The Tejpur tractor

During June, 1989, the Chairman of the Tejpur Scheduled Castes’ Agricultural Co-operative (Tejpur Co-op) was concerned about the hardships faced by the members because they could not use the Co-op’s tractor.Kalubhai Vankar was the first to plead with him to do something so that the tractor could be made available to the members for use when it was needed most.The Chairman thought thatmany such pleas were bound to be raised in the next couple of days.Thereafter, most probably, the pleas would turn into complaints and might ultimately lead to factional fights within the Vankar community in Tejpur.

Tejpur was situated 25 km away from the taluka HQ town, on one of the State Highways.It was economically backward as the water and soil were highly saline due to the seepage of sea water.Exhibit I contains some more details about Tejpur.

Till early 1980s, the people of Tejpur were dependent mainly on rainfed agriculture; there was not a single well usable for irrigation. They grew bajra, jowar and cotton after monsoon as cash crops, and wheat during the winter for consumption purposes. Agricultural labourers could get jobs for only four or five months in a year. In 1979, a canal from Mahi river was constructed for irrigation. After this, farmers switched over to cultivating paddy as the cash crop after the monsoon, but continued to grow wheat for consumption during winter.In spite of the irrigation canal, the agricultural labourers remained unemployed for about half the year.

The Darbars were economically and socially the most powerful upper caste people of Tejpur.The Scheduled Castes - Harijans and Vankars - were among the socially and economically weakest sections.The Harijans were all landless labourers working on the lands of the Darbars and were totally dependent on the Darbars for their livelihood.The Vankars, were slightly better off than the Harijans. Only 20% of the 140 Vankar families were landless.About 15 Vankars owned over 15 acres of land each while the rest owned about 3 or 4 acres of land each.However, given the very low yield from their lands, they could not depend on their land alone for livelihood; so they were employed as labourers in the Darbars’ lands also. The Darbars exploited the Vankars and Harijans in many ways - paying low wages, making them work for many hours, keeping them bonded, etc.

In the 1970s, the Society for the Promotion of Awareness for Rural Development (SPARD), a voluntary agency, started working to free the Scheduled Caste people of Tejpur from exploitation by upper castes. SPARD’s strategy for developing the weaker sections consisted of raising their awareness and providing information on opportunities available for their upliftment.Since the Vankars were the first to evince interest in benefiting from its activities, SPARD started working with them.Later on, wherever the Harijans and other weaker castes showed interest, SPARD worked for their upliftment also.

Initially SPARD conducted several programs which led to a high level of awareness amongst Vankars about the extent and ways by which they were being exploited by Darbars;however, the exploitation continued.Realising that unless the Scheduled Caste (SC) people became economically independent of the higher castes they would continue to be oppressed, SPARD started working in this direction through revitalising the Tejpur Co-op.

The Tejpur Co-op was registered on November 13, 1979.Itsprimary aim was to increase the income of its members through undertaking social forestry programs on the wasteland allotted to it by the state government.Additionally, the Tejpur Co-op aimed at providing a variety of services to its member-farmers for agricultural operations on their individual farms.

For the first few years the Tejpur Co-op was short of funds and did not function satisfactorily. SoSPARD began to intervene in many ways to revitalise it.The Society providedloans to the Tejpur Co-op from 1982-83 to pay the members who worked on the lands; enabled the Co-op to get saplings of "ganda baval" (a fuelwood tree); linked the Co-op with the district authorities for channelling funds under schemes like Food-For-Work to be used for paying the members wages for their work; induced the Co-op to start a savings scheme for its members; and helped the Co-opto get the agency under the Public Distribution System.Following these efforts, the Tejpur Co-op started functioning better.Exhibit II gives some indication of its functioning till 1987-88.

