T H E E C O N O M I C W E E K L Y October 3,1959

Politics in Orissa—V

Social and Economic Reform F G Bailey

ONE cannot t a l k politics, either in the towns or the countryside,

w i t h o u t quickly coming to such concepts as 'social re form' , 'deve­lopment' , 'upl i f t ' and other analo­gous terms, a l l of which imp ly tha t the present social and economic system is unsat is factory and has to be changed. B u t the pol i t ic ians arc not the only persons concerned w i t h social r e fo rm and economic deve­l o p m e n t There are innumerable societies and official or semi-official organizat ions whose purpose is so­cial w o r k . Few of these are mere char i table bodies concerned w i t h pa l l i a t i ng distress: they a i m at re­f o r m and education. A m o n g the middle classes and the intel l igentsia (but not, in my experience, among the peasants) there is a radica l ou t look: an assumption tha t change Is good and tha t it is the duty of the middle classes to improve the lot of the poor. There are, no doubt, var ia t ions in the s inceri ty w i r h wh ich these opinions are held: out there is no-one among those I have met (apart f r o m some officials let­t i n g their ha i r down) who disputes the Tightness of this a t t i tude . In I n d i a to be called a 'do-gooder' wou ld not be considered s l igh t ing .

There are conservatives. Bu t thei r conservat ism appears more in deeds than in words, and no-one has appeared on the post-Indepen­dence stage in Orissa w i t h a man i ­festo p roc l a iming the Tightness of the present state of society and de­p lo r ing change. The Gana tan t ra Par i shad is commonly labelled r igh t -w i n g ' react ionary ' (the abusive equivalent of 'conservative ') , but the programme w h i c h tha t pa r ty put out a t the t ime when i t had an all iance w i t h the P ra ja Socialists in the Orissa Assembly, was more rad ica l t h a n t h a t of the Congress. Manifestos, the cynics say, are merely words on paper. Bu t t ha t is another question and does not a l te r the fact t ha t the cl imate of po l i t i ca l opinion at present does not permi t open opposition to social change. I f there are conservatives, they object not to change itself, bu t to the pace of change: or they argue t h a t cer ta in elements in the r ad i ca l programme, such as 'social just ice ' a n d 'economic development'

m a y in the present conditions be incompatible w i t h one another.

Social re form, whether s t r i c t ly so­cia l as in the a t tempt to weaken the caste system, or whether con­cerned w i t h ag ra r i an re form ana economic improvement , has been in te rmingled w i t h the purely po l i t i ­cal causes of Or iya Na t iona l i sm and the Independence Movement . ' P o l i t i ­cal freedom cannot be the end. It is an inevitable intermediate stage w h i c h has to be crossed in order to reach the social objectives of the nat ion. ' (Dhebar, quoted in H i s t o r y of the Freedom Movement In Orissa ed H K Mahatab . Cut tack , 1957. V o l I V , p1,) But l o o k i n g a t Orissa poli t ics in the last three decades, it. seems tha t social r e fo rm and eco­nomic change have often t aken second place to the m a i n pol i t i ca l a im of power, and by some pol i t i ­cians these reforms are regarded not even as secondary ends, but merely as one way of m a k i n g mass contact and ga in ing or r e t a in ing power.

Materia l and Moral Change

There are two ma in categories in w h i c h these re formis t act ivi t ies f a l l : one mate r i a l and the other mora l . These poles are represented in con­temporary I n d i a by the F ive Year Plans at one end and at the other by the w o r k of Vinoba Bhave. One is concerned w i t h man's v i r t ue : the other w i t h his ma te r i a l well-being. The 'mora l ' reformers are, on the whole, not a success in pa r ty politico. Cer ta in 'mora l ' re forms—for i n ­stance the abol i t ion of untoucha-b i l i t y and the in t roduc t ion of pro­h i b i t i o n — have been at tempted t h r o u g h legislative means. Bu t on the whole men of this inc l ina t ion w o r k lower down in the power h ierarchy: they are fieldworkers, and thei r techniques are precept, exam­ple, and preaching. In higher pol i ­tics, in the f ie ld of manoeuvre and man ipu la t ion and barga in ing , they tend to be helpless and m a y even be used by those who are more s k i l l ­ed at pol i t ical manoeuvr ing. B u t even by those who t h i n k tha t such w o r k is a waste of t ime, they are held as individuals in great respect.

