6th Social-political Sciences-social and Political Life-1

CONTENTS

UNIT I DIVERSITY

Chapter 1 Understanding Diversity 3Chapter 2 Diversity and Discrimination 13

Foreword iiiOn Using this Book vii

UNIT II GOVERNMENT

Chapter 3 What is Government? 27Chapter 4 Key Elements of a Democratic Government 35

UNIT III LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND ADMINISTRATION

Chapter 5 Panchayati Raj 43Chapter 6 Rural Administration 49Chapter 7 Urban Administration 57

UNIT IV LIVELIHOODS

Chapter 8 Rural Livelihoods 67Chapter 9 Urban Livelihoods 76

References 86

/book_publishing/class 6/Social Political Life Class VI pdf/01_01 final.pdf






/book_publishing/class 6/Social Political Life Class VI pdf/03_03FINAL.pdf

/book_publishing/class 6/Social Political Life Class VI pdf/04_01FINAL.pdf

/book_publishing/class 6/Social Political Life Class VI pdf/04_02-final.pdf

/book_publishing/class 6/Social Political Life Class VI pdf/References FINAL.pdf

Look around you in the classroom: do you seeanyone who looks exactly like you do? In thischapter you will learn that people are different fromeach other in many ways. Not only do they lookdifferent but they might also belong to differentregional, cultural or religious backgrounds. Thesedifferences enrich our lives in many ways and alsomake them more fun!

All these different people, who come from all kinds ofbackgrounds, and belong to all kinds of religions andcultures help to make India so interesting and sodiverse. What does diversity add to our lives? Howdid India become like this? Are all kinds of differencea part of diversity? Can diversity also be a part ofunity? Read this chapter to find some answers.

Chapter 1

UnderstandingDiversity

hree children around your age have drawnthe figures above. Use the empty box to

draw your human figure. Is your drawingsimilar to any of the others? The chances arethat your drawing is quite different from theother three, which you can see are quitedifferent from each other. This is because eachone of us has a unique drawing style. We notonly don't look exactly like each other but alsodiffer in terms of the language we speak, ourcultural backgrounds, the religious rituals weobserve and, of course the way we draw!

T

4 / Social and Political Life

Now ask your teacher to help youcheck, how many of you have similaranswers. Is there anyone whose listmatches yours exactly? Probably not.But many of you may have similaranswers. How many like reading thesame kind of books? How manydifferent languages are spoken by thestudents in your class?

By now you must have recognisedthe many ways in which you are quitelike some of your classmates andother ways in which you are differentfrom them.

Making friends

Do you think it would be easy for youto make friends with someone whowas very different from you? Read thefollowing story and think about this.

I had meant it as a joke. A jokemade up for a small ragged boy whosold newspapers at the Janpatcrossing at the busy intersection.Every time I cycled past he would runafter me, holding out the English paper

and screaming out the evening'sheadlines in a mixture of Hindi andEnglish words. This time, I stopped bythe pavement and asked for the Hindipaper. His mouth fell open.

"You mean you know Hindi?" heasked.

"Of course," I said as I paid for thepaper.

"Why? What did you think?"

He paused. "But you look so…soangrez," he said. "You mean you caneven read Hindi?"

"Of course I can," I said, this time alittle impatiently. "I can speak, read

and write Hindi. Hindi is one of thesubjects I study in school."

"Subjects?" he asked. How could Iexplain what a subject was to someonewho had never been to school? "Well, itis something…" I began, but the lightschanged, and the honking behind megrew a hundredfold and I let myself bepushed along with the rest of thetraffic.

Fill out the following informationabout yourselfWhen I go out I like wearing

At home I speak in

My favourite sport is

I like reading books about

Understanding Diversity / 5

The next day he was there again,smiling at me and holding out a Hindipaper. "Bhaiyya," he said, "aap kaakhbaar. Ab Bathaaiye yeh subjectkya cheez hai?" the English wordsounded strange on his tongue. It sounded like its other meaning in English – to be ruled by someoneelse.

"Oh, it's just something to study," Isaid. And then because the red lighthad come on, I asked him, "Have youever been to school?" "Never," heanswered. And he added proudly, "Ibegan working when I was so high."He measured himself against mycycle-seat. "First my mother used tocome with me but I can do it all alone."

"Where is your mother now?" Iasked, but then the lights changed andI was off. I heard him yell fromsomewhere behind me, "She's inMeerut with…" The rest was drownedout.

"My name is Samir," he said thenext day. And very shyly he asked,"What's yours?" It was incredible. Mybicycle wobbled. "My name is Samirtoo," I said. "What?" His eyes lit up."Yes," I grinned at him. "It's anothername for Hanuman's father, youknow." "So now you are Samir Ek andI'm Samir Do," he said triumphantly."Something like that," I answered andthen I held out my hand. "Haath milao,Samir Do!" His hand nestled in minelike a little bird. I could still feel itswarmth as I cycled away.

The next day, he did not have hisusual smile for me. "There is trouble inMeerut," he said. "Many people arebeing killed there in the riots." I lookedat the headlines. Communal Riots, itblazed. "But Samir…" I began. "I'm aMuslim Samir," he said in answer."And all my people are in Meerut." Hiseyes filled with tears and when Itouched his shoulder, he would notlook up.

He was not at the crossing the dayafter. Neither the day after nor everagain. And no newspaper, in English orHindi, can tell me where my Samir dohas gone.

(The Lights Changed by Poile Sengupta)

While Samir Ek is more familiarwith English, Samir Do speaks Hindi.Although they both are more at homein different languages they stillcommunicated with each other. Theymade the effort to do so because thiswas what was important to them.

Samir Ek and Samir Do also comefrom different religious and culturalbackgrounds. While Samir Ek is aHindu, Samir Do is a Muslim.Different religious and culturalbackgrounds such as these are anaspect of diversity.

Name three ways in which SamirEk and Samir Do were different?

Did these differences preventthem from becoming friends?


In addition to theirdiverse religious andcultural backgrounds,there are other waysin which Samir Ekand Samir Do aredifferent from eachother. For example,while Samir Ek goes toschool, Samir Do sellsnewspapers.

Samir Do did not have theopportunity to attend school. Perhapsyou've noticed that there are severalpeople in the area where you live whoare poor and who don't have enoughto eat or wear and sometimes not evena place to live. This difference is notthe same as the one we have seen

earlier. Here, we're talking not ofdifference but of inequality. Inequalitycomes about when a person does nothave the resources and opportunititesthat are available to other persons.

The caste system is anotherexample of inequality. According tothis, society was divided into differentgroups depending upon the work thatpeople did and they were supposed toremain in those groups. So if yourparents were potters you could onlybecome a potter, nothing else. Thissystem was considered irreversible.And because you were not supposedto change your profession, it was notconsidered necessary for you to knowanything more than what you neededin your profession. This created asituation of inequality. You will readmore about this and other inequalitiesin the following chapters.

What does diversity add to ourlives?

Just like Samir Ek and Samir Dobecame friends, you might havefriends who are very different fromyou. You have probably eatendifferent kinds of food in their homes,celebrated different festivals withthem, tried out the clothes they wear,and learnt some of their languagesas well.

DiscussWhy do you think Samir Do didnot attend school? Do you thinkit would have been easy for himto attend school if he wanted to?In your opinion is it a fairsituation that some children getto go to school and others don't?

Make a list of the festivals thatmight have been celebrated bythe two boys.

Samir Ek:

Samir Do:

Can you think of a situation inwhich you made friends withsomeone who was very differentfrom you? Write a story thatdescribes this.

Make a list of the food that youhave eaten from different parts ofIndia.

Make a list of the languages besidesyour mother tongue that you canspeak at least one or two words of.


You probably like reading andhearing stories and adventures aboutdifferent animals, people and evenghosts. Perhaps you even enjoymaking up stories yourself ! Manyyoung people feel happy when theyread a good story because it givesthem lots of ideas to make up morestories. People who write stories gettheir ideas from all sorts of differentplaces – from books, and real life andfrom their imagination.

Some may have lived in forestsclose to animals and chosen to writeof their fights and friendships. Othersread real accounts of kings andqueens and wrote stories about loveand honour. Some dipped into theirown childhood memories of schooland friends and wrote stories ofadventure.

Imagineif all thestorytellersand writersthat youhave heardand read so

far were forced to live in aplace where all people worethe same two colours red andwhite, ate the same food(maybe potatoes!), took careof the same two animals, for example, the deer and the cat, and to entertainthemselves played snakesand ladders. What kind ofstories do you think theywould write?

DIVERSITY IN INDIA

India is a country of many diversities.We speak different lang-uages, havevarious types of food, celebratedifferent festivals, practise differentreligions. But actually, if you thinkabout it, we do many things that aresimilar except that we do them indifferent ways.

How do we explain Diversity?

A little more than two hundred yearsago or long before the train,aeroplane, bus or car became a part ofour lives, people travelled from onepart of the world to another, in ships,on horses or camels or on foot.

Imagine that you are a writer oran artist who lives in the placedescribed above. Either write astory or draw a picture of your life here.

Do you think you would enjoyliving in a place like this? List fivedifferent things that you wouldmiss the most if you lived here.


Through singing ahymn

Through signing aregister in the court

In Manipur womenwear a fanek

Different ways inwhich people greet

each other

Different ways inwhich people dress

Different ways inwhich people get

married

Different ways inwhich people pray

List at least three different ways in which people in India do the following.One of the possible answers has been provided for you already.

Different ways inwhich people cook

rice

By making Biriyaniwith meat orvegetables

In Jharkhand manyadivasis say "johar"to greet each other

Often, they went in search of newlands, or new places to settle in, or forpeople to trade with. And because ittook so long to travel, once they got toa place, people stayed there, often fora long time. Many others left theirhomes because there were faminesand drought and they could not getenough to eat. Some went in search ofwork while others left because therewas a war.

Sometimes, as they began to maketheir homes in new places, peoplebegan to change a little and at othertimes they managed to do things inthe old ways. So their languages, food,

music, religions became a mix of theold and the new, and out of this inter-mixing of cultures, came somethingnew and different.

The history of many places showsus how many different culturalinfluences have helped to shape lifeand culture there. Thus regionsbecame very diverse because of theirunique histories.

Similarly diversity also comesabout when people adapt their lives tothe geographical area in which theylive. For example living near the sea isquite different from living in amountainous area.


Ladakh is a desert in themountains in the eastern part ofJammu and Kashmir. Very littleagriculture is possible here sincethis region does not receive anyrain and is covered in snow for alarge part of the year. There arevery few trees that can grow in theregion. For drinking water, peopledepend on the melting snowduring the summer months.

People here keep sheep andthe sheep in this region arespecial because they producepashmina wool. This wool isprized and pashmina shawls costa lot of money. The people inLadakh carefully collect the woolof the sheep and sell this totraders from Kashmir. Pashminashawls are chiefly woven inKashmir.

The people eat meat and milkproducts like cheese and butter.Each family owns some goats,cows and dzos (yak-cows).

Being a desert didnot mean thatLadakh did notattract its share oftraders. It wasconsidered a goodtrade route as ithad many passesthrough whichcaravans travelledto what is todaycalled Tibet. Thesecaravans carriedtextiles and spices,raw silk andcarpets.

Not only do people have differentclothing and eating habits, but even thekinds of work they do is different. Incities it is often easy to forget how closelypeople's lives are tied to their physicalsurroundings. This is because in the citypeople seldom grow their own vegetablesand grain. Instead they depend on themarket to buy all the food and othergoods that they need.

Let us try to understand what wemean when we say that historical andgeographical factors influence thediversity of a region. We can do this byreading about life in two different parts ofthe country, Kerala and Ladakh.

Look at the map of India in an Atlas andlocate Kerala and Ladakh. Can you listthree ways in which the differentgeographical location of these tworegions would influence the following?1. The food people eat:2. The clothes they wear:3. The work they do:

The dry barren landscape of the mountaniousdesert of Ladakh.

Buddhism reached Tibet via Ladakh. Ladakh isalso called Little Tibet. Islam was introduced inthis region more than four hundred years agoand there is a significant Muslim populationhere. Ladakh has a very rich oral tradition ofsongs and poems. Local versions of the Tibetannational epic the Kesar Saga are performed andsung by both Muslims and Buddhists.

Woman weaving a pashmina shawl


Kerala is a state in the south-west corner of India. It issurrounded by the sea on oneside and hills on the other. Anumber of spices like pepper,

cloves and cardamoms are grown on thehills. It is spices that made this region

an attractive place for traders. Jewishand Arab traders were the first to comehere. The Apostle of Christ, St. Thomasis believed to have come here nearly

2000 years ago and he is credited withbringing Christianity to India.

Many Arab traders also came andsettled down here. Ibn Battuta, whotravelled here a little less than sevenhundred years ago, wrote a travelogue inwhich he describes the lives of Muslims

and says that they were a highly respected community. ThePortuguese discovered the searoute to India from Europe whenVasco da Gama landed with hisship here.

Because of all these varioushistorical influences, people inKerala practise different religionssuch as Judaism, Islam, Chris-tianity, Hinduism and Buddhism.

The fishing nets used here lookexactly like the Chinese fishingnets and are called cheena-vala.

Even the utensil used for frying is calledthe cheenachatti, and it is believed thatthe word cheen could have come fromChina. The fertile land and climate aresuited to growing rice and a majority of

people here eat rice, fish andvegetables.

Chinese Fishing Nets

The boat race is an important part ofthe Onam festival celebrated in Kerala.

Understanding Diversity / 11While Kerala and Ladakh are quite

different in terms of theirgeographical features, the history ofboth regions has seen similar culturalinfluences. Both regions wereinfluenced by Chinese and Arabtraders. It was the geography ofKerala which allowed for thecultivation of spices and the specialgeographical location of Ladakh andits wool that drew traders to theseregions. Thus history and geographyare often tied in the cultural life of aregion.

