Abstract
A wide regional and inter-district disparity exists in the state of Jharkhand. The rankings of its districts on indicators of development reveal that those located in the north-western parts of Jharkhand including Palamu and its north-eastern parts are less developed compared to the ones falling in the central and western parts of the state (Planning-cum-Finance Department, 2017, Jharkhand Economic Survey 2016–17, Ranchi: Government of Jharkhand). Jharkhand is one of the most poverty-stricken states of India with a sharp contrast between rural and urban poverty. Studies often show that the process of liberalisation and economic reforms in India has a mixed impact on a mineral rich state like Jharkhand. The well-known phenomenon of ‘resource curse’ is particularly observed in the case of Jharkhand where manufacturing sector growth is increasing but the state is lagging behind in terms of human development indicators. The political instability and unplanned exploitation of its mineral wealth without benefiting the tribal population clearly indicate that the state suffers from the deficit of governance and development. It is in this context that this article analyses the patterns of poverty and food security among tribals and other social groups in seven villages of Manatu block under Palamu district of Jharkhand from a gender perspective. The article also explores the factors influencing the dynamics of household food security in Palamu district through empirical findings. It examines how the poor rural/tribal communities cope with food insecurity through case studies. Finally, the article critically analyses the implementation of social policies in addressing food security problem of Jharkhand.
Introduction
Food has been a central issue in feminist explorations of identity, stigma and intra-household power dynamics and hence it offers space for feminist interrogation (Jain, 2011, p. 49). Gender relationships in the food system has been analysed by Allen and Sachs (2007) through three intersecting and overlapping domains: the material, the sociocultural and the corporeal. In discussing the material domain, they focused on women’s labour in the formal labour force—women’s productive labour outside the home and in the public sphere. In the sociocultural domain, they are concerned with women’s reproductive and productive labour (usually unpaid) in the home and with their families, that is, their work in the private sphere. Finally, the corporeal domain incorporates women’s physical and emotional connections to food, including the cultural forces that condition these connections. Women remain disadvantaged in the material, sociocultural and corporeal domains of the agro-food system (ibid., p. 2). Women make the most significant contribution to food security by producing more than half the world’s food and providing more than 80 per cent of the food needs of food-insecure households and regions. Food security is therefore directly linked to women’s food-producing capacity (Shiva, 2010). Women’s food denials are more ironical because they play a crucial role in guaranteeing their families’ nutrition security. Because of the various forms of discrimination faced by females, such as those within the family, in owning land, and other means of production and in accessing livelihood opportunities, a large proportion of women and girls are highly vulnerable to food insecurity (Desai, Haddad, Chopra, & Thorat, 2016; Krishnaraj, 2005). Women and girls face barriers compared to their male relatives in accessing education, health care, clean drinking water and sanitation. In families where food is scarce, women and girls often not only get less food to eat, but may also be forced to eat food which is inferior in quality and nutrient content (Choudhary & Parthasarathy, 2007; Desai et al., 2016; IFPRI, Bangladesh Institute for Development Studies, & The Institute of Nutrition and Food Science, 1998; Mukherjee & Mukherjee, 1994).
Studies also indicate the growing trend of ‘feminisation of poverty’: not only is there higher incidence of poverty among women than men, but also the severity of poverty is higher among women (Saxena, 2009). Out of 1.3 billion people considered to be living in poverty worldwide, over 70 per cent are believed to be women. Besides direct discrimination against members of vulnerable groups, there are complex forms of their exclusion on the basis of gender, caste, tribe and religious identity—from access to basic rights and services that lead to poor group health and nutrition outcomes relative to the rest of the population. There is considerable evidence that the burdens of poverty and its consequences, including poor nutrition, are borne disproportionately by the households of Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) and minorities (Muslims). Several scholars have noted that the incidence of malnutrition is higher among the major social groups. These studies show that the incidence of malnutrition is higher among the STs (56.1%) and SCs (50.6%) than others (36.3%; Mamgain & Diwakar, 2012; Thorat & Sabharwal, 2011). Tribal society has generally been perceived as egalitarian in nature and it is assumed that tribal women possess a higher social status than their counterparts in caste society. However, the economic burden and the workload of tribal women as well as their access to education, food and nutrition, modern occupation and political participation, especially in the modern context, have not been given the kind of attention they deserve (Xaxa, 2008). It is in this context that the article analyses the patterns of poverty and food security among the tribals and other social groups in Jharkhand from a gender perspective.
