NEWS
nessed since Independence , however , is that in large parts of the country this common village land has been grabbed by unscrupulous persons using muscle power , money power or political clout , and in many States now there is not an inch of such land left for the common use of the people of the village , though it may exist on paper . People with power and pelf [ money ] operating in villages all over India systematically encroached upon communal lands and put them to uses totally inconsistent with its original character , for personal aggrandizement at the cost of the village community .”
Ilse Köhler-Rollefson , a scientist , researcher and activist who has worked with the camel herders of Rajasthan for over two decades , noted that pastoralism is poorly documented in India . Unlike in Africa , for instance , where pastoral people from distinct tribes , the pastoral communities of India are often intertwined in social interactions with caste groups .
This often means their specific needs are overlooked . During the abrupt lockdown imposed by the Indian government in March to prevent the spread of Covid-19 , these communities were especially affected . It is also pastoral nomads who are most impacted when hostilities break out between nations over border disputes . The recent clashes between India and China occurred during the breeding season of the goats that produce pashmina wool , and Changpa herders of Ladakh found their flocks depleted as they were pushed out of traditional herding grounds .
Invisible to the government
Government provisioning for the poor does not include nomadic pastoral people ; most documents for access to government services require a fixed address . The mobile nature of their lives also means that schooling becomes difficult , with pastoral communities have lower levels of literacy than others .
Despite their marginalisation , though , researchers have documented the resilience of their social structures and the close ties that help them through hard times . Nandita Chaudhary is a former academic at the University of Delhi ’ s Department of Human Development and Childhood Studies .
Writing about the Changpa shepherds , Chaudhary noted how children in the community closely bond with the animals , often snuggling up with the goats for warmth . Such communities have also developed their own medicinal practices for the animals they live in close contact with . These are often based on herbs found in the rangeland , but they are not documented or recognised by standard veterinarians .
The populations of pastoral communities in India have not been counted for decades . Pre-independence census records documented the numbers of some groups that were recorded as caste groups . However , the caste census was discontinued after independence ; it was undertaken again in 2011 , but pastoral communities were not counted as part of this . There are thus no estimates of the number of people engaged in pastoral activity in India .
Pastoralists and academics say that the IYRP could open up more conversations and that both government policy and long-term nature conservation can be informed by the traditional practices and knowledge of communities . It seems as if governments are listening : 13 governments have supported the initiative , and on September 28 Ulrich Seidenberger , the German permanent representative to the FAO , tweeted support on behalf of both Germany and the EU .
Figure 5 : Pastoralists are poorly documented in India © Ilse Köhler-Rollefson
41 Grassroots Vol 20 No 4 December 2020