January 2004
The Mathamma project undertaken by MICDA is one of the most ambitious projects ever taken up by any Asha chapter. Dr. Subbaramaiah is the main force behind MICDA. Since the issue at hand is complicated, I have given long and detailed descriptions where necessary. The focus of the project is two fold: to work with the Madiga community (an untouchable community, found predominantly in Andhra Pradesh) to eradicate the social practice of dedicating girl children to become Mathammas, comprehensive rehabilitation of existing Mathammas, and also simultaneously educating the community in various issues of community health, education, general awareness, social education etc. (For details see the detailed project description).
The project covers a vast area of 19 mandals in the Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh. The mandals are in the regions surrounding the towns of Puttur, Tirupathi, Renigunta and Kalahasthi. I went to Tirupathi directly by train, and was received in the station by Dr. Subbaramaiah and Chandrasekhar (one of the two co-ordinators of the Mathamma project itself). The way the project is organized has one trained social worker per mandal (19 in all) and two coordinators (one handling 9 mandals the other 10). Each mandal has about 30-40 villages, and about 20 villages in each mandal have significant Madiga community populations. These are the focus villages. Obviously it is almost impossible to cover all mandals in a site visit, so I managed to cover five mandals in all. We traveled in the only jeep that MICDA owned. As part of the Asha proposal, the coordinators (Chandrasekhar and Sachidananda Murthy) were provided motorbikes and each social worker got a TVS 50 moped. This is an absolutely essential expense, and traveling across the vast area is otherwise impossible. One of the redeeming features of the region (and most of Andhra) is that the roads are excellent, better than most other parts of India. Thus, almost all habitations are connected by good tar roads.
At first we visited some Madiga settlements around the large town of Renigunta. There exists a comprehensive government scheme for Mathamma rehabilitation (including soft loans, grants etc). Part of the proposal is to ensure that Mathammas are rehabilitated. We first visited a Mathamma (all girls dedicated to the Mathamma goddess (a form of Shakti or Parvati that the Madiga worship) are given the name ÒMathammaÓ and donÕt have any other names) who had been partly rehabilitated. She had stopped dancing at the annual ÒkolupuÓ (which MathammaÕs are required to do), and had just days before started a flower stall with the money the government gives (about Rs 20000). However, like almost all adult Mathammas, the problems were obvious. She had three children (to different fathers, since Mathammas are out of compulsion commercial sex workers). She was now living with a fourth man. This man was already married, but had abandoned his wife and children. They were living in poverty elsewhere (in the same village). Typically, such men would leave after one or two years. So the extent of the social problem is very vast, and affects not only the Mathammas but the entire community. I spoke to the oldest daughter of this Mathamma (studying in 7th). She is not a Mathamma, but her life is in a pathetic state. There also lies the high risk of her being pushed into prostitution after maturation, and this remains a scary part of the problem.
Typically, in almost all villages I visited, all communities other than Madiga stay in the main village, while the Madiga habitation is just outside the main village. Typically, all Madiga habitations are mainly huts, and often donÕt have electricity. Most Madiga habitations have borepumps for water. Invariably, poverty is extreme (see photograph section). However, they take extreme pains to build a beautiful and pukka Mathamma temple. In a village barely 4 km from Renigunta we found some extremely small children dedicated as Mathammas. Often the primary reason is lack of health awareness. For example, one Mathamma girl (just 3 years old) was mute and mentally retarded and had hormonal problems (she had a clearly enlarged thyroid gland). The Madiga community is extremely unaware of most issues. In this case, there is a huge hospital run by the Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam for mentally regarded girls (free of cost), and instead of taking the girl there (the highway is 3 km away, and Tirupathi has a bus every 5 minutes) the girl was dedicated to the goddess. Part of the proposal is for the social worker to ensure such things donÕt happen. On average each village has about half a dozen small children (under 6 years) as Mathammas, and a larger number of pre-teen, teenaged and adult Mathammas.
The two most heart-wrenching cases were in another village near Kalahasthi town. In one case, a sick 6-month old baby girl had been dedicated by her parents (so that she would be cured). In the other, a 6 week old premature and extremely sick baby had just been dedicated. The baby was born three weeks premature (see photos), and the mother was not breast-feeding, but was feeding boiled Murigakai (drumstick) juice to the baby on the advice of some quack. Given the fact that there is a well-equipped 100-bed hospital just a few km away at Kalahasthi, this was especially sad. In the same village we met another Mathamma (adult) who has one child. She is living with some man presently (similar to the first described case) who has similarly abandoned his wife and kids. Typically, I also found out that even though the Madiga families are extremely poor, they spend above Rs 12000 each for the annual kolupu (festival). Part of the proposal involves tacking this wasteful expense, but ensuring that the Madigas still can retain the devotion that they have to the Goddess (no demeaning of their beliefs), so that the families can retain some money for themselves! The villagers in most villages we visited were very resistant to change, saying this Mathamma dedication was essential to them and their culture. But Dr. Subbaramaiah was able to explain extremely well how this was damaging their community, while there were many wonderful things about their beliefs that they should strive to preserve (including the wonderful temples to Mathamma, and their simple devotion). We did however (in some villages) meet some small girls who had been dedicated as Mathammas, but were now not (example, a girl in 8th standard, now called Hemalatha) who were brought out of the practice by their parents (who had originally dedicated her!).