Contextualising Poverty and Food Security
There is a strong correlationship between poverty and food security and it is multidimensional in nature. Poverty leads to undernutrition and food insecurity by limiting poor people’s access to food. About three-fourths of India’s population living in the rural sector is reeling under abject poverty, illiteracy, ill health, unemployment, low quality of life and so on. Food insecurity causes poverty, vulnerability and livelihood insecurity and vice versa. It is widely accepted that poverty is currently the principal root cause of food insecurity at the level of households. It is also clear that in several societies, households are not homogeneous entities since within a household, women and female children often tend to be relatively more undernourished. Food security at the level of each individual is hence important (Swaminathan, 2000).
Food security has two dimensions—macro and micro. At the macro level, it implies adequate production of food items to meet the requirements of all people and their proper distribution. Micro-level food security is more concerned with the availability of food at household level—quality as well as quantity and the affordability of households. Thus, food security is not just availability of food but also its quality that ensures adequate nutrition and health care protecting people from diseases (Radhakrishna, 2005). It is thus a broad concept. The focus of this study is on food security at the household level. The World Food Programme conceives food security as ‘the balanced supply and demand of staple foods in the international market’. This approach ensures food security at global level and does not throw light on the poor people’s access to the available food in the market. At the household level, the World Bank’s definition is more acceptable. It defines food security as ‘access by all people at all times to enough food for an active and healthy life’. This food security should be sustainable over time. The Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO, 1996) defines food security as ‘a situation which exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food which meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life’. Such a definition will involve concurrent attention to the availability of food in the market, the ability to buy needed food and the capability to absorb and utilise the food in the body. Thus, food and non-food factors, that is, drinking water, environmental hygiene and primary health care, are involved in food security (Swaminathan, 2010). Food insecurity and malnutrition continue to be high in India. The three indicators of food security such as availability, access and absorption or nutrition are inter-related; for example, availability and access to food can increase nutrition among the households (Dev & Sharma, 2010). The ‘Nutrition Atlas’ developed by ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), 2017, provides information and data on the nutritional status of population groups at national and state levels, along with an overview of nutrition-related deficiencies, disorders and prevalence levels in various parts of the country. The nutrition atlas shows the prevalence of wasting in India’s states, that is, a condition typified by a low weight-to-height ratio, and brought on by undernourishment. It reveals that India currently faces twin challenges in the food and nutrition sector—undernutrition manifesting and causing several health problems, exacerbating the consequences of being overweight and obese. In the nutrition atlas, the distribution of wasting in Jharkhand is 29.0 per cent, which is high (>21.1%). Ranking districts of Jharkhand on the basis of selected indicators in the food security index (FSI), the Jharkhand Food Security Atlas (2008, p. 63) reveals that Dhanbad is the only food secure district of the state. None of the districts were found to be moderately secure. The districts of the northwest, northeast and southern plateau regions especially the Palamu, Santhal Parganas and Singhbhum regions are extremely or severely insecure in access to food, though barring a few, most of these districts are secure in availability of food. Because the production and productivity of the agricultural sector of this state are very low, districts, which are more dependent on agricultural activities generally, have low per capita consumption expenditure, low agricultural wages and low proportion of non-agricultural labourers. So, though such districts are secure in availability of food, they are insecure in access to food. Jharkhand is the 14th most populous state in India and home to 33 million people, 13 million of whom are poor (The World Bank, 2016). This shows that that there is a large group of people in the state in abject poverty. Poverty reduction in Jharkhand was faster between 1994 and 2005. Thereafter, Jharkhand has lagged behind other low-income states in the country in reducing poverty. Poverty is higher in the southern and eastern districts of Jharkhand. Poverty is overwhelmingly a rural phenomenon. More than 70 per cent of the people in the state live in rural areas and where around 37 per cent of the people are below poverty line (BPL; Planning-cum-Finance Department, 2017, p. 57).
