Prof. MC Behera
A few weeks ago, I wrote elsewhere that the practice of segregation (quarantine) and social distancing have their origin in tribal traditions. Even the concept of Janata Curfew has its origin in Jan (tribal) tradition. The present strategy of ‘self-sufficiency’ as declared by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the context of the Covid-19 crisis has always been a strategy of national development, sometimes implicitly while at other times explicitly, and this is also an ideology upheld in tribal traditions.
Those who study tribes know that a ‘tribe’ is a synonym of a ‘self-reliant community’. Falling back to a strategy of the yore with determination at the time of Covid-19 crisis therefore needs a scrutiny of the past.
First, a tribe is a relatively closed society; its openness being inversely related to the extent of its self-sufficient pursuits. Hypothetically, a hundred per cent tribal community is an example of an absolutely isolated community. Though scholars have not found such an absolute isolation, still a tribal community is characterised as an isolated category.
Does the present strategy of self-sufficiency suggest for a relatively isolated economy in the era of globalisation? Perhaps the answer lies in the fact that 10 per cent of the GDP is earmarked for the self-sufficiency package. Undoubtedly, GDP reserves a space for India’s partnership in globalised economy. Self-sufficiency is a strategy to recover the economy from the present crisis and put it in a proper order for a takeoff.
Second, each tribe is self-sufficient. Incidence of barter exchange used to take place in a limited spatial scale in a few items and by a few individuals. How can we think of self-sufficiency in the context of the present state of the nation? Which component of the nation has to be self- sufficient? It needs mention that self- sufficiency bears meaning vertically beginning with Panchayat through block, district, and state to the nation.
Self-sufficiency considered from a tribal sense stands for social justice and it promotes the good of all in equal measure. A macro strategy and a top-down approach to self-sufficiency would have bottlenecks in the process of equitable participation to achieve growth and justice.
Third, a tribe is not a sectoral economy. It operates at a subsistence level and all sectoral activities are institutionalised in the social process. In our present context, it is desirable that village economy becomes self sufficient. Alongside, semi-urban centres and urban centres in an administrative division (block or district) along with the rural area/panchayat too become self-sufficient with regard to agricultural, industrial, technological and service needs.
But the present self-sufficiency package is all about institutional and financial self-sufficiency. Of course, this will impact the individual users of financial service and have a multiplier effect. But how far will equality be ensured and self-sufficiency achieved across the social categories and divisions (panchayat, block etc) is a big question.
In this package, rural sector production base is conspicuously absent. Perhaps a clear-cut strategy is desirable, for as Gandhiji believes, “only through them (village industries) we shall arrive at the economy of permanence in the place of the fleeting nature we see around us at present.” What was true in his time also has relevance in the present context.
Fourth, the needs of a tribe are based on minimum and undiversified want. It is not a waste-economy. Self-sufficiency has meaning in production by the masses, not in mass production. But the self-sufficiency strategy lacks this perspective as it concentrates on tackling financial crisis, a new meaning to the concept of self- sufficiency.
However, self-sufficiency is conceptualised in terms of financial self-sufficiency. It is a timely step in this context to meet the Covid-19 crisis that has affected the financial sector due to a breakdown of production. The package is meant to bail out the economy immediately and create effective demand by injecting finance into the system. Self-sufficiency should be understood in this perspective. The achievement depends on how it works, for, as Bertolt Brecht would like to warn us, ‘The finest plans have always been spoilt by the littleness of those that carry them out’.
The writer is professor attached to the Arunachal Institute of Tribal Studies, Itanagar. Email:mcbehera1959@gmail.com