A STUDY OF MOGAVEERA WOMEN IN UDUPI DISTRICT WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO SHGS

Transcription

1 KAAV INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ARTS, HUMANITIES & SOCIAL SCIENCES A REFEREED BLIND PEER REVIEW QUARTERLY JOURNAL KIJAHS/JUL-SEP2017/VOL-4/ISS-3/A66 PAGE NO ISSN: IMPACT FACTOR (2017) A STUDY OF MOGAVEERA WOMEN IN UDUPI DISTRICT WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO SHGS 1 SMT. HARINAKSHI 1 Research Scholar, Department of Development Studies Kannada University, Hampi. Abstract: This article discusses about the participation of Mogaveera women in self help groups in the selected 3 taluks of Udupi District. The self help groups have empowered these women and most of them are now self reliant. The study reveals that Mogaveera women have improved their knowledge in conducting business and have developed leadership skills after participating in self help groups.the involvement in SHGs has helped them to grow socially, financially and politically also. Coastal Karnataka covers around 320kms and it is about 1/5 of the Indian coastal area. Like agriculture, fishing also carries equal importance in Karnataka. Cultivation and fishing are the main sources of livelihood here. The sea food products have enriched our country. Around 2/5th of the population depends on fishing for their livelihood. We can consider fishing as a big industry in the country. The coastal area ranging from Karwar in the north to Ullal in the south is considered to be the best fishing ground. The life of Mogaveeras (fishermen) is indeed a brave one because they face many challenges including maritime disasters. They must maintain weather warnings. Sometimes, his life is faced with instant death in the grip of inclement weather when the sea becomes rough.. Key words: Mogaveera Women, Fishing, Self Help Groups, Udupi, Mogaveera Community. Mogaveera Community: In Karnataka there are around 47 different fishing communities with names such as Bestha, Mogaveera, Marakala, Mogera, Pattanadava, Bovi, Nayaka, Gangamathastha, Ambiga, Kharvi, etc. These communities are known as Communities of Mogaveera Brothers. The origin and characteristics of all the fishing communities are one and the same. All of them reside near sources of water such as lakes, rivers and sea. Hence majority of the people belonging to this community live in the coastal area mostly from Karwar in the north to Ullal in the South. Fishing is a very prominent economic activity of Karnataka. The traditional profession of Mogaveeras is fishing. They speak TULU language. They follow matriarchal system and have many sub communities called as Balli. Their profession can be described as a community whose livelihood is based on collecting resources from water. Marakala :- Marakala, Mogera These are the ancient names of Mogaveera community. The name Mogaveera had been derived from Mogera. The word Mogaveera in Kannada can be split into two parts namely Moga and Veera, Moga in Kannada means one who leads during war and Veera means person with courage since the Mogaveeras were well known as brave men they were called as Mogaveeras. 368

