their place in the livelihood systems. The first to go was marey, the customary system of exchange of goods and services between landowners and caste-based service specialists and artisans. Some artisans, such as the blacksmith, potter, barber, etc., stopped visiting Kodipalli, instead established their own “shops” in the town to which the people of Kodipalli took their custom. The washerman too is on his way to permanently move over to the town, although at present a member of his family runs a “shop” there, while also serving a few Conclusions: At Loggerhead or Towards Sustainibility? 115 households in the village. The other to disappear was herding of the village cattle by a cattle rearer, who functioned more or less on the principles of marey though not as part of it. The emerging livelihood system, therefore, represented quite a departure from what would have been encountered about 50 years ago (See, Figures 1 and 2 for summary comparisons). The community is now divided into two clearly identifiable factions supporting either of the leaders, each affiliated to rival political parties. As a result, participation of the members of the community in village events began to be on party/faction lines, and rarely village as a whole. From the point of view of the village community, therefore, the major feature of a changing livelihood system is a growing autonomy of the households and individuals in it. Those dependent on their patrons in the past for support in livelihood (be it by way of wage work, loans, or charity) had found alternative sources of livelihood or support mechanisms in the town. They could go there to sell whatever they wanted to deal so as to tide over a financial crisis. In situations that they cannot handle by themselves, such as a police case or obtaining a grant through one or the other state sponsored schemes, they rely upon the faction leaders to support them. However, there is a qualitative difference between the patron-client relations of the past and that which exists now. This is in terms of their endurability. While the past relations tended to last for more than a generation or two among the actors, the emerging ones are highly fragile, often lasting for less than the gaps between two elections. In other words, just as faction loyalties alternate, so do the participants in a patron- client relation. Within the family, the role of women is much more visible than in the past. This is because men are drawn into the market and outside the village more often. Although a woman may not take all the decisions, she is often seen going with her husband to the market to sell betel leaves, fruits and vegetables. She continues, however, to be the main person responsible for cooking food, taking care of children, and cattle. Increased dairying activity in the village has also added extra work, for it is usually women who look after the milch animals. Crossbred animals are stall-fed, and she may now go with a young child or women from neighbouring household to the forest to fetch green grass and the firewood. Enhanced duration of men’s staying away from home and farmstead, as has been the case among the residents of Dugganakunte, has also resulted in greater economic visibility of women. However, men make it a point to return to the village on the eve of the weekly market day, i.e., Tuesday, so as to provide money to the household to meet the expenses, or do the shopping themselves. At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 116 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management

Nuclear family is now the ideal. Within a couple of years of young boys marrying, there is a tendency for the couple to branch off into a separate household. In the past too families divided, but division then usually resulted in bitter rivalries between the new households usually concerning the division of property. Given the ideal of joint family then, it used to be a difficult process. The emerging family values have provided adequate emotional basis and individual orientations to accept family separation as an inevitable process, and therefore ridden less with disputes and conflicts.52 The right to inherit property by the females among siblings has not yet made its impact. Male inheritance of property continues as a norm. Women come to have property in their name, as registered land or house owners, only when the family/household attempts to acquire lands through encroachment. Since the rules favour landless persons, a wife is preferred to the claimant than any other male member of the household, for such a person may eventually branch out of the house and may refuse to part with it or permit its division. Private interests within the household at the level of individuals, of households at the community level therefore, predominate the individual and collective