Rhenock, Sikkim Village Report

1. INTRODUCTION

The Fieldwork Segment at IRMA is a special part of the PGDRM program. Technically, it gives

one an opportunity to stay in a village for 8 weeks and explore the management systems in place.

On a personal note, it provides an individual a chance to live a simple life, free from the stress

and tensions of the present day urban life. It gives us a chance to witness the greatest

management structure work in complete sanctity and remarkable efficiency, the Indian Village.

In a way not to romanticize the Indian village; we would be exploring the various arrangements

which constitute the village society, the village economy and the village polity in a more in-

depth approach in the sections ahead. In this report, we have tried to explain all our observations,

understandings and analysis which we thought might be useful for the reader of this report. As it

is the first time that IRMA has introduced Sikkim as a part of the Fieldwork Segment states, we

would try and give a complete map of the village, which can be used by the participants in the

coming years.

We were hosted by the Rural Management and Development Department, Government of

Sikkim. We were a team of 3 members who were located at Rungdung village of East Sikkim.

2. OBJECTIVES

The main objectives of our study were:

To experience the life of a villager in Rungdung and the intricacies involved with the

daily routines.

To apply classroom knowledge onto the field and explore the new possibilities of better

management of the village.

To understand the potential of innovation for the betterment of the present life style of the

rural community.

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3. METHODS USED

The methods that we adopted for this study were a mixed bag of formal and informal techniques.

Most importantly, we made the most out of the willingness and enthusiasm of the villagers to

teach us about their lives. As per our objectives defined above, we investigated the village in a

more detailed arrangement. At many instances, the information which we collected from the

villagers seemed erroneous, for which we had to use triangulation methods for authenticating the

information gathered. The list of the methods used by us is a follows:

3.1 Primary Sources

The primary sources employed by us were essentially consisting of a variety of

conversations which we had with the villagers in different circumstances and events. We

tried our best to make sure that the information furnished by the villagers in these

conversations was genuine by rechecking the information by similar interviews with

other locals. The techniques used by us included:

3.1.1 Observation

During our initial days at the village, our major source of information was sitting idle

and watching the life in the village. This provided us a lot of knowledge of the village

processes and dynamics. It also gave us an opportunity to identify the most influential

people in the village. Also, we tried to look for our designated themes in the context

of the village.

3.1.2 Focused Group Discussions (FGD)

We performed three FGDs with different groups of people, the details of which are

presented below:

FGD with Rhenock Government College Professors

This FGD was conducted during our first week of the fieldwork. The

attendance at this meeting was 8 professors from the Rhenock Government

College. The discussion was held to explore the livelihood basket of the

village community. The discussion was held at the Canteen of the college.

FGD with SHG members

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The second FGD was conducted with the members of the Suraksha SHG

aimed to investigate their experiences with the SHG, the problems faced by

them and outcomes of their involvement. There were 12 ladies who

attended the meeting, which was held at the Rungdung ICDS centre.

FGD with MGNREGA workers

Our third FGD was with the MGNREGA workers at their work site. A total of

6 members were present at the discussion, 5 females and 1 male. The

discussion focused on investigating MGNREGA from the eyes of the

workers.

3.1.3 Informal chats over cups of tea

We collected a lot of data by sitting down with the locals and talking to them about

their views on various aspects of their lives. This was necessary to make them open

up to us easily and know their personal feelings about the aspects. We thought that

carrying a huge file and recorder would be a little intimidating for them. Therefore,

we decided to make conversations over Chha (tea) and biscuits.

3.1.4 Structured Interviews with key informants

We identified a few locals who we thought would provide a wide range of

information in a more in-depth way. These informants would also work as our contact

persons with other locals in the village. Structured interviews were conducted with

these informants on various themes.

3.1.5 Household Schedule under Rural Action Component

As a part of our Rural Action Component with the Rural Management and

Development Department of Government of Sikkim, we had to perform an exhaustive

survey of nearly 180 households of the Rhenock Bazaar Ward. The household

schedule was a comprehensive survey tool comprising of socio economic information

about the household. This was a good entry point for us to interact with a lot of

villagers and also get first hand almost accurate data about their conditions.

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3.1.6 Participatory Rural Appraisal

During our final few weeks at our village, we performed PRA activities with the

villagers. It was difficult to find villagers to participate in the activity, but as we

continued with our work, people joined in slowly. We organized a Village Map and

Seasonality Matrix.

3.2 Secondary Source

Our sources of secondary data include:

Block Administrative Centre (Office of the BDO)

Public Health Centre (PHC)

Gram Prashasan Kendra of our ward

We had also received secondary data from the Rural Management and Development

Department at Gangtok. This data was more specific to our Rural Action Component.

4. CONSTRAINTS OF STUDY

Even though we stayed in the village for more than 50 days, the time was not

sufficient to have a complete understating of the village life. Moreover, the first few

days were consumed in building good rapport with the villagers.

As it was the paddy harvesting season, people were busy in harvesting and hence

were unable to give us enough time for the interviews. Also, the working class was

busy with their jobs during the day time.

A majority of the population thought of us as Government servants. Consequently,

they were reluctant to talk to us initially and if they did talk, they gave false

information.

The poorer households in the village either lived on top of mountains, or towards the

bottom. Therefore, it was difficult to reach their houses due to really steep terrain.

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5. VILLAGE PROFILE

“Kasto Chaa, Raamro?” Rungdung is a small village in the Rhenock Bazaar ward of Rhenock

Tarpin Gram Panchayat Unit of the Rhenock Block. The Rhenock block is in the East District of

Sikkim. The village is at a height of 1050 meters, or 3450 feet above MSL. The closest town to

the village is Rangpo, which is 22 km away from Rungdung and is connected by a pucca road,

the condition of which is not up to the mark due to the frequent landslides. Rangpo is the border

between Sikkim and West Bengal. Both the states are connected by NH 31A, which is also

known as the lifeline of Sikkim as it connects Gangtok to West Bengal. The village is at a

distance of 58 km from Gangtok.

The road from Rangpo to Rungdung further leads to the Nathula Pass and Jelepla Pass which is

the border between India and China and a major trading hub of the Indo- China trade. This route

was earlier a part of the Silk route to Tibet.

A map depicting the geographical position of Rhenock block is furnished on the next page.

Figure 1: Geographical Map showing the location of Rhenock

(Source: Block Administrative Centre)

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Figure 2: Map of Rungdung Village (Source: PRA Exercise)

5.1 History

The local inhabitants have only unclear legends of the history of Rungdung but no clear idea of

what really happened in the era before the Grandfathers of the current adult generation. The

people of Rhenock hold one hypothesis strongly that the first inhabitants were the Lepchas. It is

not known as to when the Lepchas migrated into this area from the hills of Burma and Assam,

though the Lepchas themselves have to tradition of migration. Rungdung, Rhenock was

supposed to be taken up during the first phase of settlements as it served as the entry point to

Sikkim, East Nepal and lower Bhutan. This is predicted around the middle of the 17th century.

As described by a few veterans, the early presence of pastures suggested that this place was a

temporary establishment or a staging camp which an overflow from the main route trickled. It is

also supposed that the spread of Lamaistic Buddhism from Tibet to Sikkim reversed the inflow

and caused displacement of the Lepchas who would have earlier migrated here. Religious

infiltration from Tibet followed by the Tibetans settling must have gone for a long time. The first

theocratic ruler, Phutsog Namgyal was consecrated under Tibetan auspices. He divided the

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region into 12 sub-regions which were administered through Lepcha Kazis. Rungdung came

under the Rhenock Kazi. During his reign and his successors, the Bhutanese and the Nepalese

are recorded to have made number of incursions and Raids into the Sikkimese territories. The

stories of the warrior chief Gebu Achuk can be heard from the seniors at the village. According

to the legend, the Bhutanese defeated Lepchas several times and killed their leader on several

occasions. But each time Gebu Achuk’s body was disposed off; he would come alive again to

face the Bhutanese with renewed strength the next morning. This happened a number of times till

finally the Bhutanese king chopped off Gebu Achuk’s head and separated the body and threw it

in the valley. It is believed that the body was converted into mosquitoes. Now, if any person goes

to Bhutan through the valley without wearing a Baku (a traditional Lepcha dress) is sure to die.

Rhenock, or the Black Hill, signifies the onset of the British Raj at Sikkim. This was marked by

the Treaty of Sinchula Pass between the British and Bhutanese in 1865. The British wanted to be

saddled on the main trade route to Tibet from Kalimpong, which had been granted to them in

1835 in return for British assistance against Nepali incursions. Hence, at this point of time

Rhenock might have passed into the British hands.

The road from Kalimpong to Tibet through Rungdung was the ancient trade route between Tibet

and India. Tibetan traders would have brought wool, yak, tails, hides, pashmina wool, borax,

salt, musk and medicinal herbs. On their return, they carried back cotton, woollen goods,

matches, soaps, needles, tobacco, dried fruits, sugar, hardwares ad most of all, precious stones.

The trade was controlled by the Rajputana and the Haryana traders. The arduous journey from

Kalimpong to Tibet was made on ponies and mules through the Jelepla Pass and the Nathuang

(Nathula Pass). Hence from very early times, small settlements of Tibetans and Bhutias would

have sprung up along the trade route as staging houses, storage points and transit trading centres.

In order to secure trading facilities with Tibet, the British completed an unpaved road to Jelepla

in 1879. This road passed through Pedong, an adjoining area of Rhenock. This induced a lot of

Nepalis and Lepcha labour force from the adjoining regions for tea trade etc.

The British extended the railways to Siliguri in 1881. Initially, the British considered Rhenock as

a transit stop. The region’s education, welfare and health services were mostly manned by

Christian missionaries. Basic postal and banking services were provided and some sort of

administrative and land registration mechanisms existed. After independence, this area was

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inherited by the Indian republic. Administration has penetrated much more systematically and a

number of developmental projects have been set up in the past few years.

5.2 Connectivity and Transport

Rungdung is well connected to the Rhenock Bazaar, a small market area down the market, by

rural roads or challis path. The chalis paths are made of concrete cement. Rhenock is connected

to all the major towns by pucca roads by privately owned taxi services. The taxi services run on

shared basis, carrying a load of 12 to 14 people per vehicle. The vehicles most commonly used

are the Mahindra 4X4 Savari, Force Cruiser and Mahindra Max. These vehicles are heavy duty

4X4 vehicles with a high load capacity and considerably high power. These vehicles are best

suited for mountainous terrains with steep slopes and poor roads. The first taxi leaves at 6.15 am

to Gangtok. There are no bus services available in this region due to difficult terrain and low

passenger capacity at one particular flight. Apart from the intercity taxi service, there are also

local taxis from Rhenock to different wards of Rhenock Tarpin.

The nearest railway station to Rungdung is New Jalpaiguri, which is at a distance of 137 kms

approximately. New Jalpaiguri connects to all major towns and railway stations in India. The

nearest airport from Rungdung is the Baghdogra Airbase, which is again at a distance of 150 kms

from the village. There are frequent flights from Kolkata and New Delhi. A new airport at

Pakyong, a neighbouring block of Rhenock, is under construction. Pakyong is at a distance of 32

kms from the Rungdung. This will be the first airport in Sikkim and will drastically increase the

tourist base to these areas. A regular helicopter service run by the Sikkim Helicopter Service

connects Gangtok to Baghdogra. The flight is thirty minutes long, operates only once a day, and

can carry 4 people. The Gangtok helipad is the only civilian helipad in the state.

5.3 Geographical Information

The village is overlooking the Darjeeling district of West Bengal. The Rhenock Mountain and

West Bengal are separated by the Reshi River that flows through the lower part of the block and

close to Rangpo. The overall geographical position of Sikkim is between 880 00’ 58” and 880

55’ 25” East longitudes and 270 00’ 46" and 280 07’ 48” North latitudes.

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The climate is mostly of the sub-tropical kind. The village entertains all seasons- summers,

winters, autumn, spring and rains. Rhenock is amongst the highest rainfall receiving areas of

Sikkim, along with Gangtok and Rongli (the adjoining Block). During the rains the village

receives rainfall as high as 30-32 cm annually. The high density of rainfall causes extensive soil

erosion and frequent landslides. The pre-monsoon rain occurs in April-May and the monsoon

occurs normally from the month of May and continues up to early October. The mean

temperature varies from 4.50 degree C to 18 degree C. The maximum temperature is recorded

usually during the month of July & August and minimum during December & January. During

the period from May to September fog becomes a common feature in this area.

The village mainly consist of coarse rocks, making their soil brown clay, and generally good for

agriculture. Most of Sikkim is covered by Precambrian rock and is much younger in age than the

hills. The rock consists of phyllites and schists and therefore the slopes are highly susceptible to

weathering and prone to erosion. This combined with the intense rain, causes extensive soil

erosion and heavy loss of soil nutrients through leaching. As a result, landslides are frequent.

Apart from this, a major portion of land is covered under forest.

5.4 Demography

The overall population data of the village is presented in the table below:

Table 1: Demographic Information of Village (Source: Gram Prashasan Kendra)

Sr. No. Particulars Data

1. No. of Households 295

2. Population 1521

3. Population above 18 years of age 779

4. Population below 18 years of age 742

5. No. of BPL Households 104

6. Sex Ratio 1145:1000

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Caste Wise Distribution

100

100

95

Caste Wise Distribution (as per Central List)No. of Households

SCSTOBC

Figure 3: Caste Wise Distribution of Households (Source: Household Schedule)

As Sikkim has been declared a Scheduled State, there were no people in General category in our

village as per the Central List.

OBC19%

SC15%

ST6%MBC

8%

Others51%

OBCSCSTMBCOthers

Figure 4: Caste Wise Distribution- as per State List (Source: Household Schedule)

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Religion wise Distribution

The data furnished in the table below has been analyzed by using the Household

Schedule Survey conducted by us for 142 households of the village.

Table 2: Religion wise Distribution of village (Source: Household Schedule)

Religion Wise Distribution

Caste Frequency Percent Cumulative Percent

Valid Hinduism 119 83.8 83.8

Islam 12 8.5 92.3

Christianity 5 3.5 95.8

Buddhism 6 4.2 100.0

Total 142 100.0

Literacy

The literacy level of the village is 88.48 %. Female literacy rate is 84.74 % and Male

literacy rate is 91.85 %. (Source: Household Schedule)

Table 3: Literacy Rates of Males and Females (Source: Household Schedule)

Literacy Rungdung Sikkim India

Male 91.8% 76.0% 65.3%

Female 84.7% 60.4% 75.8%

Over all literacy 88.4% 68.8% 54.1%

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6. PEOPLE TO PEOPLE – VILLAGE SOCIETY

Rungdung being a tribal village has a strong bonding amongst its inhabitants. The early

inhabitants of Rhenock were predominantly the Lepchas and then gradually the Bhutias. Other

varieties of people viz. Sherpa, Mangar, Subba Rai, Gurungs and Newars had also

simultaneously started to inhabit the region with their different cultures, religions, cuisines and

clothing styles. Being on the trade route to China, the society of Rungdung has a diverse group

of people from various backgrounds who have come and settled here as traders and shopkeepers.

So, one can find a blend of religions, customs and practices in the same village. Most of the

original inhabitants in the village still settle towards the upper parts of the mountain as they

prefer the peace and sanctity of the hills. The traders who have migrated over the years have their

houses near the market area of Rhenock Bazaar. Apart from this, there was no form of social

stratification to be seen anywhere in the village where housing patterns were concerned. The

village mostly consists of the following communities- Nepalis, Lepchas, Marwari, Muslims and

Bhutias. Among the groups listed above, Nepali’s were the most in number.

The Nepalis

The Nepalis in the area are those who have come from the direction of Darjeeling and now

constitute almost 70% of the total population. The Nepalis have their sub castes- Newar, Gurung,

Pradhan, Adhikari, Mangar, Rai, Limboo, Bahun and other small peasant groups.

As described by the locals, the Nepalis came to Rhenock only in the 19 th century after the advent

of the British Raj. They came as agriculturists, slowly leasing land from the Lepchas and Bhutias

of the region. They cleared lands, following jhoom cultivation and started their agriculture

practices here. It is said that the Terrace farming technique has been introduced by the Nepalis.

The Nepalis are hard working people. They care more intelligent than the others of the region

and quickly grasp innovative skills. But they have a lot of factions amongst themselves. Usually

they marry only among their community. Due to their number, Nepali has become the major

language of the region. Nepalis do not have any hesitation about any kind of work. Hence, their

number is high in the service industry.

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The Lepchas

The Lepchas have never been a very famous tribe as they were never into conquering people and

communities. They are referred to as ‘Rong pa’ or the ravine people. According to the local

professors, the Lepchas migrated around the 13th century from Burma and Assam. There are two

kinds of Lepchas- the Elami Lepchas and the Sikkimese Lepchas. The Elamese Lepchas are said

to come from the region of Elam in East Nepal which was earlier a part of Sikkim. However

there is also a strong argument that the Lepchas were servants of the rich merchants in Tibet. The

Lepchas themselves have no tradition of migration. Appearance wise, the three major groups,

Lepchas, Bhutias and Nepalese are difficult to distinguish. According to some, the Lepchas are

milder and have smaller eyes than the Nepalese. They are also considered fairer and taller than

the other two. Lepchas are said to be great botanists of their times. The language spoken by them

is Nepali. They are either Buddhist or converted Christians.