The influence of diverse cultures isnot merely a thing of the past. Ourpresent lives are all about movingfrom place to place for work and witheach move our cultural traditions andway of life slowly becomes part of thenew place we are in. Similarly in ourown neighbourhoods we live close topeople from several communities. Ourdaily lives are about the ways inwhich we do things together and hearstories about each other's lives,customs and traditions.

UNITY IN DIVERSITY

India's diversity has always beenrecognised as a source of its strength.When the British ruled India, womenand men from different cultural,religious and regional backgroundscame together to oppose them. India'sfreedom movement had thousands ofpeople of different backgrounds in it.They worked together to decide jointactions, they went to jail together, andthey found different ways to opposethe British. Interestingly the British

thought they could divide Indiansbecause they were so different, andthen continue to rule them. But thepeople showed how they could bedifferent and yet be united in theirbattle against the British.

Don't forget the days of blood, O friend

In the midst of your happiness rememberto shed a tear for us

The hunter has torn away every singleflower

Do plant a flower in the desert gardendear friend

Having fallen to bullets we slept inJallianwalla Bagh

Do light a lamp on this lonely grave

O friend

The blood of Hindus and Muslims flowstogether today

Do soak your robe in this river of blooddear friend

Some rot in jails while others lie in theirgraves

Do shed a few tears for them O friend.

Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA)

This song was sung after theJallianwalla Bagh massacre inAmritsar in which a British generalopened fire on a large group ofunarmed, peaceful people killingmany and wounding even more. Menand women, Hindus, Sikhs andMuslims, rich and poor had gatheredto protest against the British. Thissong was composed and sung to honour the memory of those brave people.


QUESTIONS

1. Draw up a list of the different festivals celebrated in your locality.Which of these celebrations are shared by members of differentregional and religious communities?

2. What do you think living in India with its rich heritage of diversityadds to your life?

3. Do you think the term "unity in diversity" is an appropriate term todescribe India? What do you think Nehru is trying to say aboutIndian unity in the sentence quoted above from his book TheDiscovery of India?

4. Underline the line in the poem sung after the Jallianwalla massacre,which according to you, reflects India's essential unity.

5. Choose another region in India and do a similar study of thehistorical and geographical factors that influence the diversity foundthere. Are these historical and geographical factors connected toeach other? How?

Songs and symbols that emergedduring the freedom struggle serve as aconstant reminder of our country'srich tradition of respect for diversity.Do you know the story of the Indianflag? It was used as a symbol ofprotest against the British by peopleeverywhere.

In his book TheDiscovery of IndiaJawaharlal Nehru saysthat Indian unity is notsomething imposedfrom the outside butrather, "It wassomething deeper andwithin its fold, thewidest tolerance ofbelief and custom waspractised and everyvariety acknowledgedand even encouraged."It was Nehru, who

coined the phrase, "unity in diversity"to describe the country.

India's national anthem,composed by RabindranathTagore, is another expressionof the unity of India. In whatway does the nationalanthem describe this unity?

Pt. Nehru delivering an Independence Day speech

Chapter 2

Difference and Prejudice

here are many things that makeus what we are – how we live, the

languages we speak, what we eat,wear, the games we play and thethings we celebrate. All of these areinfluenced both by the geography andhistory of the place where we live.

You will get an idea of how diverseIndia is if you look even briefly at thefollowing statement:

There are eight major religions in theworld. Every single one of them ispractised in India. We have more than

1600 languages that are people'smother tongues, and there are morethan a hundred dance forms.

Yet this diversity is not alwayscelebrated. We feel safe and securewith people who look, talk, dress andthink like us.

Sometimes when we meet peoplewho are very different from us we mayfind them strange and unfamiliar. Attimes we may not understand or knowthe reasons why they are differentfrom us. People also form certainattitudes and opinions about otherswho are not like them.

T

In the previous chapter you have discussed themeanings of diversity. Sometimes people who are'different' from others are teased, laughed at or notincluded in a certain activity or group. We feelhurt, angry, helpless or sad when friends or otherstreat us in such ways. Have you ever wonderedwhy this happens?

In this chapter we will try and explore how suchexperiences are related to the society we live in.We will look at how they are connected to theinequalities that exist around us.

Diversity and Discrimination


Some of the statements above seevillagers as dirty, ignorant andsuperstitious, and see people in citiesas money-minded, lazy and cunning.

When our opinions about certainpeople are always negative – seeingthem as lazy, cunning, stingy – assome of the statements above, thenthese become prejudices that we carryabout them.

Prejudice means to judge otherpeople negatively or see them asinferior. When we think that only oneparticular way is the best and rightway to do things we often end up notrespecting others, who may prefer todo things differently. For example ifwe think English is the best languageand other languages are notimportant, we are judging these otherlanguages negatively. As a result, wemight not respect people who speaklanguages other than English.

We can be prejudiced about manythings: people's religious beliefs, thecolour of their skin, the region theycome from, the accent they speak in,the clothes they wear etc. Often, ourprejudices about others are so strongthat we don't want to form friendshipswith them. At times, we may even actin ways that hurt them.

Look again at the statements that youbelieved to be true about rural andurban life in India. Do you have aprejudice against rural or urbanpeople? Find out if this is shared byothers and discuss the reasons whypeople have these prejudices.

Can you list some of the prejudicesthat you have noticed around you.How do they affect the ways in whichpeople treat each other?

Below are some statements onpeople living in rural and urban areas.Tick mark those that you agree with:

On Rural People

More than 50% of all Indianslive in villages.

Villagers do not care abouttheir health. They are full ofsuperstition.

People in villages are backwardand lazy. They do not like towork.

In peak harvesting and planta-tion season, families spend 12to 14 hours working in thefields.

Villagers are dirty and nothygienic.

On Urban People

Life in the city is easy. Peoplehere are spoilt and lazy.

In cities families spend verylittle time with each other.

People in towns only care aboutmoney, not about people.

Living in a city is expensive. Alarge part of people's earningsis spent on rent and transport.

City people cannot be trusted,they are cunning and corrupt.

Creating Stereotypes

All of us are familiar with genderdifferences. What does it mean to be aboy or a girl? Many of you would say,"We are born as boys and girls. It is agiven. What is there to think about?"Let's see if this is the case.

If we take the statement ''Theydon't cry", you'll see that this is aquality that is generally associatedwith boys and men. As babies orchildren when boys fall and hurtthemselves, their parents and otherfamily members often console them bysaying "Don't cry. You are a boy. Boys

are brave, they don't cry." As childrengrow up they start believing that boysdo not cry so that even if a boy feelslike crying he stops himself fromdoing so. He also believes that cryingis a sign of weakness. So, even thoughboth boys and girls sometimes want tocry, especially if they are angry or in

Arrange the statements given below inthese two sections, according to whatyou think is appropriate for the section.

They are well behaved.They are soft spoken and gentle.They are physically strong .They are naughty.They are good at dance and painting.They don't cry.They are rowdy.They are good at sport.They are good at cooking.They are emotional.

Girls Boys1 1

2 2

3 3

4 4

5 5

Now check, with your teacher's help, who has put which statementwhere. Find out and discuss people's reasons for doing this. Are thequalities you put in for boys something that boys are born with?

Diversity and Discrimination / 15

The children you see in theillustrations here were seenas 'disabled'. This term hasbeen changed and now theterm used is 'children withspecial needs'. Commonstereotypes about them aregiven in large letters. Theirown feelings and thoughts tooare given.

Discuss what these childrenare saying about stereotypesregarding them and why.

Do you think children withspecial needs should be a partof regular schools or study ina separate school? Givereasons for your answer.

Source: Why are you afraid to holdmy hand by Shiela Dhir



pain, as they grow older boys learn orteach themselves not to cry. If agrown boy cries, then he feels thatothers will either tease him or laughat him, and so he stops himself fromdoing so in front of others.

This is the way boys are and this ishow girls are: these are statements wehear constantly and accept withouteven thinking, and we start believingthat each one of us must behaveaccordingly. We fit all boys and allgirls into an image that society createsaround us.

When we fix people into one imagewe create a stereotype. When peoplesay that those who belong to aparticular country, religion, sex, raceor economic background are "stingy""lazy," "criminal" or "dumb," they areusing stereotypes. There are stingyand generous people everywhere, inevery country, in every religion, inevery group whether rich or poor,male or female. And just becausesome people are like that it is not fairto think that everyone will be thesame.

Stereotypes stop us from looking ateach person as a unique individualwith his or her own special qualitiesand skills that are different from

others. They fit large numbers ofpeople into only one pattern or type.Stereotypes affect all of us as theyprevent us from doing certain things,that we might otherwise be good at.

Inequality and Discrimination

Discrimination happens when peopleact on their prejudices or stereotypes.If you do something to put otherpeople down, if you stop them fromtaking part in certain activities andtaking up jobs, or stop them fromliving in certain neighbour-hoods,prevent them from taking water fromthe same well or hand pump, or notallow them to drink tea in the samecups or glasses as others, you arediscriminating against them.

Discrimination can take placebecause of several reasons. Youprobably recall from the previouschapter that Samir Ek and Samir Dowere different from each other inmany ways. For example, theybelonged to different religions. This isan aspect of diversity. However, thisdiversity can also be a source ofdiscrimination. Groups of people whomay speak a certain language, followa particular religion, live in specificregions etc., may be discriminatedagainst as their customs or practicesmay be seen as inferior.

Another difference between the twoSamirs was in their economicbackgrounds. Samir Do was poor.This difference, as you have readearlier, is not a form of diversity but ofinequality. People who are poor donot have the resources or the money

You can take other statements suchas They are soft and gentle orThey are well behaved and discusshow these are applied to girls. Dogirls possess these qualities at birthor do they learn such behaviourfrom others? What do you thinkabout girls who are not soft andgentle and those who are naughty?

to meet their basic needs of food, clothing and shelter. They experiencediscrimination in offices, inhospitals, schools etc.,where they are treatedbadly because they arepoor.

Some people mayexperience both kinds of dis-crimination. They are poorand they belong to groupswhose culture is not valued.Tribals, some religiousgroups and even particularregions, are discriminated

against for one or more of thesereasons. In the following section we willlook at how a famous Indian wasdiscriminated against. This will help usunderstand the ways in which castewas used to discriminate against largenumbers of people.

On being discriminated againstPeople are engaged in different kindsof work like teaching, carpentry,pottery, weaving, fishing, farming etc.to earn a livelihood. However, certainkinds of work are valued more thanothers. Activities like cleaning, wash-ing, cutting hair, picking garbage, areseen as tasks that are of less valueand people who do this work are seenas dirty or impure. This belief is animportant aspect of the caste system.In the caste system, communities/groups of people were placed in a sortof ladder where each caste was eitherabove or below the other. Those whoplaced themselves at the top of this ladder called themselves upper

A common stereotype about Muslims isthat they are not interested ineducating girls and therefore do notsend girls to school. However, studieshave now shown that poverty amongstMuslims is an important reason whyMuslim girls do not attend school orleave school after a few years.

Wherever, effort has been made toreach education to the poor, there theMuslim community has shown aninterest in sending their girls to school.

For example in the state of Kerala thedistance between the school and thehome is not much. There is a goodgovernment bus service that helpsteachers reach schools in rural areasand over sixty per cent of the teachersare women. These factors have helpedchildren from poorer families,including Muslim girls, attend schoolin much larger numbers.

In other states, where such efforts havenot been made children from poorerfamilies whether Muslim, tribal or so-called lower castes find it difficult toattend school. Therefore, poverty notreligion is the cause for non-attendanceof Muslim girls in school.



Dalit is a term thatpeople belonging to so-called lower castes useto address themselves.They prefer this wordto 'untouchable'. Dalitmeans those who havebeen 'broken'. Thisword according toDalits shows howsocial prejudices anddiscrimination have'broken' the Dalitpeople. The govern-ment refers to thisgroup of people asScheduled Castes (SC).

Being made to sit seperately in the classroombecause of one's background is a form ofdiscrimination.

What is the difference betweendiscrimination and stereotypes?

How do you think a person who isdiscriminated against might feel?

caste and sawthemselves assuperior. Thegroups whowere placed at the bottomof the ladderwere seen asunworthy andcalled "untou-chables".

Caste ruleswere set whichdid not allowthe so-called"untouchable"

to take on work, other than what theywere meant to do. For example, somegroups were only allowed to pickgarbage and remove dead animalsfrom the village. But they were notallowed to enter the homes of theupper castes or take water from thevillage well, or even enter temples.Their children could not sit next tochildren of other castes in school.

Thus upper castes acted in ways,which did not give the so-called"untouchables" the same rights asthey enjoyed.

Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar, one of thegreat leaders of India, shares his firstexperience of caste-based discrimi-nation, which took place in 1901when he was just nine years old. Hehad gone with his brothers andcousins to meet his father in Koregaonwhich is now in Maharashtra.

Long did we wait, but no one turnedup. An hour elapsed and the station-master came to enquire. He asked usfor our tickets. We showed them to him.He asked us why we tarried. We toldhim that we were bound for Koregaonand that we were waiting for father orhis servant to come, but that neitherhad turned up and that we did notknow how to reach Koregaon.

We were well-dressed children.From our dress or talk no one couldmake out that we were children of theuntouchables. Indeed the station-master was quite sure we wereBrahmin children and was extremelytouched at the plight in which he foundus. As is usual among the Hindus, thestationmaster asked us who we were.Without a moment's thought I blurtedout that we were Mahars. (Mahar isone of the communities which aretreated as untouchables in the Bombay


Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar (1891-1956)is considered the father of the Indian Constitution and is also the best known leader of the Dalits. Dr Ambedkar fought for the rights of the Dalit community. He was born into the Mahar caste, whichwas considered untouchable. TheMahars were poor, owned no landand children born to them also hadto do the work their parents did.They lived in spaces outside themain village and were not allowedinto the village.

