8/2/2019 Das Palamau District 1976

1/4

In Bonded FreedomAuthor(s): Arvind Narayan DasReviewed work(s):Source: Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 11, No. 20 (May 15, 1976), pp. 724-726Published by: Economic and Political WeeklyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4364619 .

Accessed: 16/01/2012 08:18

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of

content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms

of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Economic and Political Weekly is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to

Economic and Political Weekly.

http://www.jstor.org

http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=epwhttp://www.jstor.org/stable/4364619?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/4364619?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=epw

8/2/2019 Das Palamau District 1976

2/4

May 15, 1976 ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL WEEKLYagainst the same forces as the rest.Unlike the well-off Muslims, they donot have to have a seat in officialbodies.Indeed, West Bengal's Chief Minister,S S Ray, pointed this out: "A vastnumber of minority community belongedto the poorer sections of society. Theydid not want high posts." The resolu-tions of the convention thus smackedof the hackneyed and demogogic as theprivileged sought a larger share in theprivileges. One resolution said: "Whilefully appreciating the national economicpolicy aiming at a fair deal to all, thisminority convention cannot help takingnote of the fact that certain lacunae,coupled with other factors in its imple-mentation, have resulted in the conti-nued deterioration in the economicconditions of sizable minorities, particu-larly the Muslim community whiehconstitutes the largest minority in thestate." With regard to the 20-pointprogramme, Mohammed Astnanvi said:"Lakhs of acres of land have been dis-tributed amongharijansand adivasis. Thelandless Muslim tillers are yet toavail of it." Also, under the apprenticetraining scheme, the representation ofscheduled castes and tribes had "con-

siderably" gone up while that of Mus-lims was yet to improve. Yet, all thisonly underscores the illegitimacy oftreating Muslims in isolation from thecommon masses. After all, did not theconvention president, Jamilur Rebman,himself declare that "what is notgenerally understood is that the solutionof their [Muslims'] problems is notpeculiar or sectarian; only through acommon mass action the uplift of ourpeople, Hindus, Muslims and others canbe brought about".Only one participant in the seminar,Zafar Imam, took the occasion to chidethe vocal, politically strong, and politi-cally ambitious section within theMuslim community for their emotional-ism. He emphatically denied that thereexisted anything like a "Muslim pro-blem" in the country. "Whatever istrue of the Muslims", he said "is trueof all communities. A differentiationcanonly be based on socio-economic condi-tions. We will have, therefore, tocategorise the various classes in Muslimcommunity and link them up with thesimilar classes in the rest of society.If we begin from this angle, progresswill not be far off."

AGRICULTURAL LABOUR

In Bonded FreedomArvind Narayan Das

IT is only a few months ago, well afterthe promulgation of the emergency andthe announcement of the 20-point pro-gramme, that officials in Biharwere arguing that the system ofbonded labour "in the true scLuseof theterm" does not exist in the state. Themost that they were willing to admitin the wake of a detailed survey ofRanka and Bhandaria blocks of Palamauidistrict carried out by the Tribal Re-search Institute, Ranchi, was that somelandowners employed sevakias who wereeuphemistically termed "attached la-bourers". But, even there, it was con-tended that "the conditions of these at-tached labourers are far better thanthose of the free agricuilturalw,vorkers",assured as the former are of food, em-polyment, remuneration, cultivable andhomestead land, clothes, interest-free-loans and what have you (see Econo-mic and Political Weekly, October 111975). It seemed from the report of thestate labour departmnent hat as far asthe sevakias were concerned a-ll was

for the best in the best of all possibleworlds.The semi-feudal unintelligentia ofBihar, living on the income of absen-tee landlordism, seeped in the "ShotgunSinha syndrome' and acutely unawareof anything real, echoed approvinglythese pronouncements of the bureau-cracy. A 'survey' carried out by a de-partment of the Patna University spokeglowingly of the enviable condition ofthe 'attached labourers'. The wvell-beingof 'attached labourers' having thus beenauthoritatively attested to, the bureau-crats and academicians went back tomore pressing items like the inaugura-tion in Patna of a research institutethrough a puja where one learned pro-fessor officiated as the purohit and an-other became the yaiman and scores ofofficials and intellectuals dutifullychanted swaha!In reality, however, the sevakiasystem which prevails in Palamauand the similar systems prevalent inother parts of the state - perpetrates