The Marwaris

The Marwaris are mostly migrants from Bihar, Rajasthan and Haryana who had come and settled

here as traders during 19th century. Most of the Marwaris are owners of shops and are traders.

Hardly did we find a Marwari engaged in agriculture. They have overtaken the Nepalis by leaps

and bounds in trade and have become some of the richest population of the village. There were

also stories of a number of a Nepalis joining the armed forces.

The Bhutias

The Bhutias are historically known to be migrants from Tibet. ‘Bhot’ means Tibet in their

language. They came and settled during the invasions by the Burmese king. They are traders.

Bhutias presently live towards the upper part of the village. They have strong body structures and

have mongoloid features. There are a lot of marriages between the Lepchas and Bhutias. We had

only a handful of families of Bhutia population. The ground for morality is observed before

marriage. Divorce is allowed on the grounds of infidelity or mutual decision of separation. If the

wife separates, she has to pay the amount spent on her by her husband. The man is allowed to

have two wives if the first wife has no issues with it. On the other hand, if he wants to have a

third wife, he needs to give the first wife, a share from the gifts brought by the third wife.

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Muslims

We had 12 Muslim families in our village. All the families were involved into the business of

tailoring. They were migrants from either West Bengal or Bihar. The household head came alone

and then brought along a number of friends and family members to provide employment to them.

6.1 Intercaste Dynamics

The various religious groups live in harmony with each other even though there is a large

economic disparity among the groups. During our stay at the village, we did not witness any act

of discrimination or violence related to community based feud. The Lepchas and Bhutias were

the least dynamic in the village and preferred the calm of their homes. The Nepalis were the

central communities of the village. They were involved in the administration and working of the

Panchayat. They make up the major tertiary work force of the village. They are employed as

drivers, Panchayat workers, salaried employees in Pharmaceutical companies and other

Government jobs. The Marwaris on the other hand are only involved in their business. They have

a good relation with the Nepalis. They are some of the richest people in the village. But their

wealth cannot be measured in terms of the amount of landholding which they possess. Usually,

even the richest Marwaris will be living in a rented apartment. Both Marwaris and Nepalis enjoy

a common culture and religion. They take part in each other’s festivals and rituals. The Muslims

are among minorities of the village. But their small number doesn’t make them vulnerable to any

sort of exploitation by the other communities. They do not take much part in the village

dynamics. But they were very active on Diwali and Dussehra and jelled with the larger group for

the celebrations. The Lepchas and Bhutias have a different culture. But they mingle with the

other communities in celebrating all the festivals.

One thing which was remarkable in the village was that whenever there is a death in the village,

the family of the deceased person has to treat the whole village. The villagers understand that

such times are hard for the family. Hence, as a token of their respect and assurance, they give

some money to the family of the departed for sharing the cost of the ceremony. This was done by

almost every family of the village, whether rich or poor. This shows the solidarity among the

society as a whole. The whole village is involved in any function of the village.

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One of the reasons which could have played a major role in the preservation of such harmonious

relationships can be the absence of currency and availability of land in the region. Also, the

terrain in this region is very tough. Hence the community has to work hard to sustain itself.

Consequently, a major portion of their time and energy would have been devoted in producing

food and there was hardly any left for rivalry.

6.2 A Strange Occurrence

In the Lepchas, the ceremony after death is something which needs special mention. After a

person dies, the family of the deceased tries and preserves the dead body for as many days as

possible by giving salt water injections to the dead body. It is said that, the richer the family, the

more number of days the body is kept preserved. On the night of the death, a person from

another village, who has never met the departed human, is called. This person then performs

some special dances and chants some mantras, after which he starts speaking like the dead man.

The locals say that the spirit of the dead man enter the body of the stranger and speaks its last

wish before it departs to heaven.

Also, after the death of the person, white coloured Prayer Flags are hoisted outside the house, or

near the highest point of the mountain. The locals say that ‘as the wind blows and hits these

flags, it takes the prayers to heave.’

On the contrary, if there is something new happening in the house- whether it be a new birth, or a

new business, similar flags but of various colours are hung outside the house and the same

concept is repeated.

6.3 Status of Women

Our initial observations about the women of the village were very positive. The women were

active participants in the day to day work of the village. They were involved in all the processes

of the household as well as the larger society. They took active part in governance of the house

and were eager to contest for the elections for the Panchayat. The Panchayat also has two seats

reserved for women Panch of wards. The Panch of our ward was a lady – Mrs Rekha Bhujil.

Mrs. Bhujil was a very fun loving lady who enjoyed her work as a Panch in the morning,

managed a small grocery shop in the afternoon and in the evening could be found in her kitchen

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garden. The extraordinary sight was women managing liquor and meat shops in the markets. In

the Bhutias as well the women there is an equal position between women and men. The labour is

divided into the activities requiring physical strength for the men and artistic works for the

women. The older women are highly respected. Widow Remarriage is allowed among the

Bhutias and Lepchas. Girls of the present youth and younger generation are given good

education. It was encouraging to see that the college had more girls than boys. We were not able

to collect the official data from the college, but the atmosphere of the college was very friendly.

We had a chat with the Inspector at the Rhenock Police station. In our conversation he pointed

out specifically that in the past one year, there have been no cases of eve teasing. Even though

alcohol consumption is a part of almost all the festivals, there have been no cases where men

have had too much drink and abused the women. On the contrary, women drink as openly as

men. It is no disqualification for the birth a daughter.

If we try and analyze this situation, we find that this is in conflict with the general perception of

an Indian village that we have in our minds. If we reflect on the situation, we can find some

reasons which cater to the evolution of such a society. The following reasons come to our minds:

Being a tribal society and isolated from rest of the India, female mortality was taken as a

serious issue in early times. Hence, the grooms used to pay for the wife as women were

limited. This might be one reason why women were held at high regard in the society.

And this tradition followed on and spread to other communities which came and settled

down in the region.

Women took equal part in the Indo- China trade. This might be a reason why their

contributions are appreciated and respected in the society.

6.4 Festivals

6.4.1 Hindu Festivals

Nepali Hindus constitute the majority community in the village. Some of the colourful festivals that they celebrated are described below:

Dasai

The fortnight long festival usually falls in the month of October - November. Also known

as Durga Puja, this festival symbolizes the victory of the Hindu Goddess Durga over the

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forces of evil. The next important day is the day of flower, “Mahaastami” and the next

day is called “Navami”. The 10th day of the festival is known as Vijay Dasami and it also

marks the victory of Ram over Ravana.

Tihar

Tihar is the “festival of light” and symbolizes the return of Lord Ram to his home town

from exile after victory over Ravana. The festival is celebrated through five days.

Chaite Dasain or Ram Navmi

It is observed to commemorate the birth of the Hindu god Rama. This festival is celebrated by holding melas.

6.4.2 Buddhist Festivals

Phang Usabgol

This festival is quite unique to Sikkim. This festival was popularized by Chakdar

Namgyal. In this festival the snowy range of Mt. Kanchendzonga is worshipped for its

unifying powers. This festival is held of the 15th day of 7th month.

Lossar

It is the Tibetan new year also known as cryalpo lossar. The festival is marked with lot

of joys and festivity. It is normally celebrated in the month of February.

Saga Dawa

This is the ‘Triple blessed festival ‘and is considered as the holiest of Buddhist festival.

On this day in different years of life, Lord Buddha took birth, achieved enlightenment

and passed away after attaining Nirvana. This festival is held on the full-moon of the 4 th

month of the Buddhist calendar (around end of May or early June).

Sakewa

The Rai community in Sikkim celebrate Sakewa to invoke the blessing of goddess

Chandi for an abundant crop and favourable weather . Sakewa falls in Baisakh Purnima

coinciding with the sowing season. The mong-pa performs the prayer . The Rais also

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celebrate Sakewa at their homes. Three stones are installed in the prayer room to make a

furnace called ‘Samkha’.

6.5 Music and Arts

Almost all festivals and ceremonies in the village have a musical quotient appended to them.

Each festival has a different song for it. The people are enthusiastic about their music and group

themselves into musical choirs for celebrating these festivals. As a matter of fact, every evening,

the local temple has a few hours of bhajans being sung.

Of course there is an added alcohol factor to each festival. People look for reasons to go tipsy

and start singing. Apart from the singing, there was a man in the village who produced the

Maadal. The Maadal is a Nepali percussion instrument, similar to a dholak, made out of a

wooden body and leather skins on both side. It is used as a hand drum in almost all the festivals.

Furthermore, most villagers knew how to play the guitar. People listened to Bollywood as well

as Nepali music.

Apart from music, in our village, we had a person who was a professional modern art painter.

His paintings had been exhibited in one of the major arts festivals in Gangtok. He did not take up

this job as a full time profession but enjoyed a paint time an another. The local school teacher in

our village was a brilliant sculptor. He had sculpted a lot of show pieces out of wood and

bamboo sticks.

6.6 Dances

6.6.1 Lepcha Dances

Sikmari

Through this romantic dance a love story of a young boy and a young girl is conveyed. A group

of boys proposes a group of girls for marriage. The girls turn down the offer and ask them to talk

to their parents .This colourful dance is performed in melodious Lepcha songs and various

musical instruments.

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Zomal-Lok:

This famous folk dance of Lepcha community is depicted with some normal farm activities like

sowing, reaping and harvesting of paddy. All age groups of the community join hands and

indulge in merry making. The graceful dance steps of male and female dancers are orchestrated

with pleasant sounds of seasonal birds and local musical instruments.

Chu- Faal

Literal meaning of CHU is snowy range and FAAL means mountain. This folk dance is

performed in the honour of Kangchendzonga, the guardian deity of Sikkimese people. The

dancers dance in a tune of a devotional song with butter and bamboo leaves in hand.

6.6.2 Bhutia Dances

Tashi-Yangku

A group of boys and girls perform this dance to invoke benign deities to shower fortunes in their

homes. They worship some animal deities also to bring good fortune and prosperity to the

people. This dance is generally performed during the construction of a house and to bless a

newly married couple.

Tashi-Shabdo

This age old group dance beautifully and gracefully shows the custom of offering ‘Puja’ in

auspicious occasion.

Guru-Chinlap

Through this particular group dance due respect is shown to various Buddhist gurus and saints of

Sikkim and their blessing is prayed for overall peace, prosperity and happiness. Exchange of the

“Khadas” also takes place between the dancers during the course of dance.

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6.6.3 Nepali Dances

Maruni

It is one of the old popular group dances of the Nepali community usually performed by three

male and three female dancers. In earlier days the role of Maruni, a female character was enacted

by male performer. With the change of customs and traditions, women are now playing the

character. It is performed during the festival of Tihar in the court-yards of households. The steps

of the dancers look very graceful in the background of songs pleasantly supported by musical

instruments such as harmonium, madal, flute and ghungoor.

Chutkey

Through this romantic group dance performed by the group of male and female dancers, joys of

life and feeling of happiness is shared during the harvesting season and on some other happy

occasions.

Chyabrung Naach

Chyabrung is a double ended drum, a traditional musical instrument of the limbo community. It

resemblance a dholak but is much bigger in size. During the course of group dance, male dancers

hang the instrument around their neck with the help of a rope and beat the drum with an open

palm on one side and stick on the other. Such combination of beating the drum produces two

different sounds which echo boldly in the valleys and mountains.

Ohari

This group dance of Gurung community is usually performed by three male and three female

dancers. In a traditional setting, after a hard day’s work the dancers would assemble in Rud-ghar

(a small entertainment centre) and exchange their views through songs and dance. The musical

instruments used are madal, flute and ghoongur.

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Tamang Selo:

This group dance of Tamang community involves robust foot topping and elaborate sound and

dance display. The damphu, an open ended drum is synonymous with Tamang music and

celebrations on all happy occasions.

Naumati

In this beautiful group dance of Damai community nine different musical instruments are used.

There are two types of Sanai, Turshi, Damaha(Nagara) of two types, Dhol of two types. The

Naumati baja is a regular feature during the wedding and other auspicious occasions.

6.7 Education

As stated earlier, the education level of the village is far more than the national average. Both

male and female students were given equal opportunity and equal weightage by the locals. All

the children in the village attended either a Government of a Private school. There was also an

ICDS centre for the kids below 3 years of age. The parents of the children were very eager to get

their children educated. The education provided by the Government was free of cost for all

children. The teachers were very passionate about their work. But the eagerness of education was

only till Middle school. There were a lot of dropouts after VIII standard. Some of the reasons

which we could concur are:

Disinterestedness in education by the students.

Lack of financial resources in the family, hence forcing the young boy or girl to start

working.

Migrant complains about lack of Government jobs for their children in Sikkim.

There was also a Rhenock Government College near our village, which catered to the arts

students of southern part of Sikkim.

To understand the perception of parents about their children’s education, we did a small analysis

of the data which we had collected during the Household Schedule. We took a sample of the total

households and ran an experiment to explain our hypothesis (refer Annexure III)

21

Also, there was a more observation which was caught our eye. The education level of the wives

of the household heads is directly proportional to the education levels of the household head

himself.

6.8 Health

The village had the Block Public Health Centre near our village. The PHC was in good shape

and condition and the doctors were regularly present. One of us had to use the services of the

PHC twice. We talked to the doctors and found two basic problems which were causing a major

threat to the health of the people of Rhenock - Non communicable diseases and lifestyle diseases.

Non communicable diseases

These included the diabetes, goitre, hypertension and asthma. They were usually found

in families in the relatively lower and middle income groups. TB has been a major cause

of sudden poverty and people falling into poverty for the village.

Lifestyle Diseases

The lifestyles diseases include-

o Gall Bladder stones – caused by intake of excessive spice in daily food.

o Mental Retardants/ Deaf and mute deliveries- This disease is caused when the

mother consumes alcohol during her pregnancy. There was a high population of

such people in the village.

o Anaemia – In this case as well, excessive consumption of alcohol intake reduces

the uptake of folic acid. From January 2010 to June 2010, there have been 120

cases of pregnant women with a Haemoglobin point less than 11 and 11 cases of

pregnancy with Haemoglobin point below 7.

Apart from these diseases, the PHC provides regular vaccination camps for Polio, Tetanus,

Hepatitis B1, B2 and B3 and Measles.

Under the Janani Suraksha Yojna, there were good facilities of ante- natal and post- natal care

for the pregnant women. There was a Maternity ward with 4 beds. In the past six months, there

were 52 institutional deliveries and 4 home deliveries.

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The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and the National Leprosy Eradication Programme

was working well in the village. The most encouraging part about the village was the fact that

people were using the PHC regularly for taking advice of the doctor.

Apart from the PHC, there were a few other forms of unconventional medicine which we found

in the village:

Tavijaat Medicine

This involves diagnosing the problem in the body by using a long rope and measuring

the length of your body. Based on the length, you are diagnosed of a disease and a

Taaveez or locket is given to you to wear, which contains a paper with a special matrix

made on it. This matrix is supposed to cure your disease.

Naturopathy

In our village, we found a person who had done his graduation in Naturopathy from

Banaras. He showed us the various ways in which local plants found in the forest can be

used to create medicines for almost all ailments of the body. Apart from that, he taught

us the methods which he uses to cure a person using acupressure and magnets.

Jumping Doctor or Jhhakri

The jumping doctor or Jhhakri is a local healer who treats a patient using rituals and

chanting mantras. He performs all sorts of actions before giving any treatment to the

patient. He believes that if something is wrong in your body, it is the effect of an external

spirit which has taken over your body and it has to be removed to make you normal

again.

6.9 Village Institutions

The institutions present in our village can be categorized and explained under the following

heads:

6.9.1 Educational Institutions

Rungdung hosted the oldest secondary school, Government Senior Secondary School,

in the history of Sikkim. This school was established in 1879 by Christian

Missionaries during the British Raj. It also hosted the Rundung Junior High School.

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The St Joseph’s Senior Secondary school is also in the vicinity of the village. Also,

there are two privately owned primary schools – McDonald’s Academy and Mount

Zion Academy. There is a Government Rhenock College present at a distance of 2

km from Rungdung. A new building of the college is under construction and will be

complete by 2012. Rungdung also has an ICDS centre.

6.9.2 Self Help Groups

The village hosts three Self Help Groups, namely – Suraksha, Lakshya and

Suryaudai. All these SHGs are presently or were sometime back involved in the

manufacturing of products. Each of the SHGs is all women based SHGs and is a

source of loans for the members. They are registered under the Sikkim Rural

Development Agency (SRDA).

o Suraksha

This group was started in 2000 by a group of 10 women with a purpose of

achieving self reliance and independence. According to Mrs Poonam Sharma, the

president of the Suraksha, “The ladies felt bad in asking money from their

husbands again and again for the daily household chores. Therefore, we thought

of coming together and utilizing our free time in the day to start a small industry.

We began with making washing soap. The product was not feasible and we

incurred losses. We tried making pickle, doing ginger plantations and also a

piggery farm. All these business were good in the beginning but could not

survive the market competition. Hence, we decided to produce only pickle and

sell it in the local markets which make us some money for our personal expenses.

