Economic Life of the Bodo's

In 'the sphere of economic life agriculture still has a dominant position, yet in the
contemporary times occupation like service, trade and commerce, contracts etc are adopted; but in small numbers.
Agriculture is the main occupation of any rural society. It is also the mainstay of the economic life of the Bodos. Though a large section of the Bodos were engaged in shifting cultivation (largely slash and bum variety in the plains and to some extent terrace cultivation on the fringe areas of Bhutan and the Garo hills till many years back, now the BODOS are fully settled cultivators. Before making a settlement, they select a plot which is suitable for the cultivation of paddy. They primarily look for a plot with a vast grazing field, availability of rivers, ponds or lakes, jungles and forests for hunting
animals and for collecting firewood without scarcity. For the cultivation of paddy the Bodos select a land which can sustain water for a long. The Bodos are efficient in constructing irrigation canals, embankments and minimum traditional technology for daily use. They generally cultivate such a mustard seeds , tobacco, jute, vegetables like potato, cabbage, cauliflower, cucumber, gourd, green
leaves, spices, chilly. onion, ginger etc. They produce partly for domestic consumption and partly for selling in the markets. They grow areca nut and trees in their compound. Castor plants are cultivated for producing Endi cocoon, which is a part of home industries in spinning and weaving especially for women folk. For cultivation of paddy, there are three kinds of cultivation of the land in the society. They are Self cultivation, Adhi system, Sukhani system. The first kind is the traditional of the Bodos, but the second and the third type might have been borrowed from others
in the past
i) Self system- The owner cultivates his land with the help of his family or male
labour (Dahona) and female labour (Puwati) for a season by giving them
certain amount of paddy or wages.
ii) Adhi system-In this system the land owner gives away his land to a cultivator
for cultivation for a temporary phase and the total product of the land is
distributed equally between his owner and the cultivator.
iiii) Sukhani system- here the land owner fixes a contract with the cultivator , and
the cultivator has to give a fixed quantity of product for each bigha of land he
cultivated.
They practice both ahu (ashu) and Sali (maisali) rice cultivation. "Their indigenous
devices for preserving seeds and digging dongs and canals are widely
acclaimed."(Bordoloi et al. 1987)
Endle says-
... ... ... .... the people are especially skillful in the engineering works for diverting
water fiom rice-beds into their rice fields; and their efforts in this direction are very
largely aided by their closely clannish organization . Whenever, the rainfall threatens to be below average, the village headman with his associated elders fixes on the spot whence water is to be broughtfiom the nearest river to the rice fields. At this spot very rude and primitive shelters of jungle grass, etc, are put up: and here all the manhood strength of the village, each man armed with hoe, dao etc., are compelled to take their abode until the necessary work has been fully carried out ....(t hus) the Kacharis have a
highly efficient and very inexpensive "Public Works Department " of their own.
(1997: 12-13) Although the old collectivist orientations are not very strong at present, the remnants of
such a societal arrangement are still visible. The setting up of village granaries (raizani bakhri) with voluntary contribution of individual villagers, existence of community land in a village etc, are examples of this spirit of co-operative living in a Bodo village,
However, due to the lack of various infrastructural facilities like irrigation as many as villages are far away from a river source or else are deprived of the latter due to imaginative construction of embankments by the government or other reasons ), credit, fertilizers, power , and then the occurrence of periodic floods, rise in population etc, (have resulted in a steady deterioration of the Bodo agricultural economy. Moreover,
luprurpation of land demarcated as ' Tribal block' and 'Tribal belt' by non-tribals along with the requisition of such lands by the government itself for different ' developmental project' has led to acute land alienation and eventualpauperization of the Bodo peasantry. Another very important factor that has caused immense harm to the Bodo village economy is the long continuance of annual lease of their landed property. About 25% of the rural Bodo-Kachari families suffer from this malady, owing to which they are not in a position to obtain loans and advances either from other financing institutions. (Choudhury 1980: 37). Apart from rice, the Bodo peasantry is involved in the cultivation of areca nut and betel nut in their garden land . Nowadays, they are also engaged in the as the pioneers in India rising of various Kharif and Rabi crops and vegetables if there if sufficient land. The Bodos are regarded as pioneers in India in so far as the art of rearing silk extracted from worm, especially the Eri variety and spinning and weaving of clothes out of the thread thus extracted. The Bodo women are excellent weavers with magnificent sense of design and co lour. But this traditional enterprise also has failed to contribute much to the Bodo economy due to archaic technology, lack of credit and market facilities, the
role of middleman, and the overall apathy of the government. Many Bodo-Kachari people work in forest badaris (team of logging -labour engaged by forest contractors) and a few families of northern Darrang work as tea-garden labour to supplement their family income.(Choudhury 1980:36). Another important fact plaguing the Bodo society is the curtailment of forest villages had long been enjoying. This has further deteriorated the condition of the common Bodo populace. The food habit of the Bodos is also held responsible for their poverty. Excessive consumption of
rice- beer and free keeping of their domestic pigs and fowls are the two main causes of
the huge wastage of foodgrains.(Ibid)
In so far as the general mode and the instruments of production are concerned, there are not many differences between the peasant economies of the Bodo and the Assarnese societies. The problems like land -alienation, flood, indebtedness , lack of other infrastructural facilities like irrigation, power, credit and market are confronted by the ordinary farmers of both the communities. Acute land alienation and poverty have compelled many Bodo youths to take up various jobs involving manual labour in the cities and the towns. Many have turned into
construction labourers, rickshaw -pullers, and other low category unskilled and semi-skilled jobs. Many Bodo girls also have taken to working as construction labourers to economically engage themselves in the agricultural lean season. In so far as the service sector is concerned, there are many Bodos in the army, police and other para-military forces. A reasonable number of educated Boros have also found employment in various public sector offices due to reservation policy. Many Bodo individuals have also occupied senior positions in the government. A section of the Bodos, though relatively small, have also entered into small - scale trade and commerce, some have become contractors and government suppliers.