In another Madiga village near Kalahasthi, which was relatively more prosperous (pukka houses, electricity, some water), most children went to school. Most children were not dedicated. But the practice prevailed. There were a number of adult Mathammas. Most of them and more than one child (obviously fatherless) and were commercial sex workers. The fate of their children (especially girl children) seemed scary to me.
In another very remote village I visited (this one was somewhere between Puttur and Chennai), the situation was more extreme. This is typical of the more remote Madiga habitations. The village was extremely poor. Education levels were negligible. Here the girls dedicated as Mathammas were extremely sick. One had severe malaria (a common problem), the other jaundice after malaria. The local quacks had tried some ÒMantrasÓ and suchlike for cures. The interesting thing is that the quacks charge a huge sum, while the govt. hospitals are free.
Another clearly visible problem is due to the Mala community. The Malas are also untouchable, but have become very powerful (politically and economically) and suppress the Madiga the most. In most villages, the other caste Hindus were not the main problem, but Malas severely suppressed the Madigas. Malas have completely taken over the reservations that the Government has for SC/ST, and are also richer (relatively more Mala houses were pukka, Mala women had gold on them!, there was electricity and water access for them and so on). Educating the Madiga about their rights is part of the proposal.
We (Dr. Subbaramaiah and I) also had an extended discussion with all the 19 social workers and 2 coordinators. The workers all had strong educational backgrounds, and had been carefully screened. Dr. Subbaramaiah interviewed them personally, along with two friends of his from Tirupati University, who are professors there, working in WomenÕs issues and community development. Additionally, each worker was chosen from the Mandal he/she would represent itself (local). Also, though they were from all communities, the selection process was very sensitive. There were two Madiga workers (both seemed good, one (Narashimaiah) I spent considerable time with during visits to his Mandal). There were no Mala workers hired (though there were many applicants) due to the ongoing problems between the two communities. The way the workers were going to carry out the proposal was discussed in great detail. A major advantage is that Dr. Subbaramaiah is practicing at the Tirupathi Hospital/University, and knows all the doctors in government hospitals in the district. So maximizing the health aspect of this project would likely be most successful. The areas the workers had to focus on most were stressed on in detail, as well as the approach that could be taken best. However, after the survey/problem identification stage (first 3-4 months) it was clear that Dr. Subbaramaiah had to be totally involved in daily interactions, since only he had an absolute understanding of the community and the problem in its vastness, and the vision for it.
Issues: Three main problems recurring everywhere: 1) total lack of health awareness and belief in local quacks, 2) very pathetic economic condition, 3) very low education and literacy. This directly leads to extreme superstition.
One unique problem: bad NGOÕs causing damage. A couple of NGOs (very well funded) were actively encouraging the Mathamma practice in the guise of eradicating it, so that they could use the new Mathammas to get government money. So they were spreading misinformation, and so there is a further urgency in the project.
Summary: Project approach (and some of my suggestions as well, for measurable results):
1) Carry out a comprehensive survey of each Madiga village in each mandal (responsibility of each social worker).
2) Identify issues and prioritize them (different in each mandal). For example in one mandal it would be health awareness and access to the local hospitals, in another it would be availing pensions and other government schemes, in one it would be education, in another it would be community rights and habitation level problems (like the right to use the cremation grounds). This survey/problem identification should be very rigorously carried out, and each worker needs to know his/her Mandal.
3) Educate the community about the available resources, and avail of the government facilities (often the other Mala community prevents the Madiga from using any of these facilities).
4) Emphatic effort on health issues
5) Ensure that the children were taken to health centers for vaccinations etc
6) Family planning for the adult Mathammas (who are sex workers)
7) Potentially work on starting self help groups in the community women (especially Mathamma)
8) Try to bring Mathammas out of the sex trade, and fully use the resources allocated in the budget for mainstreaming of Mathammas & marriages etc.
This is an ambitious proposal that Asha has taken up. However the socio-economic impact is huge, far bigger than almost any other project. Dr. Subbaramaiah is an exceptional person with an amazing life story. He is vastly experienced in working with the landless community (especially Madiga), having spent a lifetime since his college days 20 years ago fighting for their rights. The team he has put together seems excellent. The project has the potential to have a significant impact over the proposed two years. Having said that, if the workers donÕt work hard and are not closely monitored, the efforts can go waste easily. We will have to work closely with the group to maximize its success.