The Hindu Business Line : Unsuccessful businessmen

For several years now, the adivasis of Kashipur block in the Rayagada district of Orissa have been battling against the mining leases given to companies such as Utkal Alumina - a joint venture of Hindalco and Alcan of Canada. Environmental activists and NGOs, along with the local tribal families, many of which have lost their ancestral land to make way for these ventures, have been protesting against the displacement of the original inhabitants of the region.

At one point, academic debates rage on the need for industrial development to ameliorate the lot of the poor and the backward people with the argument that only through this can the "backward tribals" be integrated into the mainstream of a nation marching ahead on the road of development.

In Bilamala village of Kashipur block, about 75 km from Rayagada, Jagobandhu Majhi, a Kondh tribal, and 21-year-old son of the female sarpanch of Tikiri, is extremely sceptical about the "fruits of industrialisation" bettering their lives. "In the name of development, our land is taken away and the companies that come into carry out mining on our land initially makes big promises ... offering at least one job in each family."

Such a promise is no mean thing for a community which ekes out a hand-to-mouth existence with dismal employment opportunities - forget savings of any kind - except "unskilled" daily wage work such as digging roads, improving ponds, laying telephone wires, etc in the nearest towns.

As you survey chunks of land that have been cleared and demarcated by barbed boundary lines, he continues, "In the beginning they promise us the moon, even as the government sets about the task of acquiring our land. (Companies cannot buy tribal land and are given a lease by the State government).

"But nothing really happens. From this region too, two or three boys have got jobs as `supervisors'. But they've kept them only for show and will eventually throw them out; we know we are not qualified. I'm a matric fail (Plus 2) and some other boys in our village have passed Std X. How can we compete with the people they will bring from the towns?"

Time and again it has been proved that the tribals who have been given compensation in cash have frittered away that money sooner than later.

"The moment he gets money, his entire family, including his married sisters, comes and ask for their share. And the tribals believe that if they refuse money to their relatives, they will be offending Dumba, the highly venerated spirit that they worship," explains a local activist.

Badal Kumar Tah, advisor to Orissa Adivasi Manch, says traditionally the tribals do not have a sense of business.

"I've been in this region since 1987, but I'm yet to see a single tribal who has done successful business. In my own small way whenever I've tried to encourage or promote a small venture, I've failed miserably."

He relates the tale of a neo-literate young tribal boy to whom he gave a capital of Rs 106 to start a small vegetable shop. "He'd sit the whole day and manage only sales worth Rs 5. After some time, when his capital came down to Rs 45, he sold the venture and with the money bought two jerry cans of country liquor; of course I found this out later."

At first, he did roaring business, but very soon, people started "borrowing liquor," never paid up and soon he went bankrupt.

"As a rule of thumb, tribal people can't do business, because to be successful you have to indulge in a bit of lying and cheating... however small it might be... to say that your goods are the best, etc. And they can't do it. When they have a bit of money, they lend it to each other, without interest of course, and rarely get back the capital."

He adds that there is an OBC caste in that belt called Sundhis; they are professionals at selling country liquor.

"They know how to get their money, and sometimes for a few glasses of liquor, they will even get a mortgage of the tippler's land. But this boy totally failed!" In a village, one heard the story of a tribal who, with a compensation of nearly Rs 2 lakh for his land, bought a second hand bus.

A non-tribal advised him to buy it saying he could do some kind of a transport business with it. But with the local people, who hardly have enough money to buy food, finding little use for a bus, it soon started rusting and now he is left with junk on his hands.

(To be continued)

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