------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
In low income neighborhoods, 84% do not own computers.
At Network for Good, help bridge the Digital Divide!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/EpW3eD/3MnJAA/cosFAA/e0EolB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->
The Economic and Political Weekly
April 9, 2005
MIGRATION OF ORISSA'S TRIBAL WOMEN
A New Story of Exploitation
In Orissa's poverty-stricken tribal areas, recent shifts in migration
trends have revealed the increasing movement of young women towards
urban centres in search of work. The 'push' factor is responsible for
such migration, but as a recent workshop revealed, the prospects such
work offers leave much to be desired. Living conditions are
unhygienic, the salary poor and tribal women are vulnerable to
exploitation by unscrupulous agents.
Vikas Jha
The kidnapping of one-and-half year old Arpit Dewan from Delhi by a
domestic working girl from Orissa caught the attention of the
national media but the plight of similar others, working in the same
city does not raise eyebrows. A workshop organised in Sundargarh
district, Orissa tried to highlight the exploitative and brutal
working conditions of domestic working girls in Delhi.
Migration of the tribal population from Jharkhand, Orissa, Madhya
Pradesh and Chhattisgarh has been taking place since the last three
centuries. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the migration was forced
as the British employed tribal labour to work in the Assam tea
gardens. However, since the latter half of the 20th century, tribal
people from these areas have begun to migrate voluntarily to earn
their livelihood. In the last century, a noticeable change was
visible in the nature and pattern of tribal migration. Between 1950
and 1980, tribal people migrated to the rural areas of Bihar and West
Bengal mainly to work as agricultural labour. But from 1980 onwards,
they started migrating to bigger cities in search of employment. This
is obvious from the large concentration of tribal people in
metropolitan cities like Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai. Another new
feature of tribal migration from these states in recent years has
been the large-scale migration of single-women to cities in search of
livelihood, which is a subtle change from the earlier migration
patterns when only the men migrated to urban centres. Tribal families
nowadays are driven by poverty to send unmarried daughters to cities
in search of work. Single women and tribal girls are, however, prone
to exploitation not only by employers but also by anti-social
elements.
To get a first-hand account of the nature and character of migration
of tribal girls, a workshop organised by the Indian Social Institute,
New Delhi, on 'Migration of Tribal Girls to Urban Centres' was held
in Kalunga, Sundargarh district (Orissa) on January 14 and 15, 2005.
The workshop was a follow-up to a survey carried out by the institute
in October-November, 2004. According to this survey, nearly 63 per
cent of Orissa's migrant tribal girls are from Sundargarh district;
it was thus decided to organise the workshop at Sundergarh. Family
members of the migrant tribal girls, social workers of the region and
members of the church attended it. A majority of the participants
belonged to the various scheduled tribes of Sundargarh district.
Women from these tribes were represented adequately at the workshop;
in all, 11 women attended the workshop.
The workshop began with a brief delineation of problems faced by
tribal girls in Delhi, followed by a presentation of the survey by
the Indian Social Institute. Thereafter, participants were encouraged
to present their perspective on tribal women migration and its
consequences for tribal societies. Family members and relatives of
the migrant tribal girl and some social activists of the district
presented stunning details of exploitation tribal girls faced in
urban centres. Jyoti Kumari Bago of village Kairatoli, block Uttara
said her sister had migrated to Delhi for domestic work two years
ago. She added that her sister earned good money as she had
constructed a three-room house in her village. Elaborating further,
however, Jyoti said her sister developed a sore on her leg during her
stay in Delhi. Her employers did not pay attention to her condition
and the sore soon increased in size. Ultimately, the girl had to
return to her village. The infection led to a large swelling in her
leg and soon she could hardly walk. Treatment by a Rourkela doctor
revealed that she had cancer that was in an advanced stage. The
girl's father sold his property to ensure her treatment but her
condition deteriorated fast and she died. Later, some monetary
support was extended to the family by one of the nuns at the Holy
Spirit Church.
Anil Dumdum of village Jhunur whose wife had been working in Delhi
for two years before their marriage had a similar tale of apathy and
exploitation. Anil said that his wife fell seriously ill two months
after the marriage and she developed sores all over the body. The
medical treatment revealed that his wife was HIV positive. Despite
the money spent on her treatment, Anil's wife soon succumbed to
the disease.
