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Book Review
Life on the margins
MADHURA SWAMINATHAN
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Study tracking the living conditions and labour relations in a rural economy during half a century
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THE POVERTY REGIME IN VILLAGE INDIA: Jan Breman; Oxford University Press, YMCA Library Building, Jai Singh Road, New Delhi-110007. Rs.795.
This book is an engaging account of four villages in south Gujarat and the changes in social and economic relations in these villages, particularly in labour relations, over the last 50 years or so. Jan Breman first undertook fieldwork in Gujarat in 1962, and has continued to do research in this region, with his most recent fieldwork conducted in 2006. There is no doubt that Breman has earned himself an honoured place in the study of rural India.
Breman’s first scholarly work was on the changing nature of attached labour in south Gujarat, specifically on the relations between Halpatis and their Anavil Brahmin employers. It is a sobering conclusion from the study of the first village, Gandevigam in Navsari district, that while there has been improvement in living conditions of agricultural workers (“the majority of the Halpatis are undoubtedly better off than their parents or grandparents were then”), high levels of absolute deprivation persist and there has been a rise in relative deprivation.
Persisting deprivation
Writing in the mid-1970s, Breman characterised the changes experienced by landless labour households as one of “pauperisation”. A decade later, he argued that the expansion of the non-agricultural economy was bringing in change. The conclusion two decades later is that overall economic growth, particularly of the non-farm sector, and diversification of employment has not brought about a fundamental transformation in the living standards of the Halpatis. Halpatis are no longer subject to bondage but remain in poverty (in 2006, around 80 per cent of Halpatis were living below the poverty line). In the era of liberalisation, with cutbacks in public provisioning of health, education and even employment, the prospects for change are bleak.
The second village called Chikhligam is located in the less fertile tribal belt of south Gujarat. The construction of a major highway through the village changed communications between town and village completely, and resulted in the conversion of “traditional landlords to an urban middle class.” Breman documents “an acceleration of urbanisation of the dominant caste” and the craving of young people for “an urban way of life and a respectable and well-paid job outside agriculture.”
At the other end of the caste and class ladder, the majority of Halpatis worked as casual wage labourers. Interestingly, however, the number of male regular “farm servants” was the same in 2006 as in 1962. The relation between farm servants and their employers, he argues, is contractual and “no longer founded on patronage.” The continuation of the system of farm servants, however, is both on account of the need of employers (who do not wish to live in the village or to supervise agricultural operations) and the need of workers (who face unemployment).
Occupational multiplicity
As observed elsewhere in India, manual workers in rural Gujarat can no longer easily be classified as “agricultural” or “non-agricultural” labourers. As Breman remarks, “occupational multiplicity is more the rule than the exception.” Current occupation and even the primary source of income can change within a single year. Workers engage in a wide range of activities to counter underemployment in agriculture and to supplement their incomes. This search for employment also involves, as has been documented by him in his earlier research on the “footloose proletariat”, physical migration. “The landless proletariat may suffer from underemployment but that does not mean that they do not lead busy lives.” The constant mobility and search for work takes a toll, more so on women.
Labour migration
The third village belongs to the sub-district of Bardoli and Breman has over the years studied various aspects of labour migration and employment in sugarcane cutting in this region. He highlights two aspects of change in Bardoligam. In the economic sphere, “the advent of sugarcane as a monoculture was accompanied by a contractualisation of labour relations.” In the social sphere, “the spatial disparity between the landowners and the landless…has evolved into a state of social segregation.” The Kanbi Patels have installed a gate at the entrance to the main village street, leading to their two- and three-storey bungalows. The Halpatis live at a distance from the main village in their hutments.
The last village, for which Breman uses the pseudonym Atulgam, is located on the outskirts of a large industrial complex that offers opportunities for non-agricultural work. “The majority of Halpatis are no longer farm labourers but nor are they factory workers.” The majority are employed in the informal sector that has developed around the township an guous in-between town and village state. To conclude, this book is written for scholars but is also an eye-opener on rural India for the general reader.
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