The other w i n g of social and a g r a r i a n re fo rm is led by those who

1369

a t t empt to change society not by w o r k i n g on ind iv idua l minds, but by changing the s tructure of so­ciety th rough legis lat ion. Thei r at-tack is upon inst i tut ions , or p r i v i ­leged classes, and they seek th rough these changes to b r i n g about a more equitable d i s t r ibu t ion of wea l th and at the same t ime i n ­crease the to t a l weal th .

In between these two extremes is a type of ac t iv i ty , the p r i m a r y a i m of wh ich is economic i m p r o v e m e n t but not by means of cent ra l ly direct­ed projects i n v o l v i n g a heavy ex­penditure of capi ta l . Examples wou ld be the w o r k of such i n s t i t u ­tions as the K h a d i and Vi l lage I n ­dustries Board , and, at an earl ier date, some of the items in the Con­gress l ist of construct ive work .

These categories refer to ac t i ­vit ies ra ther t han to persons. E v e r y senior Congress pol i t ic ian has had experience of a l l three types of w o r k . But differences arise over wh ich type of ac t i v i t y is the more fundamenta l .

Reformers and the Administration

There were social and economic r e fo rm movements in Orissa before the Congress came onto the scene. Thei r inspi ra t ion, I was to ld , was derived f r o m s imi la r movements in Bengal . There were a t tacks upon the caste system, and upon the custom of pay ing dowries, and sym­bolic reforms 'such as in t roduc ing the social innova t ion of r e t a in ing moustaches alone and shaving off the beard—an innovat ion w h i c h was a red r ag to the bul l in the then conservative B r a h m a n Sasans in the P u r i d is t r ic t as elsewhere in Orissa. (Mahatab , op c i t , V o l I I I -App B pp 23-24.) Bu t in the m a i n these reformers worked th rough two means: they s tar ted vernacular newspapers and they opened schools.

An example is the Satyabadi School in Pu r i D i s t r i c t , opened by Gopa-bandhu Das in 1909. M a n y of those who supported these schools and who taught in them were also active members of the U t k a l Sammi-l an i . The O r i y a school at Chakra-dharpur in S ingbhum dis t r ic t was started by the founder of the Sat­yabadi school.

October 3, 1959 T H E E C O N O M I C W E E K L Y

T H E E C O N O M I C W E E K L Y October 3,1959

These reformers became involved in Na t iona l i s t politics. Gopabandhu Das brought the Congress to Orissa. The Satyabadi School became a Na t iona l School. Das himself was elected a member of the Bihar and Orissa Legislat ive Council, and the la t ter par t of his life (he died In 1928) was spent in wha t we can re­cognize as typical activit ies of the Congress polit icians of those days: educational work , publishing a ver­nacular newspaper, organizing flood relief, leading protest meetings against various Government mea­sures, f r o m t ime to t ime defying the l aw and going to prison. Yet he remained p r imar i l y a social worker and a reformer, and the paper which he began, the Oriya-language Samaj, went not to a poli­t ica l par ty but to the Servants of the People Society, of which Das was a member.

