SOCIO- ECONOMIC CONDITION OF KORACHA COMMUNITY
Gangadhar L
PhD, Research Scholar
Department of Development Studies
Kannada University Hampi , Vidyranya
Hospete Taluk, Vijayanagar Distrct, Karnataka, India. 583276
Phone 9686608533 gangadhar321tl@gmail.com
Abstract:
The present study has been undertaken with Karnataka as the focus area of the research work with the objectives to analyze the socio-economic characteristics of tribes in the sample area; the employment pattern and scope of employment of the tribes under agricultural and allied activities with reference to crops cultivated and method of cultivation; to examine the food storage, cooking system and consumption pattern of the tribes under different income situation; and to assess the value orientation of the tribal respondents in the sample area. It is based on secondary information as well as on micro level survey analysis with a view to fulfill the objectives set out.
Introduce:
India is a country which has people of different cultures, religions, traditions, languages, castes and creed. Even in India, every state has its own culture and traditions. Among them, Koracha tribal people are one such group that needs to be emphasized. . Due to the presence of these tribes, India receives various flavors and real treasures. The tribal peoples of India are also known as “Advises”, which literally means ‘Indigenous People’ or ‘Original inhabitants of a given region’. Major population of the tribes is found in in Bellary, Bengalur, Hasana, Gulbarga etc this is area of all distract settled in Koracha community pepaole in Karnataka. Social development paves the way for economic development. The Koracha tribes always face difficulties in their socio-economic development due to various factors like geographical and cultural isolation, lack of proper health facilities, inability to satisfy basic needs, lack of control over resources and assets, lack of education and skills, malnutrition, lack of shelter, poor access to water and sanitation, vulnerability to shocks, violence and crime, lack of access to proper infrastructure facilities and technologies and lack of political freedom and voice. Social sector comprising of sub-sectors like access to education, health and medical care, housing and water supply is very much essential for their economic development.
The term ‘Socio economic aspects ’ is often discussed in broad term as satisfaction of needs, feelings of well-being, good or bad working conditions, and other indicators. Such a conceptualization of it encompasses all the material aspects of human life, and may extend beyond to cover the physical and psychological dimensions. It covers diverse and innumerable human need. Human needs at the elementary level may include essentials of survival like drinking water, perpetuation needs, shelter and warmth. A tribe is an independent political division of a population with a common culture. Tribal people are primitive residents of our country. But, it is a glooming fact that even after six decades of independence, the tribes of our country is drowned in several problems. In those problems, it is very interesting to other people to know how they live like that poor condition. Which thing & matter, incidents are driven factor of that purpose.
Objectives:
Methods of study:
In writing this paper descriptive method is applied and the dates are collected by both primary and secondary sources. From secondary sources date are collected from books, journal, interest sources etc.
Significance of The study:
Koracha Tribal is the indigenous people original inhabitant of the country. Their traditional customs, belief and practices isolated them from other communities. The Koracha tribal’s’ socio-economic condition is not satisfactory. Their distinct culture and traditions related with nature is the store house for knowledge and wisdom for other social groups which require broad observation and research study.
House type
Koracha community houses built on a general plan upon high plinth are rectangular in shape. The roof is proportionately low. The walls of the house are made of stone and mud or of upright pieces of wood or bamboo and covered with a thick plaster of mud. The walls are painted red with red earth and the verandah is painted black. There may be single door or some houses as noticed a provision of backdoor, right in the line with the front door. There is a high front verandah. The verandahs, which are rather narrow, are usually at least three and may be as much as six feet above the ground, and are reached by a flight of stone steps. Built into the verandah there is often a pigsty though this may be located on the back verandah instead.
Inside the house is a large loft resting on wooden pillars and covering about three quarters of the house, which is used for storing most of the household articles from food grains, utensils and clothes to tiny tidbits. The open space is meant for husking grains with pestle and dining.
The ever burning hearth is located under this loft at one end adjoining a wall. The household utensils are kept near the hearth. During winter and rainy season all family members and the visitors sleep under the loft. In the summer the male persons sometimes sleep on the verandah. The main room which is used for sleeping serves as a passage from front to the back of the house. A partition wall on the inner side separates the portion used for cooking meals and storing water. A loft made of wooden planks is provided in the kitchen portion. The house wife cooks the meals for the family members. The mortar in which the grains are pounded is fixed in the floor of the main house near the front door. In one corner of the house near the hearth is the place for the family deities placed in earthen pots.
Village Settlement
In the Koracha community areas the hills are considered units of settlement. The place which is selected for human settlements must have hills and water sources. The hills are most important for carrying on shifting cultivation in the hill slopes. Another characteristic of Koracha cost peoples settlement in the terraces which are built from the foot hills right up to the hill tops. They divert the near by hill streams very skillfully towards the terraces for irrigation purposes. In some villages the settlement conforms to a linear pattern and in some others to a shapeless cluster. Since sufficient plain lands are not available, the place has to be leveled for the construction of houses. The leveling takes the form of terrace on which individual houses are built. A village may have several rows of houses on terraces one upon the other. Generally, the families who are related to one another by blood making a lineage or as it are called live together in a terrace.