Historical Background of Palamu District
The early history of Palamu is not authentic but there are legends about it. It is certain that Kharwars, Oraons and Cheros are the three aboriginal tribes practically ruled over the tract (Palamu District Disaster Management Plan, 2016–2017, p. 7). The administrative headquarters of Palamu is Daltonganj, which has taken its name after Colonel Dalton, commissioner of Chotanagpur in 1861. The old Palamu district is divided into three districts—Palamu, Garhwa and Latehar. The district is bounded in north by the river Sone which separates it from the districts of Rohtas, and by the district of Aurangabad (Bihar). In the east, it is bounded by the district of Chatra, in the south by the district of Latehar, and in the west by the district of Garhwa, and by Chhattisgarh state.
Occupational Structure
Palamu is one of the richest districts of Jharkhand in forest resources. The species of forest trees which are found in the district include sal, dharua, mahua, kendu, bamboo and asan. The major forest products include timber, palas, firewood, sal seed, mahua seed and biripatta (Department of Disaster Management, 2016–2017, p. 11).
The district is primarily rural with the large population still residing in villages. Agriculture is the main source of economy for the rural people of the district and agricultural workers are the modal category of the workforce (Table 1). However, agriculture is mainly for subsistence and is yet to be taken up on a commercial basis due to lack of adequate assured irrigation facility and other infrastructure bottlenecks. Palamu is a drought-prone area. The district had witnessed severe drought in 1993. The last decade has shown the increasing severity of the drought situation in the entire state of Jharkhand including Palamu district. The total production has also decreased significantly. The district faced deficit rainfall in the year 2010. Most of area could not have plantation of paddy (ibid., p. 13). Maoists are currently believed to be operating in around 200 districts of a total of 604 districts in the country in seventeen states. Palamu district in Jharkhand is severely affected by the menace.
Manatu Block of Palamu District
Manatu block in Palamu is mostly inhabited by Kharwar, Chero and Oraon tribes. Most of the tribals have little land and depend on settled cultivation and forest produce for subsistence. The area is affected by tuberculosis and malaria and the basic health services are very poor. The tribal and the weaker sections of this region face severe food shortage during the agricultural lean period. P. Sainath (1996) in his field visit to Palamu district in 1992 observed that deforestation, land grab and poor water harvesting are the major problems in Manatu block of Palamu district. In Palamu, the distance between drought and famine or near famine conditions seems to be much shorter. Land grab over the decades has removed the one cushion of many poor people—their land. For the landless, it is worse. There is a large seasonal migration of agricultural labourers from Palamu each year, towards destinations ranging from Eastern Uttar Pradesh to Punjab. Food insecurity and starvation deaths are major problems in this area. In the month of June 2002, hunger deaths were reported from the Kusmatand and Majhauli villages of Manatu block, Palamu. Within two and half months, nearly twenty-five hunger deaths were reported by social activists and media. The issue of hunger death became a matter of concern for all the social action groups, political parties, human right activists and other civil organisations. The district administration and the state government, as usual, declined to accept them as hunger deaths.
Occupational Classification: Palamu District
Poverty and Food Security: Empirical Results
This section analyses the field findings about the patterns of poverty and food security in the surveyed villages in Manatu block. The article highlights the socio-economic characteristics of the respondents, poverty profiles, gender dimensions of poverty and food security, food-deficit period and coping strategies among the tribals in general and especially among the tribal women, through in-depth case studies. Finally, the article critically analyses the status of implementation of the National Food Security Act (NFSA) and gender-specific social policies in Jharkhand.
Methodology
This study was conducted in Manatu block in the year 2012. Primary data have been collected through an interview schedule and village information schedule followed by focused group discussion (FGD). The interview schedule was semi-structured and it was administered at the household level. It throws light on various aspects of the household like demographic and occupational profile and gathers information about housing and assets, land ownership, wage employment, sources of income, indebtedness, household expenditure, food consumption status, functioning of public distribution system (PDS), integrated child development services (ICDS) and other government schemes, gender issues related to food consumption and distribution within the household. Further, it enquires into the poverty-related conflicts and perception of villagers on poverty in the study area over the past 10 years. The village information schedule was designed with an objective to collect information about the social, historical, developmental and infrastructure background of each village. The FGDs have also been conducted in the study area for understanding the different dimensions, determinants and dynamics of food insecurity among the tribals and the forest dwellers. Further, a case study approach was employed for in-depth study of the surveyed households. Thus, this study combines both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods and tools. The study covers 225 households from 7 villages in Manatu block. The interviews were conducted among the vulnerable groups such as female-headed households, SCs and tribal households, Muslims and the other backward classes (OBCs).
