The Impact of Tobacco Cultivation on Dalit Agricultural Labourers in Prakasam District of Andhra Pradesh,India

Introduction

The main aim of this research paper is to understand the impact of tobacco cultivation on Indian rural society – particularly the agricultural labourers in Andhra Pradesh who are mostly Dalits. Agriculture continues to be the backbone of the Indian economy. Agricultural economy also remains as the foundation of rural social structure of Indian society. The agriculture changes, in terms of land tenure, landholding, and supply of irrigation facilities and commercialization of crops, have brought substantial changes in the social relationships among the rural communities. It is imperative to study such changes. Here it may be stated that the agricultural labourers mainly come from the lower castes and ‘untouchable’ castes. This study focuses on the Mala and Madiga castes. Despite the fact the government of India does not allow the practices of untouchability, in rural Andhra Pradesh the practices of untouchability are still being continued, though untouchables who are no longer officially called ‘untouchable’ and now called ‘scheduled castes’ by government officials; they call themselves Dalits who are oppressed. Therefore, in this paper, the untouchables or scheduled castes are called Dalit throughout.

While studying the significance of commercial crops in the country economists hold contradictory views on the consequences of commercialization of crops: one view is that the economic as well as the living standard of the landless agricultural labourers are better in the villages where the commercial crops such as tobacco and cotton are raised (e.g. Chikkala, 2010 and 2011; Nadkarni and Vedini, 1986; Ray, 2000; Reddy, 1985a; Reddy, 1985b; Satyasai and Viswanath, 1997). The other view is that the impact of commercialization of agriculture has made the rich farmers more resourceful than the poor farmers and the rich farmers often become local money lenders. The small farmers, who are faced with problems of credit and prices, depend upon the traders. Further commercialization of agriculture has increased unemployment among the casual labourers (Choudary, 1985; Rao and Rajashekar, 1991; Reddy, 1985a; Satyanarayana 1991; Sen, 1984). Thus in these studies attempts are made to understand the growth of commercial crops on the attitude of farmers and the impact of commercial crops on wages and so on.

But these studies do not show any concern for the impact on the society in general in terms of social structure, structural differentiations, adjustment and changes, etcetera. All these studies are oriented towards economy, market, production and prospects of tobacco rather than on the social aspects such as relationship between producers and labours or workers. They are also not concerned with the tobacco industry that creates a milieu of new social realities percolating down to the agricultural labourers. It may also be said at this point that there are very few anthropological studies (e.g. Breman, 1985) that have focused on the changes that are brought in the social structure and social relations in rural India due to changes in agricultural practices. In this background the present paper attempts to understand the impact of tobacco cultivation on agricultural farmers and the rural society.

This paper focuses on the consequences of the engagements of the Dalits at individual, caste or Dalit community and village at the inter-caste level. At the individual level, the higher incomes of individual families helps equipping their houses with certain facilities, educating children who secured jobs and acquiring new skills that helped in diversification of occupations. At the caste or community level, the higher incomes and new economic relations have a bearing at the family level, as pointed out in the earlier section. At the same time, caste or community have moved themselves to a new level of consciousness that unite Dalits to fight against discrimination and the practice of untouchability prevalent in the villages. This has altered the age-old traditional discriminations and inferior status. Finally, the improved economy, education and consciousness of discrimination has brought significant changes in the inter-caste relations at the village level.

The data for this paper comes from an in-depth study undertaken in two villages in the Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh during January and December 2008 as part of my PhD work. Karavadi is the village where tobacco has been cultivated for more than 50 years and Veerabhadrapuram is another village where tobacco has not yet been cultivated. These two villages were selected purposively for a comparison; they are similar in all respects except tobacco cultivation, and are located in the same cultural region. The difference between the two villages is taken as the impact of tobacco cultivation.

After providing a brief description on social structural features of the two villages, a detailed discussion is given on agricultural practices in the two villages and tobacco cultivation in Karavadi. It is followed by a comparative account of the wages and income in these villages. Then the impact of increased income in Karavadi is discussed in the areas of dwellings, furniture, family structure, expenditure, loans and education. Next, the overall impact on the village in terms of social relations and power structure are discussed.

