Chapter 6

SOCIO-ECONOMIC PROFILE OFTHEGRAMPANCHAYATS

The last chapter was an overview of the agrarian structure, the social origins of

peasant radicalism, Land Reforms and agricultural transformation in the states of

Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. The present chapter will basically involve a brief

profile of the different Gram Panchayats in Andhra Pradesh and Kerala which I .

form part of our study. The first half of the chapter delves into the demographic

details, brief history and the basic socio-economic profile of the Gram Panchayats

and the districts where we have conducted our Survey. The second half deals with

the differences that exist between the two states in terms of socio-economic

development, by looking into certain institutions and the diverse experiences in the

two states.

Different states in India have followed different trajectories of development and

while the development of capitalism itself as we have seen earlier was fraught with

inherent contradictions, certain states like Kerala and West Bengal followed a path

of development diverse from that tread by other states. The socio-economic

setting and the political direction under the influence of Socialism comes across as

the most striking difference that ensured a deviation from the national trend. This

study intends to look into the development strategies of Kerala and Andhra

Pradesh wherein Kerala has been acclaimed for high Human Development indices

comparable to many of the developed countries and Andhra Pradesh has been

poor on this front and unlike the Kerala agricultural scenario has been among the

top producers of crops like paddy, cotton and groundnut. The two states share a

history of peasant protests and revolts and organised presence of the peasantry,

although in the recent decades, Andhra Pradesh has witnessed a de-radicalisation

of its peasantry.

The Kerala trajectory of development has been termed as the Kerala Model of

Development and been acclaimed as a model that could ensure high social

indicators despite low economic development. , In the decade of the nineties

however, Andhra Pradesh was in the forefront of implementing neo-liberal

policies and World Bank-IMP conditionalities and was projected as the show-piece

of the reform regime. It embarked on Janmabhoomi and Vision-2020 programme

while Kerala in the same phase undertook a project of democratic decentralisation

empowering the Panchayats and involving people in a participative planning

experience in what is known as the People's Plan or Janakeeyasuthranam.

Andhra Pradesh has not been known for having implemented comprehensive

Land Reforms and the recent period has witnessed problems in production

relations with high input costs, indebtedness, irrigational constraints, absence of

institutional credit and presence of dominance of usurious interests while the rural

social structure remains only marginally altered. Kerala on the other hand is known

to have implemented Land Reforms in an effective manner and a comprehensive

credit system and a system of cooperatives is in place. In the phase of liberalisation

the Kerala agricultural scenario which looked up in the eighties was hit by crashes

in prices of commercial crops and the fluctuating prices and high costs of

cultivation led to distress amidst the peasantry. In Andhra Pradesh too the farmers

bore the brunt and thousands of farmers are reported to have committed suicide

unable to repay their debts due to drought and crop failures. The presence of

certain structures in Kerala act as buffer partly because of Land Reforms,

unionisation, decentralisation etc. Our study thus seeks to make a comparative

analysis of the two states to understand the impact of the neo-liberal policies on

the peasantry in diverse settings.

161

The absence of any recorded history of the Gram Panchayats in Andhra Pradesh

unlike in Kerala where the rich oral tradition is also accompanied by documented

history of the region constrains our profiling about the Panchayats in Andhra

Pradesh. We have hence, stuck to a broad proftle of the districts in which the

Panchayats are placed as far as Andhra Pradesh is concerned even as we have tried

to include a detailed history of the Panchayats in Kerala along with a brief proftle

of the districts in which they are pl::t:::ed.

Political Economy of Andhra Pradesh

The State of Andhra Pradesh situated to the south-eastern part of the Indian

peninsula whose peasantry created history by launching militant movements in

Telangana and Coastal Andhra with the prime motive of restructuring the agrarian

social relations through direct action has been facing the implications of the

current strategies of neo-liberal economic policy. The underlying concern of this

study is to analyse the impact of these policies on an agrarian society with specific

reference to the condition of the peasants and agricultural workers and the

response of the peasantry in Andhra Pradesh to these policies, and compare it with ... ...,

the condition of identical sections in the State of Kerala while situating the entire

problem in the context of their respective trajectories of economic development.

The modus operandi employed for this purpose has been to collect primary data

through a structured questionnaire by a field survey in four different village

Panchayats in different districts, selecting a statistically sound random stratified

sample of thirty respondents in each Panchayat. The Panchayats chosen for the

purpose in Andhra Pradesh are Ipperu Gram Panchayat in Kuderu Mandai of

Anantapur District, Chenguballa Gram Panchayat in Shantipuram Mandai of

Chittoor District in the Rayalseema region, Sirisedu Gram Panchayat in

Jammikunta Mandai in Karimnagar District in the Telangana region and Unagatla

Gram Panchayat in Chagallu Mandai of the West Godavari District in the Andhra

162

region. A preliminary visit to Damaramadugu Gram Panchayat in Nell ore District,

also a part of Coastal Andhra was made, although it is not part of the original

research plan. The Andhra Pradesh trajectory of development and the proflle of

the Panchayats will follow in this section.

We shall now look into the profile of the different districts and the Gram

Panchayats wh1ch form part of our"study. We are constrained here by the lack of

any recorded history or even details from the oral tradition as far as the Gram

Panchayats are concerned. This is in striking contrast with the Gram Panchayats of

Kerala which have a systematically recorded history which finds mention in the

annual Development Plan Documents which have become a regular feature ever

since the inception of the People's Plan Programme. Hence we have had to resort

to the utilisation of District level history for understanding our area of study

better.

Anantapur District

Rayalseema region, comprising of Cuddappah, Kurnool, Chittoor and Anantapur

districts were among the prosperous regions of Andhia Pradesh as evident in the

flourishing of the Vijayanagara Empire in the region till about four and a half

centuries ago. The rise and fall of the region seem to have been more or less

coinciding with the fortunes of the Empire itself and with the defeat of the

Empire in the battle of Talikota in 1565 the region also slipped into a cycle of

famines and starvation.1 Anantapur was formed in the year 1882 separating from

Bellaryr district, being expanded later on with the addition of revenue mandals

from previous Cuddappah district and Bellary district in 1910 and 1956

respectively, making it the largest district in the state spread over an area of 19,130

sq.km.2 Anantapur was part of what is known as the 'Ceded Districts' or in the

local dialect as the 'Datta Mandala' and its political history witnessed the various

1 K.Rami Reddy, "Structure and Growth of Rayalseema Districts" in A.Ranga Reddy (Ed.), The State of RqyaLreema, Mittal Publications, New Delhi, 2003, p-3. 2District Census Handbook- :\nantapur, Directorate of Census Operations, Andhra Pradesh, 1991, p-1.

163

dynasties that ruled in India, from the Mauryan emptre ranging across the

Chalukyas, Hoysalas, Y ada vas, the Khaljis, the Vijayanagara empire, the Marathas,

the Moghuls, Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan to the Nizam before finally coming under

the British. The region which came under Tipu Sultan had to be ceded in 1792 to

the combination of the British, the Marathas and the Nizam after they defeated

him and he was forced to sign the Treaty of Srirangapattana. After the third

Mysore war in 1799 the whole area came under the Nizam who agrt.ed to cede to

the British these territories in return for a subsidiary force to be stationed in his

dominions based on the British expansionist policy of Subsidiary Alliances thereby

beginning a prolonged spell of colonial domination.3

Anantapur district is the most drought-prone area in the whole state and is second I

only to Jaisalmer in Rajasthan which is the most u.rought-prone region in the

country.4 'The geographical position of the district in the middle of the peninsula

renders it the driest part of the state and hence agricultural conditions are more

often precarious.'5 Anantapur forms a part of what is known as the 'rain shadow

zone' in peninsular India being as it is a part of the northern extremity of the

Karnataka plateau sloping from the South to the North. Its annual rainfall is

544mm only which has made it a perennially drought-prone area earning it the

sobriquet 'the stalking ground of famines'.6 The history of the district is one of

longstanding droughts and famines with recorded history showing evidences to the

effect from the fourteenth century downwards till date. 7· This has rendered the

region totally arid and dry land agriculture is the main economic activity with over

~ 74percent of the total main workers engaged in agriculture and above 84percent of

the population living in rural areas depending upon agriculture for their livelihood

3 Ibid, pp-7 -9 and Interview with Obulakonda Reddy Peasant Leader, Anantapur. 4 Y.V.Malla Reddy, "AnantapuramJillalo Durbhikshyam Oka Karyacharana Saddrishyam", Kadanka-Telugu Journal, Vol.X, 1, April 1999, Anantapur, p-3. and Interview with Dr. Yellamanda Reddy, Director, Agricultural Research Station, Rekulakunta, Anantapur on 6 January 2004. ; Handbook of Statistics: Anantapur District, 1987-88, Compiled by Chief Planning Officer, Anantapur, 1989, p­w. 6 R.Vasantha, "Famines and the Agrarian System in South India-Anantapur District: A Case Study on South Western Part of Andhra Pradesh" Paper Presented at the 16th European Conference on Modem South .\sian Studies, www.sociology.ed.ac.uk/ sas/ conf/ 16/ panel/8.htm--76k. 7 Cf, Purendra Prasad, Famines and Droughts; SNrvival Strategiu, Rawat Publications, New Delhi, 1998.

164

according to the 1991 census.8 There has not been much change in the situation

even till date. As one traverses through the region it comes across quite strikingly

close to a desert and probably the only factor that sets it apart from natural deserts

seem to be the absence of sand dunes, although the process of desertification has

set-in in an alatming way. Recent findings based on the photographs sent by the

National Remote Sensing Agency's Satellite IRS-1A clearly indicate that sand

casting is also occurring to the eastern side of the river Hagari near a village called

D.Honnuru in Kanekallu Mandal.9 The village Panchayat that we shall be studying,

i.e., Ipperu Gram Panchayat in Kuderu Mandai is not very far away from here.

Anantapur has been a groundnut economy and in recent years has been in the

news for the extreme distress faced by the peasantry and the resultant large scale

suicides.

Ipperu Gram Panchayat

ST 69

lpperu Gram Panchayat consists of three revenue villages: Ipperu, Antaraganga

and P. Nagireddipalli. Ipperu has 350 families. The village is reminiscent of the

typical caste hierarchies that exist in the rural Indian society. The high caste

peasantry continue to monopolise control over land, water, credit and markets to

this day with negligible alteration in the socio-economic conditions of the deprived

sections especially the Dalits who continue to remain as exploited agricultural

workers and are tied in debt bondage. The incidence of suicides by peasants was

quite high in the Panchayat and is only matched by the Telangana village Sirisedu

on this count.

The village was earlier known to cultivate cereals like ragi, jowar, bajra etc. The

emphasis on edible oil production saw a shift in cropping pattern in the region

8 Op.Cit, District Census Handbook -Anantapur, 1991, p-12. 9 Op.Cit, Purendra Prasad, 1998, p-44.

165

with the electrification and sinking of bore-wells to groundnut cultivation.

Although a predominantly groundnut economy nearly 100 percent of the

respondents were using the cheaper palm oil which came in the form of cheap

imports from the south-east Asian countries. The Open General Licence and

flooding of the Indian market with cheaper edible oil from other countries has

nearly demolished the groundnut oil industry. Anantapur which once had more

than 100 oil mills has been forced to close down in the recent years. Naturally this

has affected the rural economy and Ipperu has also been badly hit.

The vicious cycle of low unremunerative prices, high costs of cultivation and debt

has only further been accentuated by the recurring drought and lack of rainfall. Its

debt burden through loans from formal sources alone is calculated by an ex­

official of the BC Corporation as being in excess ofRs.1.2 crores. People spoke of

a nexus between bank officials and the "buyer" and the land auctioned was worth

more than what one owed. The difference was pocketed by the buyer and the bank

officials. to The loans from private money-lenders with exorbitant rates of interest

are far higher as we have witnessed that most people rely on non-institutional

credit.

Starvation and malnutrition was common and people eating wild plants and roots

which happened only during the worst famines centuries ago is symptomatic of

the agrarian crisis in the region. Governmental effort to mitigate the situation in

the form of Food-for-Work Programmes was very limited and large-scale

migration occurs from the Panchayat to far off cities. The access to water has

become the privilege of the resource ricli few who indiscriminately sink bore-wells

to draw from an ever depleting water table and grow crops requiring assured water

supply, while adjacent farms belonging to poor lower caste peasants even holding

up to 5 acres of land remain fallow. The village witnessed the presence of NGO

intervention wherein the Rural Development Trust had assisted the schools,

ensured mid-day meal scheme, developed water-shed and also provided some

to P.Sainath, "Where Stomach aches are Terminal", The Hindu, April29, 2001.

166

small accommodation for the homeless. However, this has been done with partial

assistance by the government and the beneficiaries even as the Gram Panchayat

was not in any way involved.

According to the 1991 Census the total population was 3192 for these three

villages and the increase in population is only by about 434 in a time span of over a

decade is a clear indication of the large scale migration that has been taking place

from the region.

Details of the Survey in Ipperu Gram Panchayat

In the Ipperu Gram Panchayat out of the random stratified sample of 30

respondents the gender composition was 19(63.3%) men and 11(36.7%) women.

The Panchayat witnessed the hold of the rich landlords belonging to the high caste

Reddy community earlier, who continue to dominate the landholding structure to

this day. A few Kurubas from the OBC have also in recent times become

prominent cultivators. The plight of the Dalits remains unchanged with most of

them including those with landholding of 2.5-5 acres being agricultural workers.

Dalits accounted for 18(60%) in the sample while 7(23.34%) were OBC and the

remaining 5(16.66%) belonged to the high caste Reddy community.

The Panchayat saw a low level of participation in political activity. The Panchayat

has a very low literacy rate which is only at par with that of Sirisedu Gram

Panchayat in Karimnagar district with only 11(36.7%) 1:e·spondents having had any

formal education. In terms of political participation also merely 5(16.7%) of the

respondents were involved with political parties and only 3.3 percent of the

respondents being members of their respective class organisations (Rythu Kooli

Sangham) which is mass organisation of agricultural workers affiliated to the

Naxalite CPI(1\1aoist). The participation in Panchayat activities and in political

movements for higher wages, rerimnerative prices, subsidised inputs and various

167

class demands was negligible among this section. Only a single respondent was

member of any caste organisation in the entire sample.