The members are proud to be a part of the group and people respect our efforts in

the village.”

o Lakshya

Lakshya was started by a group of 12 ladies in 2004. This group took inspiration

from Suraksha and grew on similar lines. They produced Fish pickle for the local

markets. Nowadays, they’re not producing, but only act as a kitty for pooling in

24

money and lending small loans to its members. The president of the SHG is Mrs.

Kamala Thapa.

o Suryaudai

This is a very recently formed SHG. It started 3 months ago with 14 ladies and

one male. The president of the SHG is Mr. Manoj Chhetri. The members of the

SHG are presently undergoing a 3 month workshop of making leather bags. After

the training, they will be producing leather bags for SRDA, who will then market

the products in Gangtok and other places under the brand name of SIKKIM

BAGS. The members are taught how to stitch and paint on the bags.

6.9.3 Multipurpose Cooperative Society

This was started in 1979 by Mr. Uday Chandra Bashishta as a supply cooperative for

ginger and broom. But due to the heavy market competition, it was not able to sustain

its market and hence now acts as a Fair Price shop. The society still has 500

shareholders in and around Rungdung, but does not function any more.

6.9.4 Ram Gauri Sanghralaya

This is a small collection of coins, stamps and other artefacts which is maintained by

an aged person Mr. Deepak Chhetri in our village. It functions as a museum and

charges a nominal amount to witness these collections.

6.9.5 Post Office

Sikkim’s first post office is located in Rhenock Bazaar. This was strategically

positioned here as Rhenock was a camping point for the traders coming from Tibet to

Kalimpong and the other way round. Also, being near the border of Sikkim, it acted

as an entry point to Sikkim after the inception of the railways to Siliguri in the late

19th century.

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7. VILLAGE ECONOMY

In a village, economy plays an important role as it helps in understanding the interaction between

people and resources. The stay gave us a chance to understand different livelihood options

available with the people and the reasons behind choosing a particular occupation. One striking

feature of our village was the adaptability of the villagers as almost all the families were into two

or more income generating activities.

7.1 Agriculture

In a village one expects agriculture to be the mainstay of the economy. But that is not true in the

case of the village Rungdung. Here, Agriculture is practiced on a low scale. It is mainly

subsistence in nature. But this has not been the case in the past. As many village elders said,

“People in the past knew only cultivation, but nowadays lots of opportunities have come up”.

The general feeling is that agriculture is too laborious and hence people are moving towards

service sector.

Agriculture in this region was practiced for ages. The Lepchas who are considered to be the

native people used to practice jhoom cultivation. They used to cut forests and practice agriculture

in that area. They generally used a dry variety paddy which did not require water on a large

scale. But later on as the Nepalis started migrating to this state, they brought their culture of

terrace farming which is practiced on a large scale. The landholdings range from 0.25 acre (1

hal) to 10 acres.

In the region Organic farming is practiced extensively. Chemical fertilizers or pesticides are not

used. The crops which are generally produced in this area are paddy, maize, millet, black gram

and potato. The excess grains produced is generally not sold in the market as people prefer

storing them as the area has a history of being cut-off from other parts due to natural calamities.

The cash crops which are produced on a large scale are ginger, turmeric, cardamom and orange.

There has been a considerable decline in the productivity per acre as compared to the past. One

of the reasons for this decline is that in the earlier generation every house used to have 4 or 5

cows. But after the government introduced a forestation, grazing has been banned. Hence the

cost involved with fodder increases which resulted in the decline in the number of cows per

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household which eventually led to the reduction in the availability of cow dung which is used as

manure. Irrigation facilities are absent as the farmers are totally dependent on water from the

perennial springs for cultivation.

7.2 Livestock

Livestock plays an important role is the income as well as the expenditure of a household in the

village. In general, all families in the village rear goats and are into poultry and piggery. Dairy

has gone out of vogue in the region because of the constraints. During the festive season a piglet

is sold for almost Rs 800. The expenditure of a household in buying meat is very high in the

village and hence indulgence in poultry and piggery reduces the expenditure of the family. Apart

from the smaller household coops for the poultry, there is also a small poultry farm in the village

with 500 chickens, used both for egg and meat. The State Animal Husbandry, Veterinarian

Sciences and Fisheries Department has also set up a small clinic in the village. This village has a

newly constructed a new poultry coop. This was setup here due to the BAC being present in this

area and its proximity to towns like Rangpo and Rongli.

7.3 Tertiary Sector

Tertiary sector was the most preferred livelihood option. It includes the following

1. Government Sector

2. Drivers

3. Traders

4. Casual Wage Labour

7.3.1 Government Sector

It is the most sought after sector in the whole livelihood basket of the village. It is one

of the most prestigious sectors as it is totally secure and highly remunerating. The

government sector includes Teachers, Administrative employees, Panchayat

Inspectors, etc. The craze for a government job is so high that people dropout from

school when they realize that they can no longer compete with the city students for

government jobs. The only purpose of education is to get a government job.

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7.3.2 Drivers

The Drivers play an important role in the daily lives of the people as there is no major

public transport available. On an average a driver who owns the car earns a sum of Rs

15,000 per month if he plies on the route connecting Rhenock and Rangpo. This is

one of the busiest sectors and patronage is usually guaranteed. But the scenario gets

altered completely when the works as a driver for someone else. In that case he earns

a meagre sum of Rs 2000 which is insufficient for him to run his family.

7.3.3 Traders

Most of the traders are migrants from Tibet and have settled here for generations.

Most of the shops are run by migrant population. The supplies come from Siliguri.

There is a great synergy of efforts between the drivers and the traders. The drivers

plying on the route to Siliguri carry the supplies on a regular basis.

7.3.4 Casual Wage Labour

Most of the landless who belong to the deprived sections of the society belong to this

category. They can be broadly classified into two broad categories.

Agricultural Labour

Non-Agricultural labour

7.3.4.1 Agricultural Labour

People, who do not have land to cultivate or have less land, work as labourers in

others fields. The wages which they get nowadays is somewhere close to Rs 100

and a meal. Some people work as Adhiyadars. These people enter into an

arrangement with the landlords and cultivate in their farms and share half of their

produce at the end of the cropping season. Kutiyadhars are the people who enter

into an agreement with the landlords whereby they have to pay a fixed amount

irrespective of the output.

7.3.4.2 Non Agricultural Labour

Landless people who work as agricultural labourers during agricultural seasons

work in the non agricultural sector during the absence of work in the agricultural

work. The major avenues for work are NREGA and Construction companies.

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MGNREGA gives a guaranteed employment of 100 days to every household at

the wage rate of Rs 100 per day which helps the poor family in a substantive way.

People are very happy with MGNREGA as it gives them an assured income of Rs

10,000 year and the community assets created under the scheme have contributed

to their well being in a big way. The construction companies offer a higher wage

rate as compared to agricultural labour and MGNREGA but people do not prefer

them as it involves arduous tasks and long working hours.

7.4 Financial Resources

The Availability of credit is an issue in the village as there are very few institutions like the

Central Bank of India which offer credit, but they do not extend any credit to the landless as they

do not have any assets to mortgage. On an average a person cultivating paddy on 3 Hals (1

hal=0.25 acre) invests Rs 8,000 per cropping season and earns an income of Rs 32,000 from the

investment. But if he is working as an Adhiyadar he has to pay half his produce to the landlord.

Hence he earns Rs 16,000 from the investment of Rs 8,000. But if the crop fails he has incurred a

loss of Rs 8,000 and has to make arrangement for the daily expenditure of the family which

pushes him to the vicious cycle of debt. He accomplishes this by taking a loan from rich people

and in return works as labourer for them.

7.5 Markets

Apart from the bazaar, there’s a weekly Haat which takes place on Saturdays where people bring

their produce and sell it. Merchants have permits to put up their stalls. Most of the merchants

dealing with finished goods are people from Bihar and West Bengal whereas the local people

bring their agricultural produce and sell them. The Haat is always crowded as the consumers

throng the place for their weekly requirements as it offers them a good bargaining power. People

go to adjoining places like Pakyong and Rangpo and sell their produce. Rangpo is a big Market

and the local people go to Rangpo quite often for their requirements. There was no presence of

middle men for taking produce to the markets. The proximity to many markets made it possible

for people to go and sell their produce themselves. But the abundance of traders had affected the

situation.

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8. PEOPLE TO POWER - VILLAGE POLITY

Rungdung is traditionally peaceful village with no history of conflicts. It is said that the

hilly people are happy people and the minor issues are resolved amongst themselves. In general

there is no division of the community based on religion or economic status. People from different

strata of the society mingle with each other and live happily. The only form of stratification

which was visible as such was based in their place of origin.

The density of population of the village is low due to the hilly terrain and people get

access abundance of resources. However, recently the market place has become congested which

has led to the scarcity of resources and is the reason for some unrest among villagers. We can

find traces of charismatic authority in the village, especially displayed by the school teachers.

The job of a school teacher is considered as a very prestigious job in the village and after the

salary hikes of the 6th Pay Commission, more and more people are looking forward to become

school teachers. Hence, the present day teachers are also considered as a higher authority.

During the days when Sikkim was a kingdom, the most powerful person in the village

was the tax collector or kazi, who was appointed by the king or Chhugyal. The kazi used to

collect tax from the villagers and sent it to the palace of the king. Rungdung was a part of the

Rhenock kazi zone. But over the years, the powerful people in the village are the people who are

rich and have gained political clout over the years. It is the traditional authority that is still

prevalent. The cardamom growers who live in the higher regions of the village are very

influential as they are very rich.

The Sikkim Democratic Front or the SDF is the most important party in Sikkim. The

major politics in the village take place during the elections of the Panchayat heads. The

competition is not because of the position of the Panchayat head, but to get a MLA ticket from

the SDF. Due to the phenomenal work by Dr Pawan Kumar Chamling, the Chief Minister of

Sikkim, the people have a notion that if the SDF is not elected in the next elections, there will be

no development in the state. Dr Chamling has been working competently since 1994 and is

considered as the saviour of Sikkim after the birth of democracy in 1975.

In the village women were treated equally with respect to men but certain forms of

discrimination were endemic in the system. During Diwali, Laxmi Pooja was conducted by only

30

the sons of the family. This kind of a system is socially accepted and women of the family do not

consider it as a discrimination against them. When it comes to decision making in the family,

women enjoy equal rights. In the present generation, the role of women in decision making has

improved further as they are considered much more responsible than men. There are some

families which are highly vulnerable as the youth of the family have migrated to cities and they

do not want to come back. They send remittances to their families but lack of physical support

has impacted the elders of the family in a big way.

Disabled people and mentally retarded people are the most vulnerable sections of the

society. There are government schemes which are specifically targeted at these sections and

these schemes have helped them in their survival. The harmonious nature of the villagers is

evident in the way they take care of these families. All their basic needs are the addressed by the

neighbours. One family provides them water while the other takes care of their medical needs.

The people running the smaller service shops in the market area, like the paan shop or the

local eatery are the ones who are considered as the downtrodden ones by the locals. There were

hints of caste system in the conversation of people by calling the poor as the lower caste, even

though they might not be so.

Some of the important schemes implemented in the village are:

1. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act: The scheme of guaranteed

job employment in the village has been a huge success in terms of providing assured

income to poor families. The wages of the agricultural labour also increased which

further added to the income of these families.

2. Old age pension: An amount of Rs 400 per month is provided to the senior citizens. This

scheme is implemented in a good way and has helped the families considerably.

3. Disability Pension scheme: Rs 500 per month has been provided to a person having a

disability. In a particular context, Bhotey Sunam has a family of five and all of them are

mute. In his case, the pension forms the major part of their household income and has

helped them from falling into the trap of poverty

4. IAY and MMAY: Indira Awas Yojana and Mukhya Mantri Awas Yojana are active in

our village. Advances are provided for construction of the toilets, Model houses have

31

been provided and GCI sheets have been provided for poor families. The toilet

construction is also addressed under the Total Sanitation Campaign.

Other schemes which are active in our village are Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) and ICDS.

The Institutions with which the villagers had constant interaction were the Block administrative

centre, Common Action Centre, Gram Panchayat, Public Health Centre and Police Station.

Panchayati Raj Institution

Even though the Panchayat Act was incorporate in the state in 1993, significant changes started

appearing only after the latter half of the previous decade. The Gram Panchayat is a collection of

the members of the Panchayats of the various wards. The Panchayati Raj structure in Sikkim is a

two tier structure – The Gram Panchayat Unit (GPU) and the Zila Parishad or the Block. Each

GPU has a number of wards under its umbrella, each of which is a collection of smaller villages.

Rungdung was a part of the Rhenock Bazaar ward under the Rhenock Tarpin GPU of the

Rhenock Block. Fortunately, we had the Block Administrative Centre of the Rhenock Block was

only 2 km away from our village. The other wards in our GPU were as follows:

1. Adhikarigaon

2. Chalisey

3. Kyongsa

4. Lower Tarpin

5. Upper Tarpin

6. Reshi

Each ward has its own Ward Panchayat and one Sarpanch is elected from each ward. These 7

Sarpanchs among themselves form an executive body of the GPU and elect from amongst

themselves a Gram Panchayat President, Vice President and Secretary.

The Ward Panchayat posts of Chalisey and Adhikarigaon were reserved for women

candidates and the post of the Gram Panchayat President post was reserved for a SC candidate.

The Gram Sabha, which is at the GPU level, meets twice in a year and all the activities to be

taken up in the village are discussed in depth. Almost all decisions are taken by a consensus but

there are very few people attending the Gram Sabha. The number of times the Gram Sabha is

32

being held is quite low and hence causes a lot of delays. Until a proposal passed by the BDO is

acknowledged by the Gram Sabha, no work can commence. There are works which require

immediate concern. Hence, stalling them for a period of six months is a highly risky behaviour.

Anecdote

This is an incident in which the BDO took us to a prospective site for implementation of NREGA.

The work to be done was the rebuilding of an ICDS centre in the Reshi ward of the block. The

ICDS centre had to be demolished and a new building had to be constructed. But, the present

building was only 3 feet away from the major state highway connecting Rangpo to Rhenock,

hence according to the policy of the Department of Roads and Bridges, the building cannot be

constructed there. Hence, to go around this problem, the BDO told us that he will file the

proposal as the repair of the existing ICDS centre and put it in front of the Gram Sabha. In that

case, the Gram Sabha will have no way to dispose the idea and a sufficient amount of work will

be generated for the people under MGNREGA. Not to mention, a new ICDS centre will come up

in the village.

Almost all the Sarpanchs of the different wards are affiliated to the ruling party of SDF and

hence even if they are not the most deserving candidate, they win. There was an irony which we

found in the village. One of the richest person in the village, who was also the President of our

GPU, actually held a BPL Ration Card. And also, his win during the elections was solely on the

fact that he was supported by the SDF. The people did not like him even before they elected him,

but still they couldn’t say no to the SDF due to the perception stated above.

Block Administrative Centre

This is the administrative unit of the whole block of Rhenock. The BAC functions as the

facilitator of all the developmental activities in the village. The people have a high regard for the

BAC as it is highly efficient in addressing the issues of the local people. The BAC ensures that

the information about all the new government schemes and recruitment drives reach the

villagers. The Block Development Officer is easily accessible to the villagers. He is humble and

works efficiently for the welfare of the people.

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Common Service Centre and Gram Prashasan Kendra

The common service centre is created to have workshops on computer working for local youth.

The same building also hosts the Gram Prashasan Kendra of the Rhenock Tarpin GPU. It

maintains all the details with respect to work done in the villages and demographic statistics of

the villages. The people are not happy with the Centre as in many cases their concerns are not

addressed.

Police Station

There are not many criminal issues which the police have to tackle in the village but there issues

related to the market, taxi association in which they have to be involved in a regular basis. There

is a very high regard for the policemen as they are not corrupt. The rules and regulations like

smoking ban in the public places and closure of shops after 8 pm are effectively implemented.

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9. THEME 1 – MIGRATION AND REMITTANCES

9.1 Introduction

Migration can be largely defined as the physical movement of human beings, individually or in

groups, to regions other than their native land and inhabiting the former for a period of time.

Migration has been a part of the human socio-economic life since time immortal. Discourse on

migration includes many perspectives. There is also a positive argument that migration is an

expected part of the life of every individual, and that systematic and properly administered

migration can be valuable for the individuals and societies. Migration is a multi dimensional

phenomenon. Some of the major dimensions which validate the migration selectivity for an

individual can be listed as follows:

Labour migration 

Migration for trade 

Migration for seeking health facilities

Migration for development from the current status

Rhenock is an upcoming town in the southern part of East district of Sikkim. This place has a lot

of new infrastructure being built, both by the Government and private enterprises. This provides

a good opportunity for construction labour work. Apart from the local labour force, a major

proportion of workers in-migrate from West Bengal, which is only a few hours away. The

migration is further ameliorated by the availability of easy local transport from Siliguri and

Gangtok. Some of the noticeable structures under construction which provide opportunity for

migrated labour are:

Rhenock Government college

This is a 32 acre campus on the Rhenock hill. The college divided Rungdung from

Tarpin, the adjoining ward. The construction of this college had started in May 2008 and

is scheduled to finish by February 2011, which looks a little difficult considering the

progress till now. It has a labour force of around 12 workers, most of who had gone

home due to the holidays and festive season. The Rhenock Government College

35

presently functions in a small building, 2 km away from the building under construction.