Dr Ambedkar was the first personfrom his caste who completed hiscollege education and went toEngland to become a lawyer. Heencouraged Dalits to send theirchildren to school and college. Healso urged Dalits to take on differentkinds of government jobs in order tomove out of the caste system. He ledmany efforts of Dalits to gain entryinto temples. Later in life heconverted to Buddhism in his searchfor a religion that treated all members equally. Dr Ambedkar believedthat Dalits mustfight the castesystem and worktowards a societybased on respect notjust for a few but forall persons.

Presidency.) He was stunned. His faceunderwent a sudden change. We couldsee that he was overpowered by astrange feeling of repulsion. As soon ashe heard my reply, he went away to hisroom and we stood where we were.Fifteen to twenty minutes elapsed; thesun was almost setting. Our father hadnot turned up nor had he sent hisservant, and now the stationmaster hadalso left us. We were quite bewildered,and the joy and happiness, which we feltat the beginning of the journey, gave wayto a feeling of extreme sadness.

After half an hour the stationmasterreturned and asked us what we proposedto do. We said that if we could get abullock-cart on hire we would go toKoregaon, and if it was not very far wewould like to start straightway. Therewere many bullock-carts plying for hire.But my reply to the station master that wewere Mahars had gone round among thecart men and not one of them wasprepared to suffer being polluted and todemean himself carrying passengers of the untouchable classes. We wereprepared to pay double the fare but wefound that money did not work. The

stationmaster, who was negotiatingon our behalf, stood silent, notknowing what to do.Source: Dr B. R. Ambedkar, Writings andSpeeches, Volume 12, Edited Vasant Moon,Bombay Education Department, Govt. ofMaharashtra.

Imagine how difficult it would be ifpeople could not move easily from oneplace to the other, how insulting andhurtful it is to have people move away,refuse to touch you or allow you todrink water from the same source asthey do.

This small incident shows how asimple task of going from one place toanother in a cart was not available tothe children – even though they couldpay the money. All the cart men at thestation refused to take the children.They acted in a discriminatorymanner.

So, clearly, as this story shows us,caste based discrimination is not onlylimited to preventing Dalits fromundertaking certain economicactivities but it also denies them therespect and dignity given to others.

Striving for Equality

The struggle for freedom from Britishrule also included within it thestruggle of large groups of people whonot only fought against the British butalso fought to be treated more equally.Dalits, women, tribals and peasantsfought against the inequalities theyexperienced in their lives.

As pointed out earlier, many Dalitsorganised themselves to gain entryinto temples. Women demanded thatthey should have as much a right toeducation as men did. Peasants andtribals fought to release themselvesfrom the grasp of the moneylenderand the high interest they werecharged.

When India became a nation in1947 our leaders too were concernedabout the different kinds ofinequalities that existed. Those whowrote the Constitution of India, adocument that laid out the rules bywhich the nation would function, were aware of the ways in which


Despite the childrenoffering money the cartmenrefused them. Why?

How did people at the station discriminateagainst Dr Ambedkar andhis brothers?

How do you think Dr Ambedkar felt as a child, when he saw thestationmaster's reaction tohis statement that theywere Mahars?

Have you ever experiencedprejudice or witnessed anincident of discrimination?How did this make you feel?

DiscussIn addition to the lower castesbeing discriminated against, thereare also various other communitiesthat are subject to discrimination.

Can you think of a few otherexamples of discrimination.

Discuss the ways in which personswith special needs might besubject to discrimination.

discrimination had been practised in our society and how people had struggled against this. Manyleaders of these struggles such as Dr Ambedkar had also fought for therights of the Dalits.

So these leaders set out a visionand goals in the Constitution toensure that all the people of Indiawere considered equal. This equalityof all persons is seen as a key valuethat unites us all as Indians.Everyone has equal rights andopportunities. Untouchability is seen

as a crime and has been legallyabolished by law. People are freeto choose the kind of work theywish to do. Government jobs are open to all people. In addition,the Constitution also placedresponsibility on the governmentto take specific steps to realise thisright to equality for poor and othersuch marginal communities.

The writers of the Constitutionalso said that respect for diversitywas a significant element inensuring equality. They felt thatpeople must have the freedom tofollow their religion, speak theirlanguage, celebrate their festivalsand express themselves freely.They said that no one language,religion or festival should becomecompulsory for all to follow. Theysaid that the government musttreat all religions equally.

Therefore, India became asecular country where people ofdifferent religions and faiths have

Some of the members who wrote theConstitution of India.

Women at a rally demanding their rights



the freedom to practise and followtheir religion without any fear ofdiscrimination. This is seen as animportant element of our unity – thatwe all live together and respect oneother.

Though these ideals are enshrinedin our Constitution, this chapterpoints out that inequalities exist eventoday. Equality is a value that wehave to keep striving for and notsomething which will happenautomatically. People's struggles andpositive actions by the governmentare necessary to make this a realityfor all Indians.

QUESTIONS

1. Match the following statements in a way that challenges stereotypes.

a. Two surgeons were sitting down tolunch when one of them made a call onthe mobile phone

b. The boy who won the drawingcompetition went to the dias

c. One of the fastest athletes in theworld

d. She was not that well-off but had adream

1. suffers from chronic asthma.

2. to become an astronaut which shedid.

3. to speak with her daughter who hadjust returned from school.

4. on a wheelchair to collect his prize.

The first page of the Constitution that clearlystates that all Indians are entitled to equality ofstatus and opportunity.


2. How can the stereotype that girls are a burden on their parents affectthe life of a daughter? Imagine this situation and list at least fivedifferent effects that this stereotype can have on the way daughtersget treated in the house.

3. What does the Constitution say with regard to equality? Why do youthink it is important for all people to be equal?

4. Sometimes people make prejudiced comments in our presence. We areoften not in a position to do anything about this because it is difficultto say something right then and there. Divide the class into groupsand each group discuss what they could do in one of the followingsituations:

a. A friend begins to tease a classmate because he is poor.

b. You are watching TV with your family and one of themmakes a prejudicial comment about a particularreligious community.

c. Children in your class refuse to share their food with aparticular person because they think she is dirty.

d. Someone tells you a joke that makes fun of a communitybecause of their accent.

e. Some boys make remarks about girls not being able toplay games as well as them.

Discuss in class what the different groups have suggested for theabove situations, and also talk about the problems that can come upwhen raising the issue.

Chapter 3

What isGovernment?

very country needs a governmentto make decisions and get things

done. These can be decisions aboutwhere to build roads and schools, orhow to reduce the price of onionswhen they get too expensive or waysto increase the supply of electricity.The government also takes action onmany social issues, for example it hasseveral programmes to help the poor.It does other important things such asrunning postal and railway services.

You must have heard the word 'government'mentioned several times. In this chapter youwill learn about what a government is and theimportant role it plays in our lives. What dogovernments do? How do they decide what todo? What is the difference between differenttypes of governments such as monarchies anddemocracies? Read more and find out….

Look at the newspaper headlines aboveand list the different kinds of activitiesthat the government is reported to bedoing in these newspaper headlines.

1.

2.

3.

4.

Isn't this a wide range of activities?

What do you think government is?Discuss in class.

E

The government also has the job ofprotecting the boundaries of thecountry and maintaining peacefulrelations with other countries. It isresponsible for ensuring that all itscitizens have enough to eat and havegood health facilities. When there arenatural disasters like the tsunami oran earthquake it is the governmentthat mainly organises aid andassistance for the affected people. Ifthere is a dispute or if someone hascommitted a crime you find people ina court. Courts are also part of thegovernment.

Perhaps you are wondering howgovernments manage to do all this.And why it is necessary for them to doso. When human beings live and worktogether, there needs to be someamount of organisation so thatdecisions can be made.

Some rules have to be made thatapply to everyone. For example, thereis a need to control resources andprotect the territory of a country, sopeople can feel secure. Governmentsdo this on behalf of their people byexercising leadership, takingdecisions and implementing theseamong all the people living in theirterritory.

Levels of Government

Now that you know that thegovernment is responsible for so

Can you list three things thatthe government does whichhave not been mentioned.

1.

2.

3.

Some examples ofinstitutions that arepart of the government:The Supreme Court,The Indian Railwaysand Bharat Petroleum.


many different things, can you thinkof how it manages to do all this? Thegovernment works at different levels:at the local level, at the level of thestate and at the national level. Thelocal level means in your village, townor locality, the state level would meanthat which covers an entire state like

Haryana or Assam and the nationallevel relates to the entire country.Later in this book, you will read abouthow local level government functions,and when you go into the next fewclasses you will learn about howgovernments function at the state andcentral levels.

What is Government? / 29

Delhi

National level

State level


District level

The decision of the Indian government to maintainpeaceful relations with Russia.

The decision of the West Bengal Government onwhether to have Board exam in Class 8 for allgovernment schools.

Introduction of two new train connections betweenJammu and Bhubaneswar.

The decision to locate a common well in aparticular area of the village.

Decision to construct a big children's park inPatna.

The decision of the Haryana government to providefree electricity for all farmers.

Introduction of a new 1000 rupee note.

Exercise: Look at the statements in the column on the left. Canyou identify which level they belong to? Place tick marks againstthe level you consider most appropriate.

Local State Central


Laws and the Government

The government makes laws andeveryone who lives in the country hasto follow these. This is the only waygovernments can function. Just likethe government has the power tomake decisions, similarly it has thepower to enforce its decisions. Forexample, there is a law that says thatall persons driving a motor vehiclemust have a license. Any personcaught driving a vehicle without alicense can either be jailed or fined alarge sum of money. Without theselaws the government's power to makedecisions is not of much use.

In addition to any actions thatgovernments can take, there are alsosteps that people can take if they feelthat a particular law is not beingfollowed. If a person feels, forexample, that they were not hired fora job because of their religion or caste,he or she may approach the court andclaim that the law is not beingfollowed. The court can then giveorders about what should be done.

Types of Government

Who gives the government this powerto make decisions and enforce laws?

The answer to this questiondepends on the type of governmentthere is in a country. In a democracy

it is the people who give thegovernment this power. They do thisthrough elections in which they votefor particular persons and elect them.Once elected, these persons form thegovernment. In a democracy thegovernment has to explain its actionsand defend its decisions to the people.

Another form of government is amonarchy. The monarch (king orqueen) has the power to makedecisions and run the government.The monarch may have a small groupof people to discuss matters with butthe final decision-making powerremains with the monarch. Unlike ina democracy, kings and queens do nothave to explain their actions or defendthe decisions they take.

Discuss

Think of an example of anotherlaw. Why do you think it isimportant that people abide bythis law?


Democratic Governments

India is a democracy. Thisachievement is the result of a longand eventful struggle of the Indianpeople. There are other places in theworld where people have alsostruggled to have democracies. Younow know that the main feature of ademocracy is that the people have thepower to elect their leaders. So in asense a democracy is rule by thepeople. The basic idea is that peoplerule themselves by participating in themaking of these rules.

Democratic governments in ourtimes are usually reffered to asrepresentative democracies. Inrepresentative democracies people do not participate directly but,instead, choose their representatives through an election process. Theserepresentatives meet and make

Discuss1. Do you think it is important for peopleto be involved in decisions that affectthem? Give two reasons for your answer.2. Which type of government wouldyou prefer to have in the place you livein? Why?3. Which of the statements below iscorrect? Correct those sentences thatyou think need correction.

a. In a monarchy the country'scitizens are allowed to elect whomeverthey want.

b. In a democracy a king hasabsolute powers to rule the country.

c. In a monarchy, people can raisequestions about the decisions themonarch takes.

Nowhere in theworld have gover-

nments willinglyshared power.All over Europeand USA,women andthe poor havehad to fight forparticipationin government.

Women'sstruggle to vote

got strengthenedduring the First World

War. This movement is called thewomen's suffrage movement asthe term suffrage usually meansright to vote.

During the War, many men wereaway fighting, and because of thiswomen were called upon to dowork that was earlier consideredmen's work. Many women beganorganising and managingdifferent kinds of work. Whenpeople saw this they began towonder why they had created somany unfair stereotypes aboutwomen and what they werecapable of doing. So womenbegan to be seen as being equallycapable of making decisions.

The suffragettes demanded theright to vote for all women and toget their demands heard theychained themselves to railings inpublic places. Many suffragetteswere imprisoned and went onhunger strikes,and they had to befed by force. American women gotthe right to vote in 1920 whilewomen in the UK got to vote onthe same terms as men someyears later, in 1928.


decisions for the entire population.These days a government cannot callitself democratic unless it allows whatis known as universal adult franchise.This means that all adults in thecountry are allowed to vote.

But it was not always like this.Can you believe that there was a timewhen governments did not allowwomen and the poor to participate inelections? In their earliest formsgovernments allowed only men whoowned property and were educated, tovote. This meant that women, thepoor, the property less and theuneducated were not allowed to vote.The country was governed by therules and regulations that these fewmen made!

In India, before Independence, onlya small minority was allowed to voteand they therefore came together todetermine the fate of the majority.Several people including Gandhijiwere shocked at the unfairness of thispractice and demanded that all adultshave the right to vote. This is knownas universal adult franchise.

Writing in the journal Young Indiain 1931, Gandhiji said, "I cannotpossibly bear the idea that a man whohas got wealth should get the vote buta man who has got character but nowealth or literacy should have no vote,or that a man who honestly works bythe sweat of his brow day in and dayout should not have the vote for thecrime of being a poor man…".

Voting in a rural area: A mark is put on the finger tomake sure that a person casts only one vote.


QUESTIONS

1. What do you understand by the word 'government'? List five ways inwhich you think the government affects your daily life.

2. Why do you think the government needs to make rules for everyonein the form of laws?

3. Name two essential features of a democratic government.

4. What was the suffrage movement? What did it accomplish?

5. Gandhiji strongly believed that every adult in India should be giventhe right to vote. However, a lot of people don't share his views. Manyfeel that illiterate people, who are mainly poor, should not be giventhe right to vote. What do you think? Do you think this would be aform of discrimination? Give five points to support your view andshare these with the class.