Table 6.2: Caste Backl!round of Land Holders in loo_em Gram Panchavat SIZE OF LAND SC/ST OBC GENERAL

HOLDING (in Acres)

0-1 09 OS 01 1-2.5 02 01) 00 2.5-5 07 01 ' 00 5-10 00 00 00

10-20 00 01 01 30-50 00 00 02 50+ 00 00 01

The Panchayat continues to be dominated by the high caste Reddies and the I

upward mobile Kurubas. One third of the respondents were landless. 90 percent

of the respondents who were landless belonged to the OBC or Dalit community.

The condition of the Dalits continues to be one of abject misery. In this Gram

Panchayat 50 percent of the landless belong to the OBC while 40 percent were

Dalits and the rest were from the higher castes. Only the high caste peasants'

possessed more than 30 acres of land with one of them also possessing more than

50 acres. The asset structure also as we shall see later clearly shows the dominance

of the high caste peasantry.

Chittoor District

Chittoor is located on the south-western part of Andhra Pradesh. It is situated

bordering Tamilnadu in the east and Karnataka in the west and on the north the

districts of Cuddappah and Anantapur also falling in the Rayalseema region.

Chittoor also having been a part of the erstwhile Vijayanagara Empire was one of

the prosperous regions of the state. The decline of the Empire also reversed the

fortunes of the region and it slipped into a cycle of famines and starvation. The

region later came under the influence of the Bahmani Sultans, Marathas and the I

Moghuls. The decline of the Moghuls saw the control being transferred to the

Nizam-ul-mulk (Regulator of the State) Asaf Jah who was the Moghul Subedar of

168

Deccan. The district being a part of the Carnatic with its centre at Arcot came

under the Nawabs of Carnatic who were subordinate to the Nizam. The region

witnessed a bitter struggle for succession to the throne and the two European

powers, France and Britain who were seeking to strengthen their possessions

intervened in the matter. The initial successes of the French notwithstanding, the

British-won a decisi"r~ victory in the battle of Wandiwash in 1760 and emerged as

the masters of the region. Although the Nizam had in 17 58 ceded temporarily the

districts of the Northern Circars to the British, it was only in 1766 by a treaty that

they came to also exert military authority over the region. The Camatic came

under the influence of Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan of Mysore later on and after the

defeat of Tipu Sultan, the region was forced to station a Subsidiary army under the

Treaty of 1792 which also gave the British the right to manage the Zamindars of

the region. The British army under Sir Eyre Coote advanced to Chittoor and also

reduced its little fort which was mistaken to be a depot for provisions to the

Mysore army.

The defeat of Tipu 1n 1799 brought parts of the district under the direct

acquisition of the British East India Company. The creditors of the Nawab of

Carnatic were given the revenues of large portions of Carnatic and this led to the

Ryots being ground down by high assessments of land revenue collected by them.

The authority over the entire region however, was handed over to the British in

the year 1801 by one of the descendants to the throne of the Carnatic, finally

bringing it under Company rule. The district had been under the control of ten

Paleygars were paying a tribute to the government. The enhanced demand for

tribute by the British was resisted and the British sent a force to resume the whole

of their lands and customary fees. A detachment of British army was stationed at

Chittoor and as the Paleygars did not respond to conciliatory measures and

continued to resist, they' were put down militarily and one of the most daring

among them, the Paleygar of Y edaragunta was defeated and hanged. Thus by 1805

the last signs of resistance was put an end to, bringing the region under complete

169

control of the Company.11 Chittoor was also a part of the erstwhile Madras

Presidency and continued to be under the North Arcot district till 1911 when it

became a separate district with the merger of the Telugu speaking areas of the

district. The region was under the Ryotwari tenure during the colonial rule.12

Chittoor is also a semi-arid region prone to droughts, lying in the dry upland

plains of the Deccan Plateau. The Western part of the dist;rict has a situation

characteristically similar to the other drought-prone regions of Rayalseema, while

the Eastern part is closer to the Andhra region in characteristics.B The region has

been characterised as a 'local subsistence economy' and despite the Madras

Presidency as a whole having been an exporter of foodgrains the phenomenon was

restricted to the wet zone and the Ceded Districts of Rayalseema were marked by

an absence of surplus in food production.14 The region like other parts of

Rayalseema was earlier known to grow coarse cereals and pulses. The cropping

pattern shifted in favour of commercial crops like groundnut and sugarcane with

the emergence of the possibility of irrigation. Of late this region has seen the

advent of Commercialisation and Corporatisation in the field of agriculture. An

effort to replicate the 'Israeli Model' with high investment, water management and

use of chemicals to produce export-oriented crops like gherkin, baby corn,

capsicum, potato and even vanilla is being made which we shall look into in the

next chapter in detail.

Chenguballa Gram Panchayat

(Source: Mandai Revenue Office: Shantipuram Manda~ Kuppam, Chittoor District)

11 District Census Hand Book, 1991-Chittoor District, pp-7-12. 12 Wendy Kay Olsen, Rural Indian Social &lationr: A Stutfy of Southern Andhra Pradesh, Oxford University Press, Delhi, 1996, p-45. 13 Ibid, p-45. 14 Cf, D.A.Washbrook, The Emergence of Provimial Politics: The Madras Presidenry 1870-1920. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1976 and C.J.Baker, An Indian Rural EronOfi!J, 1880-1955, Oxford University Press, London, 1984.

170

Chenguballa Gram Panchayat falls in Kuppam constituency of Chittoor district

which was represented by the then Chief Minister of the state N.Chandrababu

Naidu in the Legislative Assembly. It was chosen for the purpose of study as it has .

been show cased as the successfully implemented Israeli-model of cultivation and

is located withi? the constituency of one of the foremost votaries of neo-liberal

policies in India. The Panchayat is a prime example of agricultural backwardness '

and is in a region which has been chronically drought prone. The Panchayat is

spread over an area of 458.736 Hectares with a cultivable area of 373.096 Hectares.

The net sown area is 258.06 Hectares.1s The Panchayat was a sole exception

among all the Sample villages in the sense that it had the prevalence and

dominance Gf the upward mobile OBC peasantry. The random survey of the

peasantry conducted in this Panchayat showed a high presence of the upward

mobile Backward Castes, and their domination over the landholdings. This

situation is a result of the high caste cultivator families shifting to cities and

resorting to absentee cultivation.

It was in 1997 that the Kuppam Project was commissioned to adapt and

implement Israeli-American agricultural technology, the 'Micro-Irrigation System'.

BHC Agro India (Pvt) Ltd., a subsidiary of the multinational American-Israeli

company Beta Hakshita Company Agro was selected to design, develop and

implement the project. Chenguballa has also been in the forefront of

implementation of this Project.

Details of the Survey in Chenguballa Gram Panchayat

In Chenguballa Gram Panchayat out of the random sample of 30 respondents the

gender composition was 23(76.6%) men and 7(23.4%) women. The Panchayat

witnessed the hold of the rich landlords belonging to the high caste Reddy, ;

Kamma or Brahmin community earlier, who however, no longer continue to

dominate the landholding structure in the Panchayat. This is unique in the whole

15 Information collected from Mandai Revenue Office, Shantipuram.

171

of Andhra Pradesh as the members of the upward mobile OBC Gandla caste in

recent times become prominent cultivators. Dalits accounted for 4(13.33%) in the

sample while 25(83.33%) were OBC and the remaining 3.34 percent only belonged

to the high caste Reddy community.

The Panchayat saw a high level of participation in political parties when compared

to the other Panchayats of Andhra Pradesh with 13(43.33%) of the respondents

being involved with some political party or the other. The Panchayat has a higher

literacy rate when compared with the other Panchayats of Andhra Pradesh with

22(73.33%) of the . respondents having had some formal education. The

participation in Panchayat activities and in political movements for higher wages,

remunerative prices, subsidised inputs and various class demands was negligible

like in other parts of the state. Only 10 percent of the respondents were members

of any organisation representing their class interests which however was not along

ideological or political lines. Only a single respondent was member of any caste

organisation in the entire sample.

In the Chenguballa Gram Panchayat the Gandla caste coming under the Other

Backward Caste category dominates the landholding today. Earlier the Reddies,

Brahmins and Kammas dominated. The Dalits were mostly agricultural workers ·

and none of them owned more than 2.5 acres. The OBCs constitute 80percent of

the landless while the remaining belongs to the high caste. This

Table 6.4: Caste Background of Land Holders in Chenguballa Gram Panchayat

SIZE OF LAND SC/ST OBC GENERAL HOLDING 1 •

(in Acres) 0-1 01 06 01

1-2.5 03 06 00 2.5-5 00 01 00 5-10 00 06 00

10-20 00 OS 00 30-50 00 01 00 50+ 00 00 00

172

Gram Panchayat was unique in the state of Andhra Pradesh given the fact that it

was the peasants from the OBC who were the main cultivators. This trend may

actually reflect the fact that members of the higher castes who earlier dominated

the landholdings have diversified from agriculture to services and with increased

educational qualifications have migrated to the cities like Hyderabad and Chennai

in search of white-collared jobs.

West Godavari District

West Godavari is situated in the Andhra region or coastal region of Andhra

Pradesh with its head quarters at Eluru. The district had witnessed a vibrant

peasant movement and the resistance to the enhancement of land revenue by the

Madras government in the form of the "1\Jo-Tax Satyagraha is a notable agitation.

The Satyagraha was successful as we have seen earlier, forcing the government to

withdraw the proposal. The region also witnessed protests against the usurious

moneylenders and peasants seeking moratorium on agricultural debts had resorted

to burning of the account books maintained by the landlords and moneylenders.16

The region which was part of the Madras Presidency witnessed the Zamindari

system which was the bane of agriculture leading to oppression of the peasantry

and also agricultural stagnation because of the absence of capital investment in

irrigation and agriculture in general. The insecurity of the peasants was very high as

there was no permanency of tenure. It was. under such circumstances that the

Third Andhra Zamindari Ryots Conference was held at the district Headquarters

of Eluru which made the demand for abolition of the Zamindari systemP The

Communists later on intensified these struggles for the abolition of the Zamindari

system, given the fact that the Congress which also articulated these demands

backtracked once they had come to power and the district was witness to

organised peasant struggles under the leadership of the Communists which

occupied Zamindari lands forcibly. Police brutalities and firing was reported from

16 Interview with Jakka Venkaiah, Peasant leader and Central Committee member CPI (M). t7 Op Cit, T.S.R.Krishnayya, 1980, p-201.

173

many places. The Madras government under the pressure of these struggles passed

the Bill to abolish Zamindari system in the region in 1948 as we have noted

before.18 West Godavari was one of the districts identified under the Intensive

Agricultural Development Programme in 1960, with the objective of enhancing

food production. The district hence was one of the first to implement 'Green

Revolution' techniques in the state.

U nagatla Gram Panchayat

Table 6.5: Demographic Profile of the Unagada Gram Panchayat

Households Population Male Female sc ST

1602 6785 3420 3365 974 32 .. (Source: Gramadarshini, Unagatla Gram Panchayat Document, 2002.)

Unagatla Gram Panchayat is located in the Chagallu Mandai of West Godavari

Distric_t. It has been a village surveyed for five times beginning with a survey under

Prof. Gilbert Slater's guidance for Madras University way back in 1917 getting it

the designation of "Slater village", followed by the second survey under

P.J.Thomas19 in 1936 for the same University, by the Indian Institute of

Economics, Hyderabad as an ancillary to the 1961 census, a survey carried out as a

supplement to th~ _ 1971 census and a survey under the guidance of

G.Parthasarathy and K.A.Nirmala20 in 1998. Our survey is the sixth such study of

the village and being an individual effort the questionnaire based survey had to be

restricted to 30 households. Discussions however, were carried out with many

villagers including Panchayat members and political activists.

The village is spread over an area of 1541.60 acres. The village located in the

upper regions of West Godavari was earlier known for its palmgur industry. The

dry village had to fall back on agriculture for subsistence with the gradual decline

18 Interview with J akka Venkaiah, Peasant leader and Central Committee member CPI (M). 19 P ].Thomas and K.C.Ramakrishnan (Eds.), Some South Indian Villages: A Remrvry, University of Madras, 1940. 20 G.Parthasarathy and K.A.Nirmala, 'Dynamics of Caste and Power in Unagatla Village of West Godavari District', Paper presented at Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai, KRPLLD, Centre for Development Studies Publication, Trivandrum May, 1999.

174

and disappearance of the palmgur industry. Unagatla was electrified in 1966 and

this gave an impetus to tube-well irrigation or to a 'Tube-well Revolution' in the

village enhancing the productivity and leading to advancement of the economy.

The rain-fed agricultural operations were displaced on the larger holdings by

irrigation. Assured irrigation also made the area suitable for the 'New Agricultural

Strategy' and the use of modern techl)ology, High Yielding Variety of seeds and

chemical inputs. The cropping pattern shifted from ·dry rice cultivation to it..:igated

rice and sugarcane cultivation, with nearly 50 percent of the cultivated area being

under sugarcane.21 The area has only tell-tale signs of its once flourishing palmgur .

industry and coconut and cashew are the new commercially attractive crops that

the people have adopted. I

The 'Green Revolut.vn' technology was only accessible to the rich and the larger

holdings invested in irrigation, while the small and marginal holdings were left

behind. The high caste Kammas or Choudharies adopted this technology and

benefited economically while the Dalits and other backward communities

remained at the bottom of the social pyramid, since they continued to be denied

access to land and were forced to continue as landless agricultural workers or

J eethagallu earning the bare subsistence. The village is a classic case of

development of capitalist techniques in agriculture even as the worst forms of

oppression of the agricultural workers from the lower castes continues unabated,

although in more sophisticated and subtle forms.

Details of the Survey in Unagada Gram Panchayat

In the Unagatla Panchayat out of the random sample of 30 respondents the

gender composition was 21(70%) men and 09(30%) women. The Panchayat which

was an early Green Revolution area witnessed the hold of the rich landlords

belonging to the high caste Choudhary or Reddy community, who continue to'

dominate the landholding structure to this day. Dalits accounted for 10(33.33%) in.