Ajit Topo, a social activist from Rudrapara village, Sambalpur
district pointed out that many tribal girls are duped by relatives
and agents and sold to brothels in Delhi and Mumbai. He referred to
the case of Meena Marandi of Sundargarh district who was sold by her
relative to a brothel in Delhi for a sum of Rs 5,000. She was later
caught in a raid in a brothel at GB Road by the Delhi police. Topo
maintained that several tribal girls of the area were being sold in
similar circumstances by agents for sums varying between Rs 8,000 and
20,000. He warned that social repercussions of such migration of
girls to Delhi could prove disastrous. Migrant tribal girls were now
finding it difficult to get married within tribal societies, as
people suspected she could be HIV positive. Topo lamented that the
situation had deteriorated to such an extent that even if a migrant
tribal girl suffered a minor illness, rumour insisted she was
carrying the 'Delhi disease'. The consequence is a social boycott of
the girl; at times, even her family is subjected to social isolation.
In some instances, the families of the tribal girl have refused to
accept her as she had migrated to Delhi without permission. Sunita
Kumari, a participant, drew attention to such an incident in a nearby
village. In the end, the tribal girl had to resort to begging to
survive. Ultimately, it was the church that convinced her family to
accept her. Another social activist, Sunil Marandi revealed that
kidnappings of tribal girls have been reported from villages of
Dhutka (Kutra thana) and village Balishankra (Talsara thana), both in
Sundargarh district. Marandi suspected that many such kidnapped girls
were sold to the brothels of Delhi and Mumbai.
Jyotna Lakra, a social activist, visited Delhi to see for herself the
condition of the migrant tribal girls. She visited placement agencies
at Kotla Mubarakpur, Punjabi Bagh and Vikaspuri. She reported that
the girls lived in extremely deplorable conditions before employment;
15-20 girls were forced to stay in a small and dingy room in
extremely unhygienic conditions. Exploitation continued even after
employment as they were never paid the full salary. Lakra pointed out
that most often, half of her salary was taken by the placement
agencies.
Similar instances of fraud and deceit were narrated by Neville Kumar
of Radih village. He said that many placement agencies give a
misleading impression about themselves and the work they engage in.
Ostensibly devoted to tribal welfare, such agencies are actually run
by non-tribals. Moreover, these placement agencies are unregistered
bodies. Kumar further noted his shock when he saw some of the tribal
girls from Orissa working in the massage parlours of Lajpat Nagar,
New Delhi. He stressed that migration for such exploitative work
should not be encouraged in tribal societies.
Some of the participants recounted similar incidents of exploitation
of tribal girls from their village in other urban centres. It
appeared indeed that Sundargarh district had become a wholesale
market for buying girls to serve the sex bazaars of urban centres.
The observations made by family members, relatives and social
activists show that many illiterate and ignorant tribal girls
are indeed migrating (or being lured) for such reasons.
The observations made by a participant, Ravi Tete showed the
magnitude of the problem tribal societies face. Tete pointed out that
girls in 15 families of his village are seriously ill and he did not
know what disease they were suffering from. More distressing is the
fact that families do not have the money to pay for treatment. Thus,
the girls have no option but to face a slow, painful death.
Such startling revelations by relatives and family members brought to
light the horrible life and miserable working conditions of migrant
tribal girls. Blatant instances of exploitation that do occur are not
reflected in most surveys. Deplorable working conditions that tribal
girls encounter in urban centres made the workshop participants
debate on the urgency of developing alternative livelihood systems
for the tribals in the region. In the last session, various
livelihood options like formation of Self-Help Groups, cultivation of
mushrooms, vegetables, 'safed musli' and ginger was discussed at the
workshop. Some women in the workshop drew attention to the fact that
a stitching centre for tribal women had become successful in village
Raidih; a replication of such centres in other places could help.
Participants realised that livelihood opportunities must be developed
in order to avoid disgraceful and humiliating life that working in
urban centres offers. The question remained as to who would
facilitate and promote such livelihood opportunities for the poor
tribal folks. Indeed, it is the right opportunity for NGOs, with
reach and commitment, to step in and initiate some livelihood
projects in this impoverished region of Orissa.
The workshop revealed the exploitative and brutal character of tribal
migration in Orissa. Sexual exploitation, trafficking of women and
sometimes poor health and disease appear as the consequences of such
migration. Yet tribal families of Orissa can do little to stop
migration, as migration is not a matter of choice but often a
compulsion to avoid starvation.
_________________________________
Labour Notes South Asia (LNSA):
An informal archive and mailing list for trade
unionists and labour activists based in or
working on South asia.
LNSA Mailing List:
Labour Notes South Asia
To subscribe send a blank message to:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
LNSA Web site:
groups.yahoo.com/group/lnsa/
Run by The South Asia Citizens Web
www.sacw.net
_________________________________
To join the Labour Notes South Asia Mailing List, send a blank message to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
To Unsubscribe, send a blank message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lnsa/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