It has around 450 students, including 100 students of IGNOU.

Rhenock Vishwa Vinayak Temple

The temple is being constructed, surprisingly, by the State Government. The temple is

built on half an acre land next to the Block Administrative Centre of the Rhenock block.

This has provided opportunity for labourers coming from both within Sikkim and

outside. The present labour force was 6. This has gone down due to the festive season.

Apparently, no work is done in the period between Diwali and Dasai(or Dussehra).

There were also a few local private houses which were being constructed throughout the village,

but which mostly drew local labour force due to prior relations between the contractor and the

house owners.

The major type of migration which was found in the village was:

Rural to rural in-migration

Rural to urban out-migration

9.2 Objective

The main objective of the study was to understand:

Patterns of migration- both in-migration and out-migration

Factors which affect the migration selectivity of an individual

The socio economic status of the individual and family – before and after migration

9.3 Methods Used

Due to the festive season, most of the labour force had gone back to their hometowns. We were

able to interact with 12 migrants and conduct structured interviews with them. We could also

find them roaming around the village, which gave us a good opportunity to get close with them

for some informal talks over a cup of tea. We also had a focused group discussion with a smaller

group of 5, to triangulate the information collected. This also gave us a chance to know about the

rest of the labour force.

36

During our Rural Action Component of conducting an exhaustive survey of Rhenock Bazaar

ward, we were able to find a few out-migrations. We identified these households and performed

structured interviews with the family members.

There was no secondary data available specific to Rhenock.

9.3.1 Limitations

Due to the festive season, most of the labourers had moved back to their villages. Hence

there was an unavailability of the migrants. Only 12 cases could be interviewed.

Therefore, the scope of the study will be limited to the amount and quality of data

provided by these 12 cases.

Most of the migrants had come and settled in the area for quite some time. Consequently,

it is difficult to distinguish between the migrants and the settlers.

The study is taken in a period of eight weeks, which were also the festive weeks for the

migrants. The time was a major constraint for the study. All efforts are made for a

comprehensive understanding of the objective.

9.4 Findings of Study

Rhenock has a high population of in-migrants from West Bengal, especially the districts of

New Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling. Apart from that, a large population of migrants is also from

Bihar. The major occupation taken up by these migrants are:

Construction wage labour

Helpers in small shops, including goldsmiths.

Migration Season

The migration exercised by them is seasonal in which they spend 8 to 9 months in the

village, till there is work available and then move back to their hometowns for the festive

season, until they find a new place of work. They might also come back to the same

work, if it is still available.

Marital Status

37

5 out of the 12 observations are unmarried. Out of the married ones, 2 have their family

living with them at the place of work.

No. of dependent members

The average of the number of dependents per household for a migrant comes out to be

3.5 members per household. This number is a fairly safe number but is growing fast due

to increase in the population trend in the village.

Education status

For the purpose of analysis, we divided the education level on an ordinal scale of 1 to 7:

1= Illiterate

2= literate but below primary

3= Primary

4=Middle

5=Secondary

6=Higher secondary

7= College or above

The average education level point of the 12 cases was found to be 3.16, indicating that

most of the migrants have only passed class V. On asking them about their low education

status, the common responses were either financial instability or lack of interest in

education.

Remittances sent back home vary from Rs 1200 to Rs 15000 per month. These are

usually sent through friends or fellow village mates. They also carry a major amount

home when they go home for holidays.

Present Homestead

Most migrants lived at the site of the work. The ones who had their family living with

them have taken a room on rent in one of the houses of the village.

Travel to home

Mostly the migrants move back to their home two to three times a year. The main periods

of travel are:

1. During rains when the work is stopped

2. During the festive season

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Table 4: Migration Pattern Statistics

Factors Mean Median Mode Minimum Maximum

Education Level 3.16 3 3 1 6

No. of Dependent

Members

3.33 3 2 0 6

Age 29.16 29 29 19 40

Land at home (in

bighas)

6.7 5 5 0 20

Income per month 4958.33 3750 3000 2000 15000

9.4.1 Factors of Migration

4.1.1 Pull factors:

Pull factors are relevant to upwardly itinerant people who want to enhance their quality of life.

Unable to find appropriate work, or often inadequately remunerated, they presume that

emigration to developed areas will provide them with opportunities deficient in their present

region. 

Better employment

Better living conditions

More remittances and family income

4.1.2 Push factors

Push factors include economic, political or social struggle that cause people to live in deprivation

and to lose hope, thus compelling them to leave their place of residence out of desperation. Push

factors apply to people who are forced to leave their place of origin.

Financial instability

Following what others in the village are doing

Small landholdings

39

9.5 Case Studies

Case 1 and 2 Prahlad Kumar Singha and Taruni Singha

Prahlad Kumar Singha, 20 years old, and Taruni Singha (40 years) are workers at the Rhenock

Vishwa Vinayak Temple being constructed near the Block Administrative Centre of Rhenock.

They hail from a middle income family of a Baxiganj village of the Cooch Behar district, West

Bengal where they lived with their parents and three brothers, two of whom working as wage

labourers in different sites in West Bengal and Sikkim. Their family owns 20 bighas (almost 8

acres) of land back in Baxiganj in which they cultivate paddy, jute, til and vegetables. Presently,

they live in a rented room in Rhenock Bazaar ward.

Before coming to Rhenock as labourer, Prahlad was working in Bengal as a mechanic in an

automobile shop. But, due to lack of interest in his job, he left it and came to work with his

brother. His brother facilitated and financed his migration from hometown to this place.

Academically, he has studied till Class V after which he left school as he lost interest in studies.

On similar lines, Taruni has studied only primary school after which he got involved in the

cultivation business with his father. Soon after that, he moved out of the village to earn money

and was hired as a ‘work assistant’ in Siliguri. With 6 years of experience in his job, he became a

contractor. Taruni is now a father of two, who live with their mother at their village. He acts as a

liaison between the construction labour market created in Sikkim and the available youth force in

his village. Till now, he has employed over 10 youth at various sites in Sikkim.

Due to proximity to place of work, both brothers visit their hometown once a month where they

carry their income by themselves. Also, they go back home for Durga Puja and Diwali for more

than a week. Taruni, being a contractor, is paid a monthly salary of Rs 15000, whereas Prahlad is

a wage labourer with a wage rate of Rs 250 per day. But, during rains and festive season, the

work stops. Hence, they do not get the wages and salaries for those particular months. For the

past one year, they have been employed in the same site, construction of which started in early

2008. According to them, the youth in their villages do not move out until they have a good and

dependable contact who can link them with a decently paying job immediately.

The mutual feeling between the brothers is that the quality of life has drastically improved as

compared to earlier times. They now have disposable income after all the expenses of the month

40

which they can save. The brothers do not have a bank account and save the money back home

with family. The average monthly remuneration brought back home is approximately Rs 2500 by

Prahlad and Rs 8,000 by Taruni. The money is carried back home personally.

The motivating factor for the migration of both the brothers was the Pull factor of a better life

outside the village, even though the previous job and life was not such a huge struggle. But, the

factors like – more income, lifestyles of the developed area and a sense of pride back on the

village were the key reasons for moving to a new location.

Case 3 Sukhranjan Mandal

Sukhranjan Mandal is a 29 year old unmarried migrant from Cooch Behar. He is basically from

the Haldibari block of Cooch Behar, West Bengal where he lived with his parents, 2 brothers

and 1 sister. His family was a relatively poor family of the village with 5 bighas of land on which

paddy, mustard and potatoes were cultivated. His sister was married at the age of 17 years. One

of his brothers is studying in class 11th and the other is working as a welder in Cooch Behar. He

himself is studied till higher secondary and has a strong feeling that education is a must in life.

Presently, he works as a Goldsmith at a Gold shop in Rhenock Bazaar where he is employed for

the past one and a half years. He was brought here by another worker of the same shop who was

a relative of his. Before coming to Rhenock for work, he had all information about the type of

job which he will be performing. Hence, with his savings, he underwent training in Guwahati

regarding the same skills which he will be using.

He goes back home to his family four times and year. His salary is Rs 3,000 per month, out of

which he sends Rs 1,200 back home through the hands of a taxi driver, who is a trustworthy

friend of his.

When talking about his home town, he got nostalgic about his home and his student life. He

wants to go back to a simpler time in life where the insecurities and risks involved in the actions

by a person are none as compared to the present. He has no bank account here or in Cooch

Behar. Whatever he saves, he sends it across to his home. One day, he plans to accumulate

money sufficient enough to start off a similar business in his hometown, so that he can pursue his

business and not stay away from his family.

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Case 4 Bimal Singha

Bimal Kumar is a 20 year old construction work assistant from Sonarpur, North Dinaypur in

West Bengal. He is a member of a family of 4 brothers and 3 sisters. All four brothers are

involved in cultivation of 1.5 bigha of land on which they grow paddy and vegetable. His parents

also live with their children. Two of his sisters are all in school, studying in class II, VII and the

third one has left school after VIII. Bimal himself has studied till class VI after which he left and

joined the brothers in the cultivation. His reason was leaving school was that he could see his

brothers doing something productive, which he wasn’t. So, he wanted to help his brothers in the

agriculture.

He has been working in his current job for the past 6 months. He had received the offer to work

here through a contractor – Taruni Singh (Refer to Case Study 1). His family was not making

enough earning on the small tract of land, and hence to support his brother’s incomes, he had

moved out of the house to earn money by working as a labourer outside. Also, the additional

burden of getting three sisters married and helping his brothers in doing so was always on his

mind. Bimal had been well informed about the type of job he will be performing in the new

location and took up the job immediately.

He earns a daily wage of Rs 150. He saves somewhere close to Rs 1,500 per month which he

sends back home one in a while, either through responsible sources, like friends or relatives, or

he carries the money home himself. His homecoming is uncertain. Till now, he has gone home

only once, that too when there were rains and the work had stopped. He presently resides in a

rented accommodation with another member of the labour team who had migrated with him from

his village. The facilities here are minimal, but liveable.

He still prefers to go back home and work on the fields. He misses his family and the feeling is

mutual from the other side. Being the youngest son of the family, he had always enjoyed a

certain degree of favouritism in the household. He states that, “We are made to love our job here.

We don’t have a choice. I work more to avoid the homesickness”

Case 5 Uttam Sutradhar

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Uttam is a 29 year old father from the Falakanta village of Jalpaiguri district if West Bengal. He

has a one and a half year old son, whom he missed a lot. His parents have expired 10 years back.

Presently, he has 3 brothers and 2 sisters in his family back home out of which one of the sister is

married. One of his brothers is studying in class 9th and his unmarried sister in 12th. His other

brother is working as a carpenter back home. The family owns 5 bighas of land on which they

grow paddy and vegetable.

He presently works as a goldsmith in Rhenock Bazaar. He has been employed here for more than

a year now. He came here under the influence of a cousin, who found an employment

opportunity for him. Before coming to work here, he had no idea about the kind of work he

would be doing. He acquired the skills while working in the shop.

He receives Rs 4000 as his monthly income from his job, out of which he saves around Rs 2,000.

He keeps the money with himself and carries it home only when he goes personally. He feels that

sending the money through some other channel can be risky at times as there can be thefts and

robberies on the way.

He visits home almost 5 times a year for a few days and comes back again. He misses his wife

and son. He tries to keep himself occupied and happy to not feel the longing. He also plans to

accumulate money and start a similar enterprise in Falakata, as he is now good at this work.

Case 6 Sahadev Sahastrabahu

Sahadev is another member of the clan of goldsmiths who migrate from West Bengal. He is 38

years old father of a 4 years old daughter. He has migrated from Salbari village of Jalpaiguri

district. His family consists of his mother, wife, a brother and one sister who is now married. His

father expired 3 years ago. His elder brother is a goldsmith in Singtam, another market of

Sikkim. They have no landholding back home and the family income depends solely on the

remunerations sent from both the brothers. He has studied till class VI.

He was brought here by his elder brother. He was aware of the kind of job which he was

supposed to do. He took a little while in understating the whole work and building his capacity,

but now he is the best in his shop according to him. He now teaches the work to others who

come from similar backgrounds as his own. He receives Rs 3,000 as his monthly income, out of

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which he tries and saves Rs 1200 to Rs 1500. He goes back to his native place 4 times a year,

usually during the festive season. He takes his savings home himself and does not rely on anyone

else.

He wants to accumulate enough amounts so that he can buy a piece of land for himself in Salbari

and start a business which is profitable there. He’s not sure about the kind of business he would

like to start, but he thinks that he still has time to figure that out.

Case 7 Suresh Roy

Suresh is a 37 year old father of 3 children. He is a member of a family of 7 brothers and a

father. His mother expired 18 years ago. He migrated with his wife, 2 sons and 1 daughter from

Darbhanga district in Bihar. 5 of his 7 brothers work as migrant construction labourers in

Kerala. His family owns 8 bighas of land in Darbhanga, which is looked after by the father and

the youngest son. They cultivate paddy, vegetables and jute. He is presently working as a cook in

a local eatery. Suresh is illiterate.

Before coming Rhenock, he worked as a cook in an army camp in Kalimpong. From there, the

son of the present shop owner asked him to join his shop as a cook. He was well aware of the

working conditions of the new job as he had heard about Rhenock from a lot of people, due to

the proximity of Rhenock from Kalimpong. Suresh earns Rs 7,000 a month which is utilizes to

feed his own family, here in Rhenock and have some savings. He does not send any money back.

Even in Kalimpong, his family had migrated with him.

Suresh is very emotionally attached to his hometown, but feels that it is difficult to survive there

after living a life in Sikkim. He feels more comfortable in his new job rather than his work in his

village in Darbhanga. Still, if given an option, he plans to connect enough cash so that he can

open up a small restaurant in Darbhanga city and send his kids to good school.

Case 8 Pradip Kumar Singha

Pradip is a 24 year old grocery store worker who comes from Sonapur village of Dinaypur

district of West Bengal. He has two brothers and a sister who is now married. One of the brothers

44

is a local doctor (quack) and the other is a taxi driver in his hometown. Their parents live

together with them in a small house in Sonapur where they own 2.5 bighas of land. They

cultivate paddy, jute and vegetables on the land which is managed by their father and brother

who is a local doctor.

Pradip was contacted by a contractor who was looking for youth to work in various places in

Rhenock. He, along with a number of youth had left the village with him. Prior to this, he was

worked a watch repairer in Jalpaiguri. This work wasn’t providing him with a good wage. Hence,

he looked for another job and finally ended up here. He was very well aware of the conditions of

the new work place. He gets paid Rs 2,000 per month and lives in a small room next to the shop

for which he does not have to pay. Food is also provided by the shop owner. Consequently, he

saves a substantial amount of money. He saves the money either with himself, or the shop owner.

Pradip moves to his hometown thrice a year for a few weeks, especially during Durga Puja.

Unfortunately, this year he had taken a longer leave a few months back due to some health issues

at his home, hence he had to spend the festive season working. Whenever he goes back home, he

carries his entire savings with him and gives it to his wife. He sometimes also sends the money

through friends, if there is an immediate need of money in the family. He does not access a bank,

either in Rhenock or in Sonapur.

According to him, “Bengalis cannot think of settling in Rhenock. Bengalis by nature cannot

resist protesting against any exploitation when necessary. There is high probability of a feud

occurring between them and the local people. So, life here is not as peaceful as it used to be back

in Bengal. I would any day want to move back, if I get a better opportunity there.” The main

motive to move out from the village was the push factor to supplement the family income.

Case 9 Md Nadeem Akhtar

Nadeem is a 19 year old, member of a ten member family. His family does not own any land

back in Jalpaiguri. He has four brothers and three sisters and their parents live with them. Two

45

brothers are studying. Nadeem’s elder brother manages a local electrical equipment store in

Jalpaiguri and one of his younger brothers is a construction labourer in Mumbai. Both brothers

keep moving from place to place looking for work. He and his brother were contacted by a

contractor in his village, from where they were taken to different places. Before coming here,

Nadeem was managing a small tea shop in his village. He has recently joined the team. Now the

shop is being run by the parents and the youngest brother. Nadeem has studied only till primary

school.

Nadeem presently receives an income of Rs 3,900 and he is given a makeshift room to stay near

the construction site of the Vishwa Vinayak Mandir, Rhenock. He is a single person, hence saves

around Rs 2,500 per month. He is not very happy with his job as he has to work for 10 hours a

day and no holidays on Sundays. He’s new to group and has joined only 2 months ago. This is

his first experience as a migrant worker. Nadeem has gone home once, when he took money

back to his place. He also sent Rs 3000 through the hands of the site supervisor, who is his

neighbour in his village.

His main motive to move outside the village was to gain a sense of independence. There was no

push factor involved in his case. Nadeem has a lot of aspirations with his life which he wants to

fulfil before he returns home for good. According to him, he will go back to his family only

when he has made enough money to support his family and maybe increased the level of

prosperity of the family.

Case 10 Bimal Kumar Sharma

Bimal is a 37 year old construction worker at the Vishwa Vinayak Mandir at Rhenock. He is

basically a resident of Marchak village near Gangtok. He lived there with his parents, wife and

two daughters. Prior to migrating, he was working as a carpenter in the Power Department. But

there was lack of any work there and hence due to unavailability of work, he had to move out in

search of a new job. His father is also a retired worker of the Power Department. He presently

resides in Rungdung village in Rhenock with his wife and one daughter. The other daughter is

studying in Marhcak and living with her grandparents.