21 Ibid.

175

the sample while 13(43.33%) were OBC and the remaining 7(23.34%) belonged to

the high caste Choudharies and Reddies.

The Panchayat saw a low level of participation in political activity. The Panchayat

is highly literate when compared to the other Panchayats in Andhra Pradesh with

only the respondents in Chenguballa Gram Panchayat having a higher literacy rate.

A total number of 20(66:7%) respondents had acquired some formal education

and it had the highest percei1tage of respondents in Andhra Pradesh who were

well informed of the political and other developments through daily reading of the

newspapers with 18(60%) respondents regularly reading newspapers. In terms of

political participation however, merely 23.3 percent of the respondents were

involved with political parties and only 4(13.3%) of the respondents were

members of their respective class organisations (Raitha Mitra) which however was

not based on ideological or political lines. The participation in Panchayat activities

and in political movements for higher wages, remunerative prices, subsidised

inputs and various class demands was negligible among this section. It is notable

that although West Godavari had witnessed peasant mobilisation and land

struggles under the leadership of the Communist party in the past and respondents

claimed that people from the Panchayat had also participated in some of the

struggles, there is no organised peasant movement in the Panchayat at present.

Only a single respondent was member of any caste organisation in the entire

sample.

Table 6.6: Caste Baclm-round of Land Holders in Una!!ada Gram Panchay_at SIZE OF LAND SC/ST OBC GENERAL

HOLDING (in Acres)

0-1 11 07 04 1-2.5 00 00 00 2.5-5 00 00 00 5-10 00 00 04

10-20 00 00 02 30-50 00 00 01 50+ 00 00 01

176

The Unagatla Gram Panchayat which falls under the Green Revolution area was

dominated earlier by the Reddies or Choudharies from the high caste and even to

this day their dominance continues unquestioned. Unlike the other Gram

Panchayats of Andhra Pradesh in Unagatla we find that the condition of the Dalits

is the worst with not a single respondent possessing any land other than the land

on which their small huts or houses exist. Of the total landless 68.7 percent are

Dalits, 18.7 percent are OBC and the remaining 12.6 percent are from the high

castes. However, two respondents each from the OBC and the high castes had

sold land to repay old debts. Even the respondents belonging to the OBC hold

either one acre or below. Dalits and the OBCs are agricultural workers and this

village where the capitalist techniques were one of the earliest in penetration

witnessed a high proportion of workers who were Jeethagallu and instances of the

big farmers from the high castes· usurping land belonging to these sections was

also reported highest in this Panchayat.

Karimnagar District

Karimnagar falls ~thin the Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh. The region was

earlier under the Andhra, the Chalukyas, the Y adavas of Devagiri, Kakatiya

dynasty, the Khaljis, Tughlaqs and the Bahamani Sultans. After the break up of the

Bahmani kingdom it came under the Qutb Shahi dynasty, but the region was

finally captured by the forces of the Moghul emperor Aurangzeb in 1687. It came

under the administration of the Nizams after the decline of the Moghuls. Under ~ .

the Nizams the region witnessed the oppressive J agirdari system which led to

untold misery for the peasantry as we have seen before. It was no surprise then

that the backward district also witnessed incidents in the Telangana armed

struggle.

The region had earlier seen the predominance of the high caste Brahmin/V elama

land owners and Pattadars who however declined with the rise of the peasant castes

like the Reddies and the Kammas who were upward mobile peasant proprietary

177

castes. The region also witnessed the presence of a trader-money-lender caste of

Komtis, who were gradually relegated to the background by the ascendancy of the

Marwari sahukars. Although, the impact of the Act abolishing J agirdari and the

effects of the Telangana Movement were witnessed in the region and it was noted

that the Tenancy Reforms were more effective in the region, the situation has been

reversed and the peasantry as a whole today faces the worst forms of oppression.

Karimnagar district is irrigated by the Sri Ram Sagar Project and the district also in

the recent years like the neighbouring Telangana districts has witnessed a shift in

cropping pattern in favour of cash crops like cotton, chilly etc. a large number of

peasants in the district have resorted to the cultivation of BT cotton and the

district has also been amidst an agrarian crisis where distressed peasants have

committed suicide in large numbers.

Sirisedu Gram Panchayat

Table 6.7: Demographic Profile of the Sirisedu Gram Panchayat

Households Population Male Female sc ST

1163 3253 1640 1613 1160 35 (Source: Andhra Pradesh Census Report)

The Sirisedu Gram Panchayat is located in the J ammikunta Mandai of

Karimnagar District. J ammikunta is known for its cotton market which supposedly

is one of the largest in Asia. The Gram Panchayat lying in close proximity to such

an important commercial centre, has been witness to commercialisation of

agriculture and reflecting the trend in the entire Telangana region, this region also

witnessed a shift in cropping pattern from coarse cereals and early cash crops like

groundnut in favour of cash crops like cotton and chilly predominantly. The

Panchayat in many parts is irrigated by the Sri Ram Sagar Project and the

availability of assured irrigation and also the sinking of bore-wells and

electrification has given rise to this trend. The influence of the New Agricultural

Strategy and tractorisation is quite discernible.

178

This region was also witness to the unbridled feudal oppression of the Peasantry

by the Jagirdars and finds mention in the map of the Telangana Peasant Revolt.

The condition of the Dalits with a rare exception is quite degrading. Although we

have noted earlier that the Telangana region saw the more effective

implementation of the Tenancy Reforms, this region still exhibits the worst forms

of land monopoly and the loss of land by the early beneficiaries from the deprived

sections is maximum in this Pancharat when compared to all the Sample villages.

One can also witness the influence of Traders-Usurers capital wherein traders lend

inputs to the peasantry at high rates of interest, even replacing the erstwhile money

lending class. The Panchayat however, moved against the general trend in the

Telangana region to shift to Monsanto's BT cotton, purely on the basis of the

experience of the peasants in other regions. The Panchayat also witnessed the

perpetuation of newer forms of the Bhagela serfdom and Vetti in the form of the

J eetha system. The Panchayat is headed by a Dalit as it is reserved for the

community.

Details of the Survey in Sirisedu Gram Panchayat

In the Sirisedu Gram Panchayat out of the random sample of 30 respondents the

gender composition was 20(66.6%) men and 10(33.4%) women. The Panchayat

witnessed the hold of the rich landlords belonging to the high caste Reddy,

community earlier, who continue to dominate the landholding structure in the

Panchayat to this day although a few upward mobile OBC respondents also have

achieved dominance as cultivators. Dalits accounted for 10(33.4%) in the sample

while 18(60%) were OBC and the remaining 6.6 percent only belonged to the high

caste Reddy community.

The Panchayat which falls in the Telangana region which saw a high level of

participation in political activity and witnessed the militant mobilisation of the

peasantry against the feudal J agirdari system, however, has a very low political

179

participation today with only 5(16.7%) respondents being members of some

political party or the other and only 3(10%) of the respondents being members of

apolitical Raitha Mitra groups. This situation seems to be a reaction to the police

repression and encounter deaths of the Naxalite activists that have taken place in

the vicinity. The Panchayat has a low literacy rate at par with Ipperu Gram

Panchayat with only 11(36.6%) of the respondents having had some formal

education. The participation in Panchayat activities and in political movements for

higher wages, remunerative prices, subsidised inputs and various class demands

was negligible like in other parts of the state. Only 10 percent of the respondents

were members of any organisation representing their class interests which however

was not along ideological or political lines. This Panchayat witnessed a slightly

higher participation in Caste based organisation with 2(6.7%) of the respondents

being members of some such organisation.

Table 6.8: Caste Background of Land Holders in Sirisedu Gram Panchayat

SIZE OF LAND SC/ST OBC GENERAL HOLDING (in Acres)

0-1 08 11 01 1-2.5 01 03 00 2.5-5 00 01 00 5-10 01 03 00

10-20 00 00 00 30-50 00 00 01 50+ 00 00 00

Reddies were the dominant landholders earlier. Now although a section of the

upwardly mobile OBCs also ·own between 5-10 acres the biggest landholding is

that of a high caste Reddy peasant who owns 35 acres after having sold 35 acres

earlier and shifted to Hyderabad. He had sold the land to repay agricultural loans

and meet family expenses especially for education of children. Dalits continue to

reel under the worst fonns of deprivation. 60 percent of the Dalit respondents had

no land at all while 20 percent were holding below 1 acre. Only the Sarpanch who

was also a Dalit owned 6 acres of land and also a tractor. This was a rags-to-riches

180

story as he was earlier working as a Jeethagadu. Of the total respondents 53

percent were landless agricultural workers of whom 62.5percent were from the

OBC and 37.5 percent were Dalits. One third of the respondents lost land to repay

loans, of which 50 percent were OBC, 30 percent were Dalits and 20 percent were

from the higher castes.

Jeetha System

J eetha system or agricultural labour bonded by contract was a uruque system

witnessed in Andhra Pradesh. Bordering on the oppressive bonded labour system

in this system a patron-client relationship exists between the cultivator and the

agricultural worker. This kind of a patron-client relationship has been existent for

. generations and employment of such workers was part of social status and was

indicative of one's socio-economic standing.22 Such a worker bonded by contract

is called J eethagallu or Paleru in the region and earns anything between 4000

rupees to 6000 rupees for the entire year (paid annually), a considerable section of

which is retained by the cultivator as interest for loans advanced to the worker. In

most cases the worker was forced to work for more than 12 hours a day.

It has been found that most of these workers also possessed some land and

although in the earlier times they resided in the cultivator's house, now they go

back to their residence and the cultivator also rarely provides with food. Two sets

of clothing per year are given to the worker by the cultivator. Invariably on all

kinds of occasions like festivals, marriages and any other unforeseen expenses like

health problems, death etc., the workers had to depend on the cultivator jati

patrons. So if one household is indebted, it takes several years for them to clear off

the debt. The only option left to them at that time was to work as jeetha. It has

been noted that even school drop-outs are getting employed as jeethagallu to meet

household expenses and pressure to involve educated yqung men under the

pretext of indebtedness has also been witnessed. In Ipperu we have come across

22 Op Cit, Pureadra Prasad, 1998, pp-91-94.

181

forcible employment of youngsters pursuing education as jeethagallu by making

them discontinue their studies.

Gradually there is clear indication of this system turning into a hereditary system

which would continue for generations. The continuation of such a system of

oppression has a direct relation to the growing indebtedness in the countryside and

in the semi-arid region of Ipperu Gram Panchayat in Anantapur district the money

lenders who are the big farmers, prefer to retain the debtors as Jeethagallu rather

than take over their land which is seen as an unattractive proposition given the

rising input costs and recurring drought. This system is highly prevalent in

Karimnagar and West Godavari districts also.

The Political Economy of I<erala

The State of Kerala situated to the south-western part of the Indian peninsula,

well known across the world for an unparalleled history of social mobilisation for

social transformation, human development and for fundamental structural changes

in the form of Land Reforms, has also been facing the implications of the current

strategies of neo-liberal economic policy. The underlying concern of this study is

to analyse the impact of these policies on an agrarian society with specific

reference to the condition of the peasants and agricultural workers in Kerala and

compare it with the condition of identical sections in the State of Andhra Pradesh

while situating the entire problem in the context of their respective trajectories of

economic development. For this purpose primary data was collected through a

structured questionnaire by conducting a field survey in four differe'nt village

Panchayats in different districts falling under the different regions of Kerala,

select:ir.lg a statistically sound random stratified sample of thirty respondents in

each Panchayat. The Panchayats chosen for the purpose are Karivellur-Peralam

Gram Panchayat in Kannur District and Nenmeni Gram Panchayat in Wayanad

District of the Malabar region and two Panchayats from the Travancore-Cochin

region namely Kainakary Gram Panchayat in A1appuzha District and Kurichi

182

Gram Panchayat in Kottayam District. The Kerala trajectory of development and

the profile of the Panchayats will follow in this section.

We shall now look into the profile of the different districts and the Gram

Panchayats that we are studying.

I<.annur District

Kannur district lying towards the north of Kerala is. bound by Kasargod district

on its north, Coorg and Mysore districts of Karnataka on the east, the Arabian Sea

on the west, and Kozhikkode and Wayanad districts of Kerala on the south.

Kannur had been part of the erstwhile Kolathunad region (spread over Chirakkal

and Kasargod areas of north Kerala) which was ruled by the Mooshaka kings I

known as Kolathiris. Vasco Da Garr.<l on his way to Kozhikkode in May 1498

established contacts with the Kolathiri ruler and later exploited the political and

commercial rivalry that existed between them and the Zamorins of Kozhikkode to

gain absolute monopoly for Portugal over the pepper trade.23 The earlier contacts

that the Arabs had were purely trade-oriented. The Portuguese began to construct

the St.Angelo fort at Kannur in 1505 under Francisco De A~eida and the very ;-, ..

next year they intercepted the Arab and Turkish armada whom the Zamorin

launched against Kannur and decisively defeated the Zamorin's fleet resulting in

the establishment of their naval supremacy. The Portuguese hold was continued

over Kannur despite the Kolathiri and the Zamorin uniting and besieging the

Kannur fort in 1564. The Dutch colonial power captured the fort in 1663 leading

to another spell of colonial dominance in the region. The Kannur region later

witnessed the advent of the British who towards the end of the seventeenth

century acquired a site at Thalassery for establishing a fort and factory. The British

soon expanded their trade and established superiority over the region. The

engagement of the region with colonial powers continued and in 1725 the French

captured Mayyazhi and renamed it as Mahe.

23 Cf, http:/ /kannur.nic.in/hist.htrn.

183

The break in this domination of colonial powers over the region was effected

when Haider Ali conquered Malabar in 1773 and later his son Tipu Sultan in 1788

established Feroke as the new capital of Malabar. Tipu's defeat a.nd the signing of

the Treaties of Srirangapattana in 1792 led to cession of Malabar to the British.

