: It was small savings that averted a big crisis caused by demonetisation for the Raj Gond and Pardhan Adivasi women at the Nagoba jatara, the grand annual tribal gathering at Keslapur in Adilabad district of Telangana.
Money boxes brimming with a year’s savings of the tribeswomen from Adilabad and its neighbouring districts made it possible to maintain liquidity at the Nagoba fair. Regular savings in lower denomination currency ensured that they were not affected adversely by demonetisation.
“We had saved 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 rupee notes. We save money all through the year to spend at the jatara,” said Mesram Laxmibai of Keslapur village in Indervelli mandal. Thrift is among simple ways of life.
“We even lent smaller denomination notes to our men,” points out Mesram Indutai of Narsapur village in Utnoor mandal, dropping a ₹10 note on a piece of cloth extended by a Pardhan elder.
“We did all our shopping [usually for domestic items] by paying in ₹100 notes,” she adds.
“Yes, business here has not been affected by demonetisation,” said Dipak Singh Shekhawat, owner of a hotel at the venue. “There is absolutely no dearth of smaller denomination notes, as was the case at the Penganga event.” The annual Penganga jatara concluded about 15 days ago.
“Yesterday being the day of the darbar, my collection was as high as it used to be in the past. But at Penganga, the daily sales of about ₹25,000 fell by half,” Mr. Shekhawat recalled. The economics of the jatara indicate that Adivasi women are better organised than their non-tribal counterparts.
Raj Gond and Pardhan women carry smaller denomination notes for rituals at several places along the jatara. They offer money at the Nagoba temple every time they visit it over the four days of their stay after the maha pooja is performed.