Chapter 4

In this chapter you will read about some ofthe key elements that influence the workingof a democratic government. These includepeople's participation, the resolution ofconflict and equality and justice.

outh Africa is a country that haspeople of several races. There are

black people who belong to SouthAfrica, whites who came there to settle,and Indians who came as labourersand traders.

Maya Naidoo, an eleven-year oldSouth African girl living in the town ofJohannesburg, was helping her motherclear up her old boxes. She found ascrapbook full of pictures andnewspaper articles. There were manypictures of a young schoolboy of aroundfifteen years of age. When she askedher mother who the boy was, she wastold that he was called, Hector Ndlovu.

He had been shot by the police. Mayawas shocked. "Why?" she asked.

Her mother explained that SouthAfrica was earlier governed byapartheid laws. Apartheid meansseparation on the basis of race. SouthAfrican people were divided into white,black, Indian and coloured races.According to the law, these races werenot allowed to mingle with each other, tolive near each other or even to usecommon facilities.

Maya could not believe her ears.Maya's mother sounded angry whenshe spoke about life under apartheid.She told Maya that in those days

South Africa

India

S

Key Elements ofa DemocraticGovernment


hospitals were separate and so wereambulances. An ambulance meant forwhite people would always be wellequipped while one meant for blackpeople was not. There were separatetrains and buses. Even the busstopswere different for black and whitepeople.

Non-whites were not allowed tovote. The best land in the country wasreserved for the white people, and non-whites had to live on the worstavailable land. Thus blacks andcoloured people were not considered tobe equal to whites.

One black township was the southwestern township or Soweto. HectorNdlovu lived here and he and hisclassmates joined the protest againstlearning the Afrikaans language inschool. This was the language that the

whites spoke. Hector and other schoolstudents were being forced to learnthis language but they wanted to learntheir own language, Zulu. The SouthAfrican police beat up the protestorsmercilessly and shot at the crowd.One of their bullets killed Hector. Thiswas on 30th of April,1976.

The African National Congress, agroup of people who led the struggleagainst apartheid, and their most wellknown leader, Nelson Mandela foughtthe apartheid system for severalyears. Finally, they succeeded and in1994 South Africa became ademocratic country in which people ofall races were considered equal.

Let us now try to understand whata democratic government means to allof us.

PARTICIPATION

Why do we have regular elections?You've already read in the previouschapter that people make thedecisions in a democracy. Throughvoting in elections people elect leadersto represent them. These representa-tives take decisions on behalf of the

What were Hector and his classmatesprotesting about?List five ways in which the non-whiteswere discriminated against:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.Do you think it is important for allpersons to be treated equally? Why?

people. In doing so it is assumed thatthey will keep in mind the voices andinterests of the people.

All governments are elected for fixedperiods. In India this period is five years.Once elected, governments can stay inpower only for that period. If they wantto continue to be in power then theyhave to be re-elected by the people. Thisis a moment when people can sensetheir power in a democracy. In this waythe power of the government getslimited by regular elections.

Other ways of participating

Elections are usually held once in fiveyears. Besides voting there are otherways of participating in the process ofgovernment. People participate bytaking an interest in the working ofthe government and by criticising itwhen required. In August 2005, whena particular government increased themoney people had to pay forelectricity, people expressed theirdisapproval very sharply. They tookout rallies and also organised asignature campaign. The governmenttried to explain and defend itsdecision but finally listened to thepeople's opinion and withdrew theincrease. The government had tochange its decision because it isresponsible to the people.

Key Elements of a Democratic Government / 37

What approval or disapproval isbeing expressed here?

DiscussLook at some newspapers anddiscuss some elections that youmay have read about. Why doyou think elections are requiredafter a fixed period?

Not bad! One of the taps in the nearbyvillage must be getting water!

Take ActionIt is worrying to know thatthe tiger population in India isfalling. Tigers are beinghunted and killed by poachersfor their skins. Thegovernment has not taken theissue of poaching seriouslyenough. It must take actionimmediately, arrest thepoachers and implement thelaws protecting the tiger. Ifthis does not happen the tigerwill become an extinct animalin the next ten years.

Sohan PalGuwahati, Assam

'Government mustgive compensationto flood victims'

Letters to the editor


There are many ways in whichpeople express their views and makegovernments understand whatactions they should take. Theseinclude dharnas, rallies, strikes,signature campaigns etc. Things thatare unfair and unjust are alsobrought forward. Newspapers,magazines and TV also play a role indiscussing government issues andresponsibilities.

While it is true that a democracyallows people to participate, it is alsotrue that not all sections of people areactually able to do so. Another way forpeople to participate is by organisingthemselves into social movementsthat seek to challenge the governmentand its functioning. Members of theminority community, dalits, adivasis,women and others are often able toparticipate in this manner.

If a country's people are alert andinterested in how the country is run,the democratic character of thegovernment of that country will bestronger.

So the next time we see a rallywinding through the streets of ourcities and towns or villages we shouldpause to find out what the rally isabout, who is participating in it, andwhat they are protesting about. Thiswill help to give us a sense of how ourgovernment works.

NEED TO RESOLVE CONFLICT

In Maya's story you read about howconflicts can often lead to violenceand death because one group decidesthat it is all right to use force toprevent the other group fromprotesting.

Conflicts occur when people ofdifferent cultures, religions, regions oreconomic backgrounds do not getalong with each other, or when someamong them feel they are beingdiscriminated against. People may useviolent means to settle theirdifferences. This leads to fear andtension among others living in anarea. The government is responsiblefor helping to resolve conflicts.

Let's read about some of theconflicts in our society and the role ofthe government in resolving them.

Read the story again: Do youthink the police shooting ofHector could have beenavoided? How?

Religious processions andcelebrations can sometimes lead toconflicts. For example, the route aprocession takes may lead to a conflict.The government, particularly the police play an important role in getting representatives of concernedcommunities to meet and try andarrive at a solution. At times there isfear that violence may erupt, withpeople throwing stones or trying todisrupt the procession. The police isresponsible for ensuring that violencedoes not take place.

Rivers too can become a source ofconflict between states. A river maybegin in one place, flow through

another and end in a third. Thesharing of river water betweendifferent places that the river goesthrough is becoming an issue ofconflict. For example you may haveheard about the Cauvery waterdispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The water stored inKrishnasagar dam in Karnataka isused for irrigating a number ofdistricts and for meeting the needs ofthe city of Bangalore. The water storedin Mettur dam in Tamil Nadu is usedfor crops grown in the delta region ofthat state.

A conflict arises because both damsare on the same river. The downstreamdam in Tamil Nadu can only be filledup if water is released from theupstream one located in Karnataka.Therefore, both states can't get asmuch water as they need for people intheir states. This leads to conflict. Thecentral government has to step in andsee that a fair distribution is workedout for both states.

Key Elements of a Democratic Government / 39

The Indian Constitution laysdown the basic rules or laws thathave to be followed by everyone.These laws are for both thegovernment and the people.Conflicts and differences have tobe resolved according to theselaws. We will read more aboutthis in later classes.

Quiet flows the Cauvery despite being at the centre ofheated conflict between two states for the last 30 years.


EQUALITY AND JUSTICE

One of the key ideas of a democraticgovernment is its commitment toequality and justice. Equality andjustice are inseparable.

The earlier practice of untouch-ability is now banned by law. Thisgroup of people were denied education,transport or medical facilities and even the chance to offer prayers. Dr Ambedkar, whom you have readabout earlier in this book, and manyothers like him, realised that suchpractices must not continue and thatjustice can only be achieved whenpeople are treated equally.

The government also recognisesthis and makes special provisions forgroups within society that are unequal.For instance, in our society there is ageneral tendency to value and care forthe boy child more than the girl child.

This means that society does notvalue the girl and boy child equally andthis is unjust. In this context thegovernment steps in to promote justiceby providing special provisions thatcan enable girls to overcome theinjustice that they are subjected to.Thus it is possible that fees for girlsmight be waived or lowered ingovernment schools or colleges.

QUESTIONS

1. How would Maya's life be different in South Africa today?

2. What are the various ways in which people participate in the processof government?

3. Why do you think we need the government to find solutions to manydisputes or conflicts?

4. What actions does the government take to ensure that all people aretreated equally?

5. Read through the chapter and discuss some of the key ideas of ademocratic government. Make a list. For example, all people areequal.

How do you think lowering the schoolfees would help girls attend school?

Can you think of any experience fromyour life in which you have helpedsomeone out of a situation which youthought was unfair? Did everyone elsesee it the same way? What did youhave to say to convince others thatwhat you did was fair?

DiscussIn Maya's story did the governmentsupport the idea that people areequal?

In Dr Ambedkar's story did thepractice of untouchability supportthe idea that people are equal?

Chapter 5

Panchayati Raj

t's a special day today! Everyone'srushing to get to the Gram Sabha!

Do you know why? Because the GramSabha is holding its first meeting aftertheelectionof thenewGramPanchayat.

The people of Hardas village are keento find out what their new Panchayatleaders have planned for the village.

Gram SabhaThe Gram Sabha meeting begins withthe Panchayat President (who is alsocalled the Sarpanch) and the membersof the Panchayat (the Panchs)presenting a plan on repairing the roadthat connects the village to the mainhighway. After this, the discussionmoves to the subject of water andwater shortages.

The Gram Sabha is a meeting of alladults who live in the area coveredby a Panchayat. This could be onlyone village or a few villages. In somestates, as in the example above, avillage meeting is held for eachvillage. Anyone who is 18 years oldor more and who has the right to voteis a member of the Gram Sabha.

What happens after people elect theirrepresentatives? How are decisions made? Let'slook at how this takes place in rural areas. Here,we look at the Gram Sabha, which is a meetingwhere people directly participate and seekanswers from their elected representatives.

I


A villager called Tijia begins themeeting by saying, "The water problemin Hardas has become very acute. Thehand pump water has gone well belowthe point up to which the ground hasbeen drilled. We hardly get any waterin the taps. Women have to go to theSuru river which is 3 k.m. away to getwater." One of the members suggestspiping water from the Suru and makingan overhead tank in the village toincrease the supply. But the othersthink that this will be expensive. It'sbetter, they feel, to deepen thehandpumps and clean the wells for thisseason. Tijia says, "This is not enough.

We need to do something morepermanent as groundwater levels seemto be going down every year. We'reusing more water than is seeping intothe ground."

Another member, Anwar then tellseveryone that he has seen ways ofconserving water and recharging(refilling) it in a village in Maharashtrawhere he'd once gone to visit hisbrother. It was called watersheddevelopment and he had heard that thegovernment gave money for this work.

In his brother's village people hadplanted trees, constructed check-damsand tanks. Everyone thought this wasan interesting idea and the GramPanchayat was asked to find out aboutit in detail.

The next item on the agenda for theGram Sabha is the finalisation of thelist of people below the poverty line(BPL) which had to be approved by theGram Sabha. As soon as the list is readout people begin to whisper. "Natwarhas just bought a colour T.V. and hisson has sent him a new motorcycle.How can he be below the poverty line?"Soorajmal mutters to the person sittingnext to him. Saroj says to Sukhi bai"How did Birju's name get on to the list?He has so much land. This list should

1. What is a Gram Sabha?

2. In the meeting of the GramSabha so far what are theproblems that are beingdiscussed? What sort of solutionsare being suggested?

Every village Panchayat isdivided into wards, i.e. smallerareas. Each ward elects arepresentative who is known asthe Ward Member (Panch). Allthe members of the Gram Sabhaalso elect a Sarpanch who is thePanchayat President. The WardPanchs and the Sarpanch formthe Gram Panchayat. The GramPanchayat is elected for fiveyears.

The Gram Panchayat has aSecretary who is also theSecretary of the Gram Sabha.This person is not an electedperson but is appointed by thegovernment. The Secretary isresponsible for calling themeeting of the Gram Sabha andGram Panchayat and keeping arecord of the proceedings.

have only poor people. And OmPrakash is a landless labourer who canbarely make ends meet, yet his name isnot on the list." "You know that bothNatwar and Birju are friends ofAmirchand's. Who can counterAmirchand's power?' Sukhi Bai says,"Amirchand was the earlier Zamindar(landowner) of the village and still hascontrol over a lot of land. But we shouldget Om Prakash's name put in."

The Sarpanch (Panchayat Presi-dent) notices people whispering andasks if anyone has anything to say.Saroj tries to provoke Soorajmal to askabout Natwar and Birju. But he keepsquiet. Amirchand is sitting in the GramSabha keeping an eye on everyone.Then Saroj gets up and says that OmPrakash's name should be in the BPLlist. Others agree that he and his familyare very poor. The Sarpanch asks howhis name had been missed out. Theteacher who did the survey of BPL

families says, "Om Prakash's housewas locked when I went there. He mayhave gone somewhere to look for work."The Sarpanch gives instructions thatOm Prakash's family income be lookedat and if it is less than what has beendecided by the government, his nameshould be included in the list.

Panchayati Raj / 45

1. Was there a problem with the BPLlist that the Gram Sabha wasfinalising? What was this problem?2. Why do you think Soorajmal keptquiet even though Saroj asked him tospeak?3. Have you seen any similarincidents when people are unable tospeak for themselves? Why do youthink that happened and whatprevented the person from speaking?4. How can the Gram Sabha preventthe Panchayat from doing what itlikes?

The Gram Sabha is a key factor in making the Gram Panchayat play its role and beresponsible. It is theplace where all plans forthe work of the GramPanchayat are placedbefore the people.

The Gram Sabhaprevents the Panchayatfrom doing wrong thingslike misusing money or favouring certainpeople. It plays animportant role in keepingan eye on the electedrepresentatives and inmaking them responsibleto the persons whoelected them.