the most vile, dehumanising exploitationwhich even bureaucrats have been forc-ed to admit to be a "barbarian .. feudallegacy" ("Bihar: Year of All-RoundProgress", advertisement supplement,The Times of India, April 12, 1976).Below we give some case studies toillustrate what the system is like.

Sama Mochi of village Sripalpur,Hariharganj Block in Palamau district,is 70 years old. His father had clearedthe forest and brought 16 acres of rent-free (be-lagaani) land under cultivation.A large family consisting of severalcousins managed a precarious existenceon the produce of that land. About 30years ago, Sama went to Babu KarimanSingh, a prosperous Raiput landlord, toborrow Rs 150 for his eldest son's mar-riage. The babusaheb readily ageed tolend him money; the only condition wasthat Sama would work on the landlord'sland till he paid off the debt. Sincethen, for full 30 years Sama toiled forKarimanSingh from "when the sun wvasfour fingers above the eastern horizonto when it was four fingers above thewestern horizon". He was paid twoKatchi seers (about 900 grams) of cheappulse or millet per day. The land whichhe had was taken away by the landlord.The family's sole proud possession, anold bullock, was sold for Rs 180 to payinterest on the debt. Goats tended bySama's sons and grandsons were takenaway at will. In all the family paid Rs1,600 in cash. But the debt remainedintact. Sama not only had to do agri-cultural work, but being a mochi bycaste, had also to play the dholak forthe malik on occasions of marriage etc.On one such occasion Sama was takenfor a marriageparty where a jeep carry-ing the barat went over his leg crushingit. He was left there to somehow getback to his village in agonising pain.But the very next day the landlord'sbarahil (retainer) was at his hut callingSama to come and work. As he wasunable to go, two of his sons weretaken. Since that day they have beenworking to pay off the debt which todaythe landlord says is Rs 1,800!

Jagdish Manjhi of Ramkanda villagein Ranka Block is barely 20. Five, yearsago he borrowed Rs 225 for his ownand his sister's marriage from NathuniSahu, a Bania-cum-landlord. He hasbeen working to pay off his debt eversince. If he was late by evenl a fewminutes in reporting for work he wasseverely beaten. His arm still bears themarks of a lashing. Since his masterhad multifarious interests, Jagdish wasforced to do all kinds of wvork.O)nce724

8/2/2019 Das Palamau District 1976

3/4

ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL WEEKLY May 15, 1976

when one of the malik's blullockshadrun away he was yoked to the bullock-cart and made to pull the cart 3 milesto the market where Nathuni Sahubought and sold goods.Joseph Tappu of Jorivillage in Mahua-daar Block took a loan of Rs 45 fromTabla Mian for his wife's funeral. Torepay his debt he not only worked forfour years but also had to get his littlemotherless children to work.Jhari Bhuiyan of Ramkanda workedfor six years to pay off a loan of Rs 15.Ramlakhan Bhuiyan of the same vil-lage borrowed Rs 10 to buy clothes andhas been working since he was theheight "of a man's thigh". He is about20 today.When Megh Ram of Sembarburhnivillage in Mahuadaar Block borrowedtwo maunds of paddy for himself andhis widowed mother, he was told by hiscreditor Hari Oraon that just as thelandowner would have bought a bullock,he had bought Megh Ram and that hewould have to work like the animal. Theboy who is barely 14 years old, waspaid no wages; he was only given somefood to keep him alive. His sole posses-sion in the world is a muffler given bya passing padre which he wears as aloin cloth. He has got so used to beat-ings, scoldings and curses that he isunable to refer to himself as anythingbut 'Meghwa Ram'.Somra Bhuiyan of Banari in MenkaBlock borrowed Rs 17 for consuinptionand has worked for six years.Nanak Manjhi of Chanandi in LatebarBlock borrowed Rs 125 and has workedfor 12 years.