Social Composition of the Respondents
The total number of households covered in the present study was 225, those which belong to various social groups spread out in seven villages of Manatu block. Village-wise distribution of the purposively and conveniently sampled households is shown in Table 2. The numbers and percentages of ST households covered from Nawa and Chunka village from Rangeya Gram Panchayat were eighteen (8.0 per cent) and twenty (8.89 per cent). In the neighbouring villages Bihra and Jaspur, the numbers were twenty-four (10.67%) and twenty-two households (9.78 per cent of the sample households) to be interviewed during the field study. Total numbers and percentages of Muslim households under study in Naudiha Gram Panchayat were from Raheya village numbering twenty-four (10.67 per cent) and in Kusmatand were twelve (5.33 per cent). In Jaspur village, the total number and percentage of households under study were 31 per cent and 13.78 per cent.
The sample households comprised 49.33 per cent STs, 16 per cent SCs, 18.67 per cent OBCs and 16 per cent Muslims. The proportion of STs is significantly higher in Bihra, Jaspur and Karmatilha villages (Table 2).
Livelihood Strategies of Palamu Tribal
Three starvation deaths in a Tola (hamlet) also named as such were reported in the Ranchi-based daily Prabhat Khabar in May 2002. Bhatia and Dreze (2002) along with a fact-finding team comprising members of Gram Swaraj Abhiyan and the Right to Food Campaign visited the Tola three times in late June and early July in the same year. The fact-finding team explored that most of the villagers in Kusmatand are Bhuiyans (SC), and the rest are Muslims and adivasis. Most of the villagers are landless. During the food crisis period, the villagers migrate to Rohtak district in Haryana to work as agricultural wage labourers engaged in planting and harvesting and related activities. The other survival strategies include eating small quantity of broken rice and wild food available in different seasons such as mahua, chakhora leafs or the root called gethi. The expenditure patterns of the households in Kusmatand Tola reveal that they have hardly any assured source of income to spend for non-food items. The villagers generally fetch drinking water from the well. The villagers revealed the contaminated water is the main cause of water-related diseases. During the field study, we hardly found any significant change that had occurred in the Kusmatand Tola over the years, except that a few houses were constructed under the Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY), and the Tola is still not having proper road connection. The children in the village reported that the school remains closed most of the time. Most of the households including the respondents have got job cards under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). However, they reported that there is no regular wage employment under this scheme. During the lean season, many people’s livelihood depends critically on forest products for subsistence or supplementary income. The most destitute gather wood for sale. A major part of the wood that head-loaders and bicycle-loaders carry is meant for the urban markets.
Distribution of Households in the Study Area
The degree of dependence on forests for subsistence or cash income varies from place to place and depends on the state of forests, access and presence or absence of other income-generation opportunities. The slogan ‘Protect and Prosper’ should define the relationship of villagers with forests. This is particularly true of weaker sections with a low base of land ownership as non-timber forest produce (NTFP) can play a very important role in protecting them from poverty and hunger. In Jharkhand, dominant people and contractors did not allow Mundas, Oraons and Ho tribals to have such a protective relationship with the forest. They forced tribals to carry out illegal work for them in the forests. In any government action against this, it was the tribals who were caught and punished. It is because of the near-bonded-type conditions that tribals could not say ‘NO’ to such risky work. When they collected various kinds of NTFP, the traders and contractors got huge profits from this while tribals got minimal gains. In this overall exploitation and deprivation of tribals, their women had to collect firewood and sell it in nearby markets—a trade which involved a lot of drudgery and carried great risk but brought very little economic benefit. In addition, this is very harmful for the forests. The tribals get edible roots, fruits, vegetables, flowers, honey, birds and animals (monkeys, hares, pigs and so on) from the forest. The mahua flower is a staple food for the poorer classes, at least for a part of the year. It is also used for making liquor. Mahua seed is used for making oil, both for cooking and lighting purposes.