The Gram Panchayat

The Gram Panchayat meets regularlyand one of its main tasks is toimplement development programmesfor all villages that come under it. Asyou have seen, the work of the GramPanchayat has to be approved by theGram Sabha.

In some states, Gram Sabhas formcommittees like construction anddevelopment committees. Thesecommittees include some members ofthe Gram Sabha and some from theGram Panchayat who work together tocarry out specific tasks.

Let's see what the Hardas GramPanchayat was able to do.

Do you remember the options thatwere suggested to solve the waterproblem in the Gram Sabha of Hardasvillage? When the Hardas GramPanchayat held a meeting, this pointwas brought up again by some of themembers (Panchs). This meeting wasattended by the Sarpanch, WardMembers (Panchs) and the Secretary.

Gram Panchayat members firstdiscussed the suggestion to deepen twohandpumps and clean one well, so thatthe village would not go without water.The Sarpanch (Panchayat President)suggested that since the Panchayat hadreceived some money for maintenanceof handpumps, this could be used

Two village Panchs from Maharashtra who wereawarded the Nirmal Gram Puruskar in 2005 forthe excellent work done by them in the Panchayat.

The work of a Gram Panchayatincludes

1. The construction and maintenanceof water sources, roads, drainage,school buildings and othercommon property resources.

2. Levying and collecting local taxes. 3. Executing government schemes

related to generating employmentin the village.

Sources of funds for thePanchayat

Collection of taxes on houses,market places etc.Government scheme funds receivedthrough various departments of thegovernment – through the Janpadand Zila Panchayats.Donations for community works etc.


Panchayati Raj / 47

for completing this work. Themembers agreed and the Secretaryrecorded their decision.

The members then went on todiscuss the options for a long-termsolution. They were sure that theGram Sabha members would askquestions at the next meeting. SomePanchs asked whether the watershedprogramme would make a substantialdifference to the water level. A lot ofdiscussion followed. In the end it wasdecided that the Gram Panchayatwould approach the BlockDevelopment Officer and get moreinformation on the scheme.

Three Levels of PanchayatsAfter reading about what happened inthe Gram Sabha and the GramPanchayat in Hardas village you canunderstand that the Panchayati RajSystem is a process through whichpeople participate in their owngovernment. The Panchayati Rajsystem is the first tier or level ofdemocratic government. The Panchsand the Gram Panchayat areanswerable to the Gram Sabhabecause it is the members of the GramSabha who elected them.

This idea of people's participationin the Panchayati Raj system extendsto two other levels. One is the Blocklevel, which is called the JanpadPanchayat or the Panchayat Samiti.The Panchayat Samiti has many GramPanchayats under it. Above thePanchayat Samiti is the DistrictPanchayat or the Zila Parishad. The

What decisions were taken by theGram panchayat?

Do you think it was necessary forthem to take these decisions?Why?

From the above description, writedown one question that peoplecould ask of the Panchayat in thenext Gram Sabha meeting.

Watershed management has transformedthis barren slope to a green meadow injust two years.


Zila Parishad actually makesdevelopmental plans at the districtlevel. With the help of PanchayatSamitis, it also regulates the moneydistribution among all the GramPanchayats.

Within the guidelines given in theConstitution each state in the countryhas its own laws with regard toPanchayats. The idea is to provide

more and more space for people toparticipate and raise their voices.

Ask your teacher to invite any ofthe elected persons such as thePanch, Sarpanch (PanchayatPresident) or member of theJanpad or Zila Panchayat andinterview them on their work andthe projects undertaken by them.

QUESTIONS

1. What problem did the villagers in Hardas village face? What did they do tosolve this problem?

2. What, in your opinion, is the importance of the Gram Sabha? Do you thinkall members should attend Gram Sabha meetings? Why?

3. What is the link between a Gram Sabha and a Gram Panchayat?

4. Take an example of any one task done by a Panchayat in your area/nearbyrural area and find out the following:a. Why it was taken up.b. Where the money came from.c. Whether or not the work has been completed.

5. What is the difference between a Gram Sabha and a Gram Panchayat?

6. Read the following news item.Nimone is a village on the Chauphula-Shirur Road. Like many others, this villagehas also been facing a severe water shortage for the last few months and villagersdepend on tankers for all their needs. Bhagvan Mahadeo Lad (35) of this village wasbeaten with sticks, iron rods and axes by a group of seven men. The incident cameto light when some villagers brought a badly injured Lad to hospital for treatment.In the FIR recorded by the police Lad said that he was attacked when he insistedthat the water in the tanker must be emptied into the storage tanks constructed aspart of the water supply scheme by Nimone Gram Panchayat so that there would beequal distribution of water. However, he alleged that the upper caste men wereagainst this and told him that the tanker water was not meant for the lower castes.

Adapted from Indian Express, May 1, 2004a. Why was Bhagvan beaten?b. Do you think that the above is a case of discrimination? Why?

7. Find out more about watershed development and how it benefits an area?

Chapter 6

RuralAdministration

A Quarrel in the Village

ohan is a farmer. His familyowns a small agricultural field,

which they have been farming formany years. Next to his field is Raghu'sland which is separated from his by asmall boundary called a bund.

One morning Mohan noticed thatRaghu had shifted the bund by a fewfeet. By doing so, he had managed to

take over some of Mohan's land, andincreased the size of his own field.Mohan was angry but also a littlefrightened. Raghu's family ownedmany fields and besides, his unclewas also the Sarpanch of the village.But even so, he plucked up courageand went to Raghu's house.

A heated argument followed.Raghu refused to accept that he hadmoved the bund. He called one of hishelpers and they began shouting atMohan and beating him up. Theneighbours heard the commotionand rushed to the spot where Mohanwas being beaten up. They took himaway.

He was badly hurt on his headand hand. He was given first aid byone of his neighbours. His friend,who also ran the village post-office,suggested that they go to the localpolice station and file a report.

Others were doubtful if this was a goodidea because they felt they wouldwaste a lot of money and nothingwould come out of it. Some people saidthat Raghu's family would havealready contacted the police station.

After much discussion it wasdecided that Mohan would go to thepolice station along with some of theneighbours who had seen the incident.

There are more than six lakh villages in India.Taking care of their needs for water, electricity,road connections, is not a small task. In additionto this, land records have to be maintained andconflicts too need to be dealt with. A largemachinery is in place to deal with all this. In thischapter we will look at the work of two ruraladministrative officers in some detail.

M

Area of the Police Station

On the way to the police station one ofthe neighbours asked, "Why don't wespend some more money and go to themain police station in the town?"

"It is not a question of money. Wecan register the case only in this policestation because our village comes in itsarea of work," explained Mohan.

Every police station has an areathat comes under its control. Allpersons in that area can report cases orinform the police about any theft,accident, injury, fight, etc. It is theresponsibility of the police of thatstation to enquire, to investigate andtake action on the cases within its area.

The work at the Police Station

When they reached the police stationMohan went to the person in charge(Station House Officer or S.H.O.) andtold him what had happened. He alsosaid that he wanted to give thecomplaint in writing. The S.H.O rudelybrushed him aside saying that hecouldn't be bothered to waste his timewriting down minor complaints and

then investigating them. Mohanshowed him his injuries but the S.H.Odid not believe him.

Mohan was puzzled and did notknow what to do. He was not sure whyhis complaint was not being recorded.He went and called his neighbours intothe office. They argued strongly thatMohan had been beaten up in front ofthem and had they not rescued him he

would have been injured veryseriously. They insisted that the casebe registered. Finally the officer agreed.He asked Mohan to write down hiscomplaint and also told the people thathe would send a constable the next dayto investigate the incident.

1. If there is a theft in your housewhich police station would you goto to register your complaint?

2. What was the dispute betweenMohan and Raghu?

3. Why was Mohan worried aboutpicking a quarrel with Raghu?

4. Some people said Mohan shouldreport the matter to the police andothers said he should not. Whatwere the arguments they gave?

Show the above situation in thepolice station through a skit. Then talk about how you feltplaying Mohan's role or that of theS.H.O or the neighbours. Could theS.H.O have handled the situationdifferently?


Maintenance of Land RecordsYou saw that Mohan and Raghu werearguing heatedly whether the commonboundary of their fields had beenshifted. Isn't there a way by which theycould have settled this dispute in apeaceful manner? Are there recordsthat show who owns what land in thevillage? Let's find out how this is done.

Measuring land and keeping landrecords is the main work of thePatwari. The Patwari is known bydifferent names in different states - insome villages such officers are called Lekhpal, in others Kanungo or

Karamchari or Village Officer etc. Wewill refer to this officer as Patwari.Each Patwari is responsible for agroup of villages. The Patwarimaintains and updates the records ofthe village.

The map and the correspondingdetails from the register on the nextpage are a small part of the recordskept by the Patwari.

The Patwari usually has ways ofmeasuring agricultural fields. In someplaces a long chain is used. In theabove instance the Patwari would havemeasured both Mohan's and Raghu'sfields and compared them with themeasurements on the map. If they didnot match then it would be clear thatthe boundary of the fields has beenchanged.

The Patwari is also responsible fororganising the collection of landrevenue from the farmers andproviding information to the govern-ment about the crops grown in thisarea. This is done from the recordsthat are kept, and this is why it'simportant for the Patwari to regularlyupdate these. Farmers may changethe crops grown on their fields orsomeone may dig a well somewhere,

Find out the term used for the Patwariin your state.

If you live in a rural area find out:

How many villages does the Patwari ofyour area maintain land records of?

How do people in the village contacthim/her?

Rural Administration / 51

The Khasra record of the Patwari gives you information regarding the map givenbelow. It identifies which plot of land is owned by whom. Look at both the records andthe map and answer the questions given below regarding Mohan and Raghu's land.

1 4

5

6

2

3

8

7


1. Who owns the land south ofMohan's field?

2. Mark the common boundarybetween Mohan's and Raghu's lands.

3. Who can use field no 3?

4. What information can one get forfield no 2 and field no 3?

SCALE - 1 INCH = ---- FEET

NORTH

Boundary

Well

Grassland

Kachcha Road

Pakka road

Tree

Legend

|

|

|

|

|

||

|

|

|

|

| | | | | | |

No. Area inhectare

Name of owner,Father orhusband's name,address

If it is rentedto some otherfarmer,their nameand rentrecieved

Area cultivatedthis year

Cropgrown

Area Sec-ondcropgrown

Khasra 5

FacilitiesAreanotculti-vatedfallowland

0.75 Mohan, Son of Raja No Soya- 0.75Ram, Village bean Hectare

Amrapura owner

3.00 Raghu Ram, Son of No Soya- 2.75 0.25RatanLall, Village bean, Hectare

Amrapura owner Wheat, 1.75 Well -1irriga- workingted

6.00 Madhya Pradesh No – Well -1Government workingGrassland Grazing

VILLAGE - AMRAPURA

PATWARI RECORD - 16

and keeping track of all this is thework of the revenue department ofthe government. Senior people inthis department supervise thePatwari's work.

All states in India are dividedinto districts. For managing mattersrelating to land these districts arefurther sub-divided. These sub-divisions of a district are known bydifferent names such as tehsil,taluka, etc. At the head is theDistrict Collector and under her arethe revenue officers, also known astehsildars. They have to heardisputes. They also supervise thework of the Patwaris and ensurethat records are properly kept andland revenue is collected. Theymake sure that the farmers caneasily obtain a copy of their record,students can obtain their castecertificates etc. The Tehsildar'soffice is where land disputes arealso heard.

A daughter's wish

Father inherited our housefrom his father

And everyone says he'llleave it to brother

But what about me and mymother?

To expect a share in myfather's home,

Is not very womanly, I amtold.

But I really want a place ofmy own,

Not dowry of silk and gold.

(Source: Reflections on MY FAMILY, Anjali Monteiro,TISS)

Farmers often require a copy of their land'srecord together with a map, as shown inthe previous illustration. They have a rightto this information. They may have to paya small fee for this.

However, this information is not easilymade available and farmers sometimeshave to face many problems to get it. Insome states, records are now beingcomputerised and also kept at thePanchayat office so that they are moreeasily available and regularly updated.

When do you think farmers may require acopy of this record? Study the followingsituations and identify the cases in whichthese records would be necessary and why.

* A farmer wants to buy a plot of land fromanother.* A farmer wants to sell her produce toanother.* A farmer wants a loan from the bank todig a well in her land.* A farmer wants to purchase fertilizers forhis field.* A farmer wants to divide his propertyamong his children.

Rural Administration / 53


A New Law(Hindu Succession Amendment Act,2005)

Often when we think of farmers whoown land, we think of men. Women areseen as people who work on the fields,but not as people who ownagricultural land. Till recently in somestates Hindu women did not get ashare in the family's agricultural land.After the death of the father hisproperty was divided equally onlyamong his sons.

Recently, the law was changed. Inthe new law sons, daughters and theirmothers can get an equal share in theland. The same law will apply to allstates and union territories of thecountry.

This law will benefit a large numberof women. For example Sudha is theeldest daughter of an agriculturalfamily. She is married and lives in aneighbouring village. After her father'sdeath Sudha often comes to help hermother with the farming work.

Her mother has asked the Patwarito transfer the land and enter hername along with the names of all thechildren in his record.

Sudha's mother confidentlyorganises the farming with the help ofthe younger brother and sister.Similarly Sudha also lives with theassurance that if she ever has aproblem she can always depend uponher share of the land.

Other Public Services - A survey

This chapter has looked at some of the administrative work of thegovernment, especially for rural areas. The first example related tomaintaining law and order and the second to maintaining land records.In the first case we examined the role of the police and in the secondthat of the Patwari. This work is supervised by other people in thedepartment, such as the Tehsildar or the Superintendent of Police. Wehave also seen how people use these services, and some of the problemsthat they face. These services have to be used and made to functionaccording to the laws that have been framed for them. You haveprobably seen many other public services and facilities provided byvarious departments of the government.