Filled a Gap

The w o r k which was undertaken by this Satyabadi group and others l ike it filled a gap left in the A d m i ­nistrat ion 's activities. This is true especially of the w o r k of social reform, for the Government was extremely cautious about interfer­ing w i t h social and religious cus­tom, and the B r i t i s h were the last people to a t tempt to challenge the prestige of, for instance, the Pur i Brahmans, by b r ing ing into dispute the symbols of thei r superiority. Even the present Government has not an entirely free hand in such affairs. B u t in other f ields, educa­t ion for instance, one migh t have expected the Government of the day to play a greater part. Gov ernment d id support the Satyabadi school un t i l it became a Nat iona l school, but the in i t ia t ive in start­i ng such inst i tut ions came f rom in­dividuals in the middle-class and not f r o m officials. S t i l l more would we have expected such emergency w o r k as flood relief to be carried on by official agencies, but these were then, as now and always, apt to be slow, off the m a r k and reluctant to recognize any si tuat ion which was outaide their no rmal routine.

In one w a y these social reformers were anc i l l a ry to the officials: they d id w o r k w h i c h we would today recognize as the responsibility of the Government, Bu t the nature of this w o r k also determined the m u t u a l at t i tudes of Government and social reformers. F r o m the Government side the social re form­

ers, in so f a r as they upset people of influence and importance, must have seemed a nuisance: s t i l l more so when they at tacked officials for hav ing fai led to do their jobs effi­ciently. They seemed, no doubt, to be at best busybodies and more often agitators. This is not to say tha t the Br i t i sh looked w i t h disapproval on such educational w o r k tha t was done at the Satya­badi School. On the cont rary the School was visi ted by h igh officials and much interest was taken in its experimental methods of teaching. Bu t approval froth the higher eche­lons does not always mean easy co­operation w i t h the lower- ranking men w i t h w h o m the day-to-day routine w o r k Is carried on. F r o m the other side the lesson which the social reformers learnt was tha t one has to fight to get help f rom official agencies. Their w o r k lay in point­ing out Government shortcomings, and in endeavouring to force the Government in to doing w h a t i t did not wan t to do, or sometimes was ashamed not to have done. No Government likes those who make a habi t of washing the adminis t ra­tors ' d i r t y l inen in public.

Encouragement of Cottage Industries

I t follows that their experience as social reformers in no way conflict­ed w i t h their later careers as Na­t ional is t politicians. The techniques of protest were ready to hand and they were well-practised. Nor were they dependent on Government for assistance and patronage to such an extent tha t they could not break free and go into opposition. In this respect the relations of social work­ers and reformers w i t h the Govern­ment differed very much in those days f rom what relations are at the present t ime.

In Orissa the ancestor of those who have charge of developing and encouraging cottage industries was Madhusudan Das, the founder of U t k a l Sammilani . I t i s true tha t spinning was taught at the Satya-badi School even before it became a Na t iona l school, but the w o r k of encouraging weavers and other craftsmen, of f inding markets for their products, of seeking improved techniques and better tools, was done by the U t k a l Sammilani . In Cut tack Das ran a tannery and rescued the fi l igree silver c ra f t f r o m decay. The Conference undertook such w o r k as p r in t i ng and d i s t r i ­

bu t ing a pamphlet on the cul t iva­t ion of sugar-cane, t r a i n i n g weavers to use the fly-shuttle, seeking ways to revive the salt industry, and so fo r th .

La te r these and other activit ies became par t of the Congress con­structive w o r k , but in the early days w o r k of this k i n d did not lean to-wards 'mass' politics, as social re­f o r m work did . Madhusudan Das seems to have been the obverse of an agi ta tor . He fought many battles w i t h officials and w i t h the Govern­ment: but he fought them w i t h the skil ls of a lawyer and a diplomat, and w i t h a rare doggedness and de­te rmina t ion wh ich won h im the res­pect ra ther than the an t ipa thy of officials. A n d in Das there was a streak of conservatism: he wrote, for instance, as essay on the nobi­l i t y of sat i .