Karavadi and Veerabahdrapuram Villages

There is a representation of 21 castes and two tribes in Karavadi, and 17 castes and one tribe in Veerabhadrapuram. The castes such as Mala, Madiga, Golla/Yadava, Reddy, Kummari and Chakali are present in both villages. However, castes of Rajput, Vadde and Yanadi and Dommara tribes which are present in Karavadi are absent in Veerabhadrapuram. Similarly, Chenchu tribe which is present in Veerabhadrapuram is absent in Karavadi village. While there are 1,239 households in Karavadi village, Veerabhadrapuram has 1,005 households.

Individuals’ Skills and Development

Tobacco cultivation has caused development of human resources, particularly in the case of Dalits, in building individuals’ capacity to earn more and help psychological well being and overcoming the inferiority complex by providing certain new skills. Armed with these new skills, the Dalits have entered into a new era of an organized labour force with dependency on skilled agricultural and industrial workers. The scene turned from the state of meekly receiving commands and subservient attached labour or farm servant to the contractual labour and wage demanding stage.

The introduction of Flue-Cured Virginia Tobacco (FCV) technology has imparted new skills to the Dalit workers. The Indian Leaf Tobacco Development Division (ILTD) factory organized experiments after the import of FCV tobacco from the United States of America (USA) included farm demonstrations for the promising farmers of tobacco and also training for building barns, curing processes, grading the cured tobacco, and so on. As the farmers began to enjoy the benefits of the FCV tobacco cultivation, some started building their own barns, employing trained workers to manage the barns, and also curing of tobacco. Some others, even if they did not grow tobacco, established barns which could be rented out to farmers who had grown FCV tobacco and wanted to get the tobacco cured.

After the initial curing, the tobacco has to be graded in seven grades, as explained in the previous section. This is a skilled activity. If there is improper curing or grading, the farmer will incur heavy losses. Therefore only those who have acquired sufficient skills in these activities are employed. The labour force working in the tobacco farms and who are proficient in farm related activity are employed, whereas others were not inducted in these operations. The workers who are well versed in tobacco could be employed in cultivation of Bengal gram, paddy or on any other crop as these did not require any special skills. Moreover, these are traditional crops that anyone could participate. Thus rural employment opportunity is high throughout the year for workers who are familiar with the works of tobacco and traditional crops of the locality than for others. The barn is managed by a toker and a driver.

Labour Organization – Mutah-Maistry

The introduction of FCV tobacco technology and the consequent reorganization of the labour process in the agrarian and agro-processing sector have marked a qualitatively new stage. As mentioned earlier, there is no direct relationship between the labourers and farmers regarding work and payment in Karavadi. This is a shift from daily wage work following individual labour to contract work assigned to a group. The responsibility of work is given to one individual who has to get the work done with his labour. The farmer makes payment of a lump-sum amount for which agreement is reached after the work is done. The mutah-maistry works as the mediator between the farmer and labourers, and the latter discuss together along with the mutah-maistry and fix the wages for particular work. The labourers have the capacity to demand wages and enter into a bargain. This takes place in case of harvesting on the basis of size of the land. The level of demand for labour in the case of tobacco cultivation is nearly two to three times higher than that for other dry crops such as jowar and groundnut. The demand for labour is high at the time of operations of transplantation, de-pesting and harvesting. During this time there is demand for higher wages on the basis of barn size, rather than land size. The element of attachment to the traditional system has rapidly disappeared and casual labour employment has become the norm. Given the high demand for labour, the mutah labourers, especially the curing workers, are able to assert themselves. By the end of 2006 there were numerous strikes by agricultural labourers in this village for better wages with the support of the Communist Party of India activists.