The East India Company gained full sovereignty over the region and suzerainty

over trade. 24

Kannur was also an important centre of the anti-Imperialist movement that

engulfed the country later on. Malabar also witnessed the Malabar Rebellion of

1921 and a series of peasant revolts led by the Moplahs against the high caste

]anmies. The Left minded section of the Kerala Provincial Congress grew stronger

in influence by the late thirties and the Right wing suffered a defeat in the election

to the Kerala Provincial Congress Committee in January 1939 with Muhammad

Abdur Rahiman Saheb and E.M.S.Namboodirippad being elected as its President

and General Secretary respectively. The branch of the Communist Party of India

was started in Malabar towards the end of 1939 and the Congress Socialist Party

workers joined it in large numbers. It was this section which under lined the need

for organising the peasants and workers also in the anti-feudal, anti-imperialist

struggle.

Kannur was in the forefront of peasant struggles and the famine that struck the

region during the period of the Second World War along with the cholera

epidemic that led to the death of thousands of people from the deprived sections

threw up innovative forms of peasant struggle that were militant in nature. The

Kisan Sabha organised the 'Grow More Food Campaign' at Mangattupparamba,

wherein more than 50 acres of government land was forcibly cultivated. Although

the government suppressed the movement and destroyed the farm it marked a

significant chapter in the history of mass mobilisation for common class demands.

24 The unpopular Re,·enue Policy followed by the Company administration in the region met with the stiff resistance in the form of the Pazhassi Revolt under the leadership of Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja of the Kottayam family. The Raja stopped the collection of revenue and also threatened to cut down all the pepper vines if the Company continued with the revenue collection. The killing of the Raja in November 1805 put an end to the resistance(We shall delve into this Revolt in the section on Wayanad).

184

The Karivellur struggle about which we shall study in greater detail in a later

section is unique in the sense that in the wake of continuing famine under which

the common masses suffered, the transportation of paddy from the village to

Chirakkal Kovilakam was blocked and distributed to the people of the village. In

December 1946 the people of Kavumbayi also rose in protest and in the resistance

by the peasants to police action, five peasants were killed in police firing. The

Kayyoor peasant struggle was the inspiration for most of these struggles. The

landlord exploitation was opposed even after independence and the struggles of

Thillankeri, Munayankunnu, Korom and Padikkunnu are memorable peasant

struggles in the post-independence period. It was at Kannur that the All India

Conference of the Kisan Sabha in 1953 resolved to initiate struggles for new

tenancy legislations. It is only natural that the peasant and agricultural workers'

movement continue to have a very strong presence in the district to this day.

Karivellur-Peralam Gram Panchayat

hie Profile of the Karivellur-Peralam Gram Pancha at

4,297 19,773 9,472 10,301 853 (Source: Karivellur-Peralam Gram Panchayat-Vikasana Rekha, 2002)

Karivellur-Peralam Gram Panchayat chosen for the study is located to the

northern most tip of Kannur district in what is known as the Malabar region of

Kerala and it is spread over an area of 22.23 sq.k.m. The Panchayat came into

being in 1946 and comprises of the revenue districts of Karivellur and Peralam. It

is a part of Payyannur ,block which itself falls within the Talipparamba taluk.

Karivellur has a glorious legacy of peasant struggles against the par~sitic landlords

or ]anmis and the British colonialists that occupies a significant space in the

chapters of written histOry as well as the unwritten stories propagated purely

through the oral tradition which we largely benefited f~om. Prior to the

reorganisation of states the Panchayat had been a part of the Malabar district of

the ~tate of Madras.

185

The Panchayat has earned the sobriquet of 'Viplava Bhoomi': meaning the land of

revolution and the land struggle which took place here on 20 December, 1946 has

become a part of folklore having inspired similar struggles in other parts of the

state. The region was witness to a rigid caste system and the high caste landlords

were known to be extremely oppressive indulging in different illegal exactions and

-- the tenants were under the constant threat of evictions. The peasants had to get it

certified by the Congress leaders that they were not Communists or associated

with the Karshaka Sangham to be allowed to plough or conduct other agricultural

activity and in many instances the Congress leadership acted as police informers.

Numerous activists were arrested on various pretexts especially after the Kayyoor

struggle.25 It was under such circumstances that the Communist Party and

Karshaka Sangham decided to protest against the contemptuous situation and

mobilised the peasants to forcibly stop the transport of paddy cultivated in the

Panchayat to Chirakkal. The Malabar Special Police under the British

administration gunned down two peasants who were part of the protest organised

by the Communist Party and the Karshaka Sangham against the ]anmi Chirakkal

Tampuran whose men were transporting the paddy cultivated in the Panchayat to

his storehouses in Chirakkal taluk. A.V.Kunhambu, Payangappadan Kunhiraman,

K.Krishnan Master and others gave leadership to the movement. Protection of the·

tenants, lower rents and 'Land to the Tiller' became the slogans of the

mobilisation. The Communist Party and the Karshaka Sangham also demanded

that in the situation of acute shortage of foodgrains, they must be allocated at fair

price through the Producer-Consumer Cooperative Societies.26 This was a unique

instance of a mass movement to ensure foodgrain distribution at fair price.

The peasant and agricultural workers who were in the forefront of the anti­

imperialist and anti-feudal struggle also had a heightened political consciousness

because the political leadership belonging to the Karshaka Sangham and the

25 Information given by Pottakkulath Madhavi who faced the repression of the Malabar Special Police for having given shelter to E.K.Nayanar and Subrahmanya Shenoy who were involved in the Kayyoor struggle. 26 V.V.Kunhikrishnan, "Karivellurinte Rashtriya Chanthram" in A. V. Smaranika, CPI (M) Publication, Karivellur, 1992, p-34.

186

Abhinava Bharat Yuvak Sangham, a precursor to the Communist Party in

Karivellur stressed from the very beginning for literacy and political education

imbibing the essence of various social movements of Kerala.2i Communist

stalwarts like A.K.Gopalan, E.M.S. Namboodirippad, Krishna Pillai, E.K.Nayanar

and A.V.Kunhambu were activelv involved with this movement and a network of -

V CD'anashalas(reading rooms), and public notice boards were established to

disseminate political information and organise the peasantry.28

Agriculture has been the mainstay of the economy and 84 percent of the total area

has been set aside for agricultural purposes. Paddy and coconut are the main crops

with paddy fields occupying 24 percent and coconut farms occupying 35 percent

of the agricultural land respectively. The other main crops are areca, pepper, . I

cashew, rubber, banana and vegetables.29

Details of Survey in Karivellur-Peralam Gram Panchayat

In the Karivellur-Peralam Panchayat out of the random sample of 30 respondents

the gender composition was 19(63.3%) men and 11(36.7%) women. In a

Panchayat which had earlier witnessed the hold of the rich landlords or Naduvazhis

belonging to the high caste Namboodiri or Nair community, the sheer strength of

the peasant movement and the implementation of the Land Reform measures

ensured that land became accessible to all sections of society.

27 The Abhinava Bharat Yuvak Sangham started by A.V.Kunhambu and others had A.K.Gopalan, E.K.Nayanar and E.M.S.Namboodirippad closely associated with it. According to Vaikkath Kunhi Manikkam Teacher, the first trained teacher in the Panchayat even as the members of the Yuvak Sangham joined Communist Party, a section of them opposed to this including her father who was its treasurer remained with the Congress. The information about the association of the above mentioned leaders with the Sangham is based on a photograph of its Executive Committee that she possesses. 28A unique instance unseen of in any other part of the country, that exemplifies this culture is visible in the largest Kerala Dinesh Beedi Factory in the village where a system of one worker reading aloud the Deshabhimani news paper while others tied the beedis, and the person being compensated in the form of one bundle of beedi being given by every other worker so that there is no loss of wages has attracted curiosity and interest and the Canadian Television(CTV) had also expressed interest to make a story on this practice. Rodney Palmer, the C1V correspondent had evinced interest in the project as part of a special programme carried out by the C1V on the fiftieth anniversary of Indian independence, in a meeting with the researcher. 29 Karive/lur-Pera/am Gram Panchtryal Plan Document, 2001-02.

187

The Ezhavas or Thiyyas belonging to the OBC and the Dalits who faced an

extremely contemptuous caste system wherein they had to part with a major share

of produce and also were meted out with indignities like the men and women from

the caste being barred from wearing upper clothing30 or restrictions on movement,

entry into temples and so on have seen a positive change after they gained

possession over land and reached a position of economic security. The upward

mobile Ezhava community who were traditionally toddy tappers dominate the

cultivation scene at present and our sample consists of 25 respondents from this

caste. The Dalit SC population being only about 9 percent of the total population

of the Panchayat, our sample had only one SC respondent and 4 respondents

belonged to the high caste Nair community.

The Panchayat saw a high level of participation 1n political activity and the

respondents predominantly belonged to the Communist party (CPI-M). The

Panchayat is highly literate and 28 respondents had acquired some formal

education and although the Panchayats in the Southern Kerala had 100 percent

literacy and also all of them being well informed of the political and other

developments through daily reading of the newspapers, this Panchayat also saw a

high readership of 22 respondents. The Panchayat stands at par with the southern

village of Kainakary in Alappuzha district in terms of political participation with 28

respondents being involved with political parties and 24 of the respondents were

members of their respective class organisations. The participation in Panchayat

activities and in political movements for higher wages, remunerative prices, , .

subsidised inputs and various class demands was high among this section. It is

notable that Karivellur-Peralam and Kainakary both have witnessed peasant

mobilisation and land struggles under the leadership of the Communist party in

the past and the level of political awareness and participation is higher than the

other two Panchayats. However, one significant deviation from the Kainakary

30 Even to this day one could be able to witness the women agricultural workers of yesteryears from these castes bearing the scars of caste syste:n who even in their old age are forced by their habit not to wear upper clothing, although later generations have questioned and overcome such practices.

188

experience is the near absence of the involvement in the activities of the caste

associations, notably the SNDP. The members of left organisations in this village

refused to be part of the caste organisation, unlike in Kainakary.

Table 6.10: Caste Background of Land Holders in Karivellur-Peralam Gram p h t anc ava

SIZE OF LAND SC/ST OBC GENERAL HOLDING (in Acres)

0-1 01 10 04 1-2.5 00 06 00 2.5-5 00 03 00 5-10 00 OS 00 10-20 . 00 01 00 30-50 00 00 00 i

50+ 00 00 00

Earlier the high caste Nairs and Namboodiris dominated the land holdings. The

impact of the militant peasant movement and land struggles that has given a

legendary reputation to this Panchayat along with the implementation of Land

Reforms ensured that the backward Ezhava community and the Dalits also gained

access to land. Among the respondents 50 percent owned below 1acre and

although the Dalits had gained access to land their lot have still remained poor and

are mosdy engaged in working as casual labourers, construction workers and other

traditional activity like basket-weaving etc. Of the total number of respondents 12

i.e. 40 percent were holding less than half an acre. No respondent owned more

than 15 acres~ of land.

I<.ottayam District

Kottayam district situated on the south of Kerala is bound by Emakulam district

on the north, Idukki district on the east, Alappuzha district on the west and

Pathanamthitta district on the south. Kottayam had been part of the erstwhile

princely state of Travancore. Kottayam unlike the neighboming Alappuzha district

was known more than the class struggles, for the struggles against caste

189

'

oppress10n. The famous Vaikom Satyagraha in 1924-25 was an epic struggle

against untouchability and registered its protest against the ban on the entry of the

Dalits and other backward communities into temples and inaccessibility to temple

roads. The 'Nivarthana" agitation that took place in the early thirties seeking

adequate representation for the non-caste Hindus, Christians and Muslims in the

state legislature derived enthusiastic support in the region._ The district was also in

' the forefront of the agitation for the overthrow of the Dewan of Travancore, Sir

C.P.Ramaswamy Iyengar and the setting up of a responsible government in

Travancore.31The district being undet the Travancore kingdom had the land

relations similar to that which existed in Alappuzha and cultivation by reclamation

of land had taken place in certain parts.

I<urichi Gram Panchayat

T bl 611 D hiP fil fth K 'hiG p h a e . 0 emo~rraDJ c ro eo e unc ram anc a vat 0

I Households Population Male I Female sc I ST

I 5,962 29,577 14,868 I 14,709 3,769 I 167 (Source: Kurichi Gram Panchayat Vikasana Rekha, 2001-02)

Kurichi situated in the Madapalli Block in Changanacherri Taluk of Kottayam

District in the Kuttanad region in southern Kerala, had historically been a part of

the Village Union system that existed in the erstwhile princely state ofTravancore.

Kurichi Gram Panchayat came into existence in 1962 with the amalgamation of

Kurichi till then a part of Neelamperoor Panchayat and Ithithanam which was a

part ofVazhapalli Panchayat. The Panchayat is spread over an area of 16.22sq.k.m.

It is at a distance of 6k.m. from the taluk headquarter, Changanacherri, situated to

its south and 11k.m from the district headquarters at Kottayam situated towards its

north.

The extremely contemptuous system of pollution and untouchability that was an

intrinsic part of the casteism prevalent in the erstwhile Kerala society was also

witnessed here and that has manifested in the form of certain communities being

centred in specific regions. The Dalits and the Other Backward Castes were denied

31 http:/ /kottayam.nic.in/kottayam/histor:y/milestones.htm

190

J I

the right to education, entry into temples . and even had restrictions imposed on

their freedom of movement. Social movements that emerged in the early years of

the twentieth century gave rise to an entirely new approach towards society and

social issues amidst the local people, especially the oppressed sections. The

establishment of the Sachivottamapuram in 1938 by the Travancore government

was a landmark development which was the first such model colony in the entire

country wherein families from the oppressed castes were settled in about 112

acres.32 The social movements led by the leaders like Narayana Guru, the 'Temple

Entry Movement' and the growing left movement brought about a significant

change in the societal consciousness. The Panchayat also witnessed a vibrant

Library Movement with a network of Reading Rooms. The gradual spread of

education also contributed to the social change in the region.

Agriculture was the main occupation of the people and all sections of the society

irrespective of caste and creed involved themselves in agricultural activity.

Although a social change was taking place, in the economic sphere the peasants

and agricultural workers were still reeling under the feudal yoke. Unlike the

neighbouring Kuttanad region, the region was not witness to any significant

peasant movements. A few struggles for the rights of agricultural workers did

however take place. It was only with the passing of the Kerala Agrarian Relations

Bill in 1959 by the first Communist government led by E.M.S.Namboodirippad,

that any basic change in the land structure was effected. 33. The implementation of

Land Reforms and the possession rights over cultivable land and homestead

gained by the peasants changed the production techniques· and cropping patterns

in the Panchayat. The shift in cropping pattern to commercial crops like coconut

and rubber was a new trend.