orientations. Role models for individuals are not necessarily from elders from within the family. Almost every young boy would like to have urban education and settle down there with a job. But, since urban jobs are not easy, most remain in the village. After having been ‘educated unemployed’ for some years, they turn to being ‘educated agriculturists’. Girls are sent to school, preferably the local school. If they do not fail the exams, they are sent to study in the higher classes in Gownipalli. But, by the time a girl attains puberty, the family begins to make arrangements for her marriage. Even here the preference is for a boy who is of the same caste, compatible lineage, educated and urban employed. If the last mentioned is difficult to find, there is also a concern for the landed property. Dowry payment is, however, a common feature of all weddings, which is higher if the boy is educated and urban employed. Soon the families on both side, i.e., of the wife and one’s own natal family, help the boy in acquiring a house-site in the city/town, and even provide financial assistance in putting up a house. 2. Nature of Dependence on External Resources Given the nature of change as outlined above, one of the major consequences of the livelihood system is a gradual “beyond-the-village” orientation which appears to be a dependence on resources external to the village. Following the commercialisation of agriculture, most agricultural inputs are now sought from outside and procured through market relations: chemical Conclusions: At Loggerhead or Towards Sustainibility? 117 fertilisers, pesticides, seeds, other supplementary inputs etc. Even the baskets, which were used in the past and mostly made from within the community, are replaced by wooden crates, and subsequently by plastic crates hired for the purpose. In place of traditional water lifting mechanisms, pumps operated with diesel or electric power turn the farmers to Gownipalli, Chintamani and other towns. Commercial farming necessitates growing crops having little value as agricultural by-products, which in the past were generated within the farmstead. Fodder is a major casualty, except for that which is obtained through paddy cultivation. Consequently, there is a rapid decline of interest in animal husbandry. For some time bullocks were maintained by almost landowning households, but in due course they too have been replaced by tractors which can be hired to plough the fields. Even to meet certain requirements which tradition cherishes as a value for the family has begun to lose importance. Thus, if one finds a house in a depleted notwithstanding with the income for the household through commercial farming, the response to a query would now be that the State has not given them a house. Thus, it is not merely a dependence on the market-driven external forces but also welfarism of the State. Even the voluntary agency that is functioning in the region including Kodipalli has to struggle to maintain the spirit of ‘self-help’ and often plays the role of a benevolent middleman in trying to link the State benefits to the people. Commercial banks and other state sponsored financial institutions such as co- operative societies are perceived by the people as merely loan giving agencies. Mechanisation of agriculture that is now taking place, limited as it may be in extent even by Indian standards, has created a dependence upon specialists dwelling in market centres. Should there be a breakdown of irrigation pump set, a messenger is sent to fetch the specialist mechanic. Dependence on the state-provided water supply has made them to neglect the open wells that in the past supported drinking water requirements. Thus, if the supply of electricity is cut off for a day or two at a stretch, as happens quite frequently, there is no other source for water other than having to fetch from the wells in the fields or from the tank. Local specialists engaged in production of goods and services to meet the local requirements, such as the potter, blacksmith, washerman, ropemakers, have all found life increasingly difficult to pursue basing on the skills that they possessed and inherited for generations. In almost all these, produce or service from outside the village is available for a price. Monetised economy, as it has begun to be, has made them accessible if not affordable by all. At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 118 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management