In Veerabhadrapuram village, labour markets are disorganized and scattered. There is no mutah or agricultural team in this village, either from the socially backward community agricultural labourers or from non-Dalit community agricultural labourers. During the agricultural season, the farmer usually informs a labourer, who has good rapport with him, about the labour requirement of that day. That worker gathers the labourers as per the farmer’s requirement on that day. Moreover, the wages are fixed after the completion of each operation. The wage fixation totally depends upon the farmer’s choice. The choice of wage increase or maintenance of the previous year’s wages again largely depends on the farmer’s decision. Here it is worth noting that the labourers are not given any chance to participate in the wage fixation process. The increase in labour wages totally depends on the farmer’s grace but not on the demand of labour.

Impact of Tobacco on Occupations

In Karavadi village there are two families from where two village servants come as hereditary village servants. Their duty is to assist the village officer and bill collector in the collection of land tax. There are 107 families of government employees. The members of these families do not work for any other farmer. Only one family belonging to the Madiga caste makes footwear and mends footwear and shoes, and maintains a shop in the village. Though most of the Dalits depend on the upper castes that provide them with employment in tobacco cultivation, no single Dalit family entirely depends on any single upper caste family, as of today, which was not the case in the 1950s. Now there is no need for such dependency for any Dalit family, for they are getting employment throughout the year in tobacco fields and tobacco grading companies. On the other hand, in Veerabhadrapuram village, some Dalit families are entirely dependent on some Reddy families as there is employment during the agricultural season, and there is no change in their traditional occupations, such as the Madigas whose main occupation is tanning and preparing footwear and other leather goods with agricultural labour as their subsidiary occupation. Very few households have cultivation as their main occupation.

Tobacco cultivation in Karavadi has changed the village economy from subsistence to surplus cash. The annual income and agriculture capital of the people has increased due to tobacco cultivation. It also increased economic mobility and intensified economic differentiation of various communities. All these changes have been in line with the practice of the customary Karavadi economy. The socio-economic status of the Dalits’ agriculture labourers has increased. However, the economic changes have not radically affected inter-caste relations. The Dalit tobacco cultivators economically, politically and ritually play important roles in the social domain of the village. On the other hand, in Veerabhadrapuram village, while the Kammas, Balijas and Reddys are the owners of village land, the Malas and Madigas continue to assist them in all various agricultural operations as their permanent labourers. The traditional patron–client relationship exists among all castes.

In Indian rural society occupations are so rigidly structured that there is a direct relation between occupational pattern and social structure. Occupation of the rural people is generally classified into traditional occupations and non-traditional occupations. The traditional occupations are associated with caste hierarchy. The Dalits have not been allowed to have any vertical occupational mobility. Earlier, in Karavadi, the Dalits were entrusted to do manual labour of both a pure and impure nature. Traditionally, pure occupations mostly consisted of agricultural labour, whereas the traditionally impure works mean unclean and lowly occupations such as grave digging, drum beating, scavenging, and carrying carcasses and so on. Tobacco cultivation has improved the economy of Dalits in this village, and the traditional occupational pattern has undergone many changes in recent periods.

In Veerabhadrapuram the Dalits have not changed their traditional occupations. Dalits have been working as agricultural labourers, drum beaters and grave diggers for high castes and carrying carcasses of animals. Upper caste people have been practicing the age-old tradition of untouchability in Veerabhadrapuram.

Inter-Caste Relations

Inter-caste relations, either in Karavadi or Veerabharapuram, or for that matter any other village in Andhra Pradesh or India, are founded mainly on economic, political and religious domains, popularly known as jajmani relations. While the economic relations are based on individuals, the caste element plays its role due to economic inequality wherein the upper castes control the economic sphere in the village. In this case there is an institution called jeetha in Veerabhadrapuram, as mentioned earlier, and which is absent in Karavadi village which, in fact, existed some years ago. The politics wherein the upper castes take the leadership role again have followers from the low castes. The religious and economic spheres together connect several castes in which some provide services and others receive services. Traditionally there have been ties between the upper caste landlords (asamis) and Dalit clients. The Dalits, either Malas or Madigas, used to go the house of the asami to attend to domestic work or farm work. At the end of the year they were given some grain. The tradition is being continued in Veerabhadrapuram village where a Dalit who offers annual service has to be at the beck and call of the landlord. He has to be at the landlord’s house all the time except when he goes to bed in the night. As soon as gets up he attends to a call of nature, brushes his teeth with charcoal or neem twig and then rushes to landlord’s house straight away. He is given three measures of jowar (three manikalu).