Language
Their dialect called “Koracha ” comes under the Indigenes tribal family of Koracha group of language. “Kudru” is an uncultivated language and has no recognized standard. It varies considerably not only between villages but also between individuals-says peoples , there are no doubt poetic themes in the language and the Korachas who give the impression of being rather matter of fact and prosaic are surprisingly picturesque and metaphorical in their speech.
Economic Activities and Annual Income:
Household income is one of the most important indicators of livelihood. The households have multiple sources of incomes. It is because no single source of income is sufficient to provide means of survival. We identified six major sources of livelihood in the selected villages. They are agriculture, wage labour, Livestock, collection of forest products, art and craft, and incomes from other sources. The other sources include small business, traditional based on caste-division of labour work, services, Pig farming etc
Animal Husbandry:
Raise livestock like buffalo (Koda), cow (Kodi), goat (Adda), sheep (Mendha), pig (Paji), dog (Neudi), fowl (Koyu) and pigeon (Parua) for meeting the demands of consumption and for their own use during ritual occasions. They do not draw milk from cows and buffaloes. They believe it is meant for their calves. The animals are cared very much and sheltered in their respective sheds.
Forest Collection:
Koracha continue their age old subsistence activity of food gathering from the forest. Seasonal food collection is still an indispensable part of their economic life. Their food is greatly supplemented by a 50 seasonal variety of fruits, roots, tubes, mushrooms, green leaves etc. collected from the some near forest area ranges. Beside edibles, they also collect firewood; timber and forest produce for their own consumption. It is a family affair and both the sexes take part in it. Most of the poor Koracha families depend on forest collection for about six months in a year. In addition to cultivation of crops they practice hunting and collect minor forest produces for selling in the local weekly market at the time of their need.
Settlement Pattern:
The villages of Koracha are located in a tangle of thickly wooded hill ranges. The earlier villages were situated in the valleys and subsequently they settled either in the hill slopes or at the hill tops. The selection of their habitation is determined by the availability of sufficient land for shifting cultivation with a perennial source of water supply. Construction work of settlement is preceded After selection of the site, the owner concerned and the medicine man designated as Then the traditional ritual takes place on the site. If the grains are scattered then they conclude that the ancestors of the person concerned do not want him to stay there. Therefore, the site is considered inauspicious. On the other hand if they find the grains are intact then it is concluded that the ancestors have indicated that the site is auspicious and therefore, approve the site for building the proposed house.
Food Habits :
Koracha coast peoples have very irregular food habits. They do not have any fixed timings of eating. They eat when ever food is available. Staple foods taken by them vary with the different seasons. They take cereals like Rice, Maize and millets. Generally Ragi was the staple diet taken throughout the year and in the winter season Rice is consumed along with Ragi. But now a day they take Rice and Ragi as their staple food. In the summer season they take mango seeds as their staple diet along with. The intake of milk and milk products is almost nil. Consumption of tea by the Kutias is very rare. They consume different types of pulses grown in their shifting land. They also consume vegetables like pumpkin, tomatoes, and beans etc. They collect and store different tubres available near by the forest which support their livelihood in the time of food scarcity.
They rarely prepared curries using vegetable oil, very occasionally they used oil purchased from local market. Previously, they did not consume sugar on molasses but now a days they do take same. Non veg is consumed by during special occasions like marriages, births, deaths and in rituals and festivals. They take the meat of the chicken, pigeon, buffalo, goat, Pig and the meat of the wild animals which they hunt in the deep jungles. Kutia Kandha grows different tropical fruits like Mango, Guava, Papaya, Orange, Mahua fruit and wild fruits like Kundu, Bihi, and Bhatqui etc. They take these fruits during the summer season.
Occupational Pattern :
Occupations are broadly divided into agriculture and non-agriculture. Korachas do not stick to one occupation to get their substance. Each Koracha household has one main and one or more than one subsidiary occupation. Each group is further divided into own land cultivation, agricultural workers, forest product collectors, Pig Rearing , podu cultivators and hunting. The non-agricultural occupations are classified into main and subsidiary and are divided into Government services, educational services and other services such as petty traders, grocery shop owners, and bamboo making. Though nature of casual labour varies, most of casual labourers are engaged in agriculture, mining and quarrying work, forest department work, employment in rural development program me like Integrated Rural development programme, Jawahar Rojgar Yojna, Employment Assurance Scheme and others.
Conclusion:
The Koracha tribal people are very sensitive, their problems are in some respect complex. Tribal possess variety of culture and tradition related with nature which is the need of the hour to preserve and retain for beneficial use in future in the human society. The tribal’s But if, people are not active, conscious and secure in their other development all implantation of government scheme will be meaningless. So Koracha tribal’s own efforts for development is crucial.
References