Bimal had lost his job in January 2010 and was looking for a new place to work. His friends told

him about this particular place of work and he moved out immediately to take up this job. Being

46

already in the carpentry sector, he had sufficient skill to get him employed as a skilled worker at

a good wage. He currently earns Rs 4000 per month, out of which he pays Rs 1000 as rent for his

lodging facility in Rhenock. Till now, he has sent back Rs 10,000 to his place back in Marchak

through taxi drivers.

Bimal is happy that his family is living with him. Still he misses his elder daughter. He has gone

to Marchak 3 times till now, even though it is only 50 kms away from Rhenock. He has a good

relationship with the villagers of Rungdung, as he says that they share the same caste. He is

happy with his life here, but will be migrating soon again when he finds a better job somewhere

else. His main motive of migration is a pull factor of a better standard of living.

9.6 Reflections

Migration has caused a lot of inflow of labour from the neighbouring area which has endangered

the job opportunities for the locals. There is a feeling of insecurity amongst the rural youth as

they feel that most of the labour jobs will be occupied by the migrants. As the place is an

upcoming town, there was hardly any case of out migration. People from adjoining areas came to

Rhenock due to the increasing infrastructure development sites. It should be noted that there is a

sense of contentment amongst the locals, which inhibits them to move out of their village and

explore the opportunities available outside their village. Also, the young migrants prefer to lead

this life as they are free to take care of their life away from home. This has also led to youth

dropping out of schools to migrate and start working as labourers. Due to the increasing labour

demand in Rhenock, youth from the surrounding districts leave their education and come and

work here.

10. THEME 2 - Labour Markets Dynamics in Post-NREGS Rural India

10.1 Introduction

47

Mahatma Gandhi NREGA has now completed 4 years of implementation in the State. This

Scheme has been universalized and is operational in all the 163 Gram Panchayats of the State. 1With the active involvement of women in large numbers, MGNREGA in the State of Sikkim

takes on the hue of a women’s wage employment programme. It is also rapidly emerging as the

main source of employment for the rural people. This Scheme has been able to put money in the

hands of the poorest of the poor on a scale that is unprecedented. When these poor households

spend this additional money, they create a demand for commodities. The production of these

commodities, in turn, creates demand for capital, raw materials and workers. With this level of

coverage and intensity, Mahatma Gandhi NREGA is increasingly becoming a lifeline of the rural

poor in the State. MGNREGA was able to dignify labour work in the villages, and provided

purchasing power and bargaining power to the rural households.

A grievance redressal mechanism has also been established along with transparent material

purchase norms and a toll free helpline 7979 is operational. Ombudsman has been appointed by a

committee headed by the Chief Secretary. The muster rolls were also read out in the Gram Sabha

in Social Audits conducted by reputed NGOs in all the villages. Sikkim is amongst the few

States in the country to complete the Social Audit and Labour Budget planning in all the Gram

Panchayats in a time bound manner. Full time professional manpower are now at place at the

Village, Block, District and State level, greatly improving the administration of the Scheme. The

shelf of works to be taken up in the village are proposed by the Gram Sabha, estimation is done

by the Block office, technical sanctions are done at the District level. No contractors or middle

men are permitted and 100% implementation of works by the Gram Panchayat. NREGA has

helped in strengthening Panchayati Raj Institutions by bringing real democracy to the grassroots.

A number of new initiatives are being planned to further improve the impacts of this national

flagship programme. An Estimation Automation Software (EASY) is in the final stages of being

developed to automate the estimation procedure since the same types of works are taken up

repeatedly.

To ensure quality monitoring of the assets created on a regular basis, retired government officers

will now be empanelled as State Quality Monitors, and they will be conducting regular quality

monitoring of the process and outcomes of this programme. The plan of action this year is to

1 Sikkim – MGNREGA website. URL: http://nrega.nic.in/homest.asp?state_code=28&state_name=SIKKIM

48

shift the emphasis to those activities that enhance “rural household incomes” and ensure rural

water security.

10.2 Objective

To explore the effect on MGNREGA on the local labour market by understanding the dynamics

of the following factors:

Availability of labour during various seasons

Socio economic impact of MGNREGA on the lives of the local

Effective wage rates of work.

10.3 Methods Used

The data presented in the report has been gathered by using the following techniques:

Primary Data

o Focussed Group Discussions with MGNREGA workers

o Structured interviews with employees of BAC MGNREGA Cell, NREGA Mate

and labourers

o Informal chats with labourers and Sarpanchs of the Panchayat.

Secondary Data

o MGNREGA MIS, developed by Govt of India

URL: http://nrega.nic.in/netnrega/home.aspx

o Block Administrative Centre NREGA Cell

o Muster Rolls

The report follows a question answer pattern to understand the depth of individual issues in more

details.

10.4 Implementation of MGNREGA in Rungdung- Statistics

From the Rungdung village, a total of One forty Eight (148) households have been registered in

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and from the above households

49

two eighty eight (288) persons has registered themselves for the employment. The breakup of

caste wise distribution of the registered households is as follows:

Villages No. of Registered

SCs STs Others Male

Female

H.H Persons

H.H

Persons

H.H

Persons

H.H

Persons

1 Rungdung

148 288 13 25 13 19 122 244 146 142

(Source: BAC)

Due to Sikkim being a Scheduled state, there are no General category labourers.

The projects which are being undertaken as a part of NREGA work can be categorized under the

following heads:

Rural Connectivity

Drought Proofing

Flood control

Irrigation Canal

Plantation – Tea and Broom

Most of the applicants who have demanded for the job in the year 2010-11 have been provided

the employment in one or more project mention above. Most people have till now completed

their quota of 100 days of 2010.

The wage rates at Rungdung are as follows:

Skilled Worker : Rs 130

Mate/ Supervisor : Rs 115

Unskilled Worker : Rs 100

10.5 Findings of the Study

50

1. General attitude of people towards MGNREGA

The people of the village Rungdung, of Rhenock GPU in East district of Sikkim were very happy

with NREGA. It has provided a stable source of livelihood for the locals as well as creation of

good quality infrastructure which are essential for the village. By the time we reached the

village, most of the people had completed their 100 days of work or were close to it. Hence,

there was not a lot of attendance at the NREGA sites. There were around 10 workers, out of

which 7 were females and 3 males.

2. Overall fit of NREGS in the village context

The village is not a poor village and majority of the people have decent monthly earnings

through tertiary sector and primary sector. But, there are certain landless poor families who work

as labourers or enter into an arrangement with the landlords. NREGA has been a lifeline for them

as it ensures an income of Rs 10,000 per year. They can work during the non-agricultural season

when they don’t get work in the agricultural sector. The wages of the agricultural labour has

increased considerably because of introduction of NREGA in the village, which has again

increased the earnings of these villagers.

3. Non-Wage expectations from NREGS?

The non-wage benefits like shelter and crèches were absent but people didn’t complain about

them as they prefer leaving their children with other family members. But there is availability of

drinking water near the work site. The non wage expectation would also include the delivery of

cash on time and the distance from where it is being disbursed.

4. Degree to which non-wage expectations fulfilled?

As mentioned above there were not many non wage expectations and people were happy with

the existing working conditions provided to them. People were unhappy with the wage

disbursement mechanism as there was some problem with the Central Bank of India internet

facility, due to which the wages were not disbursed from July to September. This had caused a

major problem amongst the labourers.

51

5. Overall quality of work-seeker experience

Almost all the applicants for work under NREGA got their due but there were problems. In one

particular case, in the Upper Tarpin Village, NREGA employees were not paid their dues since

July (we spoke to them in October). The reason for the delay was an internet problem in the

Central Bank of India which was located in that village. All this time, the people were buying

essential commodities on credit from the shopkeeper. During the festive season, the BDO

intervened and made sure that they got some parts of their earnings in cash.

6. Perception about reach and distributional equity of NREGS benefits

NREGA’s benefits in terms of money have been distributed among the needy people in the

village. But, there was no evidence of Non wage benefits provided to these people. As

mentioned earlier, there was no evidence of any sort of discrimination on the basis of caste or

class.

7. Opinion about the physical quality of assets created

The assets that were created under NREGA were generally CC footpaths, jhora works and

protective walls which generally required maintenance. They were incidences of the CC footpath

going down but that was attributed to the hilly terrain as even the roads built under other

schemes of the government required regular maintenance. Almost all the works were of good

quality but still the maintenance work demanded lot of resources. The jhoras built have helped a

lot to avoid landslides.

8. Extent of corruption

Though people mentioned about corruption during our interaction with them, we could not

establish anything. Overall all the works were carried out effectively. On the contrary, there was

some really efficient work going on which we found counterintuitive. The BDO was very active

and took the extra effort to make the people comfortable.

9. Which works are better executed and (likely to) perform better in the long run.

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The works that come under the Common works had a tendency of better execution as the

benefits were distributed to all sections of the society. The villagers had a sense of pride when

they built a CC foot path as they were doing something for the community. On the other side, the

private land owners ensured that work was done in an effective way in their lands.

10. Awareness about NREGS (provisions, rights, procedures) and preparedness of village

Awareness level was high among the Panchayat members, but villagers are not worried about the

plans to be implemented under the scheme as most h had plenty of resources. Also, the labourers

are unaware about any sort of non wage entitlements which they can benefit from. Hence, there

is a strong need to make the people conscious of their rights.

11. Power structures, local politics and its (positive and negative) role in NREGS

Local power bodies were absent in our village. NREGA is run by Panchayat and all issues are

discussed in the Panchayat. There is no significant influence of any power body, even though

some favouritism might be there when it comes to deciding about the beneficiaries. The projects

are proposed and passed during the Gram Sabha and only then can a particular work be started.

12. Involvement (or, lack of) of NGOs in NREGS implementation and its impact.

NGOs do not have a role in NREGA as the Panchayat is the sole authority. All others institutions

are generally not required as the BDO office takes good care of the issues raised by the NREGA

employees. BDO is easily accessible.

13. Role played by Gram Sabha, Block Administration, District Administration

The block administration inspects all the sites were NREGA work can be taken up. They study

the technical feasibility of the work and forward a proposal to the Gram Sabha. However the

authority lies with the Gram Sabha whether it wants to take up a particular project. The BDO

himself once confessed that he is powerless if the Gram Sabha rejects their proposal. The BDO

made sure that certain projects are implemented under NREGA, as if those projects are put under

other schemes then there is a high probability that they will not be completed. The Gram Sabha

discusses all the proposals and then arrives at a final conclusion taking into consideration the

technical aspects of the project.

14. Future outlook, pathways to improvement

53

The Sikkim Government has introduced an Adult Literacy Mission whereby every person

working under NREGA should attend the classes and learn how to read and write. Some people

have complaints that they cannot concentrate on other works as attendance is compulsory. The

shortcoming is that there is a sufficiently large number of school leaving cases especially after

the age of 16 and above. Because of the poor family background, children of such families are

leaving school and are applying for the jobcard and prefer to earn for the family as the workers.

Also, NREGS works continue during agriculture season making agriculture labour difficult to

find.

10.6 Reflections on MG NREGA Implementation in Rungdung

People, who initially used to perform the agricultural works for their living, have become quite

lazy in character with the introduction of NREGA. Villagers have become more interested to

work as NREGA Workers rather than to cultivate their own field. This might be because of the

wages the workers receive within the very short time, earlier they used to receive the cash only

once after selling their product at the end of the season. The rural people have stated the habit of

using money everyday which is not possible while engaging them in agriculture. This is the one

reason why the demand for jobs in NREGA is increasing every day. Apart from this, the labour

force number has increased with the inception of this scheme.

11 THEME 3 – SUBJECTIVE WELL BEING

54

11.1 Definition

Materialism is the desire for wealth and material possessions with little interest in ethical

or spiritual matters. (Source: Wordweb)

Consumption is the utilization of economic goods to satisfy one’s needs. (Source:

Wordweb)

Subjective Wellbeing is a broad category of phenomena that includes people’s

emotional responses, domain satisfactions and global judgements of life satisfaction

(Dieneret al., 1999: p. 277).

11.2 Introduction

In our village people were very content and happy with their lives. There was no

discrimination amongst them on the basis of economic position in the society. In general, the

youngsters looked very materialistic in nature. They wore all kinds of fancy clothes and

carried branded accessories. However, the elders were a bit conservative in nature.

The first look of the village gave us an impression that we will not be able to complete this

theme as almost all were above average families. But, once we started working on the theme

we could see that amongst the members of a particular family perceptions changed. As we

delved more into the subject and started explaining them with examples, their understanding

of the subject developed further and we could get better answers.

11.3 Findings

The Mean Consumption Orientation score of the villagers was 6.06(Table 1). Such a high

score justifies the response we got during our interaction with the villagers. Whenever

we asked them questions related to consumption, they gave us prompt replies expressing

their strong opinion against reckless consumption.

The Mean Subjective well being score is 2.72 which show that the level of contentment is

high among villagers.

55

Table 5: Descriptive Statistic of Various Indices

N Minimum Maximum Mean Std. Deviation

RD 37 2.00 6.00 4.1802 .90896

MA 36 2.61 5.50 3.8133 .71802

SWB 37 1.68 5.36 2.7243 .80998

CO 37 3.14 7.00 6.0618 .98085

Valid N (listwise) 36

The materialistic aspiration is high among youngsters as compared to the older people as

can be seen from Table 2.

35 out of the 37 respondents had a mobile phone and 18 respondents had mobile phones

with cameras. It explains the standard of living of the villagers.

The number of persons per room is generally less than 2(figure 1) depicting the level of

well-being of the people.

1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33 35 370

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Number of persons per room

Number of persons per room

Figure 5: No. of persons per room

56

Table 6: Crosstabulation between age and Materialistic Aspirations

Age of the Respondent

Total20-24 Years 25-34 years 35-44 years 45-54 years 55-64 years

MA 2.61 1 0 0 0 0 1

2.67 0 1 0 0 0 1

2.72 0 1 0 0 0 1

2.78 1 0 0 0 0 1

2.83 1 0 0 1 0 2

2.89 0 0 0 0 1 1

3.11 0 0 0 1 0 1

3.28 1 0 0 0 0 1

3.39 1 0 0 0 0 1

3.44 0 1 0 0 0 1

3.56 0 0 2 0 1 3

3.67 0 1 0 0 0 1

3.72 0 2 0 0 0 2

3.83 1 0 0 0 0 1

3.94 1 1 2 0 0 4

4.06 0 0 1 0 0 1

4.17 2 0 0 0 0 2

4.28 1 0 0 0 0 1

4.33 1 0 0 0 0 1

4.39 0 1 0 0 0 1

4.44 1 0 0 0 0 1

4.56 1 0 0 0 1 2

4.61 1 0 0 0 0 1

4.67 1 1 0 0 0 2

4.94 0 0 1 0 0 1

5.50 0 1 0 0 0 1

Total 15 10 6 2 3 36

57

11.4 Points to Reflect On

The theme helped us immensely in understanding a village and gave a good idea about the likes

and dislikes of villagers. Some villagers took nearly 20 minutes in answering a question as they

had never thought about such things. The section on assets reflected the real picture and helped

in distinguishing different sections. However, the section on Relative Deprivation could not

capture the real picture as people were very conservative in their answers.

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12 THEME 4 – EXPLORATORY STUDY ON COTTAGE AND SMALL

SCALE INDUSTRIES IN RUNGDUNG VILLAGE

12.1 Executive Summary

The definition of small-scale industries has undergone significant changes over time.

Initially, they were classified into two categories- 1) those using power with less than 50

employees and 2) those not using power with the employee strength being more than 50 but less

than 100. However, now the capital resources invested on plant and machinery buildings are the

primary criteria to differentiate between small-scale industries and the large and medium scale

industries. There have been significant improvements in the structure of small scale industries

over the period of time. The conventional small-scale industries differ from their present

counterparts in many respects. The conventional units were highly labour intensive with old

machineries and conventional techniques of production resulting in poor productivity rate

whereas the modern small-scale units are much more productive with less manpower and more

sophisticated equipments.

Sikkim has a good resource base for Non Timber Forest Products (NTFP). The diverse

altitude is idyllic for the cultivation of a variety of herbs which can be used in the manufacture of

medicines, cosmetics and aromatic products. But, the absence of lucrative marketing network

and the lack of appropriate processing facilities for manufacturing quality finished products have

resulted in most of the products being sold at uncompetitive prices to other state as raw material

for processing.

With the above facts in mind, I was encouraged to perform an exploratory study of the

available cottage and small scale industries, in any, in my village of Rungdung, Rhenock. During

my initial observations, I was unable to find any industries which followed the above criteria and

which can be called a Small Scale Industry. By further exploring the village, I came to know

about three industries which were present in my village.

The paper deals with exploring the operations in these identified small scale industries and how

they sustain themselves. Also, it will be focusing on the measures which can be taken up for the

expansion and growth of the sector.