It has been estimated that access to three mahua trees is adequate for the survival of a tribal household for over a year. The tribals also eat the fruits of the palas, ber, piar, jamun, imli, sarifa and many other wild trees. It has been estimated that for eking out their livelihood, the Birhor tribes depend to the extent of five-sixths and the Sauria Paharia—the hill cultivators of the Santhal Parganas—to the extent of three-fifths on what is available in the forest. Nearly half of the population among the agricultural tribes such as the Munda, Oraon and Ho depend on the forest to earn a livelihood. The basket markers—Mahlis—get their raw material (bamboo) from the forest.
Food-deficit Period
Food security is not just a matter of availability of food, but even more of the access of households and individuals to sufficient nutritious food. The absorption of food as nutrition in the body is further mediated by access to safe drinking water and hygienic sanitation facilities. Consequently, food security is analysed along the axis of availability, access and absorption. The importance of entitlements in food security is further underlined by the supreme court’s judgement validating the Right to Food. As a signatory to the UN’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the Government of India and all state governments had an obligation to reduce by half the proportion of people suffering from hunger by 2015 (UN World Food Programme [WFP] & IHD, 2008, p. 1).
Figure 1 shows that around forty-two households (18.7 per cent) have reported that they have secured food for 12 months. However, a major portion of the sample households were in food stress. About 127 households which constitute 56.4 per cent of the total households have food insecurity for 3–5 months in a year. Similarly, 20.0 per cent households have deficit of food grains and the period ranges from 6 to 11 months in a year and 4.9 per cent of the sample households reported that food insecurity persists for less than 3 months in a year. Food insecurity is directly linked to the defective pattern of landholding. Landlessness, marginal and small landholdings and lack of irrigation facility in the sample villages are the major causes of food insecurity.
Ration cards issued by the government provide the means to purchase subsidised food grains from designated shops. Major commodities distributed through the networks of PDS are wheat, rice, sugar and kerosene. These essential commodities are distributed to the identified beneficiaries belonging to several categories: above poverty line (APL), BPL and Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY).
Most of the sample households are below poverty line. However, 31.56 per cent households have BPL cards, 32.00 per cent households have AAY cards and 35.56 per cent households are not having ration card (Table 3). Ration cards issued by the government provide the means to purchase subsidised food grains from designated shops. Possession of ration cards is an important resource for poor households. The BPL and AAY cardholders are those who have ration cards and use it to get rice and kerosene on monthly basis from PDS shops.
Being a tribal state, a substantial proportion of STs in the state are BPL. It is clear from Table 3 that 16 per cent of ST population and 7.11 per cent of Muslims are from below poverty line.
Category-wise Distribution of BPL/APL Households (in %)
Gender and Poverty
There exists a correlation between gender and poverty. The disabled, the elderly, female-headed households and widows are found mostly among those in chronic poverty (Kumar, 2011, p. 26). Female-headed households may also be characterised by chronic poverty. Women take charge of running the household in two situations: either the male has migrated away from the village to earn a livelihood or the woman is a widow or a deserted wife. Most female-headed households belong to the vulnerable sections of society, and the women are victims of social exclusion (ibid., p. 29).
Female-headed households account for 11.5 per cent of the total of 225 households in the selected villages. There is very significant ratio of female-headed households in the study area. However, the present study observed that there were situations in which women and adolescent girls were targets of discrimination in intra-household food allocation. From girlhood to womanhood, the females are fed last and least. In every household, the main wage earner gets preference when it comes to food as reported by female respondents. Malnutrition in girls is much more common than among boys. Women take meals at last and often get less and sometimes they are left with no food. Women in the study area suffer from anaemia because of discrimination in food allocation and are vulnerable to poverty, food insecurity and undernutrition.
Status of Food Security among Tribal Women
In case of tribal women, even if they are from various religions and regions, they continue to be governed by the customs and norms of their particular tribes. There are a few restrictions on their mobility but women have considerable freedom of choice in the selection of marriage partners. Tribal cultures have liberal norms related to divorce and remarriage by women. Among most tribes, property, particularly land, passes through the male lineage and under customary laws. Women do not have inheritance rights to land (Sharma, 2007). As far as property rights of the tribal women are concerned, they continue to be ruled by even more archaic system of customary law under which they totally lack rights of succession or partition. In fact, the tribal women do not even have any rights in agricultural lands. It is ironical that property rights of women have been resisted in the name of preservation of tribal culture. The property right of a tribal woman also depends upon the type of family and marriage. In monogamous family, the property rights enjoyed by a woman are different from polygamous type of family. Again, the property right of a widow is different from the property right enjoyed by a woman whose husband is alive. In both the contigencies, the latter are worse of, that is, burdened with inequities.