Jakan Nagesia of Chiropa in Mahua-daar Block borrowed Rs 70 and hasworked for 10 years.Tapeswar Manjhi of Simri in PatanBlock borrowed Rs 80 for medical treat-ment and worked for 25 years.And so on ...Thus goes the tale of the sevakias ofPalamau, the 'attached' labourers. Allthese men, 581 of them, have recentlybeen located and freed at the initiativeof the Deputy Commissionerof Palamau.When asked what their ambition waswhen they were sevakias, to a man theyreplied, "to become a chhutta majoor",the same free labourer whose conditionwas according to the state officials andacademicians worse than that of thesevakias!

IIFreeing sevakias is not an easy pro-cess. The very economy of most partsof rural Bihar, in particular of Palamau,is hoth the cause and effect of the per-

petuation of this system of bondage.An agriculture carriedout with primitiveequipment - there has been no changein this from aroundthe time of Kanishka- and utterly dependent on the vaga-ries of nature, cannot do without anassured supply of labour at subsistencewages during the crucial 30 days ofsowing and harvesting. The miserablequantity of surplus generated by suchan agriculture is in turn plough-ed back not into increasing pro-duction but into holding ontightly to the bonded labourersand the almost equally poor chhuittamajoor. Every landlord worth his salthas at least one or two barahils (armedretainers) to intimidate the labourersinto passive acceptance of their depend-ence. The terror inherent in the systemis difficult to do away with. To theeconomic power of two katchi seerswhich the landlord wields is added hisenormous social and physical power.

The subjugation and exploitation ofthe labourers takes many forms. Theworst is to be found in some placeswhere even the pretence of keepinigpeople in bondage through usury is notmaintained. Sheer brute force suffices.In one such village, Jogikhora nearRanka the landlord legally has only 14acres of land, but he also has 12 pairsof bullocks and 12 ploughs with which,according to the admission of his ovinbarahil, he cultivates more than 100acres of bhoodan land supposed to havebeen donated to the harijans. His bond-ed labourers are not even sevakias; theyare called dharmaru(literally, catch andbeat up)lThe other forms of bondage, onlymarginally less inhuman, revolve aroundthe axis of usury. The labourer, poorpeasant and even the middle peasant 'inPalamau'srocky, dry interior, teeter pre-cariously between freedom and bondage.The absolutely minimum subsistencewages in the case of the labourers and

the low productivity of land in the caseof the peasants makes them particularlyprone to getting indebted in order tomeet even the barest needs. For in-stance, the two katchi seers wagemerely suffices to live from day to day,and even that is available only duririgthe 120 days when agricultural opera-tions are carried on. For the rest ofthe year, hunger, the need to buyclothes, salt, oil, the demands of mar-riages, funerals, the need to pay forestofficers 10 paise for the headload of fire-wood to which the poor are legallyentitled, the appetite for bribes of thepestering officials whose number islegion -all these inexorably drive the