2 The term Mogaveera was made popular by late Shri. Monappa Thingalaya as per records (Sadananda K Uchilla) Mogaveera Samaja -chapter 1). Mo means water, Ger, means who won so Mogers came to be known as Mogaveeras and another version is Marigi,which means an ancient small boat, so people working in Marigi were called as Mogeras. In Kittel s dictionary Moge means A Small earthern vessel for loading out. In his book Buchanan has called Mogeras as Mogeyars. In Malayalam the word Mukavara means one who works in water. In Kannada also the original meaning is the same wherein fish is caught from the water. Thus the term Mogera evolved. The place where Mogaveeras reside is called Pattna and thus they were also known as residents of Patna. Similarly "Nayaka" is the original name of Navika. These days Nayak is used as surname also. In his travel records Francis Buchanan has called Mogaveeras of D.K as Mogeyars. He has mentioned that they speak Tulu. Although they resemble Malayalam speaking "Mukkuvars" there is no relationship between Mogeyars and Mukuvars". In this book "Gazatteer of India South Canara Buchanan has explained that "Mogaveers are Tulu speaking people. They follow matriarchal system. It means traditionally oldest female is the head of the family or maternal uncle s sister s son becomes the head. According to E. Thurston The Tulu speaking Mogeras of D.K district follow the matriarchal system. But the kannada speaking people in northern part of the district follow the patriarchal system". According to J. Sturrock Mogeras are bold and beautiful belonging to the Vaishnava sect and they specially worship the deity Thirupathi Venkatraman. Every year before celebrating the harvest festival they give offering to the deity Thirupathi Venkatraman. But their family deity is Masthamma". According to the Karnataka State Gazetteer "Fishing is the traditional profession of Mogaveeras. They reside in the coastal areas as they are prominent sailors and fisherman of the district. The Mogaveeras following the matriarchal system have many sub communities. Few educated Mogaveeras have involved themselves in other professions. Mogaveera Women: The overall condition of community is reflected by its health and nutrition, literacy, education, employment and income. Important position is given to Mogaveera women in the cultural and religious celebrations. They have the tradition of associating women to mother earth and respect women. If the first born child is a girl then it symbolizes prosperity among the Mogaveeras. Women are not discriminated but are treated equally with men in all activities in the society. Divorce and remarriage are common in this community. Although there is gender based division of labour the economic contribution by women is not less than men. She independently manages the family with her income. Udupi District According to the Puranas the name Udupi has been derived thus Ramaboja, a great devotee of Parashuram was proclaimed king of this coastal strip of land which was obtained by Parasurama from Varuna the sea god. Intending to perform Ashwamedha yajna or horse sacrifice Ramaboja got the site for sacrificial fire ploughed up. After overcoming obstacles Ramabhoja successfully performed the Ashwamedha Yajna. Lord Parashurama appeared and declared that he was pleased with the yajna and that hence forth the sacrificial land Roopya peetha (silver pedestal) would become a famous pilgrimage. This land is also known as Thoulava land and because Ramabhoja performed Tulabhara the people who live here were known as Thoulavas. This is the brief ancient history or legend of this land. This Roopya peetha land is now known as Udupi. The name has been derived from the Moon. The moon was once cursed by Daksha Prajapathi. To ward off his curse, the moon performed penance. Ishwara was pleased and appeared before the moon and removed the evil effects of the curse. This place has since been known as Vadabhandeshhwar. The actual spot where the moon performed penance is known as Abharangya in Sanskrit. UDU means stars, Pa means lord of and UDUPA means lord of the stars that is moon. The place where the moon performed penance and obtained grace is known as Udupi. Udupi district in the Karnataka state of India was created in August The northern taluks Kundapur, Udupi and Karkala were separated from D.K to form Udupi district. As per 2011 census Udupi has a total population of 1197,361, comprising of 5,62,131 males and females. The 369

3 overall sex ratio is The male literacy rate in the district is 91.4% and the female literacy rate is 81.6% the strength of members in Sthree Shakthi groups is 18,857. There are 260 villages in the 3 taluks, 4 Taluk Division, 75 Village Wards, 58 Grama Panchayaths, 64 Inhabited Villages, 22 Censes Towns, 1 City Corporation, 1Municipality and 1 Town Panchayat. Udupi has 108 km. of coastal area and fishing is the main occupation. The district comprises of two coastal taluks namely Udupi and Kundapura and one inland taluk Karkala. Fishing being an important source of foreign exchange besides being a nutritional food plays a vital role in the economic development of the country. Udupi has around 1,19,953 fishermen out of which 61,274 are professional fishermen. At present there are around 86 purse seine boats, 1,169 fishing trawlers 2,772 Motorized boats and 1,526 Non-motorized Pontoons engaged in fishing. Udupi district has 64 villages engaged is fishing and 1,19,953 fishermen live in them out of which 45,551 are full time fishermen and 18,220 are part time fishermen. There are 50 fishing co operative societies out of which 15 are fisherwomen co operative societies which also includes 1 Scheduled Caste fisherwomen co-operative society. There are 67,246 members in these societies out of which 2,260 members belong the SC and ST fishermen community. Objective of the study: The present study is undertaken to study about Mogaveera women and their involvement in SHGs. 1) To study the Social and financial position of Mogaveera women. 2) To assess the contribution of self help groups in the upliftment of Mogaveera women. Details of the study. In order to study about the participation of Mogaveera women, in self-help groups a total of 120 respondents (Mogaveera women) were selected. The respondents were selected from the 3 taluks of the district in Udupi, Kundapura and Karkala. The respondents were of the age group of 25 to 55 years which included both married and unmarried women. As this study belongs to a community most of the information is collected through primary data. Secondary data is collected from government and semi government offices. Other than that, information is also obtained from articles, books, gazetteers, and research thesis, Directorate of Economics and Statistics and Udupi Zilla Panchayat. The information is collected making questionnaire and is presented in tables using percentages. The highlights of the study: The status or position of a person is determined by his birth, genes gender, age, education, employment and constitutional rights. These factors influence the position of a person in the society. The Mogaveera women are good hosts, hardworking and bold. They have a prominent role in social and religious ceremonies in the family. Women are honored as mother earth. These women take care of children and also take the responsibility of running the household. Women of this community area financially independent. Traditionally woman is the head of the family in this society. She is financially independent and takes up the responsibility of the family. She works hand in hand with the male counterparts who treat her equally which is a speciality. Analysis of Data Part A: General Information Sl. No Age No. of Respondents Percentage About Educational background Education No. of Respondents Percentage Illiterate Primary Education High School