Agrarian Reforms and Independency

There had been agrar ian dis­orders in Orissa, f rom time to time, since the beginning of the 19th century. These were risings against individual Zemindars, or to protest against part icular actions of the Government. But there was no co­ordinated protest against the sys­tem itself un t i l the advent of the Congress Socialist Par ty in 1934. In that year the first meeting of this organization was held in Orissa. D u r i n g the next two years Peasant Councils (Kisan Sabhaj were orga­nized throughout the province. The Orissa Congress Socialist pa r ty was dissolved in 1938 because the Com­munists had captured i t , but the work of organizing peasants to pro­test against the exactions of Zemin­dars and against the Zemindari system went on. The Congress Gov­ernment, by then in office, passed various measures to improve the position of the tenants. Agi ta t ions against the landlords and Zemin­dars, no-rent and no-tax campaigns, continued, reaching their c l imax in the '42 Movement.

D u r i n g the same period ( f rom 1937-42) occurred the agitat ions in the Feudatory States, and they too were largely in the hands of the Socialist w i n g w i t h i n Congress. This was an a t tempt to broaden the base of Congress support, and to involve the people of the countryside in the Independence Movement. The Salt campaigns a n d the C iv i l Disobedi­ence Movements in the first years

1371

October 3, 1959 THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY

of t h a t decade had been a step in the same direct ion and had caught the popular imag ina t ion . In the towns the Movement had a popular backing, because the u rban middle class understood and sympathized w i t h the campaign for Indepen­dence. B u t in the countryside such an abs t rac t concept could have l i t t l e appeal. Even the sal t campaign, a l ­though it exploited a grievance, real­ly had l i t t l e more t h a n symbolic value. B u t a campaign w h i c h had as i ts t a rge t the local l and lo rd and the local Zemindar , and w h i c h concen­t r a t ed upon those privileges of the l a n d l o r d w h i c h were most burden­some on his tenants, had a much more immediate appeal. 'We no­ticed,' I was t o l d by one of the leaders in this campaign, ' tha t our K i san ral l ies were ge t t i ng much bigger attendances than the o rd i ­n a r y Congress meetings. Then we knew we were on the r i g h t t r a c k . ' In short , the effect of these agra­r i a n movements was to t rans la te the aims of the Congress into some­t h i n g w h i c h could readi ly be under­stood by the peasants, and wh ich would have their support, and at the same t ime to associate their grievances w i t h the continuance of B r i t i s h rule in I n d i a .

Against Landlords and Zemindars

B u t the movement was directed, in the f i rs t instance, not against the B r i t i s h , but against the l and­lords and Zemindars . Most of these men were already loya l supporters of the B r i t i s h , and this a t t ack upon the i r posi t ion and status in society intensified their dis l ike of the Con-gress and thei r l o y a l t y towards the B r i t i s h . I t is also clear tha t the A d m i n i s t r a t i o n relied on the support of the landlords and helped them to make counter-propaganda against the Congress act ivi t ies .

Ye t the pol i t ic ians themselves o r ig ina ted in this class. 'Scratch a po l i t i c i an and you find a landlord . ' they say of themselves. On the whole they do not come f rom the bigger l a n d l o r d famil ies : but most of t h e m were r ich enough to l ive f r o m the i r own resources th rough­out the long period of the Independ­ence Movement . People below this economic category seldom had the education, and consequently the pol i ­t i ca l awareness, to interest them­selves ei ther In r e f o r m i n g society or in w i n n i n g Independence. The b i g ­ger landlords , on the other hand, were most of t hem opposed to the

Independence Movement , a n d con-f ined their po l i t i ca l act ivi t ies to Or iya Na t iona l i sm and, in the case of a few enlightened ones, to pro­m o t i n g education and social wel­fare outside the f r a m e w o r k of the U t k a l Samml lan i .