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12.2 Introduction - Small Scale Industry and Indian Economy

The Small Scale Industry sector is an important segment of the Indian economy and accounts

for 95% of the industrial units, 40% of output of the manufacturing sector, 35% of the overall

exports and offers jobs to around 18 million people2. Small scale industry sector acts as a major

force in promoting the industrial growth and enhances the overall economic growth. It provides

opportunities for entrepreneurship, self employment and enterprise creation, thus, providing a

solution to the crisis of both unemployment and disguised unemployment. The growth rate

recorded by the Small Scale Industries sector has normally been higher than that of the industrial

sector as a whole. The Government of India has facilitated the small scale sector through

supportive policy measures since adoption of planned economy model. The basic policy support

for SSI sector has its route in the Industrial Policy Resolution of 1956. Further, the Industrial

Policy Statement, 1977, highlighted reservation of products. The reservation of economically

feasible Small Scale Industries began with a list of 47 items which was gradually increased to

numerous products. Currently, 811 items are on the reserved list. Other policy supports which

could be listed are - excise exemptions , traded under priority sector lending from banks and

financial institutions , marketing support through reservation of items for products from Small

Scale Industries sector for government purchases, providing infra structure facilities like sheds,

plots in industrial states, technological support, new management techniques, training and

entrepreneurship developments.SSI Sector plays a major role in India's present export

performance. 45%-50% of the Indian Exports is contributed by SSI Sector. Direct exports from

the SSI Sector account for nearly 35% of total exports. Besides direct exports, it is estimated that

small-scale industrial units contribute around 15% to exports indirectly. This takes place through

merchant exporters, trading houses and export houses. They may also be in the form of export

orders from large units or the production of parts and components for use for finished exportable

goods. 

Non-traditional products account for more than 95% of the Small scale industry exports.  

The small-scale sector has grown rapidly over the years. The growth rates during the various

plan periods have been very impressive. When the performance of this sector is viewed against

2 Annual Report 2008-2009, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises

60

the growth in the manufacturing and the industry sector as a whole, it instils assurance in the

resilience of the small-scale industry sector. 

12.3 Objective

The main objectives of my study in exploring the small scale and cottage industries were:

12.4 To understand the working and process of available small scale industries in the

village.

12.5 To identify the role of small scale industries in livelihood opportunities for the local

people.

12.6 To explore the traditional knowledge base of the people and the way they deploy it

in the small scale industry

12.4 Methods Used

To investigate the various processes carried out in the cottage industry, I employed both formal

and non-formal techniques. For the primary data collection:

Informal chats with locals

To locate and identify the industries in the area, I had to talk informally to local villagers

over cups of tea. The industries were not located exactly in the village, but a few

minutes’ walk near the village. Not a lot of people were aware of the existence of these

industries. Also, the industries were spaced far apart from each other; hence it was

difficult to find their exact locations.

Structured Interviews with industry owners

After identifying the industries, I conducted structured interviews with the proprietors of

the industries regarding the production, procurement and marketing process. These

interviews were conducted at the industry site for better understanding.

Semi Structured interviews with workers at the industries

To get a better insight of the accurate working of the industry, I conducted few semi

structured interviews with the workers of these industries.

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The secondary data regarding the industries was collected from the website of the Ministry of

Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Government of India. Apart from that, various research

papers were referred for data gathering, the list of which is furnished in the References.

12.5 Findings of Study- Available Industries in Rungdung

After initial investigation with the locals, I was able to identify three key industries in and

around Rungdung. These were:

1) Hritu Organic Tea

2) Bhumi Masale

3) NGOs Incense Sticks and Dhoop

Apart from these three major industries, there were three Self Help Groups which carried

out production processes, but not at a significantly commercial level.

12.5.1 Hritu Organic Tea

12.5.1.1 Overview

The industry was set up by Mr. Hemant Nirula, a retired policeman from Gangtok. He

was helped by his nephew Mr. Thakur Katera in the business. Mr. Nirula started the factory at

Rhenock Bazaar in the year 2009. Mr. Nirula owns 2 acre tea estate in Kalimpong, in the

Darjeeling district of West Bengal. As the tea industry in Darjeeling is very competitive and

getting license to produce tea is difficult to obtain, Mr. Nirula thought of two solutions which

curbed both his problems:

1. Shifting to Organic tea production, the market of which is still naïve and amateur

2. Producing tea in Sikkim as there are no licenses required in Sikkim.

But he is still unable to sell the in the market due to the lack of the license. He is eligible to sell

the tea only after –

a. Tea has been tested in the laboratory for the authenticity check of it being organic, and

b. The company receives a license from the Tea Board of India.

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What exactly is organic tea?

Organic variety of tea is tea produced by plants which are grown without the use of

chemical pesticides or fertilizers. The soil is enriched with natural compost and a layer of mulch

retains the moisture while providing extra nutrients as it breaks down. This growing method is

more labour-intensive but produces superior quality tea. It has a strong flavour and taste.

The advantages of Organic Tea are:

The organic tea contains antioxidants that provide many of the health benefits. Scientific

studies have shown that the antioxidants called polyphenols and catechins are found in

higher concentrations in good quality tea.

Organic tea is also better for the tea farmer. Tea plants can live more than 100 years, and

organic farming methods allow the tea plants to remain healthy for the duration of their

lifespan. This means that the farmer has less expense in replacing tea plants.

Antioxidants protect the cells from a natural process called “oxidative stress”. Although

oxygen is vital for life, oxidation produces free radicals that damage human cells. This

damaging, physiological process works against the immune system and is also

responsible for ageing Antioxidants help our body eliminate these harmful free radicals.

In fact a decrease in the level of antioxidants is proportional to the increased risk from

cancer, heart attacks and umpteen other health disorders. In fact a new research shows

that antioxidants in tea may actually help fight cataract – one of the primary causes of

blindness globally.

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12.5.1.2 Flowchart of Tea Production

Figure 6: Flowchart of Organic Tea Production

12.5.1.3 Inputs before Production

The raw material to be used for making the tea is grown in the tea estate owned by Mr.

Nirula himself. It has to be made sure that no artificial or chemical fertilizers and pesticides are

used during the process of growing of the plants. To increase the productivity and still maintain

the organic status of the tea, two major processes have to be performed:

Growth and development of the tea sapling into a mature plant takes nearly 5-6 years.

The tea leaves which are being used presently to make the tea are picked off the plants

which had been put in 2000.

For increasing the fertility of the soil, natural fertilizers made out of cow dung and tea

ash are used.

To protect the plants from any pest attacks, a natural pesticide is produced using two

plants – Haathibaug and Angeri. Both these plants are put into water and pressed until

the juice from them comes out and mixes with water. This mixture of water and plant

juice then acts like a natural pesticide and is sprayed in the fields.

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There have been times when the pests have been immune to the natural fertilizers used.

In that case, to maintain the organic status of the tea, tongs are used to pick the pests

from individual tea leaves. These pests are then burnt.

12.5.1.4 Procurement of Raw Materials

The raw materials required for the production is tea leaves. This method requires the

Picking and transport of the leaves from Kalimpong to Rhenock. The tea leaves are picked once

a week. Due to the low capacity of production, the leaves are brought to the factory in a

consignment of 15 kg each time. For transporting the raw materials, Mr. Nirula uses his private

vehicle.

Apart from tea leaves, the only form of raw material which is left and required is the packing

materials.

12.5.1.5 Processing

The processing phase consists of five processes:

Withering Rolling Fermenting Drying Grading

Each process is explained below:

Withering

Withering is the process in which the tea leaves are placed in a large container and blow

drying the tea leaves to make them dehydrate. The leaves lose water and become flat and

flaccid. The water content is lost and leaves contain 50 % moisture only. This process

takes about 7-8 hours.

Rolling

The withered tea leaves are put on a flat platform and rolled. The principal objective of

rolling is to undertake cell rupture so that progressive breakdown of cellular organelles

takes place. The process results in contact of cell sap leading to intermixing of chemical

constituents and enzymes in the presence of atmospheric oxygen to form the important

chemical constituents responsible for characteristics of tea. This is the advent of the

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fermentation process where oxidation begins. The Rolling is carried out on a table. The

process of rolling applies pressure and twist between leaves as well as between leaf and

surface of the equipment used for rolling. Resulting friction causes heat, which in excess

will hasten the chemical reactions to result in the formation of undesirable constituents

detrimental to the quality. The cell rupture in the small and tender shoots is completed

faster and chemical reactions set in earlier while the coarser leaves require a little more

time. Also the leaf, which has already undergone size reduction and twisting after some

amount of rolling, impedes twisting of larger leaf, which may extend the period of

rolling.

Fermenting

The rolled tea leaves are put in a plastic bag and left for fermentation. The process takes

around hours, but depends on the climatic conditions. In summers it takes 4 hours,

whereas in winters it can take up to 7 hours. The relative humidity also plays an

important role in this process. During this process, the leaves turn from green to

yellowish black.

Drying

The fermented leaves are then put in a hot dryer, which is a closed compartment with a

heater inside blowing out hot air. The leaves are placed on a sieve so that the smaller

particles get filtered immediately. The main objectives of drying are:

To arrest enzyme reaction as well as oxidation,

To remove moisture from the leaf particles and to produce a stable product with good

keeping quality.

The outcome of the process is black collared leaves of tea which is the finished product

for the process.

Grading

In this process, the output of drying is placed on sieves of various size holes. Tea ranges

in size from that of a speck of dust to a leaf approximately 4 cm long and 1cm wide. Each

66

sieve has a grading involved with it. The finest sieve is supposed to be of the lowest

grade. Whole Leaf Grades are the largest sizes produced and depending on the actual

grade within the section may range from a long and wiry stem, 1 cm to 2 cm in length, to

a round and knobby twisted leaf similar in size and shape to that of a small garden pea.

The dust falling through the finest sieve is used again as manure in the farms.

12.5.1.6 Packaging

The tea is packaged in an airtight polythene bag and placed in a cardboard box. The quantity of

each box is 100 Gms. The box is procured from Siliguri at the cost of Rs 3.6 per box. The box

contains the name, registration number and the contact of the producers. Packing is done

manually using adhesives.

12.5.1.7 Input Output Analysis

Inputs include-

Labour cost

Employed 7 workers - 3 at the factory and 4 at the tea estate. The salaries paid are Rs

1500 per month for the factory workers and Rs 1200 per month + shelter for the workers

at the field. The sum total comes out to be Rs 9,300 per month on labour.

Raw Material

The cost of raw material can be calculated as the sum of the cost of manure and natural

pesticide. As cow dung is freely available, it has no significant cost. Also, the

Haathibaug and Angeri plants are grown wildly, therefore, again they can be obtained for

free.

Transport Cost

The transport cost comes out to be approximately Rs 600 per round trip.

Production Cost

Apart for the labour, the production cost would include the electricity and maintenance

cost.

Packaging Cost

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The packet cost is Rs 3.6 for every 100 gm box, accounting to Rs 36 per kg of tea. Apart

from that, the polythene covers would also cost a minimal amount. We can assume the

packing expenditure with Polythene bags to be Rs 40 per kilogram.

Table 7: Input Details for Hritu Organic Tea

Sr No. Input Quantity Monetary Value

1. Tea leaves 225 kg Rs 1,000

2. Labour 7 Rs 9,300

3. Approximate cost of fertilizer 100 kg Rs 1000

Output produces:

For every 4.5 kg of tea leaves, 1 kg of tea is produced. In one cycle, a total of 1.5 kg of tea leaves

are processed, hence producing 0.3 kg of tea. In one month, the amount of tea produced is 50

kgs. The cost of tea in the market is Rs 1000 per kg. Hence, analyzing the input – output

expenditure and revenue per month, we will get:

Table 8: Output Details for Hritu Organic Tea

Sr No. Output Quantity Monetary Value

1. Processed Tea 50 kg Rs 50,000

2. Tea Ash 5 Rs 100

12.5.1.8 Marketing

As described earlier, presently the company is not able to sell its produce commercially due to

the unavailability of license to sell. Therefore, for the time being they cater to only order based

production. They have applied for a license and will soon be receiving one. They have sent a few

samples to contacts which they have formed over an exporter’s website called

www.exportersindia.com. But the unawareness about the products and the utility of organic yield

is acting as an inhibitor for their business. People prefer buying the inorganic alternative of tea,

which would cost Rs 150 per kg, as compared to the Hritu Organic tea at Rs 1,000 per kg. The

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company does not have a local market, but has customers from Gangtok who get the product on

order basis. They have also sent samples to tea traders in New Delhi and Gujarat.

Due to this factor, the production has been kept to a low level. If there will be an increased

demand in the market, the production can increase. A SWOT Analysis of the company:

Table 9: SWOT Analysis of Hritu Organic Tea

Strength Weakness

• High demand in international markets

• Low competition in the specific product

• Low Awareness about Organic foods

• High cost and competition by Inorganic

produce

• Lack of technical knowhow

• Low local market demand

• Air tight packing

Opportunities Threats

• Tea plantations in Sikkim

• Export Markets

• Competition by inorganic products

• Pest attacks

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12.5.1.9 Approximated Financial Statements

Profit and Loss Account

Table 10: Approximate Profit and Loss Account for Hritu Organic Tea

Particulars Amount (in Rs) Particulars Amount (in Rs)

Wages and Salaries 1,11,600 Gross Profit 5,76,000

Electricity Expenses 5,400

Transport Cost 30,000

Packaging Cost 24,000

Depreciation 6,000

Net Profit 3,99,000

TOTAL 5,76,000 TOTAL 5,76,000

The balance sheet could be created due to lack of accounting data with the organization.

12.5.1.10 Reflections

This industry has a good scope of becoming a major organic tea producing company in the near

future. Some of the main observations and reflections which I had were:

They were not too keen on the getting the license and were constantly procrastinating the

process, even though they could’ve got the license by now. This is in fact due to the low

sale which they have in the local markets.

The company has a good scope in the international market due to the increased demand

of organic food stuff and edibles.

They can diversify their industry by also venturing into the commercial production of the

natural pesticides which they use in their own fields.

70

12.5.2 Bhumi Masale

12.5.2.1 Overview

This industry was started in the year 2000 as a production venture by a SHG called Nari Jagruti

Manch, a group of 10 Lepcha ladies. The SHG was helped by the Sikkim Rural Development

Agency (SRDA) to set up a small mill for the production of Masale by taking the local produce

from the farmers. The members of the SHG were very enthused by the idea, but no one had

thought about the other expenditures which were due in the course of action, the major

expenditure being setting up a 3-Phase electricity line for the working of the mill. Apart from

this, the SHG had to keep a worker for the physical work. They saw that most of their savings of

the kitty were going into financing the industry and none was left for giving out loans. Apart

from this, there were some issues with the SHG, because of which the SHG members decided to

split. The mill provided by SRDA was acquired by Mrs. Roma Lepcha, one of the members of

the SHG and a small individual unit was setup in her homestead.

12.5.2.2 Products

The factory produces majorly 5 kinds of Masale, all for consumption. These include:

i. Chilli Powder

ii. Haldi (Turmeric) Powder

iii. Meat Masala

iv. Ginger Powder

v. Mix Vegetable Masala

The Masale are sold in packets of 50 gms each, with their cost varying from Rs 15 to Rs 27 per

packet, depending upon the kind of masala.

12.5.2.3 Capital Investment

The major capital which was invested in the factory was under the following heads:

3-Phase line : Rs 42,000

Fitting and Fixtures : Rs 2,000

Furniture of the factory: Rs 2,000

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Weight Balance: Rs 1,000

As the factory is at the homestead, there was no expenditure on land or building. The factory

functions in the basement of the house.

12.5.2.4 Raw Material

For the various masale which are produced in the factory, the raw material requirement differs

for each. The specifications of the raw materials for each masala are listed below:

Table 11: Ingredient Details of Products

Sr No. Masala Ingredients

1 Chilli Powder Dried red chillies

2 Haldi Powder Dried Haldi pieces

3 Meat Masala Dried Chilli, Coriander, Cumin Seeds, Pepper, Mustard,

Turmeric, Cinnamon, Clove, Cardamom

4 Mix Vegetable

Masala

Cumin, Coriander, Mustard seeds, Fenugreek, Dried Ginger,

Dried Garlic, Asafoetida, Turmeric and black peppercorns

5 Ginger Powder Dried Ginger

12.5.2.5 Procurement and Processing

The various raw materials are bought from the local market at Rhenock Bazaar for the

processing. Some materials are also directly purchased from the local producers of the village.

After procuring the materials from the market, the processing of these materials takes place. The

processing can be depicted into the following flowchart:

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Figure 7: Process Flowchart for Masala Production

The details of the processes are as follows:

Drying

The materials procured from the market or the local producers are dried in the sun to

remove any moisture present in them. This is done by placing the materials on top of the

roof of the household. After drying, the products lose weight due to removal of water

content. This drying should be ideally done at a temperature of 70 degree Celsius, but

such temperatures are not possible in natural sun drying. Hence, leaving the materials in

the sun for a longer duration also serves the purpose.

Milling or Grinding

After the materials are dried, they are churned in a mill to produce pulverized powder of

the spice. Care has to be taken to avoid mixing of dust particles. Also, it is necessary to

clean the mill after every use so that there are no traces of previous spice left in the

machine. The Mill is kept in a separate location in the house.

