Socio-Economic Condition of Musahar Community A Case Study of Hattimuda VDC (Morang District)

Abstract

Nepal is consists with villages where most of the people live in rural area. It is a country of multi-lingual, multi-ethnic and multi religious society. One hundred and three casts/ethnic groups live through out the country. Among them Musahar is one of the small ethnic group of Nepal. Musahar are those people who have been almost isolated and neglected by the government. Musahar are basically agricultural daily waged labour. They are less scudied ethnic groups of Nepal and are inhabitants of terai and inner terai. The settlement of Musahar in Hattimuda, Morang district is in considerable number with comparison to the other districts. As seen by the study, the Musahar’s socio-economic condition in Hattimuda has found as illiterate, oppressed and backward. They have adopted different professions like agricultural. Labour, carpentry, clearer, factory labour and vivid daily waged/labour. From the ancient period they developed their own customs, arts, morals, beliefs and socio-economic institutions. The general objective of the study “Socio-economic Condition of Musahar Community; A Study of Hattimuda VDC” is to analyze the socio-economic condition of Musahar of Hattimuda VDC of Morang district. The specific objectives of study are to describe the socio cultural practices of Musahar to explore the economic condition of Musahar in the study area and to trace out the factors of socio cultural and economic changes of Musahar community. Primary and secondary data were used for the study. Primary data were collected through interview, key informant survey and observation method in the field and secondary data were collected from VDC office, private agencies, government offices, and various published and unpublished report. Among the total 26 household are selected following proposive sampling method and descriptive cum exploratory research design had been applied in the study. The Musahars stated to observe Hindu festivals such as Dahain and Tehar with given more priority rather than their own festivals such as “Falgu” and “Shankranties”. The way of worshiping their village deities, believe in spirits, typical dresses pattern, and cluster types of settlements pattern distinctly differ from other ethnic groups. On the one hand due to the domination from high class castes and “Pahadiyas” Musahar are losing their native cloture. Philosophy of life style, self confidence about their own traditions, language and beliefs, and on the other hand; due to the influence of “Phadiyas” and other high casts some significant changes are seen in education, health sector, sanitations, economic activities and way of life style of Musahar community in Hattimuda VDC. Based upon the findings the paper suggests some recommendations to increase socio-economic condition of Musahar in Hattimuda VDC. It mainly highlights for the low literacy rate of Musahar people so there should be special trend in incentive to the children of this tribe for education. They were not trained in any vocational guidance so proper training for mobilization of internal resources in required.