At present, in Karavadi, there is no patron–client relation with the cultivation of tobacco. This is mainly due to the cash economy which has replaced the grains, and since there is year-round employment in the tobacco industries and tobacco cultivation by various formers, a Dalit need not depend on one farmer for the entire year. The farmers have also tried to dissociate themselves from the Dalits as they do not like to take care of the family during the non-agricultural season. The Dalits wanted to be free from the farmers who had been extracting more work in the year but paying less remuneration, and they wanted to be free from this kind of attached labour or menial service and work either in tobacco cultivation, where there is variation of wages depending on the demand of labour, while working for different farmers and work in industries where there is continuous work throughout the year.

Thus the traditional ties between the farmers and the Dalits, both Mala and Madiga servants, have disappeared. In fact, some of the Dalits have become cultivators, as the following case studies reveal. In several cases, the children go to school or college due to an improvement in their economic conditions. As such, persons who are seeking employment with farmers have reduced, unlike in Veerabhadrapuram where children drop out from school early and seek such employment.

The enhanced economy, change of occupations and improved education seem to have had an impact on the family structure of the Dalits. The early independent living perhaps has encouraged the families to set patrilateral neo-local residence in Karavadi. In Veerabhadrapuram, the attachment of married brothers with the father seems to be stronger perhaps due to economic interdependence. Therefore there are more nuclear families in Karavadi than in Veerabhadrapuram.

Consciousness of Women Workers

As described earlier, tobacco cultivation, production and curing requires a large work force of women. Women are also organized into mutahs and leadership has been developed among the women. These mutahs have developed a spirit of solidarity and mutual help which transcend the egoism of the individual family. The collective spirit among the women is much strengthened by the fact that landlords have to bargain with them. They cannot recruit these women individually but have to negotiate with their spokeswoman or mutah-maistries who, in turn, are controlled by other women labourers. The necessity to recruit a large number of women for agricultural operations during certain periods of the year provides the objective basis for the development of women’s spirit of solidarity and organizational skills.

Women of Karavadi have joined the state-sponsored scheme of self-help groups (SHGs). There are 130 self-help groups in this village. They are saving some amount of money in the banks for their children’s education and for the marriage of daughters. Women are, in fact, the pillars of the traditional village farming economy. The women responded enthusiastically to the prospect of forming their own self-help groups. The first women’s association was set up in Karavadi in 1994 and the first women association was named as Chitanya Mahila Group. Only 10 members joined this group and after two years another group was established which is called Dr. B. R. Ambedhakar women group. Tarakarama women’s group and Varalaxmi women’s groups were established in 1997. Today there are 130 self-help groups in Karavadi village. Out of the 130 SHGs, 40 belong to Dalit communities. From 1994, each member of the women’s groups has been saving Rs. 50/- per month in the Syndicate Bank. Today the women associations have saved Rs 300,000/-. For every five groups, there is one women leader who collects the contributions of its members and deposits it in the bank. All leaders of the women’s groups have elected one village organizer (VO) who belongs to the Kamma caste, one treasurer belonging to a caste member of the backward class and one vice-president belonging to the Kamma caste, and 10 directors. One of the directors belongs to the Dalit community; she is the leader of five women groups. This organization is a consortium of all the SHGs in the village. All applications from individual SHGs has to go through this village women’s organization to the Syndicate Bank for a loan. The loan will be sanctioned only when the consortium forwards the application. The women’s organizations meet every week in its SHGs office and discuss various issues related to the functioning of various SHGs in the village.

