The Ganda: A Scheduled Caste Weaver Community Of Western Odisha

Abstract

The Ganda is a major Scheduled Caste of Odisha. They are also an ex-criminal community. This populous community is spread over the length and breadth of Western Odisha, especially in the districts of Sambalpur and Balangir. In these localities, they have been known as weavers and village watchmen, musicians and messengers. Since their traditional occupation of weaving have been declining with the introduction of mill made cloths, they have been reduced to landless agricultural labourers and some of them have migrated to the urban and industrial settings in search of livelihood. Thus they have become an economically backward and vulnerable community which deserves special attention in respect of their development. Added to their economic backwardness, they suffer from the stigma of untouchability which has been retarding all their efforts for development. So far, no systematic and complete ethnographic study has been made on this large community. The study on the basis of which this book is written is an exploratory and pioneering work on the socio-cultural and economic life of the Gandas of Western Odisha. The book is meant to serve as a first hand ethnography of the community to help further investigation. Emphasis has been given in this book to present their culture, economy and present problems so as to help the researchers and planners to undertake further investigation and formulate aptitude based and location specific action-plans for their development. Hence, some suggestions are given in the last chapter. The materials presented in this book are based upon field work which was undertaken in the summer months of 1982 and 1983 on the community.