Ramaj Village is a revenue village179 in Udaipur District located 48 km South-East of Udaipur city. It lies in Suron Ka Guda zone of the Girwa Block. Ramaj comprises of 197 households divided among nine hamlets, belonging to the Rawat caste. The village is divided into nine hamlets. These are Ringna fala (14)180, Upla fala (26), Kanjda fala (36), Kheda fala(50), Lali Talai(10), Mataji Fala (16), Rupa Talai (12), Kala Khet (15) and Mahudi Rel (16).
The terrain of the village is dominated by undulating lands with little vegetation. Agriculture represented the primary source of livelihood for the villagers until recently. Land fragmentation (with the average landholding standing at two hectares and 91% of farmers considered “small and marginal”) and long spells of drought has increased the reliance of people on wage labour migration to make up for the deficit in food security. The low economic security of many households in the village and has increased the dependency on seasonal migration and wage labour. Around 150 men migrate out of the village for wage labour for eight months a year on an average.
The inhabitants typically cultivate maize, wheat, pulses, and small patches of vegetables around houses, the majority of which serves the household’s consumption, selling only a small amount of the crops.
Seva Mandir has been involved in conduction and development interventions in Ramaj in the areas of Watershed Development and Village Institutions for over 20 years181. In 1990 Seva Mandir undertook development of a Khatedari Chak (private land development) but the community were unable to manage and protect it properly and it turned out to be a failure182. This brought about a halt in development interventions in the village. Subsequently a new Village Development Committee was formed and the committee along with the villagers was re-oriented and challenged to excel. In next few years, they developed one pastureland and six private chaks covering an area of 64 hectares183. Direct seed sowing of Ratanjot (Jatropha) have been done on trenches and 11650 plants have been planted in the pastureland and private chaks. This resulted in significant increase in fodder productivity of these lands that helped these families overcome the fodder crisis that was prevalent all over the region during recent droughts.
8.3Appendix III: Dodawali Details
Dodawali village is located 28 km away from the city of Udaipur in Girwa tehsil184 and falls under the Udaipur district of Rajasthan. The village is located in the Aravali hills and creates a unique topography and physical features. The land is undulating in nature; rocky, mostly barren marked by scarcity of rainfall, forest cover and presence of sedimentary rock. The houses are in close proximity with each other and the village is divided into 12 hamlets. Dodawali is a middle-size tribal village in terms of population and there are nearly 500 households and about 3500 people residing in the 12 hamlets of the village.
Revenue records show that the village of Dodawali has about 1222 ha out of which forest covers 285 ha, revenue land 460 ha, pasture land 101 ha and private land 585 ha185. The forest area in Dodawali it is located on the Mutta Gatta hills and is being managed by the Ubeshvar Forest Department. The forest area is not being protected and is laid open to grazing and collection of timber, this has resulted in a serious decline in the overall vegetation of the forest. In addition to the continuous over-exploitation of the forest land, there have been serious drought problems over the last 10 years, due to the lack of rain fall. Large parts of the forest have thereby turned into barren lands, with only very little vegetation186. Three plots of land, 50ha each, has been turned into JFM sites, under the guidance of Seva Mandir, as an attempt to improve the vegetation and to prevent further degradation and soil erosion.
In Dodawali some hamlets like Nichli Gowadi, Talai Ghati, Lamba Davda have private fodder land. The villagers from poor households generally work on these fields as labour for Rs 100 per day in cutting the fodder. Generally poor households are belonging to low caste and thus are subordinated from use of basic resource like fodder. The village panchayat has very little pasture land and that is also encroached upon.
8.4Appendix IV: Alwar Village Details
Village Details for Bakhtpura, Kalikhol & Kairwari:
S.No.
|
Village
|
Location
|
No. of household
|
1.
|
Bakhtpura
|
On the periphery of
Sariska Tiger Reserve
|
142
|
2.
|
Kalikhol
|
In the Buffer zone of Sariska
|
208
|
3.
|
Kairwari
|
Outside the Sariska
|
137
|
The periphery of Sariska is inside the actual reserve forest, although on the outskirts of the core areas. The buffer zone functions as a natural border, surrounding Sariska on all sides, for humans, animals and flora alike.
The total area of the district is approximately 7,665.37 km² (roughly 2.5% of the total area of the state), of which the ‘net area sown’ constitutes 64.9% and ‘uncultivable land’ 21.3%. The remainder consists of ‘forest’ (3.2%), ‘fallow land’ (5.8%), ‘permanent pastures’ (3.2%) and ‘culturable waste’ (1.7%). As per the Census of India 1991, the Land use pattern in Alwar district is as follows:
Land Use
|
Area (km2)
|
Area (% of total)
|
Net Area Sown
|
4972.54
|
64.9
|
Uncultivable Land
|
1630.39
|
21.3
|
Fallow Land
|
442.32
|
5.8
|
Permanent Pastures
|
244.69
|
3.2
|
Forest
|
242.18
|
3.1
|
Culturable Waste
|
126.12
|
1.6
|
Trees and Orchards
|
7.13
|
0.1
|
Total
|
7665.37
|
100.0
|
Water sources:
-
Open well: Generally located in the downstream of Johads, most open wells have now run dry
-
Village
|
Total wells
|
Dry wells
|
Still in function
|
Bakhtpura
|
26
|
12
|
14
|
Kairwari
|
47
|
17
|
30
|
Kalikhol
|
28
|
15
|
13
|
-
Tube well: Less than ten years old, largely confined to the low lying parts. They were initially dug because open wells had dried up, subsequently they have led to further falling ground of water levels
-
Johad: There are several Johads (rain water harvesting structure) in the villages
-
River / stream: Seasonal, flows for two to three months in a year, important source of ground water recharge, and construction sand.
Village
|
Total population
|
Male
|
% Male literacy
|
Female
|
% Female literacy
|
Bakhtpura
|
686
|
359
|
49.00
|
327
|
12.50
|
Kalikhol
|
1156
|
648
|
37.3
|
508
|
17.1
|
Kairwari
|
921
|
482
|
51.87
|
439
|
19.13
|
The female illiteracy in all the three villages is very high, ranging from 80-87% while the male illiteracy is usually around 40-50%. This reflects the lack of social status the women carry outside the household as well as the general lack of education facilities in the area. But it also reflects the general poverty in the villages, where only a few can afford to send their children to school instead of having them work in the fields or herding the livestock. Although, education have become much more available in the rural areas over the last 10-15 years and much of the school education is paid by the central government, as well as the understanding of the importance of education, many cannot afford to lose the workforce of their children.
Village Livelihood:
Production of a household consists mostly of milk and milk products (ghee, yogurt, buttermilk and mava (milk-cake). Most of these products are used for own consumption, and for consumption of the lambs and kids, but surplus is sold in the market. The main source of income however is the sale of male lambs. Household expenditure is on wheat, tea, sugar, and other food commodities, alongside other essential items such as supplementary livestock feed, medicines for humans and animals and clothing. Main income is the sale of the male lambs, whereas they aim at maintaining the females for future reproduction. All species of livestock are kept on a system of open range grazing along with stall feeding.
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