4 P U C Degree Monthly family income (in Rs.) Income(Rs) No. of Respondents Percentage Rs. Less than Rs Rs Rs Rs Rs.12, Rs and above Type of family Type No. of Respondents Percentage Nuclear family Joint family From the above tables it is understand that 27% of the respondents belong to the age group of years, 38%of them belong to age group years, 28% of them are of the age group 45-55years and remaining 7% are of the age group of above 55 years. While studying the educational background it is found that 10% of Mogaveera women are illiterate, 47% of the have primary education, 25% have studies up to high school, 13% are pre university educated and only 5% have completed graduation. This shows backwardness of the society in education. Similar to tribal communities, in this community also education was not considered to be important. They were keen on maintaining their traditional values hence education took a backseat. These days every community is encouraging their children to go for higher education and so is the situation in Mogaveera community. The monthly income of the respondents reveal that 13% of them are earning below Rs %, 49% of them are earning between Rs , 28% of them are earning between RS Rs and 10% of them are earning above Rs 12000/. 15% of the respondents are living in nuclear families and 85% of them are in joint families. Occupation of Mogaveera women Occupation No. of Respondents Percentage Selling fish Agriculture 8 7 Self employment 10 8 Housewife 4 3 Total This table indicates that most of the Mogaveera women in Udupi district have embraced selling fish as their occupation and a few others are involved in other occupations. 82% of them are selling fish, 7% are engaged in agriculture, 8% are self employed and remaining 3% of Mogaveera women are housewives. Benefits of Participation in Self Help Group Benefits No. of Respondents Percentage To overcome financial difficulties Improvement of managerial skills To participate in politics

5 All the respondents have expressed that they have had positive changes in their life after becoming members of self help group. 60% of them have opined that they have overcome financial problems, 23% of women expressed that their banking knowledge has improved. They are familiar with deposit and withdrawal of money and also came to know about the various products banks offer. Some of there just have primary education Similarly 17% of the women said their membership in self help groups encouraged them to enter into politics as well as gain membership of other clubs and institutions Findings The women self help group refers to self governed peer controlled, informal group of people with same socio- economic background and having a desire to collective perform common purpose. It is usually composed of local women. The members are able to mobilize small savings either weekly or on monthly basis. Government also contributes to self help groups. The money is utilized for meeting the emergent credit needs of members of the group. The Self Help Groups have enhanced the members financial security as primary focus and other common interest of members such as area development, awareness, motivation, leadership, training and associating in other social intermeditate programme for the benefit of the entire community. Thus we can conclude that Self Help Groups are transforming women and also the Indian Financial System. There is most awareness about education, being self reliant and women s rights. All the women have responded positively about self help groups. Because of the establishment of Self Help Groups the Mogaveera women have gained many benefits, as a consequence of this involvement if many Mogaveera women participate in politics there is no doubt they will be empowered socially, economically and culturally. References 1. Anees Siraj, Udupi Districts Karnataka Gazetteer Department, Bangalore. 2. Uchila S.K, 2013, A Study of Mogaveera Community, D.K Mogaveera Mahajana Sangha, Uchila and Mogaveera Mahajana Seva Sangha, Mumbai. 3. Udaya Kumara Irvathur, 2007, Udupi District, Modernization, Development and Industry, Damini Publication, Bangalore. 4. Udaya Kumar Hattiangadi, 2008, Mogaveera Sinchana Mogaveera Yuva Sangatane Udupi District. 5. Edgar Thurston, 2001, Caste and Tribes of Southern India, Asian Educational Service, New Delhi. 6. Punihchittaya Venkataraja, 1993, Mogaveera Sanskiriti, Karnataka Sahitya Academy, Bangalore. 7. Fisheries Department, Developmental Programmes, Udupi District. 8. Vasundhara B.C and Gurulingayya M, Status of fisher woman in fishermen Community Achala, Women s Studies Trimster Jan March Shashikala, 2010, Mogaveera Samudayada Mahileyara Shaikshanika Saadhanegala Nirdharakagalu: Ondu Samajashastriya Adhyayana, M.Phil. Thesis, Mangalore University, (Unpublished Thesis). Web sites: 1) Retrieved from www. Your article library SHG of India : Meaning need and Objectives. 2) Www. harivaayu blogspot.com 3) district.com 372