rural poor into the grip of the money-lender. And once there, the debtorcannot free himself for generations.Much is made by smug urbanites andofficials about the 'extravagant socialneeds' of the rural poor which drivesthem, into debt. It is even suggestedthat they should stop getting marriedand dying. What is not realised is thatthe marriage loan is not generally a loanfor a band-baaia barat; it is for consump-tion. The occasion may be a marriageora death, but the cause is poverty andstarvation. In the situation in whichthe rural poor exist, a 'good' meal oncein 5 or 10 years is not a luxury; it isa necessity. The pitifully small amountsborrowed - ten, fifteen, twenty, a max-imum of two hundred rupees - bearstestimony to this.Much is also made of the labourers'proneness to liquor. It is undeniable thatthey drink. But perhaps when in tryingto get them out of that habit if it wereto be kept in mind that for most of theyear, fermented mahua is their onlymeagre source of protein, the effortwould be better directed. Drunkennessin their case is rarely the cause of po-verty, it is the symptom and perhapseven the consequence. The ruthless ex-ploitation of the tribals by liquor con-tractors who force the adivasis to drinkis one more form of the hydra headedsystem of bondage.The bonded labourer is right at thefringes of the market economy, but eventhere he is its worst sufferer. In orderto meet his cash needs, he has to foregohis bani (wage in kind) of two katchiseers which is converted into cash atthe rate of 50 paise a day. If he or an-other majoor or even a poor peasantsaves up some grain and sells itto the bania, the price paid isone rupee for six katchi seers;when the poor buy they have to pay arupee for two katchi seers. A coarsedhoti which sells in Patna for Rs, 10 issold to him for Rs 18. This is anotherway in which the vicious sevakia systemis maintained.

Begar (forced unpaid labour) is sup-posed to have disappeared with theabolition of zamindari. It is, however,very much present in the case of therural poor in Palamau. The goraits (cha-maars who used to beat the drums) arestill used by the new zamindars theBDOs, COs and other officers -toannounce their regal arrivals, the collec-tion of Government loans and othergrand occasions. There is, of course, nopayment for such corvee.The avarice of the bureaucracyuits the interest of the landlords very

p7o)-r.

8/2/2019 Das Palamau District 1976

4/4

May 15, 1976 ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL WEEILYwell. Legally the rural poor, especiallyadivasis, are entitled to- collect someforest produce, but the forest rangerswould rather let the mahua flowers becollected by the landlords' men to feedbullocks than be picked up by the poorunless they pay the 'fees'. The sipahi'sand daroga's demands are too wellknown to even require mention. Themalady has gone so deep that recentlyeven after some freed sevakias hadreceived parchas of land from the De-puty Commissionerhimself, the villageofficial who is (ironically) called thegramsevak refused to show them theallotted land in Mahuadaar Block un-less they paid him his fee.Apart from all these economic comx-pulsions, the rural poor in Palamau,especially the sevakias, are also underthe complete social and cultural domi-nance of the landlord-moneylender-bania combine whom they respectfullyrefer to as malik (miaster). In mi,anycases the malik claims right over hissevakia's wife because "you were ableto get married to her with my money"!The social, cultural and economicodds being so heavily against the seva-kiar, it is no easy task to free them.Even more difficult is it to ensure thatthey remain free.

IIIDifficult as the task of freeing bond-ed labour is, at least one obstacle has atlast to some extent been crossed by thepromulgation of the Bonded LabourSystem (Abolition) Ordinance which haslater become an Act duly passed by par-liament. The problem of definition ofbonded labour has finally been sortedout and there is now no scope for ambi-guities and euphemisms about 'attached'and 'bonded' labourers. According tothe Ordinance, the "bonded laboursystem" means the system of forced orpartly forced, labour under which adebtor enters, or has, or is presumed tohave, entered, into an agreement withthe creditor to the effect that (i) in con-sideration of an advance obtained byhim or by any of his lineal ascendantsor descendants (whether or not suchadvance is evidence by any docu-ment) and in consideration of theinterest, if any, due on such ad-vance, or (ii) in pursuance of any cus-stomary or social obligation, or (iii) inpursuance of an obligation devolving onhim by succession, or (iv) for any econo-inic considerationreceived bvyhim or byany of his lineal ascendants, or descen-dants, or (v) by reason of his birth in anyparticular caste or community, he would(i) render, by himself or through any