Case Studies
This section presents the select case studies of the respondents (tribal and female-headed households) and their living condition in Manatu block of Palamu.
In Kusmatand village (Manatu block), there is no food available for the whole year, due to which many households fall in the health trap. Presented in the following are few cases of acute deprivation which also reflect a deep sense of helplessness vis-à-vis access, availability and affordability of food.
Case 1: Basanti Kunwar, a 30-year-old widow from Kharwar tribe, lives in Kusmatand Tola. She stays with her old father. Her father Rajkumar Singh reported that he had spent around ₹30,000 for the treatment of his son-in-law, but he was not able to recover from this chronic disease. He regretted that his daughter was in the early 30s who was neither educated nor able to earn enough to meet their basic needs. She had two sons, one was of 4 years, and the other a 4-month newly-born baby, and one daughter aged three. He and his wife got ₹800 as old-age pension. For his daughter’s treatment, he mortgaged 1.5 acre land, and the rest was taand (barren land). This village, he said was a Bukhmaria Tola (starving hamlet). Her father said he was too old and not able to work. He said his situation was the worst because he could not help his daughter in this situation; therefore, the daughter had to work to fulfil children’s basic needs. This was to say that his family was in health-trapped poverty. This case reveals that female-headed households are more vulnerable to food insecurity than male-headed households.
It is a case of multiple vulnerabilities, as she is not only a poor tribal woman but also a widow. Also her father is an old person, therefore with family support. And despite such acute vulnerability, the state-run food security mechanism is not reaching her.
Case 2: Jaago Kunwar became a widow at the early 40s. Her husband had starvation death. She had three sons. Due to their father’s death, they dropped out of school said one of her sons. His two brothers were working in Goa as construction labourers. She had 12 kathas of land (1 katha = 720 sq ft.) for cultivation, but it was of no use because there was no bullock. So she gave her land to a villager for sharecropping. She mortgaged six kathas of land for her daughter’s marriage. Her husband used to earn ₹50 for a whole day of work. In the year 2000, there was no crop production and she had a big family; therefore, it was a difficult situation to get two square meals. Further, there was a problem of lalkhandia (Naxalites) until the last 2 years; they used to visit her home. But there was subsequently a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) contingent present all the time at Manatu block. Therefore, they were relaxed after that.
The aforementioned case shows that being a widow and a tribal woman, Jaago Kunwar had to face many challenges starting from social restrictions in employment opportunity and economic insecurity. She said that through hard work and honesty, she wanted to bring up her children. She regretted that she could not provide proper education to her children because of the bad financial condition; however, when they grew up, they became the additional wage earners in supporting the family.
Case 3: Sabanti Kunwar is a widow of 30 years of age. She worked as a midday meal scheme helper in school. Her son was studying in the 7th class. She earned ₹1,000 per month. She owned two kathas of taand land (barren land). She said this (barren) land was not suitable for paddy cultivation and could only grow maize, madua and so on. She revealed, ‘we face food crisis for the whole year, though I have an Antyodaya card do not get ration as per the entitlement’. She had borrowed ₹2,000 from her relatives for the treatment of her son who was suffering from tuberculosis (TB).
This case shows that female households face the problem of poverty, economic insecurity, social constraints and powerlessness more acutely. Again, it becomes difficult for a working mother who has to earn a living and also to take care of her children. In such a household, children grow in deprivation. In a study, Kumar and Kant point out:
Women take charge of running the household in two situations: either the male has migrated away from the village to earn a livelihood or the woman is a widow or a deserted person. Most female-headed households belong to the vulnerable sections of society, and the women are victims of social exclusion. (Kumar & Kant, 2011, p. 29)
Case 4: Rajmuni Kunwar, a widow, lived with her 12-year-old son in her neighbour’s house in Bihra village of Majholi Gram panchayat. Rajmuni was a maid servant and she belonged to a landless family from the Oraon tribe. In fact, the Oroans in that village were the poorest sections comprising landless or daily wage labourers. This was one among the food-deficient households and this family had an Antyodaya card. The crop production in that year was not sufficient; therefore, the family had to live in abject hunger. Her relatives helped her financially to provide education to her child. The sudden death of a main wage earner in a family drives a household into poverty trap. Many times the respondents had prayed before the sarpanch (elected head of Gram Panchayat) and government officers for widow pension for her but did not get any positive response from them due to negligence. She deserved to get the widow pension, but was not getting it.
