It was a system which, on the one hand, forced its members to share natural resources and on the other created the right social milieu in which sustainable patterns of resource use were encouraged to emerge. How has India’s caste system, so elaborate - an estimated 40,000 castes -rigid, hereditarily determined, hierarchical and oppressive a social structure lasted for so many centuries? Madhav Gadgil, an ecologist, and anthropologist Kailash Malhotra feel that the answer probably lies in the discipline that the caste system brought to the use of natural resources. The question has troubled sociologists for years. Their 12-year study documents how the pastoral and nomadic castes developed traditions of prudence in the use of resources and how resource depletion and environment degradation marginalised several communities.Īt a time when social tensions are on the rise with people fighting over scarce natural resources, it is important to remember how the caste system taught ‘genuine cultural adjustment’ and sustainable and shared patterns of resource-use over centuries. Madhav Gadgil, an ecologist, and anthropologist Kailash Malhotra trace the history of India’s caste system that had enforced discipline in the use of natural resources and played a crucial role in preserving India’s natural riches.
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