32 Kurichi Gram Pancht!Jal Development Plan DoCIIment, Kottayam, 1996, pp-15-16. 33 Interview with M.S.Soman, former President, Kurichi Gram Panchayat.

191

Details of Survey in I<.urichi Gram Panchayat

In Kurichi Gram Panchayat out of the 30 respondents the gender composition is

19(63.3%) men and 11(36.7%) women. The village also witnessed a high Dalit

population when compared to the villages of Kainakary and Karivellur-Peralam

and it reflected in the caste composition of the respondents with 8(26.66%)

belonging to the SC community, and 11.(36.66%) each belonging to the OBC

Ezhava community and the General category which includes the Nairs, Brahmins

and the Christians. The village has a hundred percent literate composition and all

of them are daily newspaper readers. However, unlike the neighbouring Kuttanad

region in Alappuzha district to which Kainakary belongs, the political participation

and membership of Cla~..; organ{sations is lowest in this village with only

19(63.3%) respondents being involved in such activity and only 21 being members

of one political party or the other. The membership and participation in Caste

organisation was 18(60%), which is next only to that of Kainakary.

Table 6.12: Caste Background of Land Holders in Kurichi Gram Panchayat

SIZE OF LAND SC/ST OBC GENERAL HOLDING (in Acres)

0-1 OS OS 04 1-2.5 02 03 01 2.5-5 01 01 03 5-10 00 02 02 10-20 00 00 01 30-50 00 00 00 50+ 00 00 00

Nearly SOpercent of the respondents were those holding below 1 acre of land.

Among the Dalit respondents 62.Spercent were those holding below one acre of

land and mainly were agricultural workers only one respondent from the upper

castes owned more than 10 acres and even the respondents belonging to the

Ezhava community held 10 acres or below and more than 45percent of the OBC

respondents owned less than one acre of land. The high caste Nairs and

Namboodiris along with a section of the Syrian Christians dominated the land

192

holdings earlier. Presently, the upward mobile Ezhava caste and a few from the

Scheduled Castes have also emerged as cultivators. The Dalits have largely

benefited in the form of possession of Homestead rights and housing facilities.

Alappuzha District

Alappuzha district situated on the south-west coast of Kerala is bounded on the

north by Ernakulan1 district, on the east by Kottayam district and Pathanamt}-litta

district, on the west by the Arabian Sea and by Kollam district to the south.

Alappuzha had the first encounter with colonialism under the Portuguese and then

the Dutch who also had a predominant position in the principalities of the region.

The seventeenth century was marked by the building of Dutch factories and

warehouses for storing pepper, ginger and other spices and commercial crops for

trade in Europe. The region later came under the rulers of Travancore when

Marthandavarma, the 'Maker of modem Travancore' annexed many small

principalities of the region and upstaged the Dutch from the political scene of the

district. Alappuzha soon became an important port of Travancore. The region

developed as an area of intensive agricultural activity when V elu Thampi Dalava

brought large areas under coconut cultivation and also boosted paddy cultivation

in the region. 34

The uniqueness of Alappuzha is that a major portion of the district was reclaimed

from water over time and the low land with stretches of sand and numerous

backwaters makes cultivation require an exclusive strategy known locally as the

Kuttanad method or rather pompously mentioned by the local population as 'The

Holland Model of Cultivation'. The paddy lands which are below sea level are

inundated during the monsoon seasons necessitating the draining out of water

before cultivation. The region predominantly grows paddy and Kuttanad is known

as the rice-bowl of the district. Kuttanad is a classic case of land reclamation of

land from water through the ages. Land was reclaimed from the V embanad Lake

34 http://alappnzha.nic.in/alappuzha history.htm

193

for extensive cultivation of paddy.35 The region has a well organised agricultural

workers' movement. Alappuzha as we have noted is known for the legendary

struggles of the peasants and agricultural workers and the Punnapra-Vayalar

movement against the tyranny of the landlords has become a part of folk lore. The

district has a strong peasant and agricultural workers' movement to this day.

l(ainakary Gram Panchayat

Male Female SC ST 21,160 10,666 10,494

Kainakary Gram Panchayat which includes the revenue villages of Kainakary nrrth

and south is a part of the Chambakkulam Block in Kuttanad Taluk and is spread

over an area of 32 sq.k.m. Kainakary is a water-logged area surrounded by the

V embanad Lake. Paddy cultivation is an intensive enterprise in the Panchayat and

it has witnessed the advent of High Yielding Varieties of seeds and also new

techniques of cultivation earlier than most other parts of Kerala.36 Cultivation is

carried out 1.5 to 3 metres below sea level and requires the pumping out water

before the sowing begins. The Panchayat is divided into 26 Padhashekharams with

paddy cultivation taking place in 2262 hectares and mainly coconut being

cultivated in the remaining 1118 hectares.

In the 1930s food shortages and famines had been a global problem and the

Travancore region was also not untouched by it. The then state Dewan ~ .

Ramaswamy Iyengar involved the experts of the time and devised a concrete plan

to overcome the impending crisis. The proposal was to reclaim land from the

shallow eastern side of the Vembanad Lake and make it fit for cultivation.

Muricken Moottil Ouseph an affluent cultivator took up this challenge and the

35 V.R.Pillai and P.G.K.Panikar, Land Reclamation in Kn-ala, Asia Publishing House, New Delhi, 1965, p-26. 36 Jose George, Unionisation and Politicisation of PeasaniJ and Agn.cultural Labourers in India (W'ith Special Referen~ to Kerala), Commonwealth Publishers, New Delhi, 1992, p-9.

194

'Chittira Kayal' was reclaimed. 37 Muricken Moottil Ouseph acquired Kutthaka

Paatam (literally meaning monopoly lease) for 99 years over about 1800 acres of

land reclaimed from three lakes in Kainakary alone other than vast tracts of land in

other areas. In 1972 in the wake of land struggles under the leadership of the CPI

(M) and the Karshaka Sangham and Kerala State Karshaka Tozhilali Union

(KSKTU) and other left parties like CPI and RSP, which demanded surplus land '

for peasants and agricultural workers, he stopped cultivating the land. The State

Security Act was implemented to retain these lands with the Revenue Department

initially and later with the Co-operative Department which carried out cultivation.

The land was then equally divided and given to four political parties namely the

CPI (M), CPI, RSP and the Congress during the Emergency in an unscientific

manner to distribute it among agricultural labourers according to Land Reform

rules.

Even the situation earlier was one of a surplus of agricultural labourers wherein till

the early 1980s during the peak season, especially during harvesting, they had to be

regulated using police and the issue of coupons.38 A unique feature of the area has

been the system of ''Kodij>okkal"(Iiterally meaning lifting the flag) wherein KSKTU

members show the red flag at 8 AM and after a fixed time frame of six hours

including one hour of rest in-between they signal the end of the day's work.39 It

has also been noted like in other parts of Kerala there exists in Kainakary, a system

of the KSKTU issuing circulars to announce increases in wage rates which is

implemented by the peasantry as a whole. The entire activity of cultivation is thus

given a factory-like ambience which can be visible in capitalist agriculture.

Kainakary has a unique place in the history of agricultural workers' movement as it

was here that the ftrst Agricultural Workers' Union was set up way back in 1940

with J anaki a woman agricultural worker presiding over it. V.S.Achuthanandan,

37 Cf, Kainakary Gram Panch'!)'at Vikasana Rekha-2000, Alappuzha, p-5. 38 Interview conducted with P.K.Chandranandan, veteran leader of the Left Movement and an active participant of the Punnapra-Vayalar struggle and C.K.Sadashivan, leader of CPI (M). 39 Interview with P.P.Ramachandran, agricultural worker, Kainakary.

195

Varghese V aidyan, S.K.Das and others were the prominent leaders who were the

initiators of this movement.

Details of Survey in I<ainakary Gram Panchayat

The total number of respondents surveyed in the Gram Panchayat was thirty. The

gender composition of the respondents was 24 (80%) men and 6 (20%) women.

The Panchayat saw an overwhelming presence of the upward mobile OBC Ezhava

population amidst the respondents chosen randomly and accounted for 22 out of

the total respondents. The Panchayat which had earlier witnessed the domination

of the high caste Nair community saw a transformation in traditional social

relations with the implementation of the Land Reforms and hitherto excluded

castes like the Ezhavas and the Dalits benefited in the form of ownership rights

over their Kudikidappu or homestead land and also became new owners of small

tracts of land. The Ezhavas are the dominant cultivators today. Five respondents

were Dalits and three belonged to either the higher castes or the Christian

community which also possessed large tracts of land earlier.

The Panchayat witnessed 100 percent literacy among the respondents and a high

degree of awareness among all classes, all the respondents of the sample survey

kept themselves aware of the political developments and other relevant

information including in the field of agriculture by regularly reading the news

papers and also listening to the radio or television. It was noted during our survey

that the organised movement of the peasantry and the agricultural workers was

very strong in the Panchayat and 28 respondents were members of the Class

organisations, mainly the Left-wing K.arshaka Sangham and the KSKTU i.e., the

affiliates of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) and the All India Agricultural

Workers Union (AlA WU). All the respondents were aligned politically to different

parties. A notable feature worth mentioning is the fact that even those who were

politically aligned with the non-left parties were aligned with the left mass

organisations on economic issues. The KSKTU also had a sub-grouping of The

S:ree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) which represents the interests of the

196

Ezhava caste had an overwhelming presence in the region and nearly all the

respondents belonging to the caste including those who were aligned with the

Communist party were its members. A total number of 21 respondents were

members of their respective caste organisations. It is also significant that although

the Dalit community benefited by the implementation of the Land Reforms, to

this day they are holding mosdy less than an acre of land only. None have risen to

hold above 5 acres.

Table 6.14: Caste Background of Land Holders in Kainakary Gram Panchayat

SIZE OF LAND SC/ST OBC GENERAL HOLDING

(in Acres) 0-1 03 10 00

1-2.5 01 I 03 00 2.5-5 01 04 01 5-10 00 02 00 10-20 00 04 00 30-50 00 00 00 50+ 00 00 01

Earlier the high caste Nairs and Christians dominated the landholding structure in

the Panchayat. The implementation of the Land Reforms ensured that the hitherto

deprived Ezhava community gained access to land and also the Dalits who were in

abject poverty and faced social exclusion, many of whom benefited in the form of

the homestead land or even by the sheer availability of land as a commodity

accessible to them, since the higher caste landlords of the earlier years sold their

land and moved to the city in the wake of agrarian unrest, land struggles and the

impending 'danger' of Land Reforms. The Nairs mosdy sold their land and

diversified into other activities like services, money-lending, rice-mills etc. To this

day however, the single respondent who owned more than 50 acres was a

Christian whose ancestral property was around 150 acres, and the Land Ceiling

had been evaded by the family registering the land in excess of the 15 acre ceiling

in the name of the other members of family who had attained adulthood.

197

Wayanad District

W ayanad district situated in an 'elevated mountainous plateau on the crust of the

Western Ghats at a height between 700 and 2000 metres above sea-level'40 in the

Malabar region in northern Kerala is bounded on the north by Kodagu district of

Karnataka, on the east by Nilgiri district of Tamil Nadu and Mysore district of

Karnataka, Kozhikkode and Kannur districts to the west and Malappuram district

in the south. Wayanad had been a part of Kannur district when Kerala was

formed, although soon in 1957 South Wayanad was added to Kozhikkode district

while North Wayanad remained with Kannur district. The North and South were

amalgamated and the present Wayanad district came into being on 1 November

1980 comprising of the Vythiry, Mananthavady and Sultan Bathery taluks.

The vast stretches of paddy fields in erstwhile Wayanad apparently gave it the

name V qyal Nadu' meaning the land of paddy fields. The fact however remains

that the paddy fields have been remarkably depleting under the corrupting impact

of the urge for super profits and commercial agriculture. The backward district

was till recently perhaps the biggest foreign exchange earners of the state endowed

as it was with the optimum soil and climatic conditions necessary for the growth

of cash crops like pepper, cardamom, tea, coffee, spices and other condiments.

The district has a remarkably hlgh Adivasi population (about 36%) which is in fact

the highest among all the districts in Kerala. The Scheduled Caste population in

the district comes to only 1percent while the Scheduled Tribe population comes to

17 percent of the state's population. The main tribes are the Paniyas, Adiyas,

Kurumas, Ooralis, Kattunayakans and Kurichiyans.41

Wayanad in the 18th century was under the rule of the Pazhassi Rajas of Kottayam

royal dynasty, but later on became a part of the Mysore under Hyder Ali and Tipu

Sultan. Aftet Tipu's defeat and the signing of the Treaty of Srirangapattana, the

40 Government of Kerala: Panchqyat Level Statirtics 2001: Wqyanad District, Department of Economics and Statistics, Thiruvananthapw:am, p-3. ~I Ibid, p-3.

198

entire region along with the whole of Malabar came directly under the rule of the

British. The district has a history of a popular uprising against British Imperialism

under the leadership of Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja who organised a guerrilla kind

of warfare building a people's militia with the help of the martial Kurichye

tribals.42 The defeat of this uprising administratively also strengthened the British,

who opened up the plateau and laid roads connecting it the major commercial

centres around t.he region. Cultivation of tea, coffee and other cash crops were

encouraged by the British authorities and huge estates came into being.