Divisions and Cleavages

There was a d iv is ion in the m i d ­dle-class inte l l igents ia between those who gave themselves whole-heart­edly to the Independence Movement , and those, l i ke Madhusudan Das, who were p r i m a r i l y concerned w i t h Or iya N a t i o n a l i s m There were also cleavages w i t h i n the Congress itself. There was a s l ight reflection of the general d iv is ion in Congress be­tween the moderates and the r ad i ­cals, but the former were few in number, and most of those who were qualified by thei r personal eminence to play the role of the moderate and hold the confidence of the Br i t i sh , as happened in other parts of Ind ia , had remained out­side the Congress. There were other cleavages, w h i c h seem to have been founded p a r t l y on caste and t e r r i ­t o r i a l differences, and pa r t l y upon cliques and power-intr igues of the k i n d tha t beset any po l i t i ca l par ty .

B u t w i t h the beginnings of the Congress Socialist P a r t y arises a cleavage w i t h i n the Congress which was based upon differences of ideo­logy. The Congress Socialist P a r t y was M a r x i s t in out look. I t s mem­bers d id not t h i n k of social r e fo rm in terms of a change of hear t or of goodwi l l towards other men. Con­s t ruct ive work , as envisaged by the Congress, seemed to them to be no more t h a n t i n k e r i n g w i t h the pro­blems of society, a l though i t m i g h t have a usefulness in establ ishing contact w i t h the common people and helping to make t hem po l i t i ­ca l ly conscious. Social r e f o r m for them meant i n s t i t u t i ona l r e fo rm, economic p lanning , and a socialist society. T h e i r a ims were clear-cut a n d easily defined.

Since 1947 Out of this conflict there have

emerged, since Independence, t w o categories of persons who have broken away f r o m the Congress par ty , or who remain somewhat uneasily w i t h i n i ts ranks . The first are the l e f t - w i n g parties, in Orissa the P r a j a Socialists and the Communis ts ; the second are a cate­g o r y who in some cases have le f t pol i t ics a l together and have be­come social workers , t y p i c a l l y in

the Bhoodan Movement or in the different social w o r k organizat ions; or, in other cases, those who have f l i r ted w i t h var ious t r ad i t i ona l i s t parties, such as the Jan Sangh, and who m i g h t j o in the new Swa tan t r a P a r t y if i t looks l ike being a suc­cess; one, at least, jo ined the Gana-t a n t r a Par ishad; and some have remained as Independents.

A s imi la r g rada t ion of out look, f r o m the extreme lef t at one side to those who are described by others as typica l Gandhians ' on the other side, is to be found w i t h i n the Con­gress itself.

Keeping to the Left

This conflict, between those who believe in a planned socialistic eco­nomy and those who do not. has cont inued to affect social r e fo rm since Independence. On the record of legislat ion, and on p a r t y mani ­festoes, socialists have the upper hand. Zemindar i has been la rge iy abolished. The bat t le against non-Zemindar i landlords is about to begin w i t h the passing of the ceil-ing-on-land measures and the dr ive to s ta r t co-operative f a r m i n g . Not the Congress alone, but a l l parties in Orissa are commi t t ed to a social­ist programme of re form, a n d they seem at the moment to be v y i n g w i t h one another to display socialistic content in their programmes. The Congress has introduced a b i l l set­t i n g the cei l ing at 33 acres: the Gana tan t ra , the P ra ja Socialists and the Communis ts have set it at 15 acres: the Cut tack d i s t r i c t Con­gress has gone one acre to the lef t and demanded a cei l ing of 14 acres, for which they received a te legram of congra tu la t ion f r o m the Orissa Communis ts .

B u t there is opposition to these ideas coming f rom several quarters . There are, as I have said, those who believe tha t measures of this k i n d are bound to be ineffective because they do not touch the m o r a l problem and because they are a t variance w i t h t r a d i t i o n a l I n d i a n ways of l i fe . There are others t a k i n g the opposite v iew and say­i n g t h a t a l though such measures m i g h t sa t is fy the dictates of social justice, they ignore economic rea l i ­ties and i n the end w i l l decrease product ion and w i l l merely result i n the sha r ing out o f greater and greater pover ty . F o r t hem the f i r s t requirement is to increase produc­t i o n : d i s t r i bu t i on mus t l og ica l ly

1372

THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY October 3, 1959

come af terwards , a n d i f increased product ion can only be bought w i t h some increase in social inequal i ty , then t h a t can be remedied later.