The Tejpur Co-op had to transport inputs for and outputs from its lands.The individual member-farmers had also to plough their farms and transport inputs and outputs connected with their agricultural operations.For these activities, the Co-op and the farmers hired tractors, mainly from the Darbars of Tejpur.In 1984, SPARD purchased a tractor and hired it out to the Co-op and the Vankars.This was not only cheaper to the users but it also reduced their dependence on Darbars.However, SPARD found it difficult to maintain the tractor: once it was sabotaged and SPARD dismissed the driver (a Vankar from Tejpur) who was in charge of the safety of the tractor and appointed another driver from among the Vankars in Tejpur.Again the tractor was sabotaged and this driver was also dismissed. SPARD realised that for the community to have a stake in the maintenance of an asset, it should own the asset. Hence, it suggested that the Co-op should buy a tractor of its own and manage it.

The Management Committee (MC) of the Co-op accepted this suggestion.It had two more reasons for its decision.In 1985, the Co-op harvested fuelwood for the first time, converted the wood into charcoal and realised Rs 95,000 from selling it.But, of this amount, almost half had gone into hire-charges for the tractors.The Co-op had earned a surplus of about Rs 40,000.The MC felt that the the hire-charges were very high, but unavoidable at that time. During the same year, there was a very major communal clash between the Darbars and the Vankars in which four Vankars were murdered.Thishad alienated Vankars totally from Darbars.The Vankars had also decided that they shouldnot be associated with Darbars in any way; they even stopped working in theirfields.

A Massey-Ferguson tractor was bought by the Tejpur Co-op on November 13, 1986 for Rs 1.05 lakhs.This was financed through a loan of Rs 75,000 from SPARD and from the internal funds of the Co-op.The tractor was to be used by the Co-op and individual farmers. The Co-op’sMC asked the Vankar Caste Panchayat leaders (called vadils)to manage the tractor, specifying their primary responsibilities as supervision of the driver and resolving any conflict in the community about the utilisation of the tractor.

Dharjibhai, a Vankar of Tejpur, was appointed as the driver of the tractor. Two of the three vadils of Tejpur were closely related to him.So were two of the nine members of Tejpur Co-op’s MC.He had earlier been working as a tractor driver for several Darbars in Tejpur and other villages.

At the Tejpur Co-op, his duties included: (a) driving the tractor for the Co-op or the others on a first-come-first-serve basis with the Co-op’s work getting priority; (b) keeping the tractor in a condition fit for use any time; (c) maintaining the register in which details of the work done every day were to be recorded; (d) maintaining a daily record of expenses; and, (e) issuing credit memos to the users of the tractor and collection of the dues from users.Dharjibhai reported to the vadils.

During his second year of employment, Dharjibhai started creating several problems, particularly when he was drunk.He drove the tractor rashly, even on bad roads, resultingin need forfrequent repairs.He took bribes from farmers for ploughing their fields or transporting supplies and produce out of turn.He carried passengers, collected money from them, but did not deposit the money with the Co-op.He did not maintain proper records and did not produce them even when the vadils demanded them.He submitted fake and wrong vouchers and bills for spare parts purchased or repairs done.Whenever someone questioned his behaviour, he not only spoke to them arrogantly but also threatened to assault them.

Many times he was warned by the leaders.Every time when sterner actions were contemplated, Dharjibhai’s relatives among the vadils and the MC pleaded in his favour, promising to correct his behaviour.But they failed in their successive efforts at this.

Once Dharjibhai failed to collect dues worth Rs 10,000 from those who had used the tractor.Nor could the vadils make the defaulters pay their dues.Then, the MC pressed the vadils to return to it the charge of managing the tractor, which they did on December 23, 1988.Though the MC could collect the dues, Dharjibhai proveddifficult to control.The two MC members who were related to him stalled any disciplinary action contemplated by the MC. Realising that he had the support of MC members, Dharjibhai’s arrogance increased day by day and every one was scared of confronting him.People were frightened that he might assault them when he was drunk.

One day in late May, 1989, Dharjibhai demanded free liquor from a Wagri who brewed illicit liquor in Tejpur.Fearing that Dharjibhai would harm him physically if he refused, the Wagri gave it. After sometime, Dharjibhai again demanded freeliquor, but this time the Wagri refused.Dharjibhai went to the police station in the Co-op’s tractor and took two of the policemen to the spot where the liquor was being brewed.The Wagri fled from the scene.After destroying everything on the spot, Dharjibhai along with the policemen went in search of the Wagri in the tractor.The Wagri escaped, however.