In this way, the Dr. B. R. Ambedkar women group had a loan of one lakh (i.e. 100, 000) rupees from the Syndicate Bank in 2000. This group distributed the amount to the tobacco farmers on a three rupees interest rate, while they got this money with only a 25 paise interest rate from the bank (there are 100 paise in a rupee). Earlier, all group members of the Dalits groups were illiterate, but today all members are literate. Villager organizers and committee members discussed the problem of illiteracy and decided to educate illiterate women members. They bought slates and books for their members and organized an informal night school. This informal school functioned after they had had their evening meals. Every group leader taught the alphabet and then lessons to their group members. As a result, today, all group members are literate. Regular weekly meetings are held in the village SHG office and women discuss a variety of subjects related to their lives. The meetings help broaden their awareness about banking, markets, health of women and children, income-generating schemes and bring solidarity among the women. The issues of wages and the raising of wages and going on strike are also discussed.

In Veerabhadrapuram village the wife of a rich farmer also works in the field. Because economic relations between husband and wife are unchanged, familial relations between them are also unchanged. The wife shows her husband the customary respect. Women perform more agricultural operations than men. Like labourers, they work in the field for more months in the year than men. Some of the upper caste women have joined SHG groups in this village and there are five self-help groups in this village. They are saving small a amount of money in the banks for their daughters’ marriages and for the education of their children.

In contrast to Karavadi village, women in Veerabhadrapuram still largely operate with the limits of the substance economy; all money transactions are done by their men folk. Their husbands purchase household goods in Yerragondapalem and their women folk rarely venture to the weekly fair. In this village, women know little about market prices. Cloth merchants come to the village and women purchase clothes in exchange of chilies. Women purchase clothes using cash in Ongole town or in Karavadi village itself. The changes which have taken place in Veerabhadrapuram are in line with the traditional economy and, therefore, they have not caused any radical changes in roles and relations within the village. By contrast, in Karavadi, multifarious changes have revolutionized its economic and political system. The role of women has drastically changed in Karavadi village. Karavadi farmers regard it as a matter of prestige that their women folk do not work on their land any more. Women have learned to operate in the money economy; they sell milk and butter and they purchase goods in Karavadi and they lend money. Their desire to earn more independently has affected the relationship between husband and wife. By purchase of a buffalo, a husband provides his wife with an independent source of income and, in turn, gives her a certain degree of independence, in general.

These contradictory interests lead to many quarrels between husband and wife. Economic differentiation has found different modes expressed in Karavadi and Veerabhadrapuram villages. In Karavadi, it is claimed that a number of elderly women have given substantial help to their husbands in the accumulation of the family assets. In Karavadi, men have houses, bikes, and watches. Dress and speech are more of an important criteria of prestige. By contrast, there are very few quarrels between wife and husband in Veerabhadrapuram. The women are illiterate and do not know how to make calculations of their income and expenditure. In Karavadi, the women working for tobacco companies spend a considerable amount of time outside the family, and some of them have developed intimacy with men of other castes. Often quarrels in their houses originate in these sexual matters, regarding relationships outside the marriage.

Breakdown of the Practice of Untouchabilty

Like any other village, the Dalits of Karavadi were also subjected to untouchability until recently. They were not allowed entry into Hindu temples or to draw water from wells or collect water from ponds used by the upper castes and they were not given water in steel tumblers. Even the Chakalis and Mangalis did not provide services of washing clothes and hair dressing to the Dalits. In 1952 Manem Venkateswarlu and Sita Ramaiah started the Communist Party in the village. They belonged to the Kamma caste and were working under the state leaders like Madala Narayana Swamy, Kolla Venkaiah, and Tavanam Chencahaiah. They spread the communist ideology of social and economic equality which can be achieved through struggles and movements.

