WEST BENGAL-CPI(M)s Review of Lok Sabha Elections

division of the old Gaya district, are still subject to acute feudal exploitation. They cannot sit on the cot before the landlords and their henchmen, They have to pay respect not only to their landlord masters but to the latter's toughs as well. Growing a moustache and wearing washed clothes or shoes are considered crimes. Physical exploitation, humiliation and assault of Harijan women are routine affairs. Harijans constitute 30 per cent of the population of the district. Nearly 50 per cent of the people are landless, while 80 per cent of the land is owned by a mere 5 per cent. The remaining 20 per cent land is the primary source of livelihood for 45 per cent of the population. The present wage for a day's work is Rs 4 or 2 to 3 kg of grain, usually coarse grain. But landlords cheat the labourers in paying even these wages which are less than half the prescribed minimum wages. They do so through fake weighing. The poor remain in debt for long periods and some for generations. So they are forced to work for the landlords as bonded or attached labour.