Scientists,babus debate how technology can uplift Little Rann salt pan workers

Scientists said these patented processes can transform the sulphate-deficient salt found in the Little Rann of Kutch into a high quality industrial grade salt. In effect,this means that salt from the Rann,which till now has been used only for edible purposes,can be sold to chlor-alkali industries,giving the agariyas better income,they said.

V P Mohandas,a CSMCRI scientist,explained how prior experiments funded by the Industries Commissionerate and assisted by SEWA showed this could be done. The challenge now is to find the best way to implement it,Mohandas said,himself favouring cluster implementation of the processes.

Nimisha Shukla from Gujarat Vidyapith has been tasked with analysing whether this would be technologically and economically viable,he said.

The workshop,however,discussed more than technology,since the augmentation of the community’s livelihood is the main aim of the project. It tried to factor things like education for the children of the agariyas,better healthcare for the community,and how the Wild Ass Sanctuary is usurping the agariyas from their traditional abode.

Vinay Mahajan,an agricultural engineer and an alumnus of IIM-Ahmedabad said,government studies have shown three quarters of agariyas suffer from several occupational ailments and earn barely Rs 35 per day.

Additional Industries Commissioner H D Shrimali mentioned government-backed initiatives like the use of bamboo windmills developed by two Assamese innovators and the CSMCRI exercise,while another official urged delegates to apprise the government with their findings so that more workable schemes can be developed.

“One of the main problems of agariyas is that they are unable to make full use of government schemes,” said Varesh Sinha,Director-general of MGLI,who also heads the state Labour Department,referring to both the migratory nature of the agariyas’ work and the low level of education in the community.

Bharat Somera,field coordinator for the Agariya Heetrakshak Sangh in Mithagoda taluka,Surendranagar,said the community is chipping in Rs 50 to Rs 100 per family to set up a school in Rann for the 2,000-odd children,who stay with their parents from September to March each year,and so cannot attend the normal village schools. A school run by an NGO in Rann had closed down two years ago,he added.