Opposition Ill-organised

This opposit ion i s spasmodic, i l l -organized, and usual ly voiced as pr iva te misgivings . There is no group as yet in Orissa which has put f o r w a r d a programme openly opposed to socialism. The Gandhi -ans go their own way , keeping most ly outside the arena of pa r ty poli t ics. Those who place produc­t ion f irst may funct ion as a pres­sure group behind the scenes, and some of t hem may soon come in to the open by pu t t i ng their point of view before the Legis la t ive Assem­bly, but they are not as yet an organized group openly opposed to the socialist policies advocated by Congress.

These are the m a i n groups w h i c h separate f rom one another over so­cial r e fo rm: the socialists who be­lieve in a planned economy and whose first a i m is social jus t ice; those who may or may not believe in a planned economy, but who t h i n k that the f i rs t need is to raise product ion; and the Gandhians, w h o have their own economic ideas and who consider a m o r a l r e fo rmat ion a more impor t an t need than and indeed a pr ior necessity to econo­mic bet terment .

Government Assistance

There are s t i l l many social w o r k ­ers and there are many more who style themselves in tha t w a y but do not meri t the name. But the w o r k they do, and their relat ions to Government and to the po l i t i ca l parties is on the whole different f r o m what i t was before 1947,

In some cases the t r a d i t i o n of opposit ion to the r u l i n g power goes on. The pol i t ic ian , pa r t i cu la r ly the smal l m a n in his own local i ty , who goes on hunger s t r ike to d r aw at­ten t ion to the Government 's scan­dalous neglect of the p l ight of ag r i ­cu l t u r a l labourers, or the distress of displaced persons, or even the need to have a new roof on the local school, w i l l describe h imsel f as a social w o r k e r . Sometimes more serious and responsible persons re­sort to the same tact ics and r u n the r i s k of being labelled 'agi ta­tors ' , p a r t i c u l a r l y i f they are k n o w n to be sympathizers of a pa r ty in opposit ion, j u s t as they were label­led by the B r i t i s h in the days be­fore Independence. A g a i n , when

there is some crisis w i t h w h i c h the official agencies cannot f u l l y cope, as when there is a flood, then hosts of i nd iv idua l social workers come f o r w a r d to help in the d i s t r i bu t ion of relief. F i n a l l y there are s t i l l a few indiv iduals or smal l groups who go about exhor t ing and se t t ing an example and pioneering, on a smal l scale, education or hygiene or some other f o r m or socially beneficial w o r k .

B u t by and large the day of the pr iva te person or smal l group of such persons is past. F i r s t l y th is has happened because the Govern­ment now accepts a much wider responsibi l i ty for social welfare t h a n did i ts predecessor. I f a m a n wan t s to s t a r t a school, or bui ld a hospital , or d ig a wel l , then soon­er or la ter he goes to the Govern­ment or to one of the bigger social w o r k societies to get money. The in i t i a t i ve s t i l l often comes f r o m pr iva te subscriptions: but the orga­nizers can usually count on Gov­ernment assistance to keep the i r project runn ing .

Reliance on Diplomacy

Consequently the a t t i tude of such persons towards the Government much more resembles tha t of, in the o l d days, the U t k a l Sammi l an i t h a n i t does t h a t of the social r e fo rm groups w h i c h la ter merged w i t h the Congress. Thei r tact ic is diplo­macy: they are prepared to argue thei r case, and to lobby, but they do not w a n t to make themselves such an embarassment tha t the Government w i l l not help them. They are, so to speak, l oya l subjects a n d the i r claims to assistance rests on this fact.