N enmeni Gram Panchayat

T bl 615 D a e . : h' P fil fth N emo~ranl tc ro eo e 'G enmem ram p h anc avat Households Population Male I Female sc I S't'

7451 37,045 18,448 I 18,597 1,577 I 6,181

N enmeni Gram Panchayat which includes the revenue villages of Nenmeni and

Cheeraal is a part of Sultan Bathery Block in Sultan Bathery Taluk and is spread

over an area of 69.38 sq.k.m. The Panchayat was established in the year 1973. The

population density is 539 I sq. k.m. The Panchayat was witness to the anti­

imperialist struggle of the Pazhassi Raja and historically had briefly witnessed the

rule of Tipu Sultan. Early lessons in class struggles were witnessed in the region in

the form of small struggles by the Adivasis against the then existing slave system

and the Valli tradition43. The region was witness to struggles of the retired soldiers

for benefits and also struggles by the workers in the large plantations for their

rights.44

The Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes comprise of about 21 percent of the

total population of the Panchayat, mainly belonging to the Paniyas, Kurumas,

42 K.Santosh Kumar (Ed.), W qyanad: District Handbook, Department of Information and Public Relations, Government of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram, 2003, p-8. 43 The Valli tradition was something similar to the Jeethagallu still prevalent in Andhra Pradesh. Under this system the agricultural workers were tied to the landlords, paid meagrely, men were given 2 measures of paddy and women half the quantity as wages daily and a set of Mundu and oil was given on a yearly basis. The workers had no freedom to work independendy. 44 Nenmeni Gram Panchqyat Vikasana Rekha, Sultan Bathery, 2001, p-v.

199

J I

Ooralis and Naicker tribes. The Chetty community that came from Tamilnadu or

Karnataka, the other migrant settlers mainly Christians and Muslims who occupied

land for cultivation and the retired soldiers who were rehabilitated in the region in

1948 in a special colony together with the Adivasis formed the cultural milieu of

the Panchayat. Agriculture is the main source of livelihood for majority of the

population and the eco~omy is mainly- dependent on -:ash crops. The region is

below the state average in productivity for all crop~ according to Krishi Bhavan

statistics. Nearly 75percent of the landholdings were above half an acre, which is

unlike the other Malabar Panchayat, Karivellur-Peralam which has more than

60percent owning less than half an acre.

Details of Survey in N enmeni Gram Panchayat

In Nenmeni Gram Panchayat of the 30 respondents the Gender Composition is

23 (76.66%) men and 7 (23.34%) women. The Panchayat falling within Wayanad

district which has a high proportion of the Adivasi community and accounts for

17 percent of the state's tribal population also reflected on the sample with

8(26.7%) respondents belonging to the ST community. The respondents belonging

to either the high castes or to Christianity or Islam who would fall under the

General category were 9(30%) in number while the OBCs mainly belonging to the

Ezhava community or Islam numbered 13(43.3%) out of the total respondents.

Like in other Gram panchayats in Kerala, Nenmeni too had a relatively high

literacy level with 27 respondents having had some level of formal education and

23 regular newspaper readers. However, in the field of political awareness and

participation this village is nearly at par with the Kurichi Gram Panchayat in

Kottayam district, witnessing only 22 respondents being members of political

parties, 20 members of respective class organisations, mainly the left wing peasant

and agricultural workers' organisations. Like the other Malabar village, Karivellur-

200

Peralam, Neruneni also had very limited participation in caste organisation, a single

respondent being member of such organisation.

Table 6.16: Caste Background of Land Holders in Nenmeni Gram Panchayat

SIZE OF LAND SC/ST OBC GENERAL HOLDING (in Acres)

0-1 07 06 02 1-2.5 00 03 01 2.5-5 01 02 03 5-10 00 01 01

10-20 00 01 02 30-50 00 00 00 50+ 00 00 00

Earlier the Panchayat was dominated by the Christian cultivators who had

migrated to the region from other parts of Kerala and occupied large tracts of land

over which the ·indigenous tribes had control till then. SOpercent of the

respondents owned 1 acre or below and one respondent each from the OBC and

the Dalit community were landless. Even to this day it is the Christians who

dominate the landholding structure along with the some from Islam and the higher

castes.

The Ezhava community has benefited from the Land Reforms and many of them

acquired land and turned into cultivators. The plight of the Adivasi community

remains largely unchanged, except that they have gained some homestead land and

financial assistance for house construction. All but one Adivasi responc:lent were

agricultural workers owning less than one acre of land and only one of them had

more than 2.5 acres. A large number of the tribals have no access over land. This ~ .

situation has led to discontent among the Adivasi community and it manifested

recently in the form of the forcible occupation of forest land under the leadership

of Adivasi Gotra Mahasabha led by C.KJanu, a tribal woman who has been

involved with the cause for the last two decades. This led to a violent reaction by

the Government and some Adivasi activists were killed in police firing at

Muthanga. Adivasi Kshema Samithi affiliated to th~ CPI (M) has also been raising

201

the issue of land to the Adivasi corrmmnity and has successfully occupied forest

land in Pulpally and other regions ofWayanad.

When we embark on a comparison of the states of Andhra Pradesh and Kerala, we

have to keep in mind the irrefutable fact that Kerala has been a forerunner in

many aspects of human development and has developed many institutions on the

basis of political mobilisation which acts as a Suffer. The question of Land

Reforms and its efficacy in the two states has already been looked into in the

preceding chapter. We shall now look into the other institutions in the light of our

own findings regarding these socio-economic indicators.

Caste-Class Correlation

India has been witness to the continuation of the vestiges of the feudal past in the

form of the caste system which has been striking at the very foundations of human

dignity. Kerala was a state in whlch till the early 20th century one of the most rigid

caste system and extreme inequalities associated with it including untouchability

and unapproachability was normal accepted practice. The organised Left

Movement and the unionisation of the workers . and the hitherto unorganised <

peasants and agricultural workers along with the Social Movements against caste

discrimination gave a death blow to the caste inequalities and caste hierarchies

were given a decent burial with the implementation of Land Reforms. The Kerala

society which was once witness to the most oppressive variety of agrestic slavery

today has no signs of any such forms of servitude and even an indebted

agricultural worker is not held in bondage.

The situation in Andhra Pradesh although undoubtedly better when compared to

earlier times, the caste hierarchies are continuing unfettered and the most

immediate manifestation can be witnessed in the land holding structure. The least

disconcerting nature of the existence and continuation of the two tumbler system

and the J eetha system which is a variant of the bonded labour system or Bhagela

202

system that was predominant in the Nizam era even in the 21st century is a case in

point.

The hitherto oppressed castes in Kerala benefited from Land Reforms and our

study clearly shows as to how over time these castes which were once deprived of

land have emerged as prominent cultivators today. The condition of the SC and

ST population, especially the Tribal population is still very poor even in Kerala.

The structure in Andhra Praciesh however, is quite contrary and even to this day

the high caste dominates over the land holdings which is exposed quite starkly in

our study. If one were to look at our study of the sample in the two states, it

comes out clearly that in Andhra Pradesh an overwhelming number of Dalit

respondents hold less than one acre of land and are agricultural workers, in most

cases tied by contract to high caste peasantry. This amounts to 67.4 percent of the

total Dalit respondents and nearly 25 percent out of all the respondents surveyed

in the state. If the OBCs in the same grouping by acreage are taken into account

jointly, it would amount to nearly 50 percent of the total respondents in the state.

If all the respondents in the same category are considered then the Dalits account

for 44.6 percent and so do the OBCs, while the higher castes account only for the

remaining 10.8 percent. The entire sample did not have a single Dalit owning more

than 10 acres in both the states put together. The value of the means of

production possessed by the Dalits is also not remarkably high or rather is

infinitesimal when compared to the possessions of the higher caste. peasantry. The

Dalits are in most cases landless agricultural workers. Although the OBCs mainly

the hitherto untouchable Ezhava caste have improved their economic condition

over time, they also continue to remain in the lower rungs of the society. The

Dalits in Kerala are also mostly agricultural workers who have gained Household

Rights and a few of them are small peasants. The tables given below show the

caste background of the respondents in the two states in a classification based on

the size of land holding alone (\i/e shall resort to a classification of the peasantry

based on the value of productive assets in the seventh chapter).

203

Table 6.17

Caste Baclmround of Resnondents in Gram Panchavats in Andhra Pradesh SIZE OF LAND SC/ST OBC GENERAL

HOLDING (in Acres)

0-1 29 29 07 1-2.5 06 09 01 . 2.5-5 07 03 00 5-10 01 09 03

10-20 00 06 03 30-50 00 01 04 50+ 00 00 02

Table 6.18: Caste Background of Respondents in Gram Panchayats of Kerala

SIZE OF LAND SC/ST OBC GENERAL HOLDING

(in Acres) 0-1 16 31 10

1-2.5 03 15 02 2.5-5 03 10 07 5-10 00 10 03

10-20 00 06 03 30-50 00 00 00 50+ 00 00 01

Literacy and Political Awareness

The growing left movement and social movements of the 20th century had

ensured that Kerala had a head start as far as the literacy movement was

concerned. The luminaries of the left movement stressed on the importance of

literacy and political education as potent instruments that would raise political

consciousness and lead to greater political mobilisation against both imperialism

and feudal oppression. The spurt in educational activity with the intervention of

the Christian missionaries and the leaders of the backward caste movement also

ensured a gradual deterioration of the caste rigidities and an erstwhile

204

discriminated lot benefited from the spread and accessibility of education. Andhra

Pradesh too had its educational institutions, but they were in most cases products

of the different governing authorities ranging from the Imperial British to the

Feudal Nizams, rather than an emergence by a social churning process from

below. To this day the disinherited masses in the state are in a state of lethargy

least anxious to participate in the political process. This could be tl:~ condition

because literate masses alone could develop political awareness and begin to look

critically at the social situation in which they are placed and the consciousness so

generated may lead them to take the initiative in actin.g to transform the society.

Although it may not be by design, the literacy scenario in Andhra Pradesh villages

creates the impression that the state considers education to be a (subversive I

force'.45

It is interesting to note that the Telangana region which had a higher degree of

consciousness, not through the spread of formal education, but through the

system of political education that the Communist movement naturally took along

with it, saw a better implementation of the Tenancy legislation. The more

conscious Diwani areas saw better implementation of the legislation when

compared to the ex-Jagir and the regions of the Rayalseema or Andhra. The

implementation of the Tenancy legislation, or the success or failure of the Land

Reforms is a function of the degree of consciousness among the subject

peasantry. 46 However, our study shows that the sample village chosen from the

Telangana region for the purpose of our study, Sirisedu is the least literate and

politically aware of all the villages. The weakening of the left movement could be

the major cause of the absence of political awakening. It is equally significant that

this region which saw the better implementation of the Tenancy legislation today

45 If one were to read Paulo Friere, Pedagogy of the Oppremd, Penguin Books, London, 1996 Lle seminal importance of education to the oppressed can be understood. The situation in Andhra Pradesh wherein an erstwhile radical peasantry ceases to be politically active or unorganised is probably because of the lack of education and a uniting ideology. Any effort to question and drastically change the present situation will be still-hom if the question of education is not addressed appropriately. Richard Shaull has in his foreword to Fricre's book described education as a 'subversive force', p-11. 46 Op.Cit, A.M.Khusro, 1958, p169.

205

ranks ftrst among all the sample villages in terms of the loss of land due to

indebtedness, what we may term as the reversal of Land Reforms.

The impact of' the Communist movement in Kerala also saw L~e spread of the

library movement and the entire stretch of the state is adorned by People's

Reading Rooms, in memory of the stalwarts of the movement itself, the most

prominent of them being that of A.K.Gopalan. The Communist Party Organ

came to be published from very early years of the formation of the Party and the

working classes benefited from this as well as the novel system of the village notice

boards that kept the people informed of day to day political developments. We

have seen earlier as to how the beedi workers got to know the news on a daily

basis at their work-place even in the absence of modern technology in information

and broadcasting. This aspect has aroused curiosity of academicians from early

years and an observer had described the scenario thus:

Nor had I seen anything at all like the bleak little tea-shops of Kerala villages in the early mornings, crowded with coolies scanning the newspapers or listening while others read them aloud. More than 40 newspapers in the Malayalam language are published in Kerala; they are read and discussed by people of all classes and castesY

In the backdrop of this heritage and affirmative action undertaken later on by the

governments, civil society groups and mass organisations Kerala tops in the

literacy rate in the entire country while literacy rate in Andhra Pradesh has

however been much below the national average. 48The performance of Andhra

Pradesh in literacy was worst among all south Indian states also.49 The levels of

political awareness witnessed in Kerala is also unmatched by any other state. The

retention of land among the peasantry or beneftd'lri.es of the Land Reforms in

Kerala is very high and nearly intact unlike the situation we witnessed in Andhra

Pradesh. The high level of awareness has been complemented by an efficient

health system in Kerala and in terms of life expectancy, population control and

other indicators its performance is impeccable when compared to Andhra Pradesh

47 George Woodcock, Kerala, A Portrait of the Malabar Coast, Faber and Faber, London, 1967, p-35. 48 C.H.Hanumantha Rao and S.Mahendra Dev, ''Economic Reforms and Challenges Ahead: An Overview", Economic and Politi.'"(J/ Week&, March 22-29; 2003, p-1137. 49Kalipada Deb, Development and Disparitier: Experiences From Southern India, Rawat Publications, New Delhi, 2001, p-29.

206

and the rest of the country. This is mainly a result of better education and

awareness among the people and the Kerala example clearly calls for emulation.

The Human Development situation in Kerala thus, greatly compensates for its

inadequacies in the income sector. In our study in the two states the stark contrast

is clearly exposed.

Table 6.19:

L' tteracv an dPr· lA o ttlca wareness Am on~ R d . th T S esDon ents'tn e wo tates Gram Panchayat Total Literate NewsPaper

Res_p_ondents Readers lpperu 30 11 07

Unagatla 30 20 18 Chenguballa 30 22 15

Sirisedu 30 11 OS Andhra Pradesh 120 64' 45

Kurichi 30 30 30 Kainakary 30 30 30

Nenmeni 30 27 23 Karivellur-Peralam 30 28 22

Kerala 120 115 105 In Kerala 95.8 percent of the respondents were literate and 87.5 percent of the

respondents were regular readers of the news papers, while in Andhra Pradesh

only 53.3 percent of the respondents are literate and merely 37.5 percent read the

daily news papers. This being the case we also came across a very high percentage

of respondents in Kerala who were aware of the policy decisions and having a

clear understanding as to the crisis in the agrarian sphere and the causes of the

price crash, high input costs, depleting public investment and so on. We shall see

in the next section as to how this also reflects in the political participation and

accountability of the local institutions and the political system. The case in Andhra

Pradesh is not even remotely comparable to that of Kerala and the peasantry are

largely ignorant of these things or rather are resigned to it, exhibiting Gemeinschajt

kind of tendencies.

