The Dark Zone: Groundwater Irrigation, Politics and Social Power in North Gujarat Anjal Prakash Propositions 1. The relationship between groundwater irrigation and social differentiation starts with the basic inequality in the ownership of land (This thesis) 2. In Sangpura, two parties - the landlord and the tenant- contribute to cover the costs of a production process in certain proportion but benefits differently and disproportionately. The 'partnership perspective' does not problematise the social relations underlying the sharecropping arrangements and do not question the issue of disproportionate right in land and water (This thesis) 3. A system is class efficient if the more powerful class can maintain a higher income in its favour, despite the lower production efficiency of the system (Bhaduri 1997) 4. The rule of caste obeys the rule of power (Gupta 1991) 5. Caste is crucially concerned with determining access to the means of production, control over resources and institutions and forms of surplus extraction (Chakravarti 2001) 6. While farmers have long been dependent on the state for essential inputs to agriculture, in recent years politicians in the state governments have also become dependent on farmers (Dubash 2002) 7. There is a particular way in which the state has identified the problem (of resource depletion) and created programmes reflecting their political constituency (This thesis) 8. Knowledge, the object of knowledge and the knower are the three factors which motivate action; the senses, the work and the doer comprise the threefold basis of action. Bhagavad Geeta, Hindu Text Propositions attached to the thesis The Dark Zone: Groundwater Irrigation, Politics and Social Power in North Gujarat. AnjalPrakash Wageningen University, 20 May 2005 The Dark Zone: Groundwater Irrigation, Politics and Social Power in North Gujarat Anjal Prakash CENTRALE LANDBOUWCATALOGUS Promotor: Prof. Dr. L.F. Vincent, Hoogleraar in de Irrigatie en Waterbouwkunde, Wageningen Universiteit Co-promotor Dr. P.P. Mollinga, Senior Research Fellow, Center for Development Research (ZEF), Bonn, Germany Dr. D. Roth, Universitair Docent, leerstoelgroep Recht en Bestuur, Wageningen Universiteit Samenstelling promotiecommissie: Prof. Dr. P. Richards, Wageningen Universiteit Prof. Dr. G. Wood, University of Bath, United Kingdom Dr. V. Ballabh, Institute of Rural Management, India Dr. H.A.J. van Lanen, Wageningen Universitiet Dit onderzoek is uitgevoerd binnen de onderzoeksschool CERES The Dark Zone: Groundwater Irrigation, Politics and Social Power in North Gujarat Anjal Prakash Proefschrift ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor op gezag van de rector magnificus van Wageningen Universiteit, prof.dr.ir. L. Speelman in het openbaar te verdedigen op vrijdag 20 mei 2005 des namiddags te 16:00 uur in de Aula The Dark Zone: Groundwater Irrigation, Politics and Social Power in North Gujarat. Wageningen Univeristy. Promoter: Prof. L.F. Vincent. Co-promo tor: Dr. P.P. Mollinga. - Wageningen : Prakash, AnjaL 2005. - p.239 ISBN 90-8504-158-9 Copyright © 2005, by Anjal Prakash, Gujarat, India This thesis will also be published by Orient Longman, Hyderabad, India in the Wageningen University Water Resources Series with ISBN 81-250-2824-2 "sn^r m$ d2<^iij 3r ^ wsn -s^tr "afr^ Ten" f^oT "£~3TT yil^dll i$£jeffi cTlc^ The Clay says to the Potter Tou do not dig and smother me., for one day it will so happen I will swallow you into me' Saint Kabir 15th century mystic Indian Poet (English Translation Das 2003:21-22) Contents Ust of Tables vi List of Figures viii Ust of Maps ix Ust of Boxes x Ust of Pictures xi Glossary xii Abbreviations xvi Preface xviii 1 Introduction 1 2 The Dark Zone Groundwater Irrigation and Water Scarcity in Gujarat 42 3 Groundwater Irrigation and Social Differentiation The Wells and Tubewelk in Sangpura 1960-2003 75 4 Declining Productivity and Increasing Irrigation Prices 101 5 Sharecropping, Migration and the New Face of Water Markets 139 6 Strategic Alliances and Everyday Village Politics in Sangpura 172 7 Conclusions 208 References 227 v Tables 1.1 Castes and their primary occupation in Sangpura 10 2.1 Sectoral growth rate in Gujarat 43 2.2 Eco-regions of Gujarat 46 2.3 Talukawise level of groundwater development 49 2.4 Irrigation potential created and utilised, June 2003 50 2.5 Area under principle crops (in million ha) 55 2.6 Area irrigated by source (in km2) 56 2.7 Area irrigated by source (in '00 hectares) 58 3.1 Depth of tubewells in Sangpura 1960-2002 77 3.2 Social ownership of land and dugwells in Sangpura, 1960 78 3.3 Crop cycle in Sangpura, 2001-02 80 3.4 Caste and land holding in Sangpura, 2002 85 3.5 Land ownership size characterised by caste in Sangpura, 2002 87 3.6 Individuals and households below the poverty line in Sangpura characterised by caste 88 3.7 Percentage of share in tubewell class characterised by caste 90 3.8 Land under irrigation characterised by tubewell class and caste, Sangpura, 2002 91 3.9 Number of water buyers characterised by caste 92 3.10 