The life of Rajmuni was a reflection of exclusion from her husband’s property; being a tribal she was not entitled to property rights. Poverty and lack of livelihood resources had forced her to work as a domestic help at Bihra village, which hardly fetched enough for the basics.
Programmes and Their Implementation in Jharkhand
The Government of Jharkhand has played a vital role in protecting the vulnerable population, through the implementation of several social security programmes. The national social assistance programmes (NSAPs) include: Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme (IGNOAPS), Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme (IGNWPS), Indira Gandhi National Disability Pension Scheme (IGNDPS), National Family Benefit Scheme (NFBS) and Annapurna. Under the State Social Security scheme, certain vulnerable sections of the population, namely, widows, disabled persons, released bonded labourers (above the age of 18 years) and helpless old persons of 60 years of age and above, whose income is less than ₹5,000 for rural areas and ₹5,500 for urban areas, are paid a monthly pension of ₹400. Since the year 2014, non-BPL persons of 60 years and above age of rural areas having an annual income of ₹10,500 and non-BPL persons of 60 years and above age of urban areas having an annual income of ₹12,500 are paid pension at the rate of ₹600 per month per person, the cost being borne by the state government. The state government has fixed the physical target of ₹300,000 for this scheme (Planning-cum-Finance Department, 2017, p. 310, Chapter 14).
Under the Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme, individuals in the age group of 60–79 years from BPL families of rural and urban areas get pension at the rate of ₹600 per month. For individuals who are above the age of 80 years, the pension is given at a rate of ₹700 per month. The target is 913,855 lakh pensioners in the age group of 60–70 years in this scheme (ibid., p. 310). Until now pension was given only to persons in the age group of 60 years and above who belonged to the BPL families as per the BPL list of the year 2002. In the light of the recommendation of the Tendulkar Committee Report, it has been decided by the state government that pension under the IGNOAPS (beneficiaries in the age group of 80 years and above) will be given to all persons of 60 years of age and above whose annual income in rural areas is up to ₹7,995 and in urban areas up to ₹9,974. The state government has also decided to increase the state share from ₹200 to ₹400 per month from the year 2014 for the pensioners in the age group of 60–79 years (ibid., p. 311).
Under NFBS, ₹20,000 is provided to the dependents upon the death of a primary breadwinner (male or female) of a BPL family in the age group of 18–59 years. In order to provide financial support to HIV/AIDS-affected persons of the state, the Department of Social Welfare, Woman and Child Development under State Pension Scheme for HIV/AIDS-affected persons intends to provide pension to these beneficiaries at the rate of ₹600 per month from the financial year 2016. Senior citizens who are eligible but not covered under NOAPS have been receiving 10 kilograms of food grains every month under the Annapurna scheme. Under Pension Scheme for Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs), a pension of ₹600 per person per month is being provided to one person belonging to the family of identified Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups in the state. Nine out of the 32 tribes of the state have been identified as PVTGs.
All disabled persons in the age group of 18–79 years, residing in urban/rural areas, who are defined as ‘persons with disabilities’ under the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995, and National Trust for the Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities Act 1990 are getting pension at the rate of ₹600 per month under IGNDPS.
Implementation of the NFSA in Jharkhand
Government of Jharkhand has implemented the NFSA beginning from 1 October 2015, covering both AAY and the poorest-of-poor families as well as the priority households (PHs). Each AAY family is entitled to 35 kilograms of foodgrains every month, while each PH family is entitled to 5 kilograms of grains per month. Rice, wheat and coarse cereals are distributed to these families at predetermined prices. It covers 80 per cent of the total population of Jharkhand—86.4 per cent of the rural population and 60.2 per cent of the urban population (Planning-cum-Finance Department, 2017, p. 147, Chapter 7).