Mixing

After the production of powdered spices, the relevant spices are mixed in appropriate

quantity to produce the desired output. This is only done for the Meat Masala and the

Vegetable masala, by mixing the above mentioned spices in designated quantities.

Packaging

The packaging involves two steps – 1.measurement and 2.packing into cartons.

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Drying

Milling / Grinding

Mixing

Packing

Measurement is done using a mechanical weighing balance. Each masala is packaged in a

pack of 50 Gms in a polythene case. The polythene bag is then kept in a cardboard box

with the specification of the company and ingredient details on it.

12.5.2.6 Marketing of Products

Due to lack of good marketing channels and high competition by the nationalized

products like – Everest Masale, MDH Masale and Catch masale, the target market is limited to

local and Sikkim market. The industry has all the licenses from the Spices Board.

The marketing strategy used by the industry is Door – to – Door of the product in the

local areas and Gangtok. Every two weeks, the masala packs are taken to Gangtok on a mass

scale and given to the identified local grocery shops there. But due to low consumption by the

locals, these vendors are moving away from the small industry products. The USP of the product

is the relatively low cost of the product as compared to other brands. Also, it has an additional

sentiment of being a local Sikkimese brand of masala. Another method for marketing the product

is to provide the end product to Sikkim State Cooperative Supply and Marketing Federation or

SIMFED. Sikkim State Co-operative Supply and Marketing Federation Ltd. (SIMFED) was

established in the year 1983. SIMFED was established as an Apex Marketing association for the

state of Sikkim with the main motive of undertaking wholesale supply of consumer products to

the Multi Purpose Cooperative Societies (MPCS) and Consumer Cooperative Societies (CCS)

and to organize for mass marketing of the surplus agricultural produce together with the chief

cash crops of the State. SIMFED has its stores all over Sikkim, where is retails products from

cottage and small scale industries of Sikkim. This way, the products get a good market for sale.

If we compare the price of the products produced by Bhumi Masale with the other brands:

Table 12: Comparative Analysis of Bhumi Masale prices with other brands

Sr No. Masala Quantity Bhumi MDH Everest

1. Chilli Powder 50 gms Rs 15 Rs 20 Rs 17

2. Haldi Powder 50 gms Rs 15 Rs 17 Rs 16

3. Meat Masala 50 gms Rs 20 Rs 22 Rs 23

4. Mix Vegetable Masala 50 gms Rs 18 Rs 19 Rs 21

5. Ginger Powder 50 gms Rs 15 Rs 18 Rs 20

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By looking at the comparative prices of the masala, we find that the price of the masala

produces by Bhumi Masale is cheaper than the price of the other famous brands. This difference

in the price of above Rs 3 per 50 Gms is due to the availability of raw material locally, as in the

case of Ginger powder and Chilli powder. For everything else, material has to be purchased from

the market.

12.5.2.7 Input- Output Analysis

Input

Table 13: Input Details

Sr No. Input Quantity Monetary Value

1. Ginger 1 kg Rs 35- 40

2. Turmeric 1 kg Rs 37

3. Cumin (Zeera) 1 kg Rs 168

4. Whole Red Chillies 1 kg Rs 34

5. Miscellaneous Masale 1 kg Rs 200 (approx)

6. Packing Material 1 box Rs 2.80 per 50 gm box

Output:

Table 14: Gross Profit details per product

Sr No. Masala Quantity Cost Gross Profit per 50 gms

1. Chilli Powder 50 gms Rs 15 Rs 1.7

2. Haldi Powder 50 gms Rs 15 Rs 1.85

3. Meat Masala 50 gms Rs 20 Rs 8 (approx)

4. Mix Vegetable Masala 50 gms Rs 18 Rs 8 (approx)

5. Ginger Powder 50 gms Rs 15 Rs 1.75 to Rs 2.0

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12.5.2.8 Analysis

If we perform a SWOT analysis of the industry, we get a picture like this:

Table 15: SWOT Analysis for Bhumi Masale

Strength Weakness

• Local relations within the community

• Proximity to market

• No advertisement

• Lack of financial institutions

• Low local market demand

• No industrial relations

Opportunities Threats

• Organic farming of masala

• Procurement from local producers

• National brands – MDH, Catch and

Everest

• Growing mortality of small scale

enterprises

12.5.2.9 Reflections

This is a model cottage industry which can be found anywhere across the country. Similar

problems are faced by cottage industries all over the country and this is one good example to

understand them. Apart from that, some of the major observations worth mentioning are:

Very clean premises and hygienic milling and packing areas. Even though being a small

industry, every initiative was taken to maintain the standards. The workers had to wear

caps during their working hours.

There is a lack of financial aid for the industry. The proprietor has plans to grow the

industry but is not able to receive the loan from the local bank due to poor reputation of

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the SHG. There is a scope for interventions of the microfinance organizations to venture

into funding such small scale industries in Sikkim.

My personal anecdote:

During my visit to Mrs. Roma, I was accompanied by Mr. Manoj Chhetri, who was a member of

a small NGO, Suryaudai, which made paper and leather bags. We somehow tried to collaborate

the two industries in such a way that both can benefit from each other’s work without the

intervention of an external agency. I would like to mention here that due to this meeting, a small

step was taken towards building sustaining bond between the small industries of the area. This

might profit both the organizations in the near future.

12.5.3 NGO Incense Sticks – Gagan Beli Gram Vikas Sangh

12.5.3.1 Overview

This particular facility present in Rungdung is essentially a production plant for an NGO

headquartered at Gangtok. The NGO – Gagan Beli Gram Vikas Sangh is a Non profit

organization working in the field on vocational education and rural livelihood promotion. The

president of the NGO is Mr. Akash Lama, who is also the resource person for this production

facility present in Rungdung. Mr. Lama is a resident of Gangtok, but is presently residing in

Rungdung to supervise the working of the production plant.

12.5.3.2 Products

The facility majorly produces two forms of products, which again have their categories. The

products produced are:

1. NGO’s Incense Stick

12.5.1 NGO Incense Dhoop

12.5.2 Organic Incense Dhoop

12.5.3 Rhododendron Dhoop

2. NGO’s Havan Saamagri

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The dhoop is sold in two sizes packets, where the packet sizes various according to the

number of sticks in the packet. The Havan Saamagri is sold in two sizes again, with the sizes

varying by the quantity of saamagri contained in it.

12.5.3.3 Capital Investment

The facility is basically a large hall built on the land of Mr. Akash Lama. This facility was

planned to be placed here strategically because- a) The land belonged to Mr. Lama and b) It is

well connected by road with Gangtok and other major cities of Sikkim. Also, another factor in

locating the industry in this part might be the proximity to Siliguri, which is a major market of

North East India. The investment put into the setting up of the facility includes:

Building cost : Rs 55,000

Land: Owned by Mr Lama. The price of land in this part of Sikkim (as per the Panchayat

officials) is somewhere around Rs 8 lakh per acre. This facility was built on a land of

1500 feet2 . Thus, the approximate value of the land is Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000.

Three Phase Line: This was provided free of charge by the Government of Sikkim as a

subsidy to the NGO.

Milling Machine: This machine was provided to the NGO as a subsidy by the Department

of Commerce and Industries, Sikkim.

There has been a lump sum investment in the raw materials required for the industry to

produce. The investment is worth Rs 7 lakh.

The mechanical tools and apparatus within the facility are worth Rs 8,000.

12.5.3.4 Raw Materials

The major raw materials required for the production of the dhoop and havan saamagri are as

follows:

Malagiri Tree bark

The malagiri tree has a scented bark which is used as the base material for the

production of dhoop sticks. It is widely found in the hills of North Sikkim where the

climatic conditions are more drastic and temperatures are quite low.

Juniper leaves

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Juniper is an upright spreading shrub with red-brown, papery bark and juvenile foliage

only, consisting of whorls of three sharply pointed, dark green to blue-green leaves that

have a single white stripe on the inner surface. Juniper is a bitter, aromatic herb that has

antiseptic and diuretic properties, improving digestion, stimulating the uterus and

reducing inflammation. This is used to enhance the aromatic property of the dhoop. The

smaller pieces of juniper and malagiri bark are also used to form the havan saamagri.

Phampak or Phamsey

This is a yellow coloured fruit which is commonly found in the forest areas of Sikkim.

This fruit is a double layered fruit with yellow shell and a white coloured seed. The

outside of the fruit is dried and used for consumption. The inner seed of the fruit is used

for making the glue which is the bonding agent of the dhoop stick.

Rhododendron flower

A wide variety of rhododendron species are used o produce the desired fragrance of

dhoop sticks. But this is limited to only a few months of production and that too in a

smaller quantity. This is not the main stay of the business.

Artificial Chemical Scents

These scents are used as substitutes for the original materials. They are chemicals which

can be used in smaller quantities to have a better fragrance. But, they are volatile and

need to be kept in closed containers.

Miscellaneous materials

There are other materials which are used in smaller but proportionate quantities in a

measure of 10 kgs of malagiri to produce the desired aroma. Some of the major ones are

listed below:

o Kesar or Saffron

o Camphor (to increase the flammability)

o Jatte (or Sikkim Sandalwood)

o White Sandalwood

o Gokul stone powder

o Red Sandalwood

o Rudak- creeper plant

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These raw materials also have some or the other property which makes them an

indispensible part of the composition. For instance, Jatte is supposed to be a cleaner of polluted

air. Also, the rudak is believed to attract the tiger in the jungles. Hence, other insects, such as

mosquitoes repel the scent of this creeper.

12.5.3.5 Procurement

The base materials of the dhoop, i.e. Malagiri tree bark and Juniper are brought in trucks

from the forests of North Sikkim near Lachen. They are found in abundance and hence can easily

be availed within the state. Phampak or Phamsey grows wildly in the forests. It can be procured

from there. Other materials such as artificial scents are bought from traders in Siliguri. The

minor scent powders - Gokul and Rudak are procured from Himachal Pradesh and the

Sandalwood from Karnataka.

The Sikkim Government has provided the license of procuring the Malagiri and Juniper

from North Sikkim. Hence, as an inventory, they have purchased raw material worth 7 lakh. The

material is kept in the facility.

12.5.3.6 Production

The production of the dhoop is a four phase process:

Figure 8: Production Process Flowchart

Grinding

This process involved the preparation of the base material for making the dhoop sticks.

The base material or Malagiri tree bark is broken into smaller pieces, mixed with Juniper

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Grinding Mixing and Kneading Shaping Drying

leaves and put into a mill. The mill outputs the powdered form of the Malagiri and

juniper mixture.

Mixing and Kneading

The powder of Malagiri and juniper is then mixed with a variety of materials in specified

proportions to create particular flavours. Also, camphor is mixed with the mixture to

increase the burning capacity of the mixture. This creates the final mixture which forms

the masala to be put on the stick.

After the mixture is created, it is kneaded into together into thick paste using water and

Phamphak juice. The phampak juice has bonding properties and makes the materials stay

together in the form of a hard semi solid paste.

Shaping

After the kneading is done and a semi solid paste structure is produces, the paste is

converted into very thin rope like structures, which are the wet forms of the dhoop sticks.

Unlike the agarbatti which we get in the markets, this dhoop is not pasted on a bamboo

stick, rather it is placed on a long tray to dry.

Drying

The drying process takes around 3 days for the dhoop sticks to dry and harden into the

desired shape and size. But, they are very fragile and break into pieces if pressure is

applied.

After drying, the products are wrapped in gelatine sheets and placed in cartons in packs of 20

sticks and 40 sticks each. The waste products of the milling process and broken pieces of dhoop

sticks are used as inputs for the havan saamagri.

12.5.3.7 Marketing

As this facility is only a production plant, it does not market the output itself. It acts as a

resource for the NGO which performs the functions of marketing and selling the products.

Usually, the NGO provides these dhoop sticks to all the major shops in the tourist areas, as

tourists are attracted towards local products. You can easily find the green boxes of these dhoop

sticks in shops near the tourist areas in Gangtok.

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The USP of the product is that it can be used by any community and for any purpose.

Also, they have diversified the market to various specialized products, such as- Organic Dhoop,

Buddhist Dhoop or Rhododendron Dhoop. Some of their major buyers are the monasteries of

Gompas of Sikkim. The Rhododendron dhoop is extensively purchased by the Gompas during its

blooming seasons. The additional motivating factor for a customer is the fact that the

organization is an NGO and gives 2 % of the profits in charity. This is clearly stated on the

cartons of the dhoop.

12.5.3.8 Input Output Analysis

We can break up the input cost into the following heads per packet of dhoop:

Table 16: Input Value chain analysis for Incense Sticks

Sr No. Input Quantity Monetary Value

1. Malagiri 50 gms Rs 1.5

2. Juniper 10 gms Rs 0.5

3. Other materials 100 gms Rs 4

4. Packing cost 1 Rs 1

TOTAL 1 box Rs 7

Apart from the various material costs given in the table above, the facility employees 11

labourers for the production work at a wage rate of:

o Male : Rs 103 per day

o Female : Rs 80 per day

Also, the facility has a three phase electricity supply for running of the mill. But the cost

for the electricity is paid by the Department of Commerce and Industries, Government of

Sikkim.

12.3.5.9 Financial Statements

Profit and Loss Account

As we do not have data of the amount of sales for the past fiscal year, it is not possible to

calculate the gross profit for the whole year. Also, as it was only the production unit, there was

no record of the forecasted figures for the remaining year. They only worked on supply and

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demand figures. Therefore, we will assume the sale of 1 box and calculate the gross profit for the

sale of one box.

Table 17: Income Statement for one box

Particulars Amount (in Rs)

Sale of box Rs 20

Less: Cost of Goods Sold (Rs 7)

Gross Profit Rs 13

Transport Cost* Rs 2

Cost of Labour per box* Rs 3

Net Profit Rs 83

It is not possible to draw the balance sheet as we do not have any details about the

financial data of the company. The available data has been tried and put into analytical format.

12.3.5.10 Analysis

Table 18: SWOT Analysis for NGO Incense Sticks

Strength Weakness

• High demand in national and

international markets

• Rhododendron

• Proximity to major consumers

• Diverse products

• Help from the Government

• Unavailability of raw materials locally

• Expensive raw materials

• Transport

• Use of weighing balance

Opportunities Threats

3 This information was provided by the supervisor at the production plant. This information could not be falsified as there was lack of proper recording of sales figures.*The information has been assumed based on the information received from the industry.

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• Export Markets

• Target consumers- tourists

• No insurance

• Cost

• Natural Calamity

12.3.6 Reflections

The first impression of the industry was more of a storage unit than a processing one due to the

amount of raw material kept in just one room. Some of the key reflections and observations

which need mention are:

The industry does not have insurance policy. The amount of raw material kept in the

factory is enormous amount of inventory to be maintained without a backup plan. Also,

the inventory is highly flammable and can cause damage of man and material.

Another noticeable point was that the female workers were paid lesser wages than the

male workers. This was new from the point of view of Sikkimese society where there is

hardly any discrimination on the basis of sex.

The processing was efficient and almost 40 packets were produced in one day, which is a

profit of Rs 320 on one single day.

Recommendations

There is a wide scope of incorporating a social model into this structure. Such models can be

utilized for employment generation for the handicapped people. As the work does not require

much labour and can be set up with a small amount of investment, it looks like a feasible option

for a sustainable source of livelihood. On similar lines, we can work on other industries where

such models can be incorporated.

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12.6 Final Remarks on Cottage and SSI

Cottage and Small scale industries provide an alternative opportunity than agriculture for the

people of the village to take part in the main scale economy of the country as a whole. My

personal reflections of all the industries as a whole can be summarized in the following points:

There is a high capacity of untapped resources in the village which can be utilized in a

much better way than left idle. These resources can be used in a productive way to

generate revenue for individuals, or the community as a whole.

Marketing facilities and mechanisms are lacking in the region. If there can be a common

society initiated in the village, which can take up the responsibility to ensure proper rates

of supply to the market and linkages to the various market entry points, the condition of

the poor marketing systems can also be improved. The main problems which can be

notices are:

Poor infrastructure facilities

Lack of technological up gradation, hence the competition kills the market of the

traditionally produced goods.

Lack of institutional credit facilities

There is a strong need of research and development in the various fields in which the

small scale industries operate. The expert analysis of the processes followed should be

considered before production.

The lack of skilled personnel also poses a question of optimum production of available

natural resources by not so efficient human resources, leading to sub-quality produce.

The cottage industries provide a good source of sustainable livelihoods for the villagers.

There is not a lot of investment in setting up a small unit and the returns can be

maximized by application of the above two points.

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13 THEME 5 – NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Executive Summary

Natural Resource Management refers to the Management of resources such as Land, Soil, Water,

Plants and Animals such that it can enhance the quality of life of the present generation without

compromising the needs of the future generations. Soil, water and vegetation are the basic

natural resources on which all the living beings depend for survival. Hence it becomes

imperative for all of us to work in a holistic manner to judiciously use the existing resources such

that they are not over exploited.

Effective management of natural resources leads to better living conditions for people as nature

plays a key role in the lives of people living in the hill regions. People depend on the forest

produce for their daily requirements. They worship the forest and preserve it. But over the years,

certain practices have been forgotten and people have moved on to a new way of life which is

unsustainable in terms of certain aspects. There has been increased burden on the natural

resources due to the ever increasing population and in some incidences the natural resources

have been exploited way beyond their replenishing capacity. Hence it becomes important to

restore the balance between the use and conservation of resources.