When the MC came to know of this incident, they questioned Dharjibhai regarding driving the Co-op’s tractor for about 20 km for settling his personal feuds.Dharjibhai could not respond to their queries convincingly.Also, the Vankars thought that if an action was not taken against Dharjibhai for this incident, then the relationshipbetween the Vankars and Wagris would get strained. Said a member of the MC, "Our efforts so far have been toward setting an example to the oppressed castes for freeing themselves from the atrocities of the upper castes.Even the Wagris are among the exploited castes.Unless the lower castes are united, the Darbars will continue to exploit us." So the MC decided to take a very sternaction against Dharjibhai.His relatives on the MC also did not want to support him this time.He was asked to resign his job.

Dharjibhai submitted his resignation but spread the word that he would not allow anyone from Tejpur or any other village to run the tractor.Though there were two more Vankars of Tejpur who could drive tractors, neither was willing to risk an assault by Dharjibhai.They were also afraid that he would cause damage to the tractor.The MCdecided not to appoint anyonefrom Tejpur as the driver of the tractor.They tried to get someone from other villages,but no one was willing as they were afraid of actionswhich Dharjibhai might take.

The MC was also afraidthat Dharjibhai mightdamage the tractor if it was kept in Tejpur.So, on June 6, 1989, the MC members drove it into the premisesof SPARD at Rehava, 16 km from Tejpur.They requested thecentre in-charge that tractor be kept there till they could solve their problem.

From then on, the Vankar farmers had to hire tractors from other villages for ploughing their fields.Kalubhai, a marginal Vankar farmer pleaded with the Chairman of the Tejpur Co-op, "This is the time to plough our fields for the kharif.Knowing that we do not have our tractor, the upper caste people from other villages are charging higher hire-rates now.The tractors with some of the Vankars in other villages are in high demand even in their own villages.Even if the Vankars do not demand higher charges, we may not get the tractor when we want.I have to plough my fields tomorrow.So I am going to the next village to hire a tractor.My neighbour has hired a tractor for Rs 70 per hour for ploughing.Last year we paid Rs 50 to the Tejpur Co-op, which was also the rate prevailing in the market.I am not sure if I will get a tractor tomorrow.If I do not get, then I will have to hire bullocks and ploughs.Please get the tractor plying again soon."

The Chairman was wondering about the course of action which he should take now.

 

Exhibit I: Details About Tejpur

Total Area	:4067.38 hectares
Irrigatedland	:Nil
Unirrigated land	:3048.00 hectares
Cultivable wastes including gauchar & groves	:224.00 hectares
Not available for cultivation	:795.38 hectares
Number of households	:601
Population (males)	:1758
Population (females)	:1581
Scheduled castes (males)	:307
Scheduled castes (females)	:242
Primary schools	:2
PH Sub-centre	:1
Dispensary	:1
Family planning centre	:1
Community health workers	:3
Annual rainfall	:600 mm (approx.)

Source : District Census (1981)

 

Exhibit II (a): Performance of Tejpur Co-op

(in Rs.)

	1979-80	1981-82	1982-83	1986-87	1987-88
Membership (No.)	54	54	54	123	123
Share capital	2450	2700	2700	3390	3390
Reserve fund	49	NA	54	123	123
Member savings	-	-	-	32592	32509
Assets	2999	NA	48725	343302	372440
Profits	-	-	(7095)	(858)	1053
Income from land	-	-	-	92436	1535
Expenditure on land	809	1349	4788	53493	8784
Income from tractor	-	-	-	23599	35406
Expenditure on tractor	-	-	-	17323	25559
Income from fair-price
shop	-	-	-	71063	159792
Expenditure on fair	-
price shop	-	-	-	72053	151356
Income from water pump-	-	-	-	-
Expenditure on water pump	-	-	-	-	6048

 

Exhibit II (b): Loans Given by SPARD and Repayments Made

Year (Rs.)	Loan (Rs.)	Repayments
1982-83	45021	-
1983-84	35899	1000
1984-85	5000	20920
1985-86	40800	-
1986-87	121750	109930
1987-88	39500	-
1988-89	4000	19900