At present, Jharkhand has a wide network of 23,614 fair price shop (FPS) dealers covering nearly 5,170,159 ration cardholders belonging to 23,340,832 families in the state (ibid., p. 113). As per Census 2011, Jharkhand has a population of 32,988,134, out of which 25,055,073 or approximately 76 per cent of the total population live in rural areas, while 24 per cent live in urban areas. The scheme has so far covered 26,443,330 people who constitute about 80 per cent of the total population of Jharkhand. This implies that Jharkhand has made enormous progress in terms of the coverage of its population under NFSA. This scheme covers about 21,667,627 or 86.48 per cent of rural population (against national average of 75%) in the state.
Some additional features of NSFA include: (a) free meals for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers (from the birth of the child until they are 6 months old) through Anganwadi centres, (b) payment of at least ₹6,000 as maternal entitlement, (c) free meals for children up to the age of 6 and (d) midday meals for schoolgoing children up to the age of 14 or standard 8 (ibid., p. 119).
Under Mukhyamantri Dal-Bhat Yojna, a person gets 200 grams of cooked dal-bhat (lentils and rice) for ₹5. Currently, 375 centres are working for this in the state. Out of the 375 centres under this scheme, 12 are working at night. It has been proposed to convert the dal-bhat centres into Adarsh (ideal) centres but only the ones which are on government lands. One dal bhat centre each in Ranchi, Hazaribagh, Dhanbad, Palamu and Deoghar, and two dal-bhat centres in Jamshedpur are under the process of being converted into Adarsh centres. It has been proposed to introduce mobile kitchens under this scheme so that the poor people get food in the vicinity.
Gender and Social Policy
Empowering women and girls by promoting gender equality is a priority. The government of Jharkhand has made efforts to implement the health-related schemes such as the maternal care, family planning, reproductive health, HIV prevention, anaemia-reducing schemes, programmes for free distribution of sanitary napkins to adolescent schoolgoing girl. Health and hygiene awareness issues among women are addressed by Anganwadi Sevika, Auxiliary Nurse Midwifery (ANM) and Saahiya health workers. A new scheme—Mukhyamantri Nishulk Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening Scheme—has also been proposed to improve women-specific health care in the state (Planning-cum-Finance Department, 2016, p. 113). The state government through the postal department has implemented the scheme called Mukhyamantri Laxmi Ladli Yojana (MLLY) for the protection, education and secured future of girl children of BPL families. The main objective of the scheme is to reduce gender discrimination against female population, minimise the dropout in schools and empower women. Realising the importance of women role in the economy in the state, widow pension scheme for women above 40 years has also been initiated.
Conclusion
Empirical findings from seven villages in Manatu block of Palamu district show that most of the households in this study area are from below poverty line families (63.56%). Further, social group-wise analysis of poverty in the study area shows that a majority of 36.89 per cent ST households are from below poverty line, whereas 12 per cent SC households and 6.67 per cent OBC households and 8 per cent minority households belong to the below poverty line. A substantial proportion of STs in the state are from below poverty line. Gender analysis of poverty reflects that female-headed households account for 11.5 per cent of the sample who belong to below poverty line. The study on food security status in the surveyed villages shows that 4.9 per cent face food shortages for less than 3 months while as many as 56.4 per cent households in the study area do not have sufficient food for 3–5 months. Almost 20 per cent of the sample households are food deficient for more than half a year. The incidence of food insecurity is quite high among ST families. Assured food supply exists only for 3–4 months of the year, that is, in winter following the harvest in late October to early November. Food insecurity is directly linked to the unequal pattern of landholding. Landlessness, marginal and small landholdings and lack of irrigation facility in the surveyed villages are the major causes of food insecurity. The main causes of rural poverty are the low level of literacy along with low level of knowledge about their rights and entitlements; political marginalisation, disempowerment and social discrimination; indebtedness leading to land alienation and forced labour. Although vast majority of the tribal households have land, their landholdings are very small and were also found to be barren and mostly uplands. In addition to this, the sociocultural, legal and structural factors are also important while analysing the food insecurity problem among women in general and tribal women in particular. Widows in tribal society are not entitled to the property right. Thus, it is clear that females are more vulnerable to food insecurity and poverty. Hence, social policies of welfare are an imperative.
Declaration of conflicting interests
The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.