The Government reciprocates th is a t t i tude . They are commit ted to a welfare policy and they are pre­pared to help pr iva te organizat ions w h i c h ca r ry on the w o r k . There are official and semi-official bodies l ike the K h a d i and Vi l l age Indus­t r ies Board , the Social Welfare Board , or the Depressed Classes League, w h i c h exist to foster and encourage local self-help. Non-off i­c ia l groups, l ike the A B Sarva Seva Sangh are usual ly looked upon w i t h favour , a l though in the case of this par t i cu la r organiza t ion rela­t ions w i t h the Orissa Government have not been p a r t i c u l a r l y happy.

Nearer the People The cynics have an explanat ion

for this tenderness on the pa r t of Government . The ph i lan th rop i s t

1373

gets the g r a n t w h i c h he needs: in re tu rn , the cynics say, he funct ions as a vote-get t ing agency for the pa r ty in power. B u t even i f the cynics have correct ly analysed the results of this relat ionship, th is does not necessarily impugn the s incer i ty of either side. The g i f t w h i c h the Government makes may be done in an ent i re ly disinterested fashion, because they t h i n k the w o r k w o r t h whi le : equally the social worke r m a y r igorously abstain f rom m a k i n g p a r t y propaganda. B u t the peasants' hor izon is l im i t ed and any outside agency tends to be consider­ed a Government agency: and if i ts w o r k is popular and successful, the credit goes to the p a r t y in power.

The point of the mat te r is tha t the social w o r k e r is one stage near­er to the people t h a n is the po l i t i ­cian. He usual ly works in a nar­rower o rb i t and he therefore has closer contacts w i t h the common m a n . He is one way, but by far f rom being the only way, of ge t t ing in touch w i t h and influencing the voters. Some of the poli t icians themselves go in for social work , leading teams of young men to bu i ld roads, or d i g wells, or spend­ing some of their t ime t r a v e l l i n g about the i r constituencies exhor t ing and preaching. The i r opponents dismiss this as a mere vote-catch­ing device: but, even if they are quite sincere in w h a t they are do­ing, i t s t i l l remains true t ha t suc­cessful social w o r k brings a po l i ­t i ca l bonus.

M a i n l y f r o m the Midd le Classes

A general izat ion about the cha­racter of the social w o r k e r w i l l , jus t because it is a general isat ion, inev i tab ly do injustice to some of

October 3, 1959 T H E E C O N O M I C W E E K L Y

1374

T H E E C O N O M I C W E E K L Y October 3, 1959

t h e m B u t i t i s w o r t h m a k i n g b e -cause i t shows up b o t h the i r value and t h e i r l i m i t a t i o n s as actors on the po l i t i c a l scene.

F i r s t l y such a m a n comes in most but no t in a l l instances f r o m t h a t section of the middle class w h i c h has provided the professional peo­ple, and the po l i t i ca l ly conscious people. In Orissa the greater par t of them come f r o m the coastal dis­t r i c t s , and even those w h o or ig ina te elsewhere are, so to speak, 'hono­r a r y ' K a t a k i s . There are today people of humbler o r i g i n who are s tyled social workers , b u t many of these are pa id for w h a t they do, and by force of circumstances are inev i tab ly dedicated as much to the i r wage-packet as to the i r avo­cat ion. I have several t imes heard social workers of the weal th ier category deplor ing the q u a l i t y of the paid workers , a n d the i r l ack of ' s inceri ty ' .

The Class Barrier

Secondly, because they come f r o m the middle classes, these social workers cannot make the k i n d of contact they w o u l d l ike to make. They s t r a i n themselves to regard the peasants as the i r brothers : some l ive in condit ions of extreme aus­t e r i t y and undergo considerable physical hardships: but class and upb r ing ing make a ba r r i e r w h i c h i t Is a l l but impossible to cross. Whi le they set out to regard the peasants as brothers , they end on ly in t rea t ­i n g them as ch i ldren . This is par­t i c u l a r l y t rue of thei r contacts in the t r i b a l areas, and i t is inev i t ­able for they are not prepared to accept al l peasant or t r i b a l values. As w i t h some missionaries and indeed they are a k i n d of mission­a r y t h e y seek to impose middle-class values on people who cannot see the in t r ins ic w o r t h of middle-class cul ture in a peasant or a t r i b a l se t t ing. D r i n k is an obvious example. There are also occasional outbursts of distress or disgust about ' ha l f -naked ' t r i b a l women.