meamber f his family, or any person de-pendent on him, labour or service to thecreditor, or for the benefit of the credi-tor, for a specified period or for an un-specified period, either without wages orfor nominal wages, or (2) forfeit the free-dom of employment or other means oflivelihood for a specified period or foran unspecified period, or (3) forfeit theright to move freely throughout theterritoryof India, or (4) forfeit the rightto appropriate or sell at market valueany of his property or product of hislabour or the labour of a member ofhis family or any person dependent onhim, and includes the system of forced,or partly forced, labour under which asurety for a debtor enters, or has, or ispresumed to have, en,tered, into anagreement with the creditor to theeffect that in the event of thefailure of the debtor to repay the debt,he would render the bonded labour onb)ehalfof the debtor (The Bonded La-bour (Abolition) Ordinance, 1975). TheOrdinance also made it clear that "Itshall be the duty of every DistrictMagistrate and every officer specified byhiin... to inquire whether, after thecommencement of this Ordinance, anybonded labour system or any otherform of forced labour is being enforcedby, or on behalf of, any person residentwithin the local limits of his iurisdic-tion and if, as a result of such an in-quiry, any person is found to be enforc-ing the bonded labour system or anyother system of forced labour, he shallforthwith take such action as may benecessary to eradicate the enforcementof such forced labour." Thus one ofthe hurdles standing in the way of thefreeing of bonded labourers was partlyremoved. We say partly, because avery large number of officials and othersconcerned with the problem have takenthe convenient way out: not readingthe text of the Act. For instance, in aseminar of IAS officers concerned withthe problem of rural labourers organis-ed by the National Labour Institute,New Delhi, it was found that not morethan 40 per cent of the officers hadread or even looked at the Act! Thuis,it was sheer luck for the 581 sevakiasof Palamau that the Deputy Commis-sioner of the district had not only readthe Act but bad also taken it seriously.

The Deputy Conmmissioner eputed alarge number of officers in his districtto trace out bonded labourers and pro-ceeded to free them. 581 were thusreleased from bondage and, after assess-ing their assets through a survey, theywere provided with some facilities forrehabilitation. Some were given land,

some were given work on forest pro-jects, some were given pigs donated bythe Red Cross, some were given clothes.In order to get them out of the morassthey had sunk into, the Deputy Com-missioner with his limited resources,tried to provide such facilities as nightclasses, etc. He has also submitted adetailed rehabilitation scheme for sanc-tion of funds to the Bihar government.On the other hand, in order to helpthem to organise themselves into unionsand co-operatives so as to be able toresist the landlords-moneylenders n thefuture, the National Labour Instituteorganised a camp for 60 of the freedbonded labourers in a remote villageSemra in Chainpur Block. The campwas attended by Baliram Bhagat, Spea-ker of the Lok Sabha who is also theChairman of the International Anti-Slavery Commnittee and RamdulariSinha, the Bihar labour minister. Butmore than anything else, the camp wasremarkable for one thing - the bond-ed labourers who had been beaten,tortured, exploited, starved into silencefor years, got a chance to talk withtheir Ownkind for once. The camp didnot do much for the bonded labourersexcept making them aware of the lawsin their favour and the various develop-mental agencies supposedly working ontheir behalf. The importance of thecamp lay in this that it focused on theneed for organisation among the ruralpoor. It also became a rallying pointfor the oppressed and exploited all overPalamau district, an area which hasbeen characterised by an absolute lackof any sort of organisational or agita-tional activity by political parties or byothers. In such virgin territory, thepoor have at last started stirring.

But the problem has by no meansbeen finally tackled. Firstly, there aresnot 581 bonded labourers only inPalamau. There are many, many moresevakias who have to be traced out,freed and given means of starting anew life. The myth of 581 must bebroken. Secondly, the efforts to doaway with this primitive, barbaric sys-tem should not end with the tenure ofone zealous Deputy Commissioner.Thetask has to be continued. Thirdly, therural poor should be helped by sym-pathetic members of other groups whoshould provide an effective sup-port system. Fourthly, and thethe most important, the rural poor mustorganise themselves to preserve theirfreedom. They must snatch the right tospeak, to organise, to resist oppression.The sevakias can do it for indeed theyhave nothing to lose but their bondage.