Katkari Adivasi community in Konkan Region of Maharashtra is entrapped in the vicious cycle of exploitation. Having no land or Jungle rights, in the Kharif season they work for Marathi landowners and during festive season take money from big moneylenders. After that they go to the coal kiln or brick kilns and work as bonded labours unless their loans are repaid.
Reported by Abhik Bhattacharya
Videographer: Dinesh Parab
Video Editor: Sudhanshu
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#KatkariAdivasis #Adivasis #Konkan #Maharashtra #LokSabhaElections #Marathi
Reported by Abhik Bhattacharya
Videographer: Dinesh Parab
Video Editor: Sudhanshu
Follow us:
Website: https://www.outlookindia.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Outlookindia
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/outlookindia/
X: https://twitter.com/Outlookindia
Whatsapp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaNrF3v0AgWLA6OnJH0R
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@OutlookMagazine
Dailymotion: https://www.dailymotion.com/outlookindia
#KatkariAdivasis #Adivasis #Konkan #Maharashtra #LokSabhaElections #Marathi
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NewsTranscript
00:00Hi, this is Avik Bhattacharya from Outlook Magazines.
00:07This is Raigarh district where Kathkari community stays here within this forest.
00:13We are now going to Dwavedwari.
00:16My name is Nathuram Waghmare.
00:20My name is Nathuram Waghmare.
00:23Mr. Nathuram, please tell us about this place.
00:27What is the name of this forest?
00:29Please tell us about this place.
00:30Who lives here?
00:32The mountains that you see here,
00:34this is where the Kathkari community stays.
00:36And the Kathkari community stays here.
00:39The forest that you see here,
00:42we have been given this land as our own.
00:45My name is Chandrakant Gaikwad.
00:48I am the head of the Sarvaharajan Andolan.
00:51And this land, all this land,
00:54was given to the Adivasis by the British government after 1800 years.
00:59Who is called Dari land?
01:02This land is on the top of the mountain.
01:05This is called Dari land.
01:07And this land,
01:08their claim has been made at the level of the government.
01:13And this land should now be in the name of the Adivasis.
01:17Some people work as labourers,
01:19and in this Dari land, they farm.
01:21Please tell us, what work do you do?
01:24I work as a labourer.
01:28I cut wheat,
01:30I cut firewood,
01:33I cut wood,
01:35I work in the fields,
01:37I go to the farms.
01:40I also sow seeds.
01:43This is what I do.
01:46Do you have your own land?
01:47No.
01:49So when you work in the fields,
01:52how much labour do you get in a day?
01:54I get around 2.5-3.
01:58I don't get much.
02:00This land of the jungle,
02:02should be of the Adivasis.
02:04And for this, have you got any jungle land,
02:08from where you can work?
02:10Have you got any jungle land, Dari land?
02:12No, no, I haven't got anything.
02:14So you haven't got any Dari land work yet?
02:16No.
02:18Do you take any money during the festivals?
02:21Please tell us about that.
02:22Tell us about taking money from the Seth during the festivals.
02:27After giving the money,
02:29we used to go to Ganpati La,
02:31we used to go to Uchar.
02:33In advance.
02:34How much money do you take?
02:3660-70 thousand rupees,
02:38but we don't give it all at once.
02:39We give small amounts,
02:42like this.
02:44We give 5,000, 10,000, 20,000,
02:50like this.
02:52After that, you go to work to pay off the money you give.
02:59Yes.
03:00And how much do you get in a day?
03:02In a day,
03:05we get it on a weekly basis,
03:07we get it on a weekly basis,
03:08How much?
03:09How much, 2,000, 1,500 rupees.
03:13We give them this much.
03:15On a weekly basis?
03:15Yes, on a weekly basis.
03:16And at the end,
03:19after everything is done,
03:23he does the calculations.
03:24Have you studied?
03:27No, no, I didn't study.
03:30Do you understand the calculations?
03:32What calculations are there,
03:34I don't know the calculations.
03:36What does he do to us, what does he say to us?
03:40He calculates and gives it to us.
03:42He calculates and gives it to us.
03:47Have you got the house of PM Abbas Hojjana?
03:50No.
03:51Gas tanker?
03:53Nothing.
03:55Elections are coming up.
03:56Do you have any demands from the new government?
04:00What is the need in your life now?
04:03What are the demands you have for the new government?
04:06What is the need for the house?
04:09What is the need for the broken door?
04:12What is the need for the road?
04:15What is the need for the water?
04:17Everything is given.
04:20This is what is needed.
04:33Adivasi community is one of the most marginalized Adivasi community that comes under PVTG group.
04:40Today I do have with me Kushna Ramajangam.
04:45And I will ask him, when actually he went to this Kol Bhatti.
04:50You tell us first, when did you go to Kol Bhatti?
04:55Which year did you go?
04:57I went in 2022.
05:01Why did you go to Kol Bhatti?
05:03I went because I don't have money.
05:08The owner gives me money and I go.
05:13Where does the owner come from?
05:15He comes from Nagar.
05:18How much money did he give you?
05:2030,000.
05:2230,000?
05:23Yes.
05:24After that how did you work there?
05:27Who all went to Kol Bhatti?
05:30I went, my son went, my wife went.
05:35Later my daughter also came.
05:37So when this boy went, he was not studying in school then?
05:41He was studying.
05:43But he left school?
05:44Yes, he left school and went with me.
05:46For how many months did you go?
05:48I went for a year, but I had to come in between.
05:52Why did you have to come in between?
05:53Because he came home to make me, my wife.
05:57First tell me how much money did you get from Kol Bhatti?
06:02How much did you get for one gunny?
06:05For one gunny, we worked for 10-15 days.
06:10For one gunny, we got 130 rupees.
06:12How many gunny did you make in 4 months?
06:15I made 170 gunny in 4 months.
06:19So you made 170 gunny.
06:21How much money did you get for 170 gunny?
06:24How much money did you get for 170 gunny?
06:27I didn't calculate that.
06:30So now you will have to go again?
06:33Yes, he will call me and I will have to go.
06:36Otherwise he will ask for money.
06:38Otherwise he will ask for money?
06:39Yes, he will ask for money.
06:40My name is Vaishali Gangaram Jadhav.
06:43I am the village head of Rathore village.
06:46I feel that we should not have changed our house.
06:52We should not have changed our land.
06:56We have land here and there.
07:00It would have been better if we had land.
07:03If they gave us land, we would have built a house.
07:09Because there is a lot of rain here.
07:11There is a lot of fear.
07:14There is a lot of fear.
07:16If they had given us land, it would have been better.