After all, twenty percent of Hindu population belongs to untouchables. So how much demand can be generated for their unclean products? The answer is - not enough. Not enough to remove the poverty of 20 percent of population. So within the caste monopoly over such dirty jobs, there is a huge supply of labor, which outstrips the demand by a great extent. The resultant oversupply leads to hugely depressed wages or payments for such jobs. This leaves all of them in poverty and hungry, barely able to sustain themselves. This pushes the untouchables toward other jobs. The most the job they get in rural areas is one of casual labors in the village fields. A highly pedigreed job, only very talented and skilled people knowing rocket science can cut the grass, dig and plough the field! For this the labor specialization is needed! In other words they get the lowest paid jobs. They are also found in the hard and difficult jobs which others are normally unwilling to do so. Their traditional jobs are not sufficient to fill their hungry bellies in their skeleton system, which is very evident. The economics of their jobs does not allow them to live a life without starving. Therefore finding the solution of their problems within the Varna dharma is impracticable contrary to the advices of defenders of Hindu society and Varna dharma. Even their survival is not possible; dignity or no dignity - is another matter. One person from cleaning community can provide his or her cleaning services to 40 families (they are not allowed to enter the houses) whereas availability is around 5 persons per 40 families. Thus 4 out of every 5 persons from scavenging community are redundant. Similarly in the case of leather workers, a person on average can make 200 pairs of shoes per month. Definitely this is much more than requirement of two pairs of shoes per year per person. One percent of people can make shoes for whole of the community in one month only. Thus the availability of labor requires that the use of shoes should be more than 100 pairs per person. It presents a hardly realistic picture. How the rest of Chamars are going to make a living?
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Markets and caste - 11
After all, twenty percent of Hindu population belongs to untouchables. So how much demand can be generated for their unclean products? The answer is - not enough. Not enough to remove the poverty of 20 percent of population. So within the caste monopoly over such dirty jobs, there is a huge supply of labor, which outstrips the demand by a great extent. The resultant oversupply leads to hugely depressed wages or payments for such jobs. This leaves all of them in poverty and hungry, barely able to sustain themselves. This pushes the untouchables toward other jobs. The most the job they get in rural areas is one of casual labors in the village fields. A highly pedigreed job, only very talented and skilled people knowing rocket science can cut the grass, dig and plough the field! For this the labor specialization is needed! In other words they get the lowest paid jobs. They are also found in the hard and difficult jobs which others are normally unwilling to do so. Their traditional jobs are not sufficient to fill their hungry bellies in their skeleton system, which is very evident. The economics of their jobs does not allow them to live a life without starving. Therefore finding the solution of their problems within the Varna dharma is impracticable contrary to the advices of defenders of Hindu society and Varna dharma. Even their survival is not possible; dignity or no dignity - is another matter. One person from cleaning community can provide his or her cleaning services to 40 families (they are not allowed to enter the houses) whereas availability is around 5 persons per 40 families. Thus 4 out of every 5 persons from scavenging community are redundant. Similarly in the case of leather workers, a person on average can make 200 pairs of shoes per month. Definitely this is much more than requirement of two pairs of shoes per year per person. One percent of people can make shoes for whole of the community in one month only. Thus the availability of labor requires that the use of shoes should be more than 100 pairs per person. It presents a hardly realistic picture. How the rest of Chamars are going to make a living?
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