DICTATION EXERCISE-66

          In India, nearly two out of every five rural families are agricultural labourer families. All of them depend on the work they do on other people’s fields to earn a living. Many of them are landless and others may own very small plot of land. In the case of small farmers, their land is barely enough to meet their needs. In India, 80 per cent of farmers belong to this group. Only 20 per cent of India’s farmers have large plots of land. These large farmers cultivate most of the land in the villages. A large part of their produce is sold in the market. Many of them have started other businesses such as shops, moneylending, trading, small factories etc.¹²⁰ Apart from farming, many people in rural areas depend upon collection from the forest, animal husbandry, dairy produce, fishing etc.¹⁴⁰ For example, in some villages in central India, both farming¹⁵⁰ and collection from the forest are important sources of livelihood.¹⁶⁰ Collecting mahua, tendu leaves and honey, to be sold to traders, is an important source of additional income. Similarly, selling milk to the village cooperative society or taking milk to the nearby town may be the main source of livelihood for some families. Very often, farmers need to borrow money to purchase basic things like seeds, fertilizers and pesticides. Often they borrow this money from moneylenders. If the seeds are not of good quality or pests attack their crop, there can²⁴⁰ be a major crop failure. The crops can also be ruined if the monsoon does not bring enough rain. When this happens, farmers sometimes are unable to pay back their loans. For the family to survive, they may even²⁸⁰ have to borrow more money. Soon the loan becomes so large that no matter what they earn, they are unable³⁰⁰ to repay. In recent years, this has become a major cause of distress among farmers. In some areas, this has³²⁰ also resulted in many farmers committing suicide. In the coastal areas, we find fishing villages. People here earn their living by fishing. Their houses are close to the sea and one finds rows of catamarans and nets lying around. In the³⁶⁰ morning, there is a lot of activity on the beach. This is the time when the catamarans return with their catch and women gather to buy and sell fish.

          People in rural areas earn their living in various ways. Some work on farms while others earn their living on non-farm activities. Working on farms involves operations such as preparing⁴²⁰ the land, sowing, weeding and harvesting of crops. We depend on nature for the growth of these crops. Hence life revolves around certain seasons. People are busy during sowing and⁴⁵⁰ harvesting and less so at other times. Rural people in different regions of the country grow different crops. However, we do find similarities in their life situations and in the problems⁴⁸⁰ that they face. How people are able to survive or earn will depend upon the land that they cultivate. Many depend on these lands for work as labourers. Most farmers grow crops both for their own requirements and also to sell in the market. Some have to sell to traders from whom they have borrowed money. For their survival, many families need to borrow money for their work or when no work is available.  There are some families⁵⁶⁰ in rural areas which thrive on large acres of land, business and other activities. There are people who provide services such as blacksmiths, nurses, teachers, washermen, weavers, barbers, cycle repair mechanics and so on. However, most small farmers, agricultural labourers, fishing⁶⁰⁰ families, craftspersons in the villages do not find enough work to keep them employed throughout the year.

          A large number of people in the city work on the streets. In a survey of Ahmedabad city, it was found that⁶⁴⁰ 12 per cent of all the workers in the city were people working on the street. They sometimes sell things or repair them or provide a service. They work on their own. They are not employed by anyone and therefore have to organize their own work. They have to plan how much to purchase, as well as where and how⁷⁰⁰ to set up their shops. Their shops are usually temporary structures: sometimes just some boards or papers spread over discarded boxes⁷²⁰ or maybe a canvas sheet hung up on a few poles. They may also use their own carts or simply a plastic sheet spread on the pavement. They can be⁷⁵⁰ asked to dismantle their shops at any time by the police. They have no security. There are certain parts of the city where these hawkers are not allowed to enter. Vendors sell things that are often prepared at home by their families who purchase, clean, sort and make them⁸⁰⁰ ready to sell. For example, those who sell food or snacks on the street, prepare most of these at home. There are almost one crore street vendors in the country working in urban areas. Street vending was till recently looked upon⁸⁴⁰ only as an obstruction to traffic and to people walking. However, with the effort of many organizations, it is now recognized as a general benefit and as a right of people to earn their livelihood. The Government is thinking about modifying the law that banned street vendors, so that they have a place to work and that there is also⁹⁰⁰ a free flow of traffic and people. Hawking zones have been suggested for towns and cities. It has also been suggested that mobile vendors should be allowed to move around freely. Hawkers need to be part of committees that are set up to take these and other decisions relating to them.

          In factories, most workers are employed on what is⁹⁶⁰ known as casual basis. It means that they are required to come as and when the employer needs them. They⁹⁸⁰ are employed when the employer gets large orders or during certain seasons. At other times of the year, they have to find some other work. If workers complain about their pay or working conditions, they are asked to leave. There is no job security or protection if there is ill-treatment. They are also expected to work very long hours. For example, in the cloth mill units, the workers work on¹⁰⁵⁰ day and night shifts, with each shift lasting 12 hours. One worker works on one machine for 12 hours and then is replaced by another on the same machine for¹⁰⁸⁰ the next 12 hours. There are many workers in the city who work in offices, factories and government departments where they are employed as regular and permanent workers. They attend the same office or factory regularly. Their work is clearly¹¹²⁰ identified. They get a regular salary. Unlike casual workers, they will not be asked to leave if the factory does not have much work. Working in Call Centres is a new form of employment in the big cities. A Call Centre is a centralized office that deals with problems and questions that consumers have regarding goods purchased and services like banking, ticket booking etc. Call Centres are generally set up as large rooms with workstations that include a computer, a¹²⁰⁰ telephone set and supervisor’s stations. India has become a major centre not only for Indian companies but also foreign companies. They set up Call Centres here as they can get people who can speak English and will work for lower wages.

          There are many things that make us what we are, how we live, the languages we speak, what we¹²⁶⁰ eat, wear, the games we play and the things we celebrate. All of these are influenced both by the geography¹²⁸⁰ and history of the place where we live. There are eight major religions in the world. Every single one of them is practised in India. We have more than 1600 languages that are people’s mother tongues, and there are more than a hundred dance forms. Yet this diversity is not always celebrated. This is because we feel safe and secure with people who look, talk, dress and think like us.¹³⁵⁰ Sometimes, when we meet people who are very different from us, we may find them strange and unfamiliar. At times, we may not understand or know the reasons why they are different from us. People also form certain attitudes and opinions about others who are not like them. When our¹⁴⁰⁰ opinions about certain people are always negative, then they become prejudices that we carry about them. Prejudice means to judge other people negatively or see them as inferior. When we think that only one particular way is the best and¹⁴⁴⁰ right way to do things, we often end up not respecting others, who may prefer to do things differently. For example, if we think English is the best language and other languages are not important, we are judging these other languages negatively. As a result, we might not respect people who speak languages other than English. We can be prejudiced¹⁵⁰⁰ about many things: people’s religious beliefs, the colour of their skin, the region they come from, the accent they speak in, the clothes they wear etc. Often, our prejudices about others are so strong that we do not want to form friendships with them. At times, we may even act in ways that hurt them. When India became a nation in 1947, our leaders too were concerned about the different kinds of inequalities, discriminations and prejudices that existed. Those who wrote the Constitution of India, were aware of the ways in which these things had been practised in our society¹⁶⁰⁰ and how people had struggled against this.