T h i r d l y — a n d th i s is perhaps the most r i s k y general izat ion o f a l l — the sincere social worke r , jus t be­cause he is sincere, is a desperately serious person w i t h ve ry s t rong convict ions. I do not mean t h a t he or she never smiles. I am re fe r r ing ra the r to an in tens i ty of purpose, and an absence of t h a t cheerful ex­t r o v e r t cynic ism, w h i c h often helps to achieve the common touch. One suspects t h a t in some cases per­sonal emot iona l difficulties l ie be­

h i n d i t , a n d t h a t the miss ionary w o r k is at the deepest level promp­ted no t by a regard fo r the welfare of others ( a l t hough th is m a y be the conscious mot ive ) , bu t is a subcons­cious effor t to solve the i r personal difficulties by r e fo rming the lives of others. B u t this is no more t h a n a superficial observat ion: a n d per­haps one should not make state­ments about subconscious minds on the basis of conversations and hav­i n g observed a few social workers i n ac t ion .

Not against Basic Institutions

Social r e fo rm, in i ts beginning in Orissa, was a generalized a t t ack upon pover ty and ignorance and an a t t empt to undermine not so much the basic ins t i tu t ions w h i c h were the causes of these t w o things, but ra ther thei r symbolic manifes ta­t ions; not, for instance, an a t t ack upon the l and lo rd system itself, but upon the symbols by w h i c h one class of l and lord , the B r a h m a n , dis­played thei r super ior i ty . The u l t i ­mate source of th i s a c t i v i t y was, as in Bengal , the impact o f European values and the European example: and the w o r k was car r ied on m a i n ­ly by the middle classes. I t was ra the r an a t t a c k upon w h a t were regarded as degrading customs, up­on such cu l tu ra l i tems as the wear­ing of beards or the payment of dowries, and not so much upon the social s t ructure ,

Those members of the upper class who were associated w i t h the move­ment, a n d some members of the

middle-classes l i k e Madhusudan Das, who h a d made a pa r t i cu la r success of l i fe In a European pro­fession, concentrated more on the positive side, upon educat ion and economic bet terment, a n d looked w i t h indifference, or even disfavour , upon the a t tempts to r idicule t r a ­d i t iona l H i n d u values.

Change by Legislation

By the second decade of the pre­sent century the surplus energy w h i c h had gone in to education and .social r e fo rm was d iver ted to po l i ­t i ca l w o r k in the Congress: a l ­though, of course, 'construct ive w o r k ' continued under Congress auspices. Other people, the upper classes a n d the O r i y a nat ional is ts , remained outside the I n d i a n N a t i o n ­al is t movement, but continued their social w o r k as before.

By the t h i r d decade of this cen­t u r y social r e f o r m h a d ceased to be only an a t t a c k upon customs and had become an a t tempt to change the s t ructure of society by legisla­t ion , an a t t a ck upon Untouchab i l i ty and a direct onset on a par t i cu la r class, the landlords. Zemindars, and rulers of the Feudatory States.

This a t t empt to change society by legislation, the ' i n s t i tu t iona l r e fo rm ' approach, s t i l l holds the centre of the stage. On the whole social workers no longer harass the Gov­ernment, as they d id in B r i t i s h days, but cooperate w i t h i t , and, indeed, are an impor t an t means of commu­nicat ion between the Government and the people.

1375

T H E E C O N O M I C W E E K L Y October 3, 1959