Do the following exercise for your village/by visiting a nearby village orlooking at your own area.

List the public services in the village/area such as: the milk society, thefair price shop, the bank, the police station, the agricultural society forseeds and fertiliser, the post office or sub post office, the anganwadi,crèche, government school/s, health centre or government hospital etc.Collect information on three public services and discuss with yourteacher how improvements can be made in their functioning. Oneexample has been worked out.

Rural Administration / 55Pu

blic

serv

ice

Wh

at

did

you

not

ice

abou

tth

eir

wor

k?

Are

a c

over

ed

Wh

at

do

they

nee

d t

o do

inor

der

to

use

the

faci

lity

?

Impro

vem

ents

that

can

be

made

Pro

ble

ms

face

d b

yth

ose

man

agi

ng

the

serv

ice

Pro

ble

ms

face

d b

ypeo

ple

Fair

-pri

cesh

op(r

ati

osh

op)

Th

e sh

op w

as

open

. Th

ree

peo

ple

cam

e.Th

ey a

ll h

ad

yellow

card

s.Th

ey b

ough

tsu

gar

an

dri

ce.

Ker

osen

ew

as

not

ava

ilable

.

Th

is s

hop

cove

rs t

wo

village

s.

You

nee

d a

rati

on c

ard

.Th

is h

as

to b

em

ade

at

the

teh

sil

office

.

Th

ere

isn

oten

ough

supply

of

ker

osen

e.

Ric

e is

of

very

bad

qu

ality

.We

nev

er g

etker

osen

e.

Impro

vequ

ality

of

rice

. M

ake

ker

osen

eava

ilable

. Th

e fa

ir p

rice

shop

sh

ould

open

eve

ryday.

Hea

lth

cen

tre

Milk

soci

ety


QUESTIONS

1. What is the work of the police?

2. List two things that the work of a Patwari includes.

3. What is the work of a tehsildar?

4. What issue is the poem trying to raise? Do you think this is animportant issue? Why?

5. In what ways are the work of the Panchayat, that you read about inthe previous chapter, and the work of the Patwari related to eachother?

6. Visit a police station and find out the work that the police have to doto prevent crime and maintain law and order in their area especiallyduring festivals, public meetings etc.

7. Who is in charge of all the police stations in a district? Find out.

8. How do women benefit under the new law?

9. In your neighbourhood are there women who own property? How didthey acquire it?

Chapter 7

UrbanAdministration

ne lazy Sunday afternoon Malaand her friends Shankar, Jehangir

and Rehana were playing a game ofcricket in the street.

Shankar had bowled a good overand although he nearly managed to getRehana out, she was still playing.Frustrated, he bowled a short ball andhoped she would hit it for an easy catch.Instead, Rehana hit the ball so hard andso high that the street light broke.Rehana screamed, "Oh no, look whatI've done!" Shankar said, "Yes! we forgotto make a rule that if you break thestreet light you are automatically out."

But Mala, Jehangir and Rehana weremore worried about what had happenedand they told Shankar he'd better stopthinking about the wicket.

Last week they had broken NirmalaMausi's window and had spent theirpocket money to have it replaced. Wouldthey have to dish out money again fromtheir pockets? But who would they paythis to? To whom did the lights on thestreets belong? Who changed them?

Rehana's house was the closest andthey ran and told her mother what hadhappened. Rehana's mother said, "Idon't really know these things in great

A city is much bigger than a village and more spreadout. A city has crowded markets, many buses andcars, water and electricity facilities, traffic controland hospitals. Have you ever wondered who isresponsible for running all this? Do you know howdecisions are made? How the planning is done?Who are the people who do all the work? Read thischapter and find some answers.

O

detail but I do know that it is theMunicipal Corporation of the city thattakes care of replacing lights. The bestperson to ask would be Yasmin Khala.She just retired from the MunicipalCorporation. Go and ask her, andRehana come back home soon."

Yasmin Khala lived in the same laneand she and Rehana's mother weregood friends. The children ran toKhala's house and when she openedthe door they began to tell her whathad happened all at once! When theyasked about the street light, YasminKhala laughed and said, "There is noone person that you can pay the moneyto. There is a big organisation calledthe Municipal Corporation that takescare of street lights, garbage collection,water supply, keeping the streets andthe market clean."

"I've heard about the MunicipalCorporation. They've put up signsaround the city to inform people aboutmalaria," said Mala.

"Yes, you are quite right. TheMunicipal Corporation is alsoresponsible for ensuring that diseasesdo not break out in the city. It also runsschools, hospitals and dispensaries.And makes gardens and maintainsthem," said Yasmin Khala. Then sheadded, "Our city Pune is a big city and

so here it is called a MunicipalCorporation. In smaller towns it iscalled a Municipal Council."

The Ward Councillor andAdministrative Staff

"Yasmin Khala, I'm curious. Whodecides where a park should go? Didyou have to make interesting decisionslike this when you worked in theMunicipal Corporation?" askedRehana.

"No Rehana, I was working in theaccounts office of the Corporation so Ijust worked on pay slips. Cities areusually quite large so the MunicipalCorporation has to make a lot ofdecisions as well as do a lot of work tokeep the city clean. The decisions likewhere a park or a new hospital shouldgo are usually made by the WardCouncillors."

List at least four different tasksthat the Municipality does:1.

2.

3.

4.


The city is divided into differentwards and ward councillors getelected. The complicated decisions thataffect the entire city are taken bygroups of councillors who form commi-ttees to decide and debate issues. Forexample, if bus stands need to beimproved, or a crowded market-placeneeds to have its garbage cleared moreregularly, or there is a 'nala' or drainthat cuts through the city that needscleaning etc. It is these committees forwater, garbage collection, street lightingetc. that decide on the work to be done.

When the problems are within award then the people who live in theward can contact their councillors. Forexample, if there are dangerouselectrical wires hanging down then thelocal Councillor can help them get intouch with the electricity authority.

While the Councillor's Committeesand the councillors decide on issues,the Commissioner and the adminis-trative staff implement these. TheCommissioner and the administrativestaff are appointed. Councillors areelected.

"So how are these decisions made?"said Rehana who never gave up on hertrain of thought.

"Well, all of the Ward Councillorsmeet and they make a budget and themoney is spent according to this. TheWard Councillors try and ensure thatthe particular demands of their wardare placed before the entire council.These decisions are then implementedby the administrative staff," saidYasmin Khala, enjoying the questions

Fill in the blanks in the sentencesbelow:

1. In a panchayat the elected membersare called ___________.

2. The city is divided into several___________.

3. In a municipal corporation the electedmembers are called ___________.

4. Groups of councillors deal withissues that affect the ___________ .

5. Elections are held once every_________ years for the panchayat aswell as for the municipality

6. While the councillors makedecisions the administrative staff led by the Commissioner______________ these.

How does the MunicipalCorporation get its money?Providing and running so manyservices requires a lot of money. TheMunicipal Corporation collects this indifferent ways. A tax is a sum ofmoney that people pay to thegovernment for the services thegovernment provides. People whoown homes have to pay a property taxas well as taxes for water and otherservices. The larger the house themore the tax. Property taxes howeverform only 25-30 per cent of the moneythat a Municipal Corporation earns.

There are also taxes for education andother amenities. If you own a hotel orshop then you have to pay a tax forthis as well. Also the next time you goto see a movie look carefully at yourticket because you pay a tax for this aswell. Thus while rich people accountfor property taxes, a much widerpopulation pays more general taxes.

Urban Administration / 59

that the children asked.No adults asked herabout her job and thechildren's questionsprovided her anopportunity to relive someof her experiences.

"But the city is solarge. It must take a lot ofpeople to look after it.Does the MunicipalCorporation have a lot ofworkers?" asked Shekharcuriously. He had by nowluckily forgotten about thecricket match and hisincomplete over.

"Yes, the work in thecity is divided intodifferent departments. Sothere is the waterdepartment, the garbage collectiondepartment, a department to look aftergardens, another to look after roads. Iworked on accounts in the sanitationdepartment," said Yasmin Khala andthen went on to offer the children somekababs to eat.

Jehangir ate his kababs at topspeed and as he wolfed them down heasked loudly from the kitchen, "YasminKhala where does the garbage that theMunicipal Corporation collects go to?".The others were still eating whenYasmin Khala began to answer, "Thisquestion has an interesting answer. Asyou know you can usually find garbagelying all over the street. Earlier evenour neighbourhood used to havegarbage lying all over, and if this

remains uncollected it attracts dogs,rats and flies. Also, people get ill fromthe smell. At one point things becameso bad that children even stoppedplaying cricket in the street becausetheir parents were afraid that they'dget sick from staying on the streets toolong."

A Community Protest

Yasmin Khala continued, "The womenwere very unhappy about the situationand even came to me for advice. I saidI could try and speak with some officerin the department but I wasn't surehow long it would take. Then it wasGangabai who said that it is the WardCouncillor who we should go to andprotest since we are the ones who


Recycling is not a new thing. People like the man in the photoabove have been recycling paper, metal, glass and plastic for along time. The kabadi wallah plays a major role in recyclinghousehold plastic and paper, including your note books.

elected him. She gathered a smallgroup of women and went to his house.They began shouting slogans in front ofhis house and he came out and askedthem what was wrong.

Gangabai described the situation inthe locality to him. He promised to gowith them the next day to meet theCommissioner. He asked Gangabai toget a petition signed by all of the adultsin the locality saying that garbage wasnot being collected. He suggested thattaking the local sanitation engineerwith them the next day might be a goodidea. The sanitation engineer could alsospeak with the Commissioner and tellhim how bad the situation was. Thatevening children ran from house to

house making sure that as manyfamilies as possible signed the petition.

The next morning a large group ofwomen and the Ward Councillor andthe sanitation engineer went to theMunicipal Corporation office. TheCommissioner met with this large groupand began giving excuses saying thatthe Corporation did not have enoughtrucks. But Gangabai smartly replied,"But you seem to have enough trucks tocollect garbage from the rich localities".

"That must have left him lost forwords," quipped Jehangir.

"Yes, he said that he would takecare of it immediately and Gangabaithreatened that if it was not done intwo days a larger group of womenwould protest in front of theCorporation," said Yasmin Khala. "Sodid the streets get cleaned?" askedRehana who never let things remainunfinished.

"Well not within two days and thenafter another larger and more noisyprotest the sanitation service in thislocality became more regular."

"Wow this sounds just like aBollywood film with a happy ending,"


What has changed since Khalaretired?

What Yasmin Khala did notmention to the children was that inrecent times, in order to save moneythe Commissioners of severalmunicipalities across the countryhad hired private contractors tocollect and process garbage. This iscalled Sub-Contracting. This meansthat the work that was earlier beingdone by government workers is nowbeing done by a private company.

These contract workers get paid lessand their jobs are temporary.Collecting garbage is also quite adangerous job and often thesecontract workers do not have anyaccess to safety measures and arenot taken care of if they are injuredwhile working.

What was Gangabai protestingabout?Why do you think Gangabaidecided to approach the WardCouncillor? What did Gangabai say whenthe Commissioner said thatthere were not enough trucks inthe city?

The city of Surat had a plague scare in 1994. Surat was one ofthe dirtiest cities in India. Houses hotels and restaurants woulddump their garbage into the nearest drain or street which madeit very difficult for sweepers to collect and transfer the garbageinto selected dumps. In addition to this the Municipal Councildid not collect the garbage as often as it should have and thisled to the situation getting worse. Plague spreads through theair and people who have the disease have to be isolated. InSurat, several people lost their lives, and over 300,000 desertedthe town. The scare of the plague ensured that the municipalcouncil completely cleaned up the city. To this date Suratcontinues to remain the second cleanest city in India afterChandigarh.

Do you know when and how often garbage gets collected in yourneighbourhood? Do you think it is the same for allneighbourhoods of the city? Why not? Discuss.


said Mala who already beganimagining herself in the lead role ofGangabai.

The children enjoyed hearingGangabai's story immensely. Theyhad sensed that Gangabai was muchloved and respected and now theyunderstood why. They got up andthanked Khala for answering theirquestions and then, before they left,Rehana said, "Oh I have one lastquestion Khala. The two dustbins thatwe have at home now, are they alsoGangabai's idea?"

Khala began laughing. "No, notreally. The Municipal Corporation wasthe one who suggested that we do thisto help keep our streets clean. When wesort our own garbage it reduces theirwork."

The children thanked Khalaand walked back down the streettogether. It had become quite lateand they needed to get back home.For some reason the street seemeddarker than usual. They lookedup and then looked at each othersmiling and ran right back toKhala's house…


Photo 1

QUESTIONS

1. Why did the children go to Yasmin Khala's house?

2. List four ways in which the work of the Municipal Corporationaffects the life of a city-dweller.

3. Who is a Municipal Councillor?

4. What did Gangabai do and why?

5. How does the Municipal Corporation earn the money to do itswork?


6. Discuss:

In the two photographs you see different ways of collecting anddisposing garbage.

i) Which way do you think provides safety to the person disposinggarbage?

ii) What are the dangers of collecting garbage in the manner shown inthe first photograph?

iii) Why do you think that proper ways of disposing garbage are notavailable to those who work in municipalities?

Photo 2

7. Several poor people in the city work as domestic servants as well aswork for the Corporation, keeping the city clean. Yet the slums inwhich they live are quite filthy. This is because these slums seldomhave any water and sanitation facilities. The reason often given bythe Municipal Corporation is that the land in which the poor haveset up their homes does not belong to them and that slum-dwellersdo not pay taxes. However people living in middle classneighbourhoods pay very little in taxes compared to the amount ofmoney the corporation spends on them in setting up parks, streetlighting facilities, regular garbage collection etc. Also as you read inthis chapter, the property taxes collected by the Municipality makesup only 25-30 per cent of its money. Why do you think it isimportant that the Corporation should spend more money on slumlocalities? Why is it important that the Municipal Corporationprovide the poor in the city with the same facilities that the rich get?

