Salt Pan Workers of Gujarat

Agariya’s Lives and Struggle for Survival in the Little Rann of Kutch Little Rann of Kutch • Gujarat produces close to 73% of total salt consumed in India

• Close to 60% of this is produced in Little Rann of Kutch

• Little Rann of Kutch is a 5183 sq.km land mass having dual characteristics of saline desert and wetland

• It is divided between the 5 districts of Surendranagar, Mehsana, Banaskantha, Kutch and Rajkot

• Close to 43,000 traditional salt workers (Agariyas) live in more than 108 villages on the periphery of LRK.

• They mostly belong to Nomadic and De-notified Tribes (75%), Schedule caste (10%), Schedule Tribes (10%) and others backward communities (5%) and salt making in LRK is more than a century old tradition for most of them Making Salt

• Every year from September – May season (period varies based on monsoon), Agariyas migrate to the desert along with their families to produce salt

• They live in temporary make-shift houses made out of mud and bamboo in the harshest conditions of the desert for 8-9 months in an year

• Exploited by traders and middlemen the Agariyas make as low as 12-15 paisa/kg of salt they produce

Problems Plaguing Agariyas

• More than 50% of the Agariyas are illiterate and often fall prey to greedy traders Table: Level of Education Among Agariyas in LRK in %

Details Kutch Patan Rajkot Surendranagar Total

Illiterate 32.3 25.9 17.9 71.1 56.4

Literate 0.0 0.0 1.7 0.9 0.9

1st to 5th 36.9 61.6 49.6 15.8 27.0 class 6th to 10th 26.2 11.6 29.1 11.2 14.5 class

> 10th class 4.6 0.9 1.7 0.9 1.3

100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

• Low rate of returns. They make 12-15 paisa/kg of salt produced. Often at the end of the season the Agariyas are engulfed in a vicious cycle of debt in the hands of traders and middlemen

Lack of Educational facilities in Desert

With Agariyas migrating into desert for 8-9 months in an year, children are pushed out of schools for major part of the year. Even after repeated requests, Govt. is reluctant to setup schools in the desert area or hostels in the villages. This has resulted in children, migrating along with parents to deserts, also getting involved in the salt making process from a very tender age.

AID in collaboration with Janpath has been working on setting up schools in the desert and trying to educate children of Agariyas. .

Health Issues

“There is no water, no doctor here. If somebody collapses due to the heat and exhaustion, there is little we can do except pray to god. A medical emergency during night is worse, because there is no power in the Rann.”– a women salt pan worker Health Issues

Lack of Harsh weather protective gear conditions of Lack of basic desert (50º C to health facilities 4º C)

Prolonged Govt. negligence exposure to salt

Malnutrition, Prolonged Long term lack of exposure to health vegetables and brine implications fruits in the diet

•High blood pressure •Urinary sodium excretion •Skin and eye problems [1] Health Issues Other Eye Pain in joints 6% 8% Ear Fever 8% 4% 6% Cough 4%

Vaccination Skin cases 20% 2% Asthama 2%

Tothache 6% Stomach 12% Night Backache Blindness 12% 5% Weakness 5%

The number of patients checked in three months in LRK (Surendranagar District) are 7034, out of which 74% are male and 26 % are females. The analyses raise serious concern about health. Graphical representation of the analysis is as above Lack of potable water facility in the desert

Potable water is extremely scarce in the desert area. Government tankers are irregular, and individual families that procure potable water from private operators spend as much as Rs 2,000-Rs 3,000 a month.

Agariyas bath once in 8-10 days. Due to scarcity of usable water, they cant afford to take bath everyday, though they work in salty water through-out the day.

Adding “SALT” to the injury! •Little Rann of Kutch is habitat to a thriving population of the endangered “Asiatic wild Ass”

•Govt of India, in the year 1973 declared the species as endangered under the Wildlife Protection Act and LRK being the only place in the world inhabiting this species, has been declared a protected zone and being notified as Wild Ass Sanctuary (WAS)

•Apart from Wild Ass, Little Rann of Kutch is home to more than 24 insects, 27 spiders, 21 fishes, 178 types of birds and 33 types of mammals like Nilgai (Indian Antelope) which are found in the WAS area

Evacuation notices to Agariyas

• The Gujarat forest department held an alarmist view that salt making activity have an adverse effect on the wild ass and other wild life habitat in LRK

• In 1997, a Settlement Collector had been appointed to inquire into the existence, nature and extent of the rights of the Agariyas. The settlement issues is still not resolved till today

• The government is presently seeking documented evidence from the Agariyas to establish their right to produce salt inside the wild ass sanctuary. The State forest department in the mean while served notifications of illegal occupation and evacuation from the area in order to protect the species

Sequence of events towards Wild Ass Sanctuary How true are the Govt. claims?

