VIGILANCIA Y CONTROL SANITARIO

Critics of this position argue that women are not an undifferentiated category and that their relation with the environment does not originate from biology alone (Rocheleu et al, 1996). Rather it is a relationship contingent upon social and material bases of the societal processes (Agarwal 2000, Agarwal 1992). Restriction of choices for women regarding the nature of work undertaken within the current social and political system is also responsible for how women are related to the environment (Jackson 1993). Role of caste, class, and social position become decisive factors in determining attitudes towards the environment (Agarwal 1991; Hobley 1991). Jackson (1993) underlines various other determining factors such as environmental knowledge, property relations (common property rights and individual property rights), mobility and autonomy in society and social spaces, intra-household relations and dynamics. Such positions become major determinants in the participation level of women in environmental issues.

Such examples show that women do not naturally participate or take up environment protection activities. The relation between women and the environment can best be said to be contextual and results in different contexts can be opposing. Gould (1994) in a study in Kenya found the area to be affected by high levels of out-migration by the male population and females dependent on the environment tend to conserve it. The social factor of migration of men led women to become managers and hence conservators of the environment. However, opposite results are found in the work of Eele et al (1992) on environmental management concerning gender in Tanzania where men were more protective towards the environment.

The literature indicates that the relationship between women and the environment is not a natural one but enforced on women under various socio-economic and political situations. All these situations take shape within the larger structures that have institutionalized gender inequality that bind women to particular activities, and leave them with constrained choices. Also, not all categories of women are related to or are conscious of the environment.

The groups which are more conscious and dependent on the environment usually belong to rural areas and lower-income communities and are more adversely affected by environmental degradation both in their daily life and economic activities.

The relation between women and the environment is socially and economically determined. However, their capacity to manage and take care of environmental issues is highly restricted by the unequal position that is ascribed to women. Women’s absence from decision-making process has been noted by different authors (Agarwal 2000; Denton 2002). Denton (2002:12) brings to light this fact through the example of climate change negotiations which, she argued, continued to perpetuate the ‘undervaluation and misunderstanding of women’s contribution to environmental management’. The inclusion of women in mainstream policymaking continues to be very low. Lack of agency hence becomes a crucial issue that inhibits decisive action on part of the women, even when they are closely related to the environment in specific cases.

This understanding of the dynamics of the relationship of women with the environment is very important as it forms the basis of social work practice in the realm of the environment. It will help to understand the factors that lead women becoming central figures for protection of the environment, and how their position can be strengthened to involve them in leadership and decision making in association with the state as well as non-governmental organizations. The following section engages with the case study where women are seen as active participants in the environment conservation process. Drawing from the case studies, the paper will analyze the factors which facilitate or inhibit women in their efforts.

Women Organization, Participation, and Mobilization: Case Study in Gairsain (Uttarakhand)

In the previous section, it became clear that the relationship that women share with the environment is contextual and contingent upon various factors. The case study in this section will explore some of the factors that give rise

to this relationship in a local scenario. Also, it will explore the organization of women and strategies developed by them to conserve the environment. Gairsain block lies in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand and is situated in the Garhwal region. The block consists of 90 gram panchayats. The study was conducted in three villages (Gwartalla, Dhargarh, and Saregwar) where women were known to be active in issues related to forest and environmental conservation. Information was collected from females who were part of women’s groups who participate in the management of environmental resources. Discussions were held with 60 women through the help of semi- structured interview guides. Interviews were also conducted with four staff members of a local organization which has been active in the region and one government official.

Women and Environment: Local Determinants of the Relationship

The women in the selected villages share a significant relationship with the environment. However, as has been mentioned earlier, this relationship is constructed due to economic reasons. The villages have faced a high rate of out-migration of the males to neighboring towns and cities in search of wage employment, joining armed forces and other economic activities. When one or the other person of a family has migrated, it creates a viable condition for other members to move out. Females, especially the ones from the older generation are left behind in the villages. Young girls from some families move out for studies to neighboring areas that offer higher education facilities. Married women who come to the villages settle down only if their husbands are unable to take them along. In various cases, daughters-in-law will reside in the villages only during the initial years of marriage and child-birth. As soon as the child attains the age of getting an education, the family migrates to where the male of the family is placed. Such categories of females share a marginal relationship with the environment once they move out.

