Tiruvannamalai
Collector KS Kandasamy, the brain behind the empowerment drive, says “the aim of undertaking various works, specially construction of a little more than 100 check dams, was to ensure that tribal residents earn and think for themselves without being fleeced by those from the plains”.
Leading from the front, P Jayasudha, DRDA (District Rural Development Agency) project director, says “various works were carried out mainly by women under the MGNREGS (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme). Nearly 8,000 of the 10,000, who participated in the scheme, now know how to do centring work and even undertake concrete work, thus earning for themselves and not depending on workers from the plains”.
Officials hit upon the idea of building check dams when they came to know that most tribals relied on rainfed crops mainly samai and horsegram, never being sure if they could harvest the produce due to non-availability of water. As assistant engineer R Tamilselvan says, “the check dams have proved their worth after the rain as all have water which will last till the end of January next year, thereby, ensuring that locals can harvest one crop”.
Each check dam ensures that five acres on both sides receive the benefit of water availability. “A check dam at Thumbakulam had sand washed up from the upper reaches of the hill which is now being used by local farmers due to its alluvial content,” Tamilselvan said. Thedams cost ranged between Rs 3.49 lakh and Rs 12 lakh, depending on the location and the effort involved toget construction materials to the spot, he added.
“Access to water has resulted in locals opting for farming vegetables like tomatoes, brinjals, greens and even vendai (ladies fingers) which were earlier purchased at high cost locally as it had to be ferried up from the plains,” says former Nammiampattu panchayat president K Sallan.
Locals, specially women, learning how to mix concrete and undertake centring work has resulted in officials now not having to hire workers from the plains for such work. “This has resulted in the locals earning daily wages under the 100 days work scheme with the money staying in the hills and not being routed to sellers in the plains,” says former Jawadhu hills panchayat union chairman R Rajamanickam.
“Those of us from the ruling party, who undertook contract work, decided to help our people and thus reduced our profit percentage. We are happy to see the results,” he adds.
However, while the change benefitted tribal residents, it has not been without some glitches. For instance, when paddy and rice dealers in Polur in the plains learnt about paddy availability in the hills, many came thinking of making big profit, mistaking tribals to be gullible. “They learnt the hard way that tribals were past masters at bargaining and hence left after accepting to pay what we demanded,” says L Srinivasan of Velithattan Kottai in Veerappanur panchayat, a beneficiary of the Velithattan odai nearby. With check dams assuring enough water for crops, a problem that could emerge is how locals will find a market for their produce and how they will convert paddy to rice in the hills itself. “Though a few have facilities to convert minor amounts of paddy to rice, a proper rice mill will be necessary when all of us have paddy for conversion,” says C Arunachalam of Veerappanur panchayat.
“Another change is that men now have to work at farming as earlier tribals raise only samai which was undertaken mainly by women. Paddy being a water intensive crop needs lot of work to ensure a bountiful harvest and hence men are now involved in full time agriculture,” say some women residents of Pulikondranveli hamlet gleefully.
The success of the check dam scheme was mainly due to the rapport which locals developed with government officials who stayed in the hills with them.
“Though we were initially reluctant to participate in government schemes, the fact that Tamilselvan stayed in the hills was the clincher,” according to G Kumar of Kovilur panchayat and a beneficiary of the check dam across the Mamarathur odai (creek) nearby.
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