3. Extent of Market Integration Raising of commercial crops which has become the main orientation of almost every farmer has resulted in almost all farmers becoming curious market watchers. Any two persons in a conversation will invariably touch on the topics of prevailing prices of goods in different market centres. Increasingly, the market is not confined to Gownipalli or Chintamani but as far as Chennai (formerly, Madras), Hyderabad, Nagpur and Mumbai (formerly, Bombay) besides Bangalore. Farmers who have had good returns but no patience to work on the land by themselves owing to their other pre-occupations, have now begun to lease out the land to a new kind of ‘gentlemen farmers’. While the old adage to agriculture was to describe it as ‘a gamble of monsoons’, a new one to describe the emerging pattern may be coined as ‘a speculation in the wider (global) market’. Prices in the market do fluctuate and that drive the farmers to frustration. Institutional mechanisms of social security in the past, which provided a safety valve against such shocks, have now become redundant, pushing the farmers to take extreme steps. Although there has been no known cases of suicides in Kodipalli, as elsewhere in the recent years, there have been instances of throwing away the produce or rioting before the agricultural produce marketing offices. A message attempted to be conveyed to popularise organic farming has not been finding many supporters, sadly to the experience of RORES, a local NGO. For, it has made known to them that there is likely to be a decline in the yield in the first two or three years after switching over from chemical-dependant farming to organic farming.53 The dependence on the market has been so intense that not many farmers can withstand the shock of lessened returns, even for two consecutive crop years. 4. Changing Leadership Proceeding along with a ‘beyond-the-village’ orientation, growing individualism fuelled by politicisation of population is the leadership and village governance patterns that are rapidly changing. From the point of view of a study of livelihood systems and natural resource management, the immediate concerns are the growing lack of interest in preserving the local natural resource base. The forests, wastelands, pastures and the tanks are all seen as mere agencies of gaining popular support for holding political offices by the leaders. Participatory processes, mobilised previously by the leaders, are becoming extinct. Assembling of people for any purpose seem to have a motive and that is, to project oneself as a capable leader, with a clout to bring “development” oriented schemes to the people: housing project, tank rehabilitation programme, watershed development scheme, afforestation and the like. Thus, when there Conclusions: At Loggerhead or Towards Sustainibility? 119 was a breach in the tank as late as November 1998 it took considerable beating of the drum by the reluctant village servant several times over to bring volunteers to the tank bund and effect ad hoc repairs. The leaders, however, made repeated visits in the mean time to bring the officials concerned from the taluk headquarters to the scene, only to later claim that they had the interest of the people more than those in the rival faction. The leaders and followers of a faction opposed to the ruling faction leader was overheard commenting on the breach and the action to be taken. He was referring to the contract awarded to the ruling faction leader two years ago, and the work that was completed just a year ago. He was, therefore, of the opinion that the responsibility of reparing the tank now rests with the leader who takes up the contract. The criticism was for a reason. When the contractor was awarded the work the previous time, he had actually shown as the work done by him, even though much of the repair had been effected by voluntary labour from the village to plug the breach in response to a call then given. For reasons of this kind, the participation of the community in the annual maintenance is almost given up in favour of a contractor, usually a supporter of the ruling faction, to have the contract awarded to undertake the repair work. The State government too seems to have played along with the tunes as may be seen in the case of “people’s participation in watershed development”. The contribution to be made by the people as a share of total costs is often by way of supplying voluntary labour. Since no voluntary labour is forthcoming, valuable resources such as trees in the village wood lot are sold to meet the cost of the wages paid to the workers. All these in the name of people’s participation. There is an inbuilt adhocism among the lower level of political representatives to the elected bodies, be they women or members of specially protected groups such as backward class, backward tribe or Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe. They continue to be mere puppets in the hands of leaders from dominant castes, based on whose sponsorship they get themselves elected. There is no certainty that even if the political party that they represent is likely to be returned to office in a subsequent election, that they themselves would be the sponsored candidates during the following term. Therefore, their own priorities tend to be to get a contract awarded, a few schemes to benefit them and their immediate relatives rather than long term interests of the community as a whole. Leaders at this level are victims of competing authority structures such as the more powerful king-makers, traditional leaders and regional political bigwigs. At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 120 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management