Chapter 8

RuralLivelihoods

In the first chapter we looked at the many kinds ofdiversity in our lives. We also explored how living indifferent regions has an effect on the work people do,the kinds of plants, trees, crops or things that becomeimportant to them. In this chapter we will look at thedifferent ways in which people earn their living invillages. And here too, as in the first two chapters,we will examine whether people have equalopportunities to earn a living. We will look at thesimilarities in their life situations and the problemsthat they face.

1. Describe the work that you see people doing in the abovepictures.

2. Identify the different types of work that are related to farmingand those that are not. List these in a table.

3. In your notebook draw some pictures of work that you haveseen people do in rural areas and write a few sentences thatdescribe the work.

Kalpattu village

alpattu is a village that's close tothe sea coast in Tamil Nadu.

People here do many kinds of work.As in other villages, here too there isnon-farm work such as makingbaskets, utensils, pots, bricks,bullock-carts etc.

There are people who provideservices such as blacksmiths, nurses,teachers, washermen, weavers,barbers, cycle repair mechanics andso on. There are also someshopkeepers and traders. In the mainstreet, which looks like a bazaar, you

will find a variety of small shops suchas tea shops, grocery shops, barbershops, a cloth shop, a tailor and twofertiliser and seed shops. There arefour teashops, which sell tiffin – suchas idli, dosai and upama in the

morning and snacks like vadai, bondaand mysorepak in the evening. Nearthe teashops in a corner lives ablacksmith family whose home servesas their workshop. Next to their homeis a cycle hire and repair shop. Twofamilies earn a living by washingclothes. There are some people who goto the nearby town to work asconstruction workers and lorrydrivers.

The village is surrounded by lowhills. Paddy is the main crop that isgrown in irrigated lands. Most of thefamilies earn a living throughagriculture.

There are somecoconut groves around.Cotton, sugar cane andplantain are alsogrown, and there aremango orchards. Letus now meet somepeople who work in thefields in Kalpattu andsee what we can learnabout farming fromthem.

Thulasi

All of us here work onRamalingam's land. He has twenty acres of paddy fields in

Kalpattu. Even before I was married Iused to work on paddy fields in myparental village. I work from 8.30 inthe morning till 4.30 in the evening andKaruthamma, Ramalingam's wife,supervises us.


K

Transplanting paddy is back-breaking work.

Rural Livelihoods / 69

Based on the above diagram wouldyou say that Thulasi earns moneythroughout the year?

This is one of the few times in theyear that I find regular work. Now Iam transplanting the paddy, when theplants have grown a bit Ramalingamwill call us again for weeding and thenfinally once again for the harvesting.

When I was young I could do thiswork with no difficulty. But now as Igrow older I find bending for longhours with my feet in water verypainful. Ramalingam pays Rs 40 perday. This is a little less than whatlabourers get in my home village, but Icome here because I can depend onhim to call me whenever there is work.Unlike others, he does not go lookingfor cheaper labour from other villages.

My husband, Raman is also alabourer. We don't own any land.During this time of the year he sprayspesticides. When there is no work on

the farm he finds work outside, eitherloading sand from the river or stonefrom the quarry nearby. This is sent bytruck to be used in nearby towns tomake houses.

Apart from working on the land, I doall the tasks at home. I cook food for myfamily, clean the house and washclothes. I go with other women to thenearby forest to collect firewood. Aboutone kilometre away we have a villageborewell from where I fetch water. Myhusband helps in getting materialssuch as groceries for the house.

Our school-going daughters are thejoy of our lives. Last year, one of themfell ill and had to be taken to thehospital in town. We had to sell ourcow to pay back the money weborrowed from Ramalingam for hertreatment.

1. Describe the work thatThulasi does. How is itdifferent from the workRaman does?

2. Thulasi gets paid very littlemoney for the work shedoes. Why do you thinkagricultural labourers likeher are forced to accept lowwages?

3. In what ways would her wayof earning a living havebeen different if Thulasiowned some farm land?Discuss.

4. What are the crops grown inyour region or nearby rural area? What kinds of work do agriculturallabourers do?

Janu

ary

February

March

April

May

Ju

ne

July

August

September

October

November

Dec

ember

Preparingsaplings

Transplanting

Weeding

Harvesting

Sekar

We have to carry this paddy to ourhouse. My family has just finished

harvesting our field. We don't ownmuch land, only two acres. We manageto do all the work on our own. Attimes, especially during the harvest Itake the help of other small farmersand in turn help them harvest theirfield.

The trader gave me seeds andfertilisers as a loan. To pay back thisloan I have to sell my paddy to him ata somewhat lower price than what Iwould get in the market. He has senthis agent to remind farmers who havetaken loans that they will sell thepaddy only to him.

I will probably get 60 bags of paddyfrom my field. Some of this I will sell tosettle the loan. The rest will be used inmy home. But whatever I have will lastonly eight months. So I need to earnsome money. I work in Ramalingam'srice mill. Here I help him collect paddyfrom other farmers in the neighbouringvillages.

We also have a hybrid cow, whosemilk we sell in the local milkcooperative. This way we get a littleextra money for our everyday needs.

On being in Debt

As you've read above, very oftenfarmers like Sekar need to borrowmoney to purchase basic things likeseeds, fertilisers and pesticides. Oftenthey borrow this money frommoneylenders. If the seeds are not ofgood quality or pests attack their cropthere can be a major crop failure.


As you saw in Thulasi's story poorfamilies in rural areas often spend alot of time every day collectingfirewood, getting water and grazingtheir cattle.

Even though they do not earn anymoney from these activities they haveto do them for the household. Thefamily needs to spend time doing thisas they are not able to survive on thelittle money they earn.

Nearly two-fifth of all rural familiesare agricultural labourers in ourcountry. There are some who havesmall plots of land while others likeThulasi are landless.

Not being able to earn moneythroughout the year forces people inmany rural areas to travel longdistances in search of work. Thistravel, or migration, takes placeduring particular seasons.


The crops can also be ruinedif the monsoon does not bringenough rain. When this happensfarmers sometimes are unableto pay back their loans. And, forthe family to survive, they mayeven have to borrow moremoney. Soon the loan becomesso large that no matter whatthey earn, they are unable to repay.

This is when we can say theyare caught in debt. In recentyears this has become a majorcause of distress among farmers.In some areas this has alsoresulted in many farmerscommitting suicide. Ramalingam and Karuthamma

In addition to land, Ramalingam'sfamily owns a rice mill and a shopselling seeds, pesticides etc. For therice mill they used some of their ownmoney and also borrowed from thegovernment bank. They buy paddyfrom within the village and fromsurrounding villages. The rice that isproduced in the mill is sold to tradersin nearby towns. This gives them asubstantial income.

1. What work does Sekar's familydo? Why do you think Sekar doesnot usually employ labourers fordoing farming work?

2. Why does Sekar not go to thetown market to get a better price forhis paddy?

3. Sekar's sister Mina had alsotaken a loan from the trader. Shedoes not want to sell her paddy tohim but she will pay back her loan.Write an imaginary conversationbetween Mina and the trader'sagent and the arguments given byeach person.

4. What are the similarities anddifferences between Sekar andThulasi's lives? Your answer couldbe based on the land that theyhave, their need to work on the landthat belongs to others, or loans thatthey need and their earnings.

Read again Sekar and Thulasi'saccounts. What do they say aboutRamalingam, the large farmer?Together with what you have readfill in the details below:

1. How much land does he have?

2. What does Ramalingam do withthe paddy grown on his land?

3. Apart from farming how else doeshe earn?

Transplanted paddy growing in a few ofRamalinam's 20 acres. A result of hard labourperformed by agricultural workers like Thulasi.

Agricultural Labourers and Farmersin India

In Kalpattu village there areagricultural labourers like Thulasi,and many small farmers like Sekar,and a few big farmers likeRamalingam. In India nearly two outof every five rural families areagricultural labourer families. All ofthem depend on the work they do onother people's fields to earn a living.Many of them are landless and othersmay own very small plots of land.

In the case of small farmers likeSekhar their land is barely enough tomeet their needs. In India 80 per centof farmers belong to this group. Only20 per cent of India's farmers are likeRamalingam. These large farmerscultivate most of the land in thevillages. A large part of their produce issold in the market. Many of them havestarted other businesses such asshops, moneylending, trading, smallfactories etc.

We have looked at farming inKalpattu. Apart from farming, manypeople in rural areas depend uponcollection from the forest, animalhusbandry, dairy produce, fishing etc.For example, in some villages in

From the figures given abovewould you say that a majority ofthe country's farmers are quitepoor? What do you think can bedone to change this situation?

Terrace Farming in Nagaland

This is a village called Chizamiwhich is in Phek district inNagaland. The people of thisvillage belong to the Chakhesangcommunity. They do 'terrace'cultivation.

This means that the land on a hillslope is made into flat plots andcarved out in steps. The sides ofeach plot are raised in order toretain water. This allows water tostand in the field, which is bestfor rice cultivation.

The people of Chizami have theirown individual fields. But, theyalso work collectively in eachother's fields. They form groupsof six or eight and take an entiremountainside to clean the weedson it.

Each group eats together oncetheir work for the day is over. Thisgoes on for several days until thework is completed.


central India, both farmingand collection from theforest are importantsources of livelihood.Collecting mahua, tenduleaves, honey, to be sold totraders is an importantsource of additionalincome.

Similarly selling milk tothe village cooperativesociety or taking milk to thenearby town may be themain source of livelihood forsome families. In thecoastal areas, we find fishing villages.Let us find out more about the lives ofa fishing family by reading about Arunaand Paarivelan who live in Pudupet, avillage close to Kalpattu.

Aruna and Paarivelan

Not very far from Kalpattu is thevillage of Pudupet. People here earntheir living by fishing. Their housesare close to the sea and one finds rows

of catamarans and nets lyingaround. At about 7 O'clockin the morning there is lotof activity on the beach.This is the time when thecatamarans return withtheir catch and womengather to buy and sell fish.

My husband Paarivelan,my brother and mybrother-in-law came in latetoday. I was very worried.They go to the sea togetherin our catamaran. Theysaid they were caught in astorm. I have kept asidesome fish for the family. I

Fisher-woman selling the catch at the local market.


will auction the rest. The money I getfrom the auction will be divided intofour shares. One each for each personwho went fishing and the fourth one isfor the equipment. Since we own thecatamaran, engine and nets, we getthat share too. We have taken a loanfrom a bank and purchased an engine,which is fixed on to the catamaran.Now they can go far into the sea sothat they can get a better catch.

The women who buy fish here willcarry it in baskets to be sold in nearbyvillages. Then there are others liketraders who buy for the shops in thetown. I'll only finish this auction bynoon. In the evening my husband andour relatives will untangle and repairour nets. Early tomorrow morningaround 2 a.m. they will set out to seaagain. Every year, for at least aboutfour months during the monsoon, theycannot go to the sea because this iswhen the fish breed. During thesemonths we survive by borrowing fromthe trader. Because of this, later on weare forced to sell the fish to that trader,and cannot do our auction. Those leanmonths are the most difficult. Last yearwe suffered a lot because of thetsunami.

Rural Livelihoods

People in rural areas earn their livingin various ways. Some work on farmswhile others earn their living on non-farm activities. Working on farmsinvolves operations such as preparingthe land, sowing, weeding and

harvesting of crops. We depend onnature for the growth of these crops.Hence life revolves around certainseasons. People are busy duringsowing and harvesting and less so atother times. Rural people in differentregions of the country grow differentcrops. However, we do find similaritiesin their life situations and in theproblems that they face.

How people are able to survive orearn will depend upon the land thatthey cultivate. Many depend on theselands for work as labourers. Mostfarmers grow crops both for their ownrequirements and also to sell in themarket. Some have to sell to tradersfrom whom they have borrowedmoney. For their survival, manyfamilies need to borrow money fortheir work or when no work isavailable. There are some families inrural areas which thrive on large acresof lands, business and other activities.However, most small farmers,agricultural labourers, fishingfamilies, crafts persons in the villagedo not find enough work to keep thememployed throughout the year.


1. Why do both Sekar's andAruna's families have to borrow?What similarities and differencesdo you find?

2. Have you heard of a tsunami?What is this and what damage doyou think it might have done tothe life of fishing families likeAruna's?


QUESTIONS

1. You have probably noticed that people in Kalpattu are engaged in avariety of non-farm work. List five of these.

2. List the different types of people you read about in Kalpattu whodepend on farming. Who is the poorest among them and why?

3. Imagine you are a member of a fishing family and you are discussingwhether to take a loan from the bank for an engine. What would yousay?

4. Poor rural labourers like Thulasi often do not have access to goodmedical facilities, good schools, and other resources. You have readabout inequality in the first unit of this text. The difference betweenher and Ramalingam is one of inequality. Do you think this is a fairsituation? What do you think can be done? Discuss in class.

5. What do you think the government can do to help farmers like Sekarwhen they get into debt? Discuss.

6. Compare the situation of Sekar and Ramalingam by filling out thefollowing table:

SEKAR RAMALINGAM

Landcultivated

Labourrequired

Loansrequired

Selling ofharvest

Other workdone by them

Chapter 9

1. What do you see inthis illustration?

2. You have alreadyread about the workthat people do in ruralareas. Now comparethe work that people inthis illustration aredoing with the workthat people do in ruralareas.

3. Some parts of thecity are different fromothers. What differencesdo you notice in thisillustration?

UrbanLivelihoods

Urban Livelihoods / 77

Working on the Street

his is the city where my cousinlives. I've been here only a few

times. It is very big. Once, when I camehere, my cousin took me around. Weleft the house early in the morning. As

we turned the corner onto the mainstreet we saw that it was alreadybuzzing with activity. The vegetablevendor was busy arranging tomatoes,carrots and cucumbers in baskets ather stall so that people could see what

T

There are more than five thousand towns and twenty seven big cities inIndia. Big cities like Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata etc. have morethan a million people living and working here. They say that 'the citynever sleeps!' Let's visit one and find out about the work people do inthe city. Are they employed by someone or are they self-employed? Howdo they organise themselves? And do they have similar employmentand earning opportunities?