• GEER (Gujarat Ecological Education and Research) foundation undertook an Ecological Study of the Little Rann of Kutch, in the context of salt production activity in 1993 under the direction of the court. A high level committee was constituted which consisted of Additional Secretaries of Dept. of Forest and Environment, Revenue department and Dept. of Industries to overlook the issue. The committee accepted the recommendation of study “demarcating salt zones within the Sanctuary areas and allow salt production” but the clearance from the government is still awaited

• RTI application filed by NGO Janpath, showed many irregularities in the procedures followed in sending out notifications . It is observed that the Govt. has vested interests in allowing private companies take over the area for commercial purposes

• As per documents received under RTI act, by Harinesh Pandya (trustee – AHRM) government does not have detailed survey documents of LRK. In fact this huge piece of land is still termed as either Survey number Zero or Kutch Nu Nanu Rann, and no collector in surrounding five districts has clear idea about his jurisdiction inside LRK

• In such scenario, it is really surprising that survey and settlement procedures of Wild Ass Sanctuary, is asking for documented evidences from the traditional Agariayas about salt making which has been their livelihood for generations

• Study made by GEER showed supporting evidence of co-existence of Agariyas and Wild Ass. According to the study over 76% of the total wild Ass population is concentrated near the salt zones where Agariyas work. Even then the wild Ass population increased from 362 in 1969 to 3863 in 2004, an increase of 956% clearly indicating the co-existence of both • GEER study revealed that Wild Ass population has been steadily moving towards villages away from the desert due to acute shortage of natural food in the desert. Wild Asses have been destroying the fields of the villages for food. The reduction in food supply in deserts is due to a weed called “prosopis” an inedible crop growing all over desert destroying natural food

• Studies show that in some cases as much as 48-50% of the fields are destroyed by the Asses. Yet there is not a single recorded incidence of Agariyas harming the wildlife

• Agariyas are willing to forgo a much as 12% of their farm for wild asses to help conserve their population. This clearly shows the commitment on the part of Agariyas to peacefully co-exist with the wildlife and contribute to their conservation

All the above points conclude that

• As against the alarmist view, wild ass population in LRK is growing and that too in the areas close to the salt pans, thus it raises question against the allegation that salt production is harmful to the wildlife. The statement from the GEER Ecology study “the salt areas are not into conflict with respect to wildlife’s food and water needs as salt pans are made in the areas where nothing grows.” stands true

• Uncontrolled growth of Prosopis on the bets has severely damaged the prime habitats of wild ass

• The geography and nature of the Wild Ass habitat are undergoing change due to multiple reasons. Many of the wild asses are adapting to new environs outside and beyond LRK and WAS Case for Agariyas

• The recent study by Center for Economic and Social Studies, Hyderabad and Agariya Heeth Rakshak Sangh show some important points on the impact on Agariyas due to evacuation

• The study proposes that ignoring livelihood values of the Rann will be “counterproductive to both local development and well as wild ass conservation.”

• The study shows around 75.76 % of the traditional Agariyas fall into deprived category when they are evaluated through 15 indicators such as food intake, health expenses, debt, land holding, fuel used, education status etc

• 80.46% of the people are landless in their villages and have no alternative livelihood

• Around 84.35% of the salt workers say that they have learnt salt making from their forefathers, which also supports the argument that it is traditional occupation of certain communities

•The literacy status of Agariyas shows that only 31% had primary education, 12% have secondary education and only 3% reach higher secondary education

•Principal chief conservator of Forest and head of forest department Mr.Pradeep Khanna admitted that, communities have contributed a lot in conservation of Wildlife in Kutch

•All the above points show that evacuating Agariyas from LRK would be a disaster for the community with limited resources and skills at their disposal. Salt production is their only source of livelihood, a life drenched in sweat, dust and tears

Demands for the Salt Pan Community(backed by Janpath and MAGP) against the Government

• To Recognize and protect Agariyas right of using LRK land for 8 months for making of salt by traditional method as “customary Rights of the communities (and not individuals) of using Resources.

• To Initiate a process of recognizing ‘traditional’, customary user rights of Agariya community inside LRK for making salt. Any such process initiated by the government should be transparent, consultative with community and inclusive

• The saline water (brine) availability in LRK is also limited. Brine availability fairly depends on the inflow of fresh water from seven rivers that meets LRK and also creek at ‘Maliya’ side of LRK which is only narrow strip from where saline water of sea enters into LRK, and water from LRK goes into sea. Thus Multi national companies should not be permitted to make use of brine for making salt as commercial activity. It should be purely community rights recognized as their livelihood options

However in order to reduce burden on LRK resources, consistent efforts are required for

1. Strengthening alternative/Supplementary livelihoods for these communities,

2. Better education facilities,

3. Regeneration of bio-diversity and Natural Resources. AID Saathi Pankti Jog

Pankti Jog, an AID Saathi has been associated with AID partner JANPATH, an NGO based in Gujarat since right after the post earthquake period in Dec. 2001. She serves as advocacy coordinator for Janpath and coordinator for Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel (MAGP). She serves as an Advocacy Coordinator responsible for designing, implementation and documentation of Salt pan worker’s program and many advocacy programs in Gujarat.

Her current activities include:

• Community Development efforts to improve the lives of Salt Pan Workers at all levels • Awareness, Education and Training material on RTI as tool to address - NREGA, Right to Food, right to Shelter, and livelihood in context of Tribal, nomadic and de-notified tribes • Documentation of the challenges before RTI implementation and promotion and have collective voice to overcome the challenges • Contribute meaningfully for building collective understanding need of Electoral and democratic reforms for meaningful democracy • A bi-monthly news collection (magazine) on RTI in local language

Pankti Jog has been on the forefront on the issues related to the overall development of the Agariya community for the past several years. She, along with Janpath, has been working on the ‘Evacuation notices’ issues writing to the govt. on various fronts , demanding equity and Justice to the community Time has come to free the Agariyas from generations of ‘illegal’ and ‘unrecognized’ status, despite being true producers. To free the Agariyas from debt, exploitation, poverty & uncertainty. Time has come to grant them a dignified future in the 21st century.

Are we ready to Act?