The Dalits, who had been subjected to the practice of untouchability, were attracted to communist ideology. So most of the Dalits joined the Communist Party and regularly participated in their activities and arranged meetings in and around the village, and joined the protests organized by them in Ongole town also. They used to participate in the election campaigns of the Communist Party leaders. The Communist Party started an awareness programme through enacting dramas such as Ma Bhumi. This drama is about the revolt against Chenna Reddy and Prakash Reddy, landlords (doras) in Telangana. In this story, Dalits were working under these landlords and the Doras were exploiting the Dalits by paying low wages, demanding free labour and so on, besides practicing untouchability. Finally, collectively the Dalits revolt against the landlords and obtain freedom. In Karavadi, the Dalits participated in this drama by collecting money from the villages for organizing the drama, and also enacting certain roles in the Ma Bhumi drama several times in the village during 1961–4. In 1974, the Communist Party fought with the district administration for distribution of waste land for Dalits in Karavadi. Consequently 200 Dalits got 150 acres of land in Karavadi. The Communist Party organized several strikes against the tobacco farmers for a rise of wages and also against tobacco companies at Throvagunta where the Dalits of Karavadi also participated. The Communist Party since 1960–70 has been organizing song and essay writing competitions for young boys and girls on themes related to social and economic issues of the villagers during the Sankranti festival and organized sports in the village. This has also been to divert people from the evil habits of gambling and cock fighting during the festival occasion.

On the other hand, the literacy levels of the villagers have also gone up and some of them gained employment and there is an increase of economic levels. Further, the Dalits’ conversion to Christianity also acted as a catalyst to fight against social inequality and practice of untouchability. The Dalit youth also became conscious of the constitutional rights granted to them and were very much influenced by the ideology of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar. As a cumulative effect of all these things, the Dalits, as mentioned earlier, got themselves freed from attached labour with the landlord and, gradually, the Chakalis and Mangalis started providing their services to the Dalits. Unlike the neighbouring villages, the Chakali visit the Dalits’ houses to collect soiled clothes in the morning and return the washed clothes in the evening. The Mangali allowed them to avail of services in the shops that they set up in the central part of the village.

There used to be only one well in the village which was used by the upper castes, and Dalits used to draw water from the nearby wells located in the agricultural fields of the upper castes. In early 1980s, the Rural Water Supply scheme was implemented in the village by which all the localities were supplied with tap water. The Dalits stopped drawing water from the wells located in the agricultural fields, but since then tap water has not been regularly supplied for reasons such as mechanical failure, lack of electricity or falling water table in summer and so on. In such circumstances, the Dalits began drawing water from the well located in the upper caste locality. No one raised any objections due to the support of the Communist Party leaders in the village. Thus, unlike surrounding villages, the Dalits of Karavadi are not discriminated by the service castes and upper castes.

However, the Malas provide their services at the funerals to Vaisya, Kamma, Reddy and Balija castes; they arrange firewood and burn the corpses. They are paid cash, given free liquor and food at the post-funeral rituals, china and peddadinams. But now no educated Mala provides these services and they receive only cash without food. In case of Madigas, they used to remove the dead cattle, skin the animal and half the skin is given to the upper caste owner with which the footwear and agricultural implements were made. But today, the Madigas have stopped this service and the upper caste themselves remove the dead animal and throw it in the agricultural field or the road side. However, the Madigas provide the services of drum beating for the festivals, weddings and other occasions of all castes.

In 1970 the Communist Party leader Sitaramaiah led a group of 50 Dalits and entered the Shivalayam temple. Since then, the Dalits have entered the temple and offer prayers. In fact, 75% of the Dalits are converted to Christianity except a quarter of them among both Mala and Madiga, and these Hindu families are allowed into the Hindu temples, the entry of which was prohibited to them until then. This is a revolutionary change. Though this change appears to be an outcome of the Communist Party’s bold step for stamping out untouchability, the role improvement from socio-economic status cannot be ruled out. The present day Dalits are cleaner, educated, and economically better off compared to the past.

In Karavadi, the upper caste people used to invite Dalits for weddings and food was served to them at the end while they sat on the ground. But today the Dalits have developed friendship with the upper castes and, when they are invited to a wedding, the upper castes allow them to sit along with other upper caste members at tables where meals are arranged. Similarly the wedding of the Dalits are attended by the upper castes and they sit along with the Dalits when eating. It was observed that, when Venkateswarlu, a Kamma farmer, came to the marriage function of Subba Rao’s son, Subba Rao arranged separate tables and chairs for the upper castes but, at the same venue, the Dalits had separate tables. This is a change: earlier the upper castes never participated in Dalits’ weddings, let alone eat with them. But today, that gap has been reduced. Moreover, in Veerabhadrapuram, upper caste persons do not attend the weddings of the Dalits. On this occasion, the Dalits go to the house of the upper castes who give them some gifts in cash or kind. The upper caste farmers do not invite the Daltis to their marriages. After marriage, the Dalits are invited for dinner, where they sit on the floor and partake of the food served.