Traditionally, it was the prerogative of the hereditary headman of the village to officiate as a key person in practices that concerned the natural resources. Teppotsava (tank), sagubadi (cultivation of lands), annadammula pandaga (festivals of the brothers, in the forest) etc., had to be led by the headman. But the village community now has an elected representative who has taken over from the traditional headman. In a community that is becoming dependent upon the external resources, the new leader, therefore, assumes greater significance. To the extent that new leadership is drawn away from the traditional leaders, there is likely to be resistance in according the primary status to such traditional leaders in customary events. Consequently, the concern of the emerging leadership to those roles dealing with natural resources gets neglected. But the traditional leaders who had the roles concerning them finds no social or political base to exercise them. There is ample evidence for this in Kodipalli. On the contrary, the emerging leadership, short-lived as they are, is more interested in bringing the grants and schemes to develop the resources. But these schemes are meant mainly to make a profit rather than the genuine and lasting impact on resources or their base. In short, reflecting the adhocism of leadership tenure is the ad hoc concern towards the natural resources within the village. 5. Consequences for Livelihood System and Natural Resources Management The findings concerning the three sets of hypotheses point out to a certain extent the future overshadowed by pessimism. We now encounter a livelihood system where there is a growing autonomy of individual household at the cost of the village community. The behaviour of individuals towards one another is largely determined by the faction to which they are affiliated. It is the livelihood system consisting of a leadership and governance pattern, which is fragile and unsuitable. Farming which was a way of life is gradually taking the shape of leased farming: but the lessee farmer has lasting interests neither in the livelihood system of the community nor in its resource base. It is also a livelihood system, which is becoming increasingly dependent on the resources that are externally generated. Further, it is a livelihood system, which is getting further and further integrated into the wider market economy. Finally, the concerns of the ordinary farmers or of the leaders have little emotional space for the local natural resource base in the emerging livelihood system. At best it is a concern as a commodity, and for short-term gains. We thus question ourselves: Are the natural resources and the emerging livelihood systems compatible to each other, to make them both sustainable? Or, are they at loggerheads? What makes the answer to Conclusions: At Loggerhead or Towards Sustainibility? 121 these questions even more pessimistic is that the actors, that is the members of the community, themselves too share such an apprehension. And, if they are asked what they plan to do on their part, they have an answer which, perhaps their grandparents also were giving: puttinchina devudu pettaka maanuthada (Tr. Will not the God who created us sustain us?). Not a total pessimism this is, after all. At Loggerheads or Towards Sustainablility? Changing Rural 122 Livelihood Systems and Natural Resource Management

References

Baumgartner, Rudolf, and Rudolf Hogger (Eds.), 2004, In Search of Sustainable Livelihoods: Rural Livelihoods and Sustainable Natural Resource Management. New Delhi: Sage. Beidelman, T O, 1974, A Comparative Analysis of the Jajmani System, New York: J J Augustine. Caldwell, Bruce, 1991, Jajmani System: An Investigation, Delhi: Hindustan Publishing Corporation. Charsley, S R and Karanth, G K, 1998: “Challenging Untouchability: dalit Initiatives and Experiences from Karnataka, South India, New Delhi: Sage Publications. Chopra Kanchan, G.. K. Kadekodi and M.N. Murthy, 1994, “People, Resource and Participation”, New Delhi: Sage Publications. Damle, C B, 1993, “Land Reforms and Changing Agrarian Relations”, Jaipur: Rawat Publications. Dumont, Louis, 1972, Homo Hierarchicus: The Caste System and Its Implications, London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson. Gopal, S, 