The main occupation in the villages remains agriculture. However, since most of the agriculture is for subsistence, not much can be used for profit

generation. Hence, very few men continue the work of cultivation of land. They get more involved in commercial activities and open small shops in the market catering to different kinds of needs. Females are also involved in commercial activities. Some of the females have opened up shops for tailoring, beauty-parlor, stationery, etc.

Despite the development of a parallel economy in the villages, the involvement of women in traditional work continues. Since most of the men are involved in commercial activities, the burden of agriculture and cattle rearing activities falls on the shoulders of women. Milk production and dairy-related activities also form an important part of the village economy. Just like gendered division of labor in other aspects, in this context too it can be seen that while men will be involved in market-related dimension of milk production like sale of the product, the upkeep and care of the cattle largely remains the work of the females.

It has been suggested that many of the women and girls move out of the area, either with family or for education. Others may be involved in non-agricultural activities. At the same time, another section of women is fully involved in agricultural activities. Nevertheless, despite the nature of economic activity in which women may be involved, the day to day subsistence activities which women are required to perform creates their strong dependence on the environmental resources. If we look at the second category of women who take up commercial activities, they too, in performing the household activities are dependent on environmental resources. The role of women in the context of environmental conservation, hence, emerges mainly due to their material relationship with the environment. The communities are situated in forests and many of the daily needs are fulfilled through forest resources.

A typical day for a woman in the village begins at four o’clock in the morning when they go to the forests for collection of fire-woods. The availability of LPG gas cylinders has reduced the dependence on firewood for cooking purposes but its usage has not been discarded completely. The price of a refill of gas could be a deterrent. Fire-woods are most importantly required for heating purposes during the months of winter, due to the absence of

other heating means.

Women are largely involved in dairy-related activities leading to cattle rearing becoming their prime responsibility. Like firewood, grass for feeding the cattle, dried pine leaves to lay down in the cattle sheds for them to sit is also collected by women. While all the houses have water pipe connections provided by the government, the source of water lies in the Oak forests in the region. The oak forests are deemed crucial in maintaining soil moisture and underground water levels after rain. Water being the mainstay of any household, women highlighted the importance of Oak forests for groundwater maintenance and their conservation for the entire village.

Given the nature of the relationship that the women in these villages shared with the environment, they reported that it was only obvious that harm to the environment and resource depletion hit them the most. Regarding the natural relationship between women and the environment, the respondents suggested that it depended on how connected the women were for their needs to the environmental resources, most importantly forests in this region.

Negotiating the Structure: Local Organization and Micro-planning

Use does not equal to management (Jackson, 1993) and management of resources also means decision making around them. In the present case, women in the three villages have fought through the years to negotiate their way through this structure. Women in all three villages were highly conscious of the issues of the environment in which they lived. Their knowledge of their environment was evident when they talked about issues ranging from woods, water, forest fire, natural disasters and proper manner of construction of houses that needed to be carried out to minimize the impacts of the disasters. It was found that women of each village had organized themselves into groups called mahilamangal dal. This was done with the help of an NGO named Sri Bhuvaneshwari Mahila Ashram (SBMA) which has been working in different areas of the block since 1996. While the group was initiated due to the efforts of the NGO staff, the groups function autonomously, although the NGO staff also participate in the meetings.

Women from every household are members of the mahilamangal dal. Meetings are held once every month where at least one member from each household has to be present. Absence is allowed only with prior information; otherwise, the household which does not participate is fined. Although the amount of fine is very less, the sense of responsibility and ownership that had developed over various years regarding the issues of the village contributes towards regular participation in the meetings. The groups take up different concerns of the village in the matters of women, children, education and other domains. It was reported that each mahilamangal dal creates its own set of rules or niyamavali which is followed by the members. Violation of rules is punished by the groups.

The respondents reported that the group has strengthened their position in the community. In terms of decision making or negotiations (be it with men of the community, with the government officials, or within the family), regular participation in the activities of the group and participation in decision making has brought the women a long way. Older members of the groups recounted the difficulty which the groups faced in the initial periods of formation. The sustenance of groups also took time. Women also faced opposition from the male members of their families regarding going to meetings, expressing views, or taking initiatives in collective activities. It was also difficult to convince women to take out time from their daily chores which already were very demanding. However, after years of continuous efforts, the groups became fully functional and are today one of the mainstays in the community organization process in the villages.