207

Cooperatives and Institutional Credit

Capital investment is indispensable for proper agricultural development and for

centuries under the British rule, inadequate investment and low productivity led to

stagnation in the agricultural sector. The condition has not been much different

even after independence and low investment arising out of low farm incomes and

low resource productivity has resulted in poor performance of the agricultural

sector. Low investment caused bv low farm income which in turn follows from

low resource productivity has been likened to a vicious cycle that could be

effectively overcome only by facilitating greater capital investment through

institutional sources at reasonable rates of interest. 5° This situation has underlined

the importance of institutional credit for agricultural development. Sl

Credit also acts as a facilitator for the use of different modem inputs which are

exorbitantly priced and is also required for working capital and long term

investment aimed at raising the productivity of land. In a country whose agrarian

scenario is quite uncertain given the nature of its dependence on unpredictable

climatic conditions and rainfall which often results in absence of investment

potential at the beginning of the new season, credit is almost indispensable for

even initiating the process of cultivation. 52

Agricultural credit extended from institutional sources has been relatively high in

Kerala, aided as it was by the presence of a good network of cooperative credit .

institutions. The provision of credit is governed by many factors and it has been

found that in Andhra tJradesh the Primary Agricultural Credit Societies has been

heavily biased against the weaker sections and also there existed a district-wise

disparity in provision of credit by the P ACS and even the Scheduled Commercial

Banks with the Coastal Andhra receiving high credit when compared to the

Rayalseema region and Telangana region which was worst placed. The situation

5o Op.Cit, SWlanda.S, 1991, p-1. 51 Cf, J .P.Singh, Role of lnttitutiona/ Finana in Agriculture, Ashish Publishing House, New Delhi, 1986. 52 Cf, Op.Cit, Kalipada Deb, 2001, pp-108-111.

208

was much better in Kerala and the large number of small landholders in Kerala

receives a high share of the short-term direct finance from such institutional

sources.53

Our study shows that the dependence on non-institutional sources is very high in

Andhra Pradesh when compared to Kerala. The traders and rich farmers along

with the traditional moneylenders have emerged as the biggest lending ~gency

which resorts to the exaction ot usurious interest rates and coercive tactics to

ensure repayment. In Kerala the cultivators of cash crops have been more prone

to fall into the trap of the private money lenders. The case of the Nenmeni Gram

Panchayat in Wayanad clearly illustrates this condition. The findings of our study

have been corroborated by earlier studies and it is a generally accepted fact that in I

Kerala the dependence on private moneylenders is relatively less when compared

to other states of India and in this case when compared to Andhra Pradesh. 54 Our

study clearly brings out the dependence of the peasantry in Andhra Pradesh on the

Private Money Lender, the Traders and other non-Institutional sources of credit

despite usurious interest rates. Even the section of 'Agricultural Moneylenders' in

Andhra Pradesh which is more or less absent in Kerala lend at the rate of the

private moneylenders and not much distinction can be made. In fact this section

we have found is more prone to usurp land from the indebted peasantry and then

convert them into J eethagallu.

If we consider the source of credit in the two state and purpose of borrowing as

shown in the tables 6.20 and 6.21 given below, the information points to the fact

that in terms of the purpose of borrowing, there is a synonymity across the two

states. In Andhra Pradesh out of the total 302 borrowings across a five year period

between the years 1998 to 2002, 113 i.e. about 37 percent have been taken by the

respondents in the lowest bracket and 145 which is about 48 percent is taken by

the highest bracket while in Kerala the figures are 99 or about 27 percent and 19

or 21 percent of the total 364 borrowings respectively.

;3 Ibid, pp-1 09-111. >~ Cf, Op.Cit,Jose George, 1992, pp-114-120

209

In Andhra Pradesh 100 borrowings or about 33 percent of all borrowings are for

unproductive purposes and 164 which are about 54 percent are for general

agricultural purposes while only about 11 percent or 34 borrowings are for asset

creation in agriculture. In Andhra Pradesh the informal sources of credit account

for more than 50 percent of the total loans whereas this section accounts for only

about 26 percent in the case of Kerala. This is indicative of the well developed

formal credit market with a wider reach. In Andhra Pradesh for the lowest bracket

around 64 percent of the total loans are for unproductive purposes having no

future returns whatsoever. About 68 percent of all borrowings or 77 were availed

from the big farmers. In the case of the highest bracket around 78 out of the total

145 borrowings which would account for about 54 percent are availed from

institutional sources and 13 or around 9 percent are from friends and relatives. In

this bracket 99 or 68 percent of the total borrowings was for general agricultural

purposes and 25 or about 17 percent are for asset creation in agriculture. In both

the cases about 56 percent of the investments have been financed from

institutional sources.

In Kerala 62 out of 99 borrowings, i.e. about 62 percent of the total borrowings of

the lowest bracket are for unproductive purposes; about 31 percent (31

borrowings) are for general agricultural purposes. Significantly, about 45 percent

i.e. 45 borrowings by the group was from the ins~tutional sources. Around 41

percent are from the Private Money-Lender or Blade Companies and out of the

total 31 borrowings made for general agricultural purposes among this group 23 or 1 •

around 7 4 percent are financed through institutional sources. The Private Money

lender accounted for 50 percent of the 62 borrowings for unproductive purposes.

In the case of the highest bracket about 95 percent of the total loans availed are

from institutional sources, about 61 percent i.e. 50 out of 82 borrowings are made

for general agricultural purposes and about 6 percent or 7 borrowings were for

asset creation in agriculture. This indicates a higher credit worthiness of these

sections and also higher credit availability due to the presence of land and other

210

assets which are a security for the amount borrowed. It is interesting to note that

there is no prevalence of the "agricultural money-lender" in the form of big

peasants in Kerala while in Andhra Pradesh this section is as usurious as and more

dominant than the Private Money-Lenders or the Traders.

Table 6.20: Purpose and Source wise Frequency of loans Taken by the Samnk Households in Andhra Pradesh

Range of Asset Asset Value General Creation For Other Other Than No of Agricultural Agricultural Productive Unproductive All Land Respondents Sources Purpose l'_urp_ose Purposes Pll!lloses Purposes

BF 19 4 0 39 63

PML+Trader 3 1 0 10 14

IS 10 1 0 6 17

F 2 0 0 16 . 19 .,

0-10000 69 IAUSOurees · ~,; .,ii::...as : ~., : >~ b: .:ii»J<. ll . ;, : ;, •:;':f : :12 <c \ 1J3 BF 1 0 1 2 4

PML+Trader 1 0 1 0 2

IS 0 0 2 0 2

F 0 0 0 1 10001-20000 7 -Ml'_ Slim~ .. ' '{.::,' ''2: ,, s i) . '4 f:!:: •: : .•. 3 ·. . 9

BF 3 0 0 0 3

PML+Trader 0 0 0 0 0

IS 1 0 0 0 1

F 0 0 0 0 0

20001-30000 3 !Au SO'iltcd" · "· . ,-, :i'IM1)i\ :4 I······· ·.o .~~, :;.;:;.r ·o . '•.<f:r;;,::,·;>. 0 . : 4

IBF 7 0 0 1 8

PML+Trader 0 0 0 0 0

IS 5 0 0 0 5

F 2 0 0 1 3

30001-40000 2 ~~ s"'J'.'. .. . .... , outces·/ :. .-·_.'':: ;;,;:<;1'4 >,''- . ;>'. o I ~~ii;::. ;:~~~~!~f:O. lat~····i~ \ y: .: ~§

IBF 0 0 0 0 0

PML+Trader 5 0 0 0 5

IS 5 2 0 0 7 I .

F 0 1 0 2 3

40001-50000 4 M,J• Sourcc::s : ,, . to 3. : .~ . •. i .• ·~. 15 BF 14 5 0 3 23

PML+Trader 16 9 0 4 3_! IS 63 7 0 8 78

50001 and F 5 3 0 5 13

above 35 !AU So~~ .. •:. '~ ,, .'9!) :, ~ '' > ·;;:: 0 .• 't: •. <c ~~.- '21 • 0 ·· .. 't45

~F 44 9 1 45 101

PML+Trader 26 11 1 14 ~ IS 84 10 2 14 110

F 10 4 0 25 39 ...,....,.__ . ..,.,_

•.;~ =i~ ,_., ---- :.J®• 002 All Sample 120 ~~o.urces ·"' ~. • .0 .... ... ~~ .. 4 '

,,

211

Table 6.21: Purpose and Source wise Frequency of loans Taken by the Sample Households in

Kerala Asset

Range of Creation !Asset Value General For Other Other Than No of !Agricultural IAgricultura Productive Unproductive Land Respondents Sources Purpose I Purpose Purposes Purposes IAII Purposes

~F 0 0 0 0 0 P:ML+Trader 9 0 1 31 41

•.. IS 23 3 2 17 45 F 0 0 0 15 15

0-10000 32 AUSbut~e~ ')1 ,. ·~ .•:;,:.{;;.., ·s· ~·· <· 62 ~ 0 .. jBF 0 0 0 0 0

P:ML+Trader 0 0 0 2 2

IS 5 0 0 1 6

F 0 0 0 0 0 10001-20000 3 iA!l SOUic:es ;, ' ; ·i• ::;;:~ · ... ~ :. 'f~t>i•"'· /1.0 .. ..• .;&J£:;,;;;:.t)•G ~"' j{("<t;; ·' ·.,. 3 l:d~'.;;t:~ . 8

~ 0 0 0 0 0

P:ML+Trader 21 2 0 7 30

IS 34 1 0 10 45

F 0 0 0 0 0 20001-30000 18 ~.$ii.ttrces .. : :{ 7<!¥ ss !hl~(. ·.~

.: ,.,,,, '.{l ',',, ,, lli. ·, ·'". 7:5

~F 0 0 0 0 0

P:ML+Trader 6 3 5 11 25

IS 55 4 2 3 64

F 2 0 0 3 5 30001-40000 23 ~.Stlutces. ; ' .. ;T +f:[:63 t {;{~~::"' ; )':"1 ... fl~i;-t'.;,, . .. 1!1 Lt:/+~c ~; ,. ~4

BF 0 0 0 0 0

P:ML+Trader 0 0 0 0 0

s 4 2 0 3 9

F 0 0 0 0 0

40001-50000 10 ltU.fSiiwc~. ~f;;{f! . ·. [1~1 ;,4 !;1Jw• >:tw >H ':0 ~ :Ahl ,\j$.;~:2: ; .• · .. ··9 ~ 0 0 0 0 0

P:ML+Trader 0 0 0 1 1

IS 47 7 5 19 78

50001 and F ' . 3 0 0 0 3

above 34 IAn SQw.ces · >.; 49: 0:. 'C> ··'b'~'; ;·· 5 . •i!::··~ 1$ ii' .· 19 BF 0 0 0 0 0

P:ML+Trader 35 4 6 52 97

IS 168 17 9 53 247

F 4 0 0 18 22

All Sample 120 IAn So.utces • · . :;;; 'IJ)V ' 0 .zt r;:.1:f:!~··i·;1•its i~·~2 121 k .~

212

Unionisation and Political Participation

The analysis of the role of peasants and agricultural workers in union activity and

political participation and its impact on agrarian relations is indispensable in the

context of our study on the impact of Neo-Liberal economic policies on the

peasantry. Both the states under study have had a history of peasant mobilisation

and politicisat:ion unmatched by other parts of the ccuntry, with the exception of

probably Bengal. However, the common experience in this regard in the initial

years after independence was momentary and the strength of the peasant and

agricultural workers' movement in Andhra Pradesh once an example to such

movement elsewhere has waned to a considerable extent

The impact of the organisations of peasants and agricultural workers on the socio­

economic and political scene in Kerala is quite substantial and it is one of the few

states in which the agricultural workers and peasants through the sheer strength of

their organised presence could withstand the onslaught of the economic crisis to

some extent. 55 The wage rates in Kerala for the agricultural workers is decided by

the Kerala State Karshaka Tozhilali Union which issues a circular to the effect and

which is accepted and implemented by all sections of the peasantry. The Karshaka

Tozhilali Kshema Nidhi is another unique achievement wherein a Welfare fund for

the agricultural worker is set up drawing contributions from the agricultural

workers, the peasantry and the government which would be utilised to grant relief

to the agricultural workers to meet expenses of daughters' wedding and also for

pregnancy related expenses. The pension scheme for agricultural workers is also

unique and unparalleled in India. The Pension Scheme was initiated by the Left

and Democratic Front government on 15 May 1980. All the agricultural workers

above sixty years of age whose annual income from all sources is below Rs.3,600 /­

could claim a monthly pension of Rs.45/- when the schen;te was initiated and it

has now increased to about Rs.120/- per month. Although it is desirable to

55 Ibid, Jose George,, p-140.

213

increase this further to make it meaningful, nevertheless it is a unique scheme

which is a milestone in the history of agrarian movements.

Even to this day no agriculturai worker who has been working for a long period

can be deprived of employment opportunity without some settlement and the

Kainakary case is unique in a sense because even the use of tractors is restricted to

single use to be alternated with traditional ploughing because of the presence of

strong organisation of the workers specialised in ploughing. The 'Kodipokkal'

system wherein the agricultural workers have fixed hours of work decided by the

waving of the red flag at the beginning of work and at the end of six hours

including lunch, by representatives of the Union is also unique, although is now a

declining trend witnessed rarely during peak seasons. The KSKTU attempts to

implement minimum wage rate and in case of a permanent worker losing the job,

compensation or other. adjustments are made by intervening in favour of the

worker. The respondents in Kerala were unanimous that unionisation played an

important role in their social upliftment and even led to job security and also

ensured that remunerative prices, proper procurement facilities, subsidies, efficient

extension services and credit facilities were made possible due to the collective

bargaining power that they acquired. 56

If one were to compare tlus with our findings in Andhra Pradesh the stark

contrast wherein there is negligible influence of political mobilisation and

unionisation can be understood. The peasantry and agricultural workers in a state

that witnessed the Telangana Movement which arguably was the most ~ .

revolutionary movement that has yet arisen in India are today largely unorganised

and resigned to their fate, devoid of the earlier radicalisation. The Left parties have

made efforts in this regard and only have succeeded in having pockets of

influence. For instance, in the Nellore village, Daamaramadugu where we

conducted a preliminary visit, the CPI (M) was strong and its peasant organisation

was also quite active. Similarly in Nalgonda, Khammam and a few other districts

56 Cf, Op.Cit, K.P.Kannan, 1988, Jose George, 1992 and Abraham Vijayan, 1998 both of which have docwnented the achievements of the peasants and agricultural workers' movement in Kerala.