Political Empowerment

Karavadi is a major Panchayat with 14 ward members from which a Sarpanch and Upasarpanch are elected. In the beginning Reddys used to be Sarpanches but it this shifted to Kammas despite the fact that there is a large population of Dalit. The Dalits were ignorant and they did not have the courage or means for contesting elections. Out of the 14 wards, the Dalits are in majority in eight of these. So far, this Panchayat has not been a reserved Panchayat. In the beginning, Reddys used to be Sarpanches, but it got shifted to Kamma despite the fact that there is a large population of Dalits because the Dalits were ignorant and they did have the courage or means to contest in an election. With the economic and educational improvement and political inclusion by the Communist Party they started actively participating in elections and they happened to get the position of Upasarpanch due to their numerical strength. But, in 2001, the Dalits became bold enough to contest for the position of Sarpanch and one Karavadi, Subba Rao, got elected. Also, in the 2006 elections another Dalit was elected for the position of Upasurpanch. Since more than half of the wards are numerically dominated by Dalits, the Dalit ward members are able to wield their power in electing Sarpanch or Upasurpanch. Thus it is possible to say that the Dalits are conscious of the constitutional right to participate in elections and, therefore, they are politically empowered, as they can take decisions for the village. They can now sit in the chairs in the Panchayat office along with the high caste members, which does not happen in many neighbouring villages. In 2001 Mandal Parishad elections one Dalit woman was elected as a Mandal Parishad Territorial Constancy (MPTC) member to represent at the Mandal. Though in Panchayat elections political parties do not officially play any role, the upper caste leaders influence the Dalits. But the Dalits take independent decisions and contest elections among themselves. Though differences emerge at this time, these disappear after the elections.

Though there is a substantial number of households among Yanadi, Chakali, Mangali and Muslims, they do not actively participate in the Panchayat or any other elections. The other castes participate in all elections, and the Dalits support almost equally the major political parties such as Congress (I), Telugu desam and Communist Party of India (ML) in the Mandal, assembly and parliamentary elections. However, those who support the Communist Party of India (ML) engage themselves in campaigning also. However, in the case of others, the Dalits do not participate in the campaigns. They work as party agents also in the booths at the time of elections.

In Veerabhadrapuram, Dalits are never elected as Sarpancher or Upasarpanches. No Dalit was elected as an MPTC Member. While Reddys nominate some Dalits, the Kammas nominate others in six wards of the Dalits. This situation reflects indirect political conflict between the Reddys and Kammas. Thus the Dalits do not have independent decision-making capacity. Even after the election, the Dalits who won the election never enter the Panchayat office nor sit on the chairs along with the other elected upper caste members. They have no voice or they do not participate in the decision-making processes of the village Panchayat. As far as participation of the Dalits in Mandal, assembly and parliamentary elections is concerned, they follow the directions of their Reddy or Kamma landlords in casting their votes. They have never act as party agents in the elections.

Social Hierarchy

Here the argument advanced is that Mala and Madigas have improved their socio-economic and political status in Karavadi compared to their counterparts in Veerabhadrapuram. In this regard, the position of the Dalits in the context of social hierarchy gives a somewhat different picture in Karavadi. The Dalits assert that they are superior to Chakalis and Mangalis. But the latter argue that the Dalits are socially and economically superior but they are ritually inferior. Thus a distinction between social-economic and ritual hierarchies is brought into play. The Dalits, on the other hand, feel that they are superior in all respects to the service castes as ritually also the Hindu Dalits are accepted into the temples and they receive all the services of the service castes, except the Brahmins. The Christian Dalits anyway reject the ritual criterion for hierarchy.

