Indebtedness Among Scheduled Tribes of Andhra Pradesh

Abstract

The Indebtedness Survey among Scheduled Tribes of Andhra Pradesh was launched in 1971-72 as a long-term Research Project through stratified sampling technique in the districts of Srikakulam, Visakhapatnam, West Godavari, Khammam, Warangal, Adilabad, Mahabubnagar, Guntur, Nellore and Anantapur. The basic objective of this survey is to estimate the extent of indebtedness among the major tribes of Andhra Pradesh. Thus, a total of 1196 tribal households from five regions were selected for the study. Agriculture is the main source of livelihood, it is not giving sufficient returns to save the tribals from starvation. Today most of the tribal families are leading a life far below the poverty line which in turn, resulted in heavy indebtedness among them. Sociological factors such as peculiar customs, beliefs and habits prevailing among the tribals are equally responsible for their heavy indebtedness. The study reveals that the out of 1196 households surveyed in both the scheduled and the plains areas, 749 were indebted accounting for 62.62 percent of the total households surveyed. The extent of debt incurred was Rs. 4,89,855/-. From the foregoing analysis, it is evident that indebtedness was high among Yerukala, Yenadi and Sugalis followed by Savaras, Koyas, Gonds, and Chenchus. The tribals living in the plains area are used to spending more on cosmotics and other modern amenities when compared with the tribals living in the Scheduled Areas. the study unfolds that out of the total number of indebted tribal households, as many as 42.59% received loans from moneylenders/sowcards. The moneylenders are still having a strangle hold over the tribal economy. With the introduction of Girijan Cooperative Corporation, tribals are getting some relief from the age-old exploitation of moneylenders/sowcars/traders. The important purposes for which the tribals borrow are agricultural operations, family maintenance, performance of social and religious ceremonies and miscellaneous purposes such as redemption of old debt, purchase of cattle, etc. The study is noticed the size of the indebted household is larger than the non-indebted household which is also responsible for indebtedness. The expenditure of a tribal household is Rs. 1226/-. An important item of expenditure of the tribal household is food. It is observed from the study that tribals are spending 9.45% of their income on intoxicants. Traditional Panchayat still play a vital role in maintaining the social order of the society. The study provides recommendation that the problem of indebtedness has to be tackled in two ways; one, by controlling the exploitation of moneylenders/sowcars to the extent possible and secondly by improving the economic conditions of tribals.