214

the situation is better than what we have witnessed in the sample villages with both

the CPI and CPI (M) having influence. The innumerable Naxalite organisations

have also carved out pockets of influence especially in the T elangana region and

some parts of the Coastal region. The fact remains however, that there is a lack of

ideological orientation and low levels of class consciousness among the peasants

and agricultural workers.

Table 6.22

P li. I P o ttca dU. articmatton an momsatton 1n s amu1e 1 a~?es I V"ll Gram Panchayat Political Class Caste Organisation

Participation Organisation Members Members

Ipperu OS 02 01 Unagada 07 01 01

I Chenguballa 13 03 01

Sirisedu 02 03 02 Andhra Pradesh 34 09 05

Kurichi 21 19 18 Kainakaty 28 28 21 Nenmeni 22 20 02

Karivellur-Peralam 28 24 01 Kerala 100 91 42

In Andhra Pradesh while the number of respondents who are members of any

political party is only 28.3 percent of the total respondents and the percentage of

respondents who are members of the class organisations representing peasants or

agricultural workers is as low as 7.5 percent, when compared to the Kerala average

of 83.3 percent and 75.8 percent respectively: While the participation of women in

such activity as members of these organisations is nil in Andhra Pradesh, in Kerala

women do take part in meetings and protest actions. Similarly even in the case of

membership of caste organisations in Andhra Pradesh merely 4.3 percent of the

respondents are enrolled, whereas, in Kerala 35 percent of the respondents are

members of the caste based organisations. It was however noted in the study that

in Kerala a large section of the respondents who were belonging to the left wing

peasant and agricultural workers' organisations or the Communist parties were not

enrolled as members of the caste organisations, more so in the northern districts

215

of the state falling. under the Malabar region. Of the total respondents who were

enrolled as members of caste organisations in the state 92.8 percent were from the

two Gram Panchayats that fall in the southern part of the state.

Public Distribution System

The Public Distribution Systt..:.n was introduced in India in 1939 during the

Second World War as a rationing measure in Bombay and then extended to other

regions. A comprehensive Food Policy can be traced to the War years when the

disruption in supply of rice from Burma and crop failures created famine-like

conditions in the rural countryside, before finally culminating in the disastrous

Bengal Famine of 1943.57 Public Distribution System is a state-run mechanism for

the delivery of food at affordable rates in a country with rampant poverty,

malnutrition, starvation deaths and low per capita availability of food. It hence

plays a very crucial role in supplementing the availability of food grains. The

System complements the governmental intervention in the food grain markets by

way of public procurement, management of food stocks through storage and

buffer stocks and regulation of trade in food grains by acting as a delivery system

for the distribution of affordable food grains. The governmental intervention

primarily was intended to achieve basic food security and the Indian experience in

this regard has been rather uneven.

The experience of Kerala with regard to Public Distribution is unique and

unparalleled in the sense that it was the result of a demand articulated by the

peasantry under the aegis of the Karshaka Sangham, rather than being a

governmental effort of a palliative nature. We have noted earlier as to how the

famine-like conditions emerging out of the food crisis during the War was sought

to be overcome by the Karshaka Sargham and other Left mass organisations by

insisting procurement of grains from the landlords and distribution through

Producer-Consumer Cooperative Societies (See the section on Karivellur-Peralam

57 Op.Cit, P.R.Dubhashi, 1986, p-176.

216

Gram Panchayat) and also in some cases actually confiscating grain from landlords

and distributing it, forcing the government to initiate the measure.58The rent-in­

kind was sought to be abolished and the Karshaka Sangham demanded that it be

diverted to the Producer-Consumer Cooperative Societies which were

cooperatives formed as part of informal rationing in Malabar and were run jointly

by the KarshakaSangham and the government.59 In Malabar and Travancore region,

the Public Distribution System was 'directly the consequence of mass action and

government response to such action during the period of the food crisis. '60

Kerala has had a very effective Public Distribution System from then on till recent

times and it has ensured a fairly satisfactory level of net availability of food grains

despite the lowest per capita production of cereals in the whole country because of

the statutory rationing system that was in place. 61 The state has had a wide network

of retail outlets through which the Public Distribution System operated effectively

and facilitated the provision of food grains and other essentials like sugar, edible

oil and kerosene. The effective and efficient delivery system contributed to the

success of the system. The universal nature of the System in Kerala with wide

reach touching the remotest corners of the state comes across as a unique

affirmative action benefiting the rural areas and the poor most. The system

benefited the urban and the rural population irrespective of their class background

and Kerala has the highest proportion of population which depended on the

System for partial purchase of its monthly quota of cereals and the highest per

capita implicit subsidy. It is worth noting that Kerala distributes the highest ~ . .

quantity of food grruns through the Public Distribution System and the per capita

58 Cf, Madhura Swaminathan, Weakening We!fare: The Public Distribution of Food in India, LeftWord Publications, New Delhi, 2000, 59 Op.Cit, K.P.Kannan, 1988, p-120. 60 V.K.Ramachandran, "Kerala's Development Achievements: A Review", in Amartya Sen and John preze(Eds.), Indian Development: Selected Regional Perspectives, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1996, p-245. 61 M.Mohandas, "Poverty, Food Intake, and PDS in Kerala: Emerging Trends" in B .• \.Prakash(Ed.), Kerala's Economic Development: Issues and Problems, Sage Publications, New Delhi, 1999, p-86.

217

monthly purchase of cereals even in rural areas is far higher than the national

average.62

However, while Kerala is a food grain deficit state, Andhra Pradesh is considered

to be a food grain surplus state which is food secure at the macro level. The

ground reality is to the contrary with about one fourth of the state's population

suffering from chronic food insecurity and nearly 40 percent of the children

s_uffering from malnutrition, thereby actually pointing to food insecurity at the

household level. 63The experience of Andhra Pradesh in Public Distribution

although, cited to be better than the national performance, it far lags behind the

other southern states and our own observation regarding food security and

malnutrition especially in the semi-arid regions starkly contrasts with the Kerala i .

experience. 'fhis aspect will be looked into in greater detail in the next chapter.

Local Democracy and Development

Andhra Pradesh was one of the first advocates of the decentralisation scheme

proposed by the Asoka Mehta Committee on Panchayati Raj Institution in 1978,

the other being Rajasthan. A three-tier structure of Panchayati Raj, with the Zilla

Parishad at the top, the Panchayat at the bottom and the Panchayat Samiti at the

middle level was introduced in 1959.64 In Kerala, the first step towards

decentralisation was taken in 1957 during the period of the first Communist-led

Ministry. The Administrative Reforms Committee headed by

E.M.S.Namboodirippad recommended various measures towards the formation of

institutions for devolution and decentralisation at different levels. The

recommendations could not be implemented because of the dismissal of the

62 Ibid, p-88. 63 C.H.Hanumantha Rao and S.Mahendra Dev(Eds.), Andhra Pradesh Development: Economic Reforms and Chalknges Ahead, Centre for Economic and Social Studies, Hyderabad, 2003, p-28. 64 C.V.Raghavulu and E.A.Narayana, ''Reforms in Panchayati Raj: A Comparative Analysis of Andhra Pradesh, Kamataka and West Bengal" in S.N.Jha and P.C.Mathur (Eds.), Decentralisation and Local Politics: Readings in Indian Government and Politics-2, Sage Publications, New Delhi, 1999, pp-118-19.

218

Ministry in 1959.65 It has been rightly remarked that 'the history of decentralisation

in Kerala is a litany of frustrated efforts.'66Repeated attempts were made in 196 7,

1979 and 1980.67 In both the states there were many ups and downs and repeated

efforts were made to reform the system and make it more effective.

In Kerala a concrete move was made in 1987-1991 period when District Councils

were created under the Direct Administration Act; with 18 departments and 143

subjects being allotted to them. A high power Committee to suggest transfer of

further powers and a Finance Commission for devolution of funds were also

appointed. Elections were held in 1991 and the District Council System was put in

place.68The 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment 1993 placed decentralisation

firmly on the agenda once again. However, this Act did not envisage any sort of

devolution of power from the centre to the states and then downwards. Kerala

and West Bengal had also made periodical elections to the local bodies mandatory

and ensured one-third reservation to the posts for women, even before the 73rd

and 74th Constitutional Amendment of 1993.69

The A.P. Panchayat Raj Act was passed in 1994, keeping in view the mam

objectives of the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act. The performance of Andhra

Pradesh so far in terms of concrete decentralisation or devolution to the local

bodies leaves much to be desired. In the functional domain, Andhra Pradesh

transferred functions in respect of 16 subjects of which 5 subjects with funds and

only 2 subjects with functionaries are transferred to local bodies. The performance

of the state in this respect is below that of states like Karnataka, Kerala and West 1 •

Bengal. The Panchayats have no financial autonomy either in raising financial

65 T.K.Balan, "Experience of District Councils in Kerala", Paper presented in Section on Decentralisation of · Governance and Development in International Congress on Kerala Studies, Abstracts, Vo/.4, .A.K.G.Centte for Research and Studies, Thiruvanathapuram, 27-29 August, 1994, p-127. 66T.M.Thomas Isaac and P.K.Michael Tharakan, ''Kerala-The Emerging Perspectives: Overview of the International Congress on Kerala Studies", Social Scientist, Vol.23, Nos.l-3,January-March, 1995, p-20. 67 Op.Cit, T.K.Balan, 1994, p-127. 68 Op.Cit, T.M.Thomas Isaac and P.K.Michael Tharakan, 1995, p-20. 69Gita Mathew and Jose George, "The Panchayats and the Municipalities Act, 1993 and the State of Local Governments in Kerala", Paper presented in Section on Decentralisation of Governance and Dtvelopment in International Congress on Kerala Studies, Abstracts, Vo/.4, A.K.G.Centre for Research and Studies, Thiruvanathapuram, 27-29 August, 1994,p-131.

219

resources or in deciding on the allocation of funds across different sectors. The

devolution of funds to Panchayats in A.P is much less than in Kerala where

around 40 percent of state Plan funds are allocated to local bodies. 70 It was with

such a background that the two states embarked on different models of local

development emerging out of ideologically opposed view points on development.

Kerala embarked on the People's Plan Programme known in popular parlance as

Janakeeyaasuthranam under the Left De~ocratic Front government headed by

E.K.Nayanar in 1996. The basic idea was to devolve about 40 percent of the Plan

outlay directly to the local self-governing institutions for projects and programmes

to be formulated and implemented at the local level. This entire exercise was

however, preceded by a popular People's Campaign for Decentralised Planning

with the immediate objective of empowering '10cal self-governments to prepare

plans in a transparent and participatory manner', while also successfully generating

popular pressure at the grassroots to 'bring about necessary institutional reforms

corresponding to the scale of devolution.'71This effort was different from the

World Bank model of decentralisation and had its origin way back in 1957 wherein

E.M.S.Namboodirippad proposed a system of 'democratic decentralisation'.

In the same decade the Andhra Pradesh government under the then Chief

Minister of the state, N.Chandrababu Naidu embarked on a World Bank directed

programme from the mid 1990s and this model promoted parallel institutions in

the form of a number of Community Based Organisations (CBOs), such as

J anmabhoomi Programme etc., which are entrusted with numerous functions

bypassing the Panchayat Raj Institutions. 72 Drawing from the experience of the

'Prajala Vaddakku Palana',73the government embarked on the Janmabhoomi

Project.. The government later released the Vision 2020: Swarnandhra Pradesh

70C.H.Hanumantha Rao and $.Mahendra Dev, "Economic Reforms and Challenges Ahead: An Overview'', Op.Cit, C.H.Hanumantha Rao and $.Mahendra Dev (Eds.), 2003, p-33. 71 T.M.Thomas Isaac and Richard Franke, Local Democrary and Development: People's Campaign and Decentralised Planning in K.erala, Left Word Publications, New Delhi, p-xi. 72 Op.Cit, C.H.Hanumantha Rao and $.Mahendra Dev, 2003, p-34. 73 It literally means taking the administration to the doorsteps of the people. It was a policy launched in November 1995.

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Document on January 26, 1999 suggesting a long-term vision about the direction

and process of development for the state. Preceding the Vision 2020 Document, It

has been pointed out that political regimes in the era of liberalisation evolve

strategies to overcome the political compulsions that emerge with the

implementation of neo-liberal economic policiesJ4 The political compulsions may

be purely electoral or po!:'ular resistance and mass mobilisation against these

policies itself. The most proximate factor behind the J anmabhoomi Project was

this dilemma and the need of the regime for incorporating different sections of the

society into a loyal support base for the liberalisation process in its self. It was

neither in any way conditioned by any popular demand of the masses nor was it

guided by any consciousness to provide alternative strategies to the liberalisation

process which called for withdrawal of the state from social expenditure.

Our Survey in the two states brings out clearly the fact that in Andhra Pradesh the

Panchayats are superseded by bureaucracy and parallel institutions including

NGOs. The respondents in the state claimed that the Panchayats which were

active . about a decade ago have been rendered ineffective by the last government.

No palpable role in agriculture, employment generation and social service sector

was witnessed, while in Kerala the system was vibrant and ever since the People's

Planning experiment have taken up developmental activities, infrastructural

development, housing, sanitation, extension of subsidies to the peasantry,

procurement and storage facilities, encouragement of group farming and provision

of tractors, pump-sets etc at subsidised rate during the cultivation period.

It is with such a background of diverse trajectories of development in the two

states that we go into the central chapter of the thesis and test our hypothesis

based on the field survey details, which we have partially looked into in this

chapter. The impact of neo-liberal economic policies on the· peasantry in the two

states would be looked into in ci1e context of this background.

74 G.Krishna Reddy, "New Populism and Liberalisation: Regime Shift Unde.r Chandrababu Naidu in AP", Economic and Political Weekb•, March2, 2002, p-871.

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