Thus in Karavadi in the middle order we find the Kamsali, Odde, Chakali and Kummari, along with the Dalits. In Veerabhadrapuram, in the middle order Chakali, Kamsali, Kummari, and Mutharasi occupy the position above Mala and Madiga castes in the village. The hierarchy of castes in Karavadi may be represented as follows:

Thus there is social mobility among the Dalits of Karavadi, compared to the Dalits of Veerabhadrapuram. This is mainly due to the cultivation and production of tobacco in Karavadi.

Symbols of Status and Prestige

The increased economy has resulted in the strife for prestige and status among the Karavadi Dalits. Upward economic mobility has led to a challenge for those with ascribed status by those with achieved status; the struggle for prestige has become intensified. The different types of criteria of prestige employed in the two villages reflect the different types of economic developments they have undergone. Dress has become an important criterion of prestige. In Karavadi, the Dalit men and women wear fine clothes. Men wear clean shirts over lungis, and women wear sari and blouse, on ordinary working days educated girls and women wear nighties also. The Karavadi Dalit men dress better in order to impress the district or other officials, members of the legislative assembly, in Ongole whom they approach for different purposes. The two Karavadi Dalits who are employed as lawyers, teachers, etcetera, wear trousers and shirts, and they often go with tucked in shirt, and in this get-up none could guess that they belong to the Dalit castes. The non-Dalit upper castes also give due respect to those who wear neat and clean western dress. The Dalit women wear jewels on occasion.

The ordinary Dalits who work on the farm wear lungis and shirts and women wear sari and blouse on all days. When they work, they put on the shirt or the blouse to protect the clothes from the insecticides and colour or dust of tobacco leaves. In Veerabhadrapuram, Dalits work in the field and use normal cotton shorts and shirt for everyday wear. They only wear new dresses on special occasions such as village festivals and weddings. In Karavadi the Dalits spend Rs. 50,000/- on clothing, whereas in Veerabhadrapuram the Dalits spend less than Rs 10,000/- for clothing in a year. The Karavadi Dalit men smoke cigarettes and drink liquor very often. They often go to the bus stop and eat tiffin (breakfast) and drink coffee and tea. In Veerabhadrapuram the Dalits never drink tea or coffee in the main village. The value accorded to the dress and expenditure on food clearly reflects the impact of tobacco cultivation on the Dalits of Karavadi.

The hiring of a Scorpio vehicle for the bridal procession through the streets of the Dalit localities, or the provision of a western-style jacket and shoes for bridegroom’s outfit are examples of economic prosperity of the Karavadi Dalits. In Veerabhadrapuram the Dalits celebrate their weddings in a traditional manner with dhoti and shirt. In Karavadi the Dalits indicate an assimilation of new customary types of behaviour, rather than a displacement of old by new patterns of behaviour. The expenditure of more money on weddings by the Dalits of Karavadi speaks of their economic and social status.

Conclusion

This discussion reveals that the tobacco labourers in Karavadi village have improved their socio-economic conditions and discontinued the traditional relationships with the landlords whereas in Veerabahadrapuram, where there is no tobacco cultivation, the agricultural labourers continue to depend on farmers in the traditional way. In Karavadi many Dalit families are sending their children to school whereas in Veerabhdrapuram most of the children drop out from school. Thus, in Karavadi, they are able to improve their economy and become independent. The traditional relations between landlord and agricultural labourers have been disrupted and consequently the hereditary economic relations between upper caste farmers and labourers have disappeared. In Veerabhadrapuram caste-based ritual relationships between Dalit agricultural labourers is still effective. The Dalits continue to act as drummers and are still working as annual farm workers. There is a breakdown of the practice of untouchability in Karavadi village due to the intervention of the Communist Party of India, whereas in Veerabhadrapuram the practice of untouchability is still continued. At present the Dalits coccupy respectable positions such as teachers, executives, lawyers, doctors, priests etcetera; they are now achievement-oriented.