I have used focus group discussion and informal chats to get the relevant information from the

villagers. In the following pages, I would like to discuss the different ways in which the natural

resources are used in the present scenario and the ways in which they were used in the past and

discuss the issues which people face nowadays with respect to natural resources in my village

Rungdung.

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13.1 Introduction

Natural resources are an integral part of the lives of people living in hilly areas. Exploitation of

forests as affected the local people in a big way. But, Sikkim has done well in increasing its

forest cover in the recent years. Sensitizing people is one of the important tasks of ensuring the

success in conserving the natural resources.

13.2 Objectives

To understand the different ways in which people use and manage the Natural Resources.

To learn about the traditional knowledge base and its relevance in the present context.

13.3 Methods Used:

Informal Chats with the locals: During the stay, I interacted with many villagers to know

about the different uses of Natural Resources in their daily lives.

FGD’s were conducted to understand the ways in which people want to conserve the

resources.

13.4 Land

Humans are dependent on land for a variety of reasons, but the most important one amongst

them is for food. Hence it becomes a top priority to use it in a conservative manner.

In Rungdung, Agriculture is subsistence in nature. The native people of this region,

Lepchas used to practice jhoom cultivation. They used to cut forests and burn the remains and

practice cultivation there. They cultivated a special variety of rice called taakmaaru, which is a

dry paddy variety and requires very less water.

The Nepalese people brought along the technique of terrace farming and started

concerting the mountains into terraces for cultivation. People started realizing the advantages of

terrace farming in terms of soil and water conservation and started shifting to terrace farming

from jhoom cultivation. In the current context, agriculture is not practiced on a large scale. It is

done with the sole aim of satisfying the family’s requirements. The farmers who are still

continuing with the age old practice are a proud lot

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The farmers do not use any chemical fertilizers or pesticides and use only organic manure

for cultivation. This is not because of any government intervention or measures taken by the

NGO to educate the people but because of the traditional knowledge base of people. They say

that, “If we use chemicals for cultivation then we’ll start consuming chemicals which is not

good for our health”.

The farming practices are not mechanized because of the small landholdings and difficult

terrain. Cattle are used for ploughing the field. People avoid using high yielding varieties of the

seeds as maize grown with those seeds does not last long. One of the important considerations

for the seeds is storage. People in the hilly region want to store their grains for a long period of

time as they want to be prepared for natural calamities or adversities.

The farmers in the village plough their land in parallel furrows as it helps in the retaining

the moisture whereas the government advices the farmers to plough the land across to check soil

erosion. The farmers feel that if they plough across their productivity goes down. Hence they

stick to their old method of ploughing parallel furrows. The farmers in this region practice

mixed cropping as it helps them in sustaining their family and prevents soil erosion and run-off.

The major crops grown in the region are paddy, maize, potato, black gram and millet.

Black gram is grown with paddy. The black gram is grown on the bunds whereas the paddy is

grown in the terraces created. The land is left fallow for some part of the year as it helps in the

replenishment of the soil. The major variety of paddy grown in the region is krishnabhog. The

locals say that the plain variety of paddy is not suitable for the hills hence they stick to their

pahari variety.

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Figure 8: Harvested Paddy

The decrease in the diversity of grains on which the human beings are dependent is a

trend that can be seen everywhere. Diverse grains replenish soil with different nutrients and at

the same time provide human beings with a diverse set of nutrients. But this trend has been on a

decline and same can be said about my village. People have stopped growing kodo which is the

millet grown in the area. The production of millet has been on a decline and even when it is

produced only a handful of old aged people consume it.

There is an increase in the cultivation of cash crops like Amliso(broom), ginger, turmeric,

tea, etc. Broom is grown in a big way as the broom produced fetches good rates and the leaves

are used as fodder for the animals. The government has encouraged broom cultivation in private

under NREGA to check soil erosion. Ginger is a very important cash crop which is grown in

abundance. It is sold in the local market and sent to the other parts of the state and Siliguri.

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Figure 9: Turmeric and Broom

One of the major reasons for people to quit farming is the decrease in productivity. There

are many reasons to it. One reason can be attributed to the fact that, the government under the

aforestation drive banned grazing in the state. This led to decline in the number of cows. The

poor families could not afford the labour charges for getting the fodder to the cows. Hence they

stopped dairying. This led to the reduction of cow dung which acted as manure which resulted

in decline in productivity.

13.5 Water

Drinking water has never been a problem in the village as it was available in abundance

in the form of Natural Springs. But now due to the increased population pressure the water table

has receded and people use rubber pipes to distribute water to different places. There is no

concept of rain water harvesting in the households.

People in the village generally boil the water before having it. Some say that it prevents

gall bladder stones but others say that it has nothing to do with gall bladder stones. It is for

one’s comfort that they boil water.

There is no proper irrigation facility available in the village as farmers take water directly from

the springs using bamboo pipes and rubber pipes.

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Figure 10: Rubber pipes carrying water

13.6 Plants

Plants are an integral part of our traditional medicine which was an essential component

of our lives. But now people have shifted to allopathic medicine. In my interaction with the

villagers, the majority of elders say that when they were young they never used to go to

hospitals as medicinal herbs and shrubs were part of their daily diet.

But nowadays these practices have been totally forgotten as it is too easy to get a tablet.

Naturopathy doctor, Arjun Acharya says that, “people are used to quick-fire short term solutions

for their problems. They do not want to go the traditional way and get a good long term solution.

The need for immediate gratification is the main problem”.

There are a lot of plants and herbs which grow in higher altitudes and which are available in

abundance in this region. Economic value accrued to the family due to the traditional medicine

will be significant. If awareness is created on a large scale and proper marketing channels are

developed, people can benefit a great deal.

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Another important part of their daily lives is the kitchen garden. Almost all families grow their

own vegetables and buy vegetables form the market very rarely. Iskuss, sami, rai sag are the

some of the local vegetables which are available in abundance. Potato and tomato are grown

everywhere. Dalle, a special variety of chilly is a typical product of Sikkim. It is considered to be

one of the causes of gall bladder stones.

Figure 11:Dalle-chilly

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Figure 12: Isskuss- seasonal vegetable

Figure 13: Kitchen garden

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13.6 Animals

Livestock has always been an integral part of the society in this region. People are into all kinds

of activities like poultry, piggery, dairy and rearing goats. During Dusshera which is called

Dasai in the local language, 4 different kinds of meat are made to greet the guests. 12 kg of

meat was made for Diwali for a family of 5. This just gives a glimpse of how significant is

livestock in the region. People rear animals for milk, meat and eggs. People sell animals in the

market and Haat. Chicken feather is given to people who are ill due to psychological reasons.

Dairy has declined over the years as compared to other livestock as grazing has been banned.

This has affected the per capita milk consumption in a big way.

13.7 Housing

Housing is not a natural resource but all major components of housing are derived from nature.

Hence it affects natural resources. Nowadays, Most of the houses are being built of cement and

concrete but earlier people used to build houses out of wood, bamboo and other locally

available materials. The advantage of such houses was that you can reuse the materials to build

a house somewhere else. The new houses being built nowadays still have some components of

the age old wisdom but it is fast declining. The rate at which construction is going on in the

villages it may lead to too much concrete which might the fragile ecosystem of a hilly region.

Figure 14: Comparison of Houses

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13.8 Final Remarks

As we try to solve some of the complex issues of our ages like Sustainability and Conservation,

we should take into consideration the fact that our ancestors have faced such situations and as

we can see they have survived them successfully. When we plan for these complex issues, we

should incorporate the traditional knowledge of local people into the system as they have lived

in those areas for ages and they know their requirements better than anyone else. Traditional

forms of medicines should be explored and people should be encouraged as they have been part

of our legacy for ages and they still have a lot to contribute to our society. I would like to

conclude by saying that we should live in harmony with the nature as it is in our own interest.

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14 THEME 6- DEVELOPMENT INTERVENTIONS-GOVT. AND NGO

EFFECTS

14.1 Comparative Study of the Livelihood Interventions in Sikkim and Himachal

Pradesh

A series of discussions and reading of each other’s theme paper draft comprising our work in the

villages in Sikkim and Himachal Pradesh has shown that:

Apart from MGNREGA, there is no other intervention that is common to both the villages. Now

as per the trends observable in MGNREGA, there’s remarkable similarity in the way the scheme

has unfolded and affected the people of the village. In both the villages, MGNREGA has of

course lead to increased job security for the poor and has come to act as a shield saving the

downtrodden classes from sheer poverty. But at the same time, the negative impact MGREGA

has had on the villagers is quite apparent too. School children find MGREGA a refuge from the

high demands of their studies and are leaving schools so as to join it. In many cases, it is genuine

problem at a household level that has led them to take such a step, but again, we each found

instances where the basic reason of joining MGREGA for these school kids was simply to run

away from the hard work that school studies demanded.

In both villages we the scheme leading to a severe crisis in the agricultural labour workforce.

With the independence that comes with working for MGREGA and the flexibility it offers, more

and more agricultural labours are choosing to opt out of working in the farms or other factories.

In Himachal Pradesh, farmers whined that even at Rs 130 per day and two square meals, the

labourers refuse to work in their fields, instead settling for the Rs 110 that MREGA offers.

Also, the fact cannot be ignored that with the successful implementation of the scheme, there is a

sense of empowerment in the people. It has lead to dissolution of the caste divide, for even the

higher caste people want to take advantage of MGREGA and the profit it is offering.

In both villages we found that the scheme has been very instrumental in re-shaping the equations

for women: It has given them the power to earn a living at an equal footing as the male members

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and the way they have outnumbered the males in the overall work force of MGNREGA, we see

in years to come, the power balance slowly shifting.

Despite the fact that both the villages have immense potential for rural tourism, though Dhanai in

HP has witness a very active intervention from the Govt. in the form of the Home Stay Scheme,

Rhenock Tarpin in Sikkim is only now rising up to the opportunity. No serious intervention has

so far been made as yet in the village so far. Given the highly successful result so far of the

Home Stay scheme in Dhanai, it can be said that its implementation in Rhenock Tarpin is likely

to be a success too. One factor that might come in the way though is the location of Rhenock

Tarpin. Dhanai has a major advantage of being located in the middle of two famous tourist

locations. In order for the scheme to work in Rhenock, the promotion scheme has to be way

more innovative.

Also, in terms of NGO intervention, we find a major intervention in Dhanai in the form of the

Indo German Changar Project, though Rhenock has not witnessed any NGO intervention so far.

Comparatively, the Sikkim govt’s focus on eradication of village poverty is a very focussed

programme. In Dhanai, though there are schemes like BPL, Antyodaya and IAY to help the poor,

there is no specific focus on poverty reduction within a certain period of time.

Sikkim is also proving to be more experimental and innovative with its initiative of e-

governance. Though we did find the Panchayat office in Himachal Pradesh having a outdated PC

installed and some work going on the digitization of documents, we did not find much proof of

HP making a foray into e-governance at a village level; though at a state level, they have

computerized the governance in a high degree, with the govt website being quite a great resource

for the citizens who have access to it.

Again, we found that the HP govt is taking a number of healthy initiatives to improve the

agricultural condition of the village. It is trying to bring modern techniques like Poly house,

Organic Farming, creation of innovative irrigation schemes vermin compost pit etc. Similar

innovation in Sikkim was found absent.

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14.2 Final Thoughts:

As a whole though, we found both the states very active in promoting various schemes of

development and livelihood intervention. Again, the learning was that if a state is caring enough,

development can take place independent of NGO’s. Of course the state would have to ensure it

approaches its work with the same focus and integrity that an NGO generally does. From what

we have seen of Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim, both states have managed to bring that element.

15 CONCLUSION

We had a very comfortable and safe stay in the village. Our perception about a tribal village

being very backward and unorganized has definitely changed after this after this experience. A

major factor which acted in our better understanding of the village was that the language, Nepali

was very similar to Hindi. So most of the information which we received, we could easily

understand it. This gave us a good opportunity to interact with a lot of people in the village.

In our initial days of our stay, our BDO gave us the chore of going from house to house and

interacting with the people in our village and getting some information for him. This acted as an

entry point for us to mix with the locals. At first, we were perceived as Government Officials by

the locals, but when they came to know about out backgrounds and where we have come from,

they were more enthusiastic about the activity rather than sceptical. It was great to see how

people interacted with us at such a personal level without knowing us at all. Two months flew by

and we almost became locals there. We were welcomed to take part in all the activities of the

village. A few things which really made us scratch our heads are listed below. The points are not

conclusive, but we will try and give all our arguments in the pages to come.

The people of Rungdung are very content with their present life. When it comes to the

aspirations of the people, there are only handfuls of people who want to leave the village

to explore the opportunities outside. On one hand, this can be taken as a sign of a

satisfied happy individual, on the other hand, this makes most of them miss a lot of

benefits which the outside world has to offer. People are against the use of pesticides and

fertilizers to increase their yield. The one’s dependent on agriculture have more or less

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subsistence type which feeds them and their family. They do not go for commercial

selling of their produce. When asked, their unanimous reply is that they don’t want to

harm the land for their future generations. They know that pesticides are poison. Even in

the case of small enterprises, they do not want to expand their business and are happy

with serving the people of the local market.

Most of the youth of the area are jobless. They spend their time roaming in the village

and the nearby market. As far as the education is concerned, the present young generation

are going for college and higher studies due to presence of a lot of good institutions in the

proximity, like Rhenock Government College and Sikkim Manipal University. There is a

drastic shift towards the tertiary sector from agricultural practices. Due to the presence of

the upcoming New Rhenock Government College building, a lot of people have sold their

agriculture land to the Government at a high rate and are using the money gained for

starting a small enterprise.

We observed that there is a large amount of spoonfeeding being done by the Government

when it comes to the local inhabitants and Sikkim subjects. This has made the people of

the village lazy. The various schemes which are focused on their well being-

MGNREGA, Public Distribution System, Indira Awas Yojna, Mukhya Mantri Awas

Yojna and a new scheme has been introduced under which people receive an LPG

cylinder. Due to the availability of easy commodities, the people have become lethargic.

This might be another reason why their expectations and aspirations have not yet been

evolved.

On the other hand, the positive side is that there is no problem of food security or abject

poverty in the village. The only poverty which we can understand was relative poverty.

As a part of our RAC, we tried to find the multidimensional causes of poverty and the

different methods in which poverty can be assessed in absolute sense. This activity gave

us a lot of insight about how the people sustain themselves with limited amount of

resources.

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There is a large inflow of migrants from states of West Bengal and Bihar. During our

interaction with the locals, we got a chance to hear the arguments from both the parties.

The locals complain that the immigrants from Bihar come and settle in Rhenock, take up

all the labour work and then send their remittances back home, basically depleting the

money amount in the market. Also, the local youth are concerned about their own future

job prospects due to similar problems. The major shops are all owned by immigrants and

hence the market dynamics are controlled by them. Their population is growing day by

day and they are consuming most of the resources of the village to meet their local and

family demands back home.

Counter intuitively to this are the immigrants complain that even though they have been a

resident of this village for more than a few decades now, they should also get the rights

similar to the locals. It is unfair for them that they do not get any employment in the

government jobs. Also, they do not have any proprietary rights in the village. They have

to face a lot of struggle for getting a job in the state, even though the jobs go to lesser

deserving candidate who is a Sikkim Subject. The migrants complain that most of the

work is done by them and the benefits of the Government schemes are received by the

subjects.

After listening to both the arguments it is difficult to take a stand on either of

them. On one hand the Government is trying to protect the rights of the aboriginal

communities, on the other hand the major workforce is being expelled from accessing the

major facilities. This is analogical to the argument posed by Bal Thakrey against the

migrants from Bihar who come and work at Maharashtra.

MGNREGA has been a major hit in the State. This is because of the effective functioning

of the Panchayati raj institutions and the dedication of the administrative officers

involved. The Panchayat is a very strong body and maintains a tight grip on the

monitoring and evaluation of the work being done, the wage disbursement and the well

being of the labourers. The officers take the extra efforts which contribute to the perfect

functioning of the scheme. The structures built under the scheme are strong and reliable.

Their positioning is strategically planned so that they help in the villagers. An example of

this can be the Jhoras and CC Footpaths.

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There is a large amount of local traditional knowledge and information which is still

untapped by anyone. This knowledge is a large think tank and can work wonders if

recognized and utilized suitably. The locals are willing to let this information out to help

others who might be interested. The only thing lacking is the initiative which needs to be

taken to develop this knowledge base.

The village is very suitable for the development of small scale eco tourism industry. It is

on the way to the Nathula pass which is a major trading hub as well as a tourist location.

If measures are taken to convert Rungdung into a tourist spot, it can act as a great source

of livelihood generation for the locals. This factor is also enhanced by its proximity to the

Aritar Lake, which is the highest natural lake in the world.

Overall, Rungdung is a great place to study the patterns of the rural to urban change and how

it is affecting the lives of the tribal society. The interactions between the people from various

backgrounds and cultures have given rise to a discrete culture of its own, which is quite

spectacular and worth experiencing. Rungdung is a perfect example of an Indian village in the

state of transition from a village to a small town.

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