In matters of environment, this group provided one of the most crucial platforms for organization. With time, as the group strengthened, various issues were taken up as matters of discussion. Since the environment was one of the most crucial dimensions of the village and as women were mainly affected by the degradation of resources, environment in general and specially protection of forests became central to the activities of the

mahilamangal dals. Since every household has members who go to the mountainous forests for collection of woods, leaves, and food for cattle, the importance of protection of resources is very well understood. One of the

respondents told that some years back when there was no strong activity in terms of environment, continuous and unregulated usage of forest resources had led to a high level of degradation. It was then that the women’s group started thinking seriously about environment protection measures.

Mahilamangal dals have been crucial forces in negotiating with the van panchayats. Each gram panchayat consists of a van panchayat. Members of the van panchayats are elected every five years and the head is called

sarpanch. Each van panchayat formulates its rules and regulations regarding the usage of forest resources. Provision exists for 50% reservation for women; however, the actual participation of women has only increased in recent years. The hesitation of women to participate publicly in any political process had proved to be a deterrent to female participation in van panchayats. Also, males of the villages were not very welcoming to the participation of women. However, due to the involvement of women in the mahilamangal dals, women have learnt to identify and discuss issues, create opinions and look for suitable remedies that can be carried out. Even when women are not adequately represented in these villages in the van panchayats, the members of mahilamangal dalscan pressurize the members of van panchayats and have a better say in the formulation of rules regarding forest usage. The women’s group in each village has formulated rules regarding the protection of forests. Only a part of the forests is opened at a time for usage. Any part of the forest is open to usage by the village community only once in three years. Villagers appoint a chowkidar or watchman who announces which part of the forest is open and also keeps a watch on the forests to prevent unauthorized usage. The villagers pay the watchman in crops. No green tree is to be cut down; only twigs and woods fallen on the ground are to be collected. Leaves can only be collected from the lower parts of the trees. Rules have also been formulated regarding the amount of usage, too. Each family can go to collect resources only once in three days or on alternate days, whatever the groups decided. This has led to the controlled usage of resources. Another method that has been developed by the women is that they declare certain days to be dedicated to forest deities or other sacred

elements related to the village. In those days, no resources are to be collected from the forests. The women reported that such rules have larger impact than imposing fines.

In case a villager enters the closed areas, they are fined if caught. To keep an eye on the violations, the respondents said that the watchman is not enough as he cannot look out for the whole forest. So, women form groups of 4-5 in turns to keep an eye for exploitative usages. Violations occur both on part of the people within the village as well as outside the village. Women from other villages were also caught at times stealing wood from the area demarcated for one van panchayat. They are fined when caught. Women from within the villages also at times are caught bringing green parts of the trees. Since the village is a small community, the violators are easily identified and in the next meeting that is held with the mahilamangal dal, the violator is fined and publicly warned.

The women’s groups are alert and very active in the instances of forest fires. Once the area of the fire is located, the word spreads among women. Although the men also participate to control forest fire, the primary response comes from the women. The ground around the area of the fire is dug 6ft deep and dried leaves cleared from the area so that the fire does not spread further. While it is not possible to put off the fire in forests, its spread is controlled actively. The women were also involved by the state government in its Hariyali program where saplings are distributed to the villagers for plantation under the afforestation drive. However, the women reported that the program is not always a success due to the lack of proper management and monitoring. While women at the level of village meetings come up with alternatives, they said that at the upper levels of the government structure, dominance of males and their decisions prevailed. Hence, while at the level of village and van panchayats, the women were able to assert their voice, at the upper levels of government structure, they continued to lack influence. Another issue that surfaced during discussions in Dhaargarh village was that the village had recently been included in nagar panchayat. The women said that initially when they were a part of the gram panchayat, women got

a lot of opportunities to work which included environmental activities like construction of check-dams. The availability of work under MNREGA had also helped better the economic position of women, thus improving the bargaining capacity with the males. However, after being included in the nagar panchayat, the availability of such work opportunities reduced for women.

The Block Development Officer of the area was also interviewed for the purpose. He said that there were various government programs related to the environment where initiatives were taken for greater involvement of the women from the villages. Such activities included programs on afforestation, water conservation, forest protection, small scale irrigation, plantation, gardening, land improvement, and flood control. However, he noted that the participation of women varied in different areas. High levels of participation were attributed to intense community mobilization, and continuation of