Caste-wise access to irrigation in Sangpura, 2002 94 3.11 Access to tubewells characterised by shareholder class and caste 95 vi Tables 3.12 Access to tubewells characterised by water buyer class and caste 96 3.13 Numbers of shareholders and water buyer families as per tubewell and land class 97 4.1 Pattern of agriculture in Mehsana district 103 4.2 Area (00' ha), production (00' tonnes) and yield (kg/ha) of major crops in Mehsana district 103 4.3 Average rainfall of Mehsana district 104 4.4 Irrigation requirement and yield of major crops in Sangpura in 1985-90 and 2001 105 4.5 Social composition and share patterns of sample tubewells 112 4.6 Physical characteristics of sample tubewells, 2001 112 4.7 Shrinking command areas and fewer water buyers 129 4.8 Progressive deepening 130 4.9 Gross profit of tubewell cooperatives (in Rs.) 130 5.1 The historical evolution of sharecropping in Sangpura 144 5.2 Occurrence of sharecropping by caste and land class in Sangpura, 2002-03 145 5.3 Tenants' and landlords' share of inputs in the one- third sharecropping system 147 5.4 Types and terms of sharecropping contracts prevalent in Sangpura, 2002 149 5.5 Per hectare net gain for labour, land and water components in sharecropping, 2002-03 153 5.6 Investment and profit for labour, land and water component (for per ha of land) 154 5.7 Wages for tenants under sharecropping (per ha) 156 5.8 Gendered division of labour (per season) 157 5.9 Seasonality of wage labour demand in Sangpura, 2002-03 160 6.1 The members and their contribution to the milk cooperative characterised by caste 196 6.2 Membership coverage of the milk cooperative 197 6.3 Shares held by individuals in credit cooperative 200 vii Figures Cumulative growth of tubewells in Sangpura, 1974- 2001 viii Maps 1.1 India, Gujarat and research locations, 2001 6 1.2 Village map of Sangpura, 2001 9 2.1 Arid-zones of Gujarat 45 2.2 Groundwater mining in Gujarat 48 2.3 The canal network and command areas of SSP 67 3.1 Location of tubewells in Sangpura, 2002 82 3.2 Land ownership characterised by caste in Sangpura, 2002 86 ix Boxes 4.1 The operator's day and night 107 4.2 The decision on the irrigation schedule 108 4.3 The maintenance diary of Chelaji Thakore 122 4.4 Record keeping and profit calculations 131 4.5 Shrinking command area in summer 132 5.1 Gitaben's working day 157 5.2 Going abroad 162 5.3 The USA rationale: a friendly chat with Kalpeshbhai Patel 163 x Pictures 4.1 Installation of tubewell 109 4.2 Groundwater pumped into overhead tank 109 4.3 Water distributed through right and left hand channels 110 4.4 Water reaches the field through underground channels 110 xi Glossary adiwasi indigenous people araji selling the land through bidding aras-paras mutual sharing of labour within households bajri pearl millet balwadi kindergarten bandh lockouts barad draught animal beti daughter bbag division bhagidari shareholding bhagidars shareholders bhagwan God bhagiyo tenant bhajan devotional songs bhakti devotion bin-bhagidar non-shareholder boribands small dams made up of sand filled gunny bags chaa tea chana chickpea chaukidar watchman chawb one-room houses chikoo a fruit, also called sapota, scientific name Acbras Sapota dhan wealth dhani landlord gharka dhani historically landed class ghat platform xii Glossary guthka a form of chewing tobacco; it is made more attractive by adding sweeteners, flavourings and nuts haath literal meaning is hand, but it is a system of measurement 25 haath equals around 1 meter iter kaum other castes jajmani a socio-economic system interrelating members of village community for inter• change of services and goods between the various castes jiru cumin kabirpanthi the followers of Saint Kabir kalakwari used in irrigation schedule denoting hours kharif monsoon season khet talawadis farm ponds hos irrigation device operated manually through the use of draught animals kurta a traditional piece of clothing common in India. A long shirt worn along with a pyjama labhpancham fifth day of the Gujarati new year; in mythology, it is called the day of Laxmi, the goddess of wealth, and is related with the day to resume business in the new financial year for Gujarati businesspersons mag green gram, a kind of legume (pulse) (scientific namephaseolus mungd), grown for food in India; also called gram, mung bean, Chinese mung bean, and green-seeded mung bean majuri wage labour masala spices mehnatkash kaum hardworking caste mehsul tax collection methi fenugreek mukhi the village headman in the British era nath traditional organisation of families within a caste group xiii Glossary navnirman reconstruction paan an ethnic south-Asian chew mixed with spices such as cardamom, tobacco, anise and lime paste, grated coconut, different kinds of betel nuts and small pieces of various candies wrapped in betel leaf padi footman soldier panchqyat the lowest tier in the structure of self- governance pancbrangi five-coloured parmarth working without expectation of reward puda a bundle of grass rabi spring rqyotwari rayot is a category meaning 'peasant'.