1971, Tipu Sultan’s Mysore: An Economic Study, Popular Prakashan, Bombay. Gough, Kathleen, 1981, Rural Society in Southeast India, Cambridge: Cambridge University. Greenhough, Paul R, 1982, Prosperity and Misery in Modern Bengal: The Famine of 1993-94, New York: Oxford University Press. Harper, E B, 1959, “Two Systems of Economic Exchange in Village India”: American Anthropologist, Vol. 61 (5): 760-78. Karanth, G K, 1987, New Technology and Traditional Rural Institutions: Case of Jajmani Relations in Karnataka, Economic and Political Weekly, XXII (51): 2217-23. Karanth, G K, 1995, “Change and Continuity in Agrarian Relations” New Delhi: Concept Publications. Karanth, G.K., 1995a. “Surving Draughts”, Bombay: Himalaya. Karanth, G K., 1997, Caste after Fifty Years of Independence: Review of Development and Change, II (2): 319-37. Karanth, G K., 2002, ‘Carrots and the Horse: Project-Driven Collective Action for Sustainable Development’, Paper presented in the T K Oommen Felicitation Seminar, held at the Centre for Study of Social System, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, October 18-21, 2002. Karanth G K., 2004, ‘Does Replication Mean Consensus?’ Contributions to Indian Sociology (NS) Forthcoming. Karanth, G K., and V Ramaswamy 1997, “ The Threshing Floor Disappears: Rural Livelihoods in Transition”, ISEC (mimeo) Lerche, Jeans, 1991, The Modernisation and Selection of Dominance Between Farmers and Artisans in Coastal Orissa, Sociological Bulletin, 42 (1 & 2): 85-112. References 123

Nadkarni, M.V. and G.K. Karanth, 1995, “Regularisation of Encroached Lands: Who are the Main Beneficiaries?”, Deccan Herald, Bangalore 29 December. Nadkarni, M V and V V Borkar, 1975, Impact of Drought on Rural Life, Bombay: Popular Prakashan. Nair, K N, and Martin Doornabos (Eds.) 1990, Resources, Institutions and Strategies: Operation Flood and Indian Dairying. New Delhi: Sage. Pani, Narender, 1983, “Reforms to Re-employment Change: Land Legislation in Karnataka” New Delhi: Concept Publications. Pocock, D, 1962, Notes on Jajmani Relationship, Contributions to Indian Sociology (Old Series). Raju, K V, G. K. Karanth, D. Rajasekhar, M. J. Bhende, and K. G. Gayathri Devi 2003, Rejuvenating Tanks: A Socio-Ecological Approach. Bangalore: Books for Change. Ramaswamy, V, 1998, Natural Resource Management and Changing Rural Leadership: Evidence from Two South Indian Villages, Presented at the International Conference on CONTICI, At Nanyuki, Kenya, September 1998 Ramaswamy, V., G S Aurora and G K Karanth, 1996, Rural Livelihood Systems and Sustainable Resource Management: A Report from an Andhra Pradesh Village, Bangalore: ISEC, Mimeo. Ranga Rao, 1980, Village Politics: A Longitudinal Study, Bombay: Popular Prakashan. Rao, Hayavadana, C, 1927, Ed., Mysore Gazetteer Compiled for Government, Vol.1- 5, G 1284-88. Rother mond, Dietmer, 1991, Economic History of India: From Pre-colonial times to 1991, London: Routldge Publications Rudolf, Lioyd I and Susanne Hoeber Rudolf, 1967, The Modernity of Tradition: Political Development in India, Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Sandhu, Rani, 1998, An Exploratory Analysis of Gender Relations in a Rural Livelihood System in Transition. A Report submitted to the NADEL-ISEC- RLS Project, ISEC, Bangalore, Mimeo. Srinivas, M N. 1952, Marriage and Family in Mysore, Bombay: New Book Co. Srinivas, M N. 1952, A Joint Family Dispute in a Mysore Village, Journal of the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, 1 (1) 7-31 Thurston, E 1975, “Castes and Tribes in Southern India”, Vol. IV, KTOM: Cosmo Publications, New Delhi. William Wiser, 1969/1936, The Hindu Jajmani System, Lucknow: Lucknow Publishing House Wolf, Eric, 1966, Peasants, New Jersey: Prentice Hall Inc. About Authors

G.K. Karanth is Professor and Head of Sociology Unit, in the Institute for Social and Economic Change, (ISEC) Bangalore. For nearly a decade, he taught in the Post-Graduate Department of Sociology in Mangalore University. He was the Co- ordinator of the Second Development Convention hosted by the ISEC during 2003. His other publications include Rural Youth (1981); Change and Continuity in Agrarian Relations (1995); Surviving Droughts (1985); Challenging Untouch- ability ( 1987, with Simon Charsley ); and Rejuvenating Tanks (2002, with K.V. Raju and others). He is currently Managing Editor of the Journal of Social and Economic Development and of the Social and Economic Change Monograph Series.

V. Ramaswamy is Assistant Professor, Sociology Unit at the Institute for Social and Economic change, Bangalore. He obtained his doctoral degree from the University of Mysore, which was on the theme of involuntary dispacement and rehabilitation. His interests include rural social change, participatory natural resource management, decentralised goveranance and development.