Bachchu Manjhi – A Cycle-RickshawPuller

I come from a village in Bihar where Iworked as a mason. My wife and threechildren live in the village. We don't ownland. In the village I did not get masonrywork regularly. The income that I earnedwas not sufficient for our family.

After I reached this city, I bought an oldcycle rickshaw and paid for it ininstalments. This was many years ago.

I come to the bus stop every morning andtake the customers wherever they want togo. I work till 8.30 in the evening. I take

rides of up to 6 kilometres in thesurrounding area. Each customer givesme Rs. 5-10 per trip depending on thedistance. When I'm ill I can't do this work,so on those days I don't earn anything.

I stay with my friends in a rented room.They work in a nearby factory. I earnbetween Rs. 80-100 every day, out ofwhich I spend Rs. 50-60 on food and rent.The rest I save for my family. I visit myvillage two or three times a year to see myfamily. Though my family survives on themoney I send, my wife also earns fromagricultural work that she gets once ina while.

she had to sell. Next to her stall was alovely, colourful one that sold all kindsof flowers.

We bought a red rose and a yellowrose. On the pavement opposite wesaw a person selling newspapers witha small crowd of people around him.Everyone wanted to read the news!Buses whizzed past and therewere auto-rickshaws filledwith school-children. Nearby,under a tree, a cobbler sattaking his tools and materialsout of a small tin box. Next tohim the roadside barber hadbegun his work: he alreadyhad a customer who wantedan early-morning shave!

A little way down theroad, a woman was pushingalong a cart with all kinds ofplastic bottles, boxes,hairpins, clips etc. in it while

another person on a cycle trolley wascarrying vegetables to sell to people intheir houses.

We came to a place whererickshaws were standing in a rowwaiting for customers. We decided totake one to the market, which wasabout two kilometres down the road.


Like Bachchu Manjhi a largenumber of people in the city work onthe streets. In a survey of Ahmedabadcity it was found that 12 per cent of allthe workers in thecity were peopleworking on the street.They sometimes sellthings or repair themor provide a service.

They work on theirown. They are notemployed by anyoneand therefore have toorganise their ownwork. They have toplan how much topurchase, as well aswhere and how to setup their shops. Theirshops are usuallytemporary structures:sometimes just someboards or papersspread over discardedboxes or maybe acanvas sheet hung up

on a few poles. They may also usetheir own carts or simply a plasticsheet spread on the pavement. Theycan be asked to dismantle their shopsat any time by the police. They have nosecurity. There are certain parts of thecity where these hawkers are notallowed to enter.

Vendors sell things that are oftenprepared at home by their familieswho purchase, clean, sort and makethem ready to sell. For example, thosewho sell food or snacks on the street,prepare most of these at home.

1. Why did Bachchu Manjhi come tothe city? 2. Why can't Bachchu Manjhi livewith his family?3. Talk to a vegetable vendor orhawker and find out how do theyorganise their work, their way ofpreparing, purchasing, selling etc.4. Bachchu Manjhi has to thinktwice before taking a day off fromwork. Why?

Often workers who make a living in the city are forced to set up theirhomes on the street as well. Below is a space where several workersleave their belongings during the day and cook their meals at night.

There are almost one crore 'streetvendors' in the country working inurban areas. Street vending was tillrecently looked upon only as anobstruction to traffic and to peoplewalking. However with the effort of manyorganisations it is now recognised as ageneral benefit and as a right of people toearn their livelihood. The government isthinking about modifying the law thatbanned street vendors, so that they havea place to work and that there is also afree flow of traffic and people. Hawkingzones have been suggested for townsand cities. It has also been suggestedthat mobile vendors should be allowed tomove around freely. Hawkers need to bepart of committees that are set up totake these and other decisions relatingto them.

In the Market

When we reached the market the shopswere just beginning to open. But theplace was already crowded because ofthe festival season. There were rowsand rows of shops selling sweets, toys,clothes, footwear, utensils, electronicgoods, etc. There was a dentist's clinicalso at one end.

My cousin had an appointment withthe dentist. We went there first so thatwe would not miss our turn. We had towait for a while in a room before shewas called inside. The dentistexamined her and asked her to comeback the following day to get a cavity inher tooth filled. My cousin was scaredbecause she thought the process wouldbe painful and was upset that she hadallowed her teeth to go bad.

From the dental clinic she took me toa new garment showroom because Iwanted to buy some readymadeclothes. The showroom had three-floors. Each floor had different types ofclothes. We went to the third floorwhere clothes for girls were kept.

Harpreet and Vandana:Businesspersons

My father and uncle worked in a smallshop. During festival times and onSundays my mother and I helped themin the shop. I started working thereonly after I completed my college.(Harpreet)

We opened this showroom someyears ago. I'm a dress designer. Ourbusiness has changed. These dayspeople prefer to buy readymadeclothes, rather than have them stitched.The trend these days is for readymadegarments. You also need an attractivedisplay for them. (Vandana)

For our showroom, we buy thingsfrom different places. We buy most of


the materials from Mumbai, Ahmeda-bad, Ludhiana and Tripura. Somematerials also come from Noida andGurgaon, towns near Delhi. We getsome dress items from foreigncountries, too.

There are several things we need todo to run this showroom properly. Weadvertise in various newspapers,cinema theatres, television and radiochannels. Currently, this building isrented but soon, we plan to buy it. Eversince this market has become the mainmarket for people living in thesurrounding apartments our businesshas grown. We've been able to buy acar and book a flat in an apartmentcomplex nearby.

Like Harpreet and Vandana thereare many people who own shops invarious markets of the city. Theseshops may be small or large and theysell different things. Most business-persons manage their own shops orbusiness. They are not employed byanyone. But, they do employ anumber of other workers assupervisors and helpers. These arepermanent shops that are given a

licence to do business by themunicipal corporation. The MunicipalCorporation also decides on which dayof the week the market has to remainclosed. For example the shops in theabove market are closed onWednesdays. This market also hassmall offices and shops that provideservices, such as banks, courierservices and others.

In the Factory-Workshop Area

I wanted to have zari work done on oneof my dresses which I needed for aspecial occasion. My cousin said thatshe knew Nirmala who works in agarment factory. Nirmala's neighboursdo zari work and embroidery. So wecaught a bus and headed towards thefactory area. The bus was reallycrowded. At every stop more and morepeople got on and hardly anyoneseemed to get off. People were pushingothers to make more space forthemselves. My cousin guided me to acorner so that we wouldn't getsquashed. I wondered how peopletravel like this every day. As the busentered the factory area people startedgetting off. We also got off soon at acrossing. What a relief that was!

There were a large number of peoplesitting on railings or in groups at thecrossing. They seemed to be waiting forsomeone. Some groups had people onscooters standing by and talking withthem. My cousin explained that thisplace was called "labour chowk". Thesewere daily wage labourers who workas helpers to masons. They dig atconstruction sites, lift loads or unload

Why did Harpreet and Vandanastart a showroom? What do theyhave to do to run the showroom?

Talk to a shop owner in a marketand find out how he plans his work.Have there been any changes in hisbusiness in the past twenty years?

What are the differences betweenthose who sell on the street andthose in the market?



trucks in the market, dig pipelines andtelephone cables and also build roads.There are thousands of such casualworkers in the city.

We entered the factory area to find itfull of small workshops. There seemedto be endless rows of them. In onesection we saw people working in asmall room on sewingmachines where cloth wasbeing stitched. One personoperated one sewingmachine. Clothes that hadbeen stitched were stackedon one side of the room.

We located Nirmala inthe stitching unit. She washappy to meet my cousinand promised to get zariwork done on my dress.

Nirmala works as atailor in an export garmentunit. The factory whereshe works makes summer

clothes for people in foreigncountries like U.S.A., U.K.,Germany and Netherlands.Workers like Nirmala have towork very long hours in themonths from December toApril. A normal working daybegins at 9 a.m. and finishesonly by 10 p.m., sometimeseven later. She works for sixdays a week. At times whenthe work needs to be doneurgently, she works onSundays, too. Nirmala is paidRs 80 a day for eight hours

and Rs 40 extra for workinglate. By June the work is over

and the factory reduces its staff.Nirmala will also be asked to leave. Forabout three or four months in the year,there is no work for her.

Most workers, like Nirmala, areemployed on what is known as acasual basis i.e. they're required to

At labour chowk, daily wage workers wait with their toolsfor people to come and take them for work.


come as and when theemployer needs them.They are employed whenthe employer gets largeorders or during certainseasons. At other timesof the year they have tofind some other work.

Jobs like Nirmala's arenot permanent. If workerscomplain about their payor working conditionsthey are asked to leave.There is no job security orprotection if there is illtreatment. They are alsoexpected to work very long hours.For example in the cloth mill unitsthe workers work on day and nightshifts, with each shift lasting 12hours. One worker works on onemachine for 12 hours and then isreplaced by another on the samemachine for the next 12 hours.

Working in Call Centres is a new form of employment inthe big cities. A Call Centre is a centralised office thatdeals with problems and questions that consumers/customers have regarding goods purchased and serviceslike banking, ticket booking, etc. Call Centres aregenerally set up as large rooms with work stations thatinclude a computer, a telephone set and supervisor'sstations. India has become a major centre not only forIndian companies but also foreign companies. They setup Call Centres here as they can get people who canspeak English and will work for lower wages.

1. Why do you think smallworkshops and factoriesemploy casual workers?

2. Describe the workingconditions of people likeNirmala keeping in mind thefollowing: working hours,conditions in the workplace,earnings, and the days ofwork available.

3. Would you say thatdomestic workers likehousemaids are also casualworkers? Why? Describe theworkday of one such womandetailing the work she doesin other peoples' houses.

In the office area

My aunt, Sudha works as a MarketingManager. She had asked us to reach her officebefore 5.30 p.m. We thought we'd get late sowe took an autorickshaw that managed to getus there just in time. Her office was in an areasurrounded by tall buildings. There werehundreds of people coming out. Some headedfor the car park while others went towardsthe row of buses.

My aunt is a marketing manager in acompany which manufactures biscuits. Thefactory where the biscuits are made isoutside the city. She supervises the work of50 salespersons who travel to different parts


of the city. They get orders fromshopkeepers and collect payments fromthem. She has divided the city into sixregions and once a week she meets thesalespersons of each region. Shechecks their progress report anddiscusses problems they face. She hasto plan the sales in the entire city andoften has to work late and travel todifferent places.

She gets a regular salary everymonth and is a permanent worker withthe company. She can expect her job tocontinue for a long period of time. Beinga permanent worker she also getsother benefits such as the following:

Savings for old age: A part of hersalary is kept in a fund with thegovernment. She will earn interest onthese savings. When she retires fromthis job she will get this money andshe can then live on that.

Holidays: She gets off on Sundaysand national holidays. She also getssome days as annual leave.

Medical facilities for her family: Hercompany pays the medical expenses upto a certain amount for her and herfamily members. She gets medicalleave if she falls ill and her salary isnot cut if she takes this leave.

There are many workers in the citywho work in offices, factories, andgovernment departments where theyare employed as regular andpermanent workers.

They attend the same office orfactory regularly. Their work is clearlyidentified. They get a regular salary.Unlike casual workers they will not beasked to leave if the factory does nothave much work.

At the end of the day we got into myaunt's car, exhausted. But it had beenso much fun! And I thought, howinteresting that so many people do somany different things in the city.They've probably never met each otherbut it is their work that ties themtogether and helps to make up city life.

QUESTIONS

1. Read and discuss the following description of the living conditions ofworkers who come to the labour chowk.

Most workers that we find at the labour chowk cannot afford permanentaccommodation and so sleep on pavements near the chowk, or they payRs 6 a night for a bed at a nearby night shelter run by the MunicipalCorporation. To compensate for the lack of security, local tea andcigarette shops function as banks, moneylenders and safety lockers, allrolled into one. Most workers leave their tools at these shops for the nightfor safekeeping, and pass on any extra money to them. The shopkeeperskeep the money safely and also offer loans to labourers in need.

Source: Aman Sethi, Hindu On-line


3. In what ways is a permanent and regular job different from a casualjob? Discuss.

4. What benefits does Sudha get along with her salary?

5. Fill in the following table to show the services provided by people inthe markets which you visit frequently.

2. Complete the following table and discuss how their work is different:

Nature of the service providedName of the shop or office

Name Place of

workEarnings

Security ofwork

Benefitsreceived

Work ontheir own or

employed

BachchuManjhi

Rs 100 a day

Harpreet,Vandana

Work on theirown

Nirmala No security

Sudha Company Rs 30,000 p.m.

References

List of Sources:

Chapter 1Poile Sengupta, "The Light Changed: in G. Hariharan and S. Futehally (eds.) Sorry, BestFriend, Chennai: Tulika Books, 1997, Reprint 2001, 2004.

Chapter 2Sheila Dhir, Why Are You Afraid to Hold My Hand, Chennai: Tulika Books, 2004-05

Vasant Moon (ed.), Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar: Writings and Speeches, Vol. 12, Bombay:Education Department, Government of Maharashtra, 1993.

Chapter 3R. K. Laxman, 'The Common Man goes to the village' in The Best of Laxman, Penguin,Delhi 2002.

R. K. Laxman, 'The Common Man: Casts his vote', in The Best of Laxman, Penguin, Delhi 2005.

Chapter 6Anjali Monterio, Reflections on My Family, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.

Chapter 9Jan Breman and Parthiv Shah, Working in the mill no more, Oxford University Press, Delhi, 2005.

6th Social-political Sciences-social and Political Life-1

Documents

Transcript of 6th Social-political Sciences-social and Political Life-1