Poverty and Deprivation among the Katkari

This article examines evidence for poverty and deprivation amongst the Katkaris, a Scheduled Tribe, in hamlets in Jahwar and Mokhada talukas of Palghar district, Maharashtra. It analyses how Katkaris are trapped in a vicious cycle of social, educational, and economic backwardness.

This article is based upon an unpublished background note submitted for the Maharashtra Human Development Report 2012 (Government of Maharashtra 2014).

The author gratefully acknowledges comments and suggestions from an annonymous referee.

The Scheduled Tribes (STs) of India are known to be among the most deprived social groups in the country, across a range of socio-economic indicators. However, there are variations across ethnic groups even within the ST category with the most deprived among them being identified as “particularly vulnerable tribal groups” by the government.

The Katkari tribal group is categorised as a particularly vulnerable tribal group in Maharashtra. As per the 2011 Census, they have the lowest literacy rate (41.7%) and the lowest proportion of cultivators (around 5%) among all the tribal groups in the state (TISS 2015). This article profiles the deprivation in this tribal group, based on a field study in a Katkari hamlet in Jawhar taluka, Palghar district. The purpose of the field study was to examine evidence for disparities between three ethnic groups within the ST category (Katkari, Ka Thakur and Kokna) and understand the dimensions of these disparities (Mutatkar 2010). The article also includes selected observations from field visits to Katkari hamlets in Jawhar and Mokhada talukas in Palghar district between July and September 2014. These visits were carried out as part of a pilot study on childhood poverty among STs.