Reading the Women Entrepreneurs of the Northeast

SYEDA SEMIM ZAHAN

Not much focus has been given to the role of women as an income generating community, both in social science research as well as in policy making. Very often an ambiguous portrait of them is created in anthropological and feminist literature. Such literature is mainly preoccupied with the impending doom that awaits matrilineal societies under the impact of globalization, and not with the more important issues of latent gender biases that operate in a matrilineal kinship system.

In Gender, Matriliny, and Entrepreneurship: The Khasis of North-East India, the author, Tiplut Nongbri, discusses the economic activities of the Khasi women, a matrilineal tribe in the northeastern India. The author tries to show how even in matrilineal systems women are actually treated as one rung lower in the social ladder in relation to men. The main thrust of the book is on why the women entrepreneurs stagnate or fail after a slight amount of initial success.

In any society, the role of a woman is limited to that of child bearing and looking after the household services which go largely unpaid. Social control is exercised and major decisions are taken by the male members of the family in the role of father or husband. In a matrilineal society it is the brother or the mother’s brother who plays the role similar to that of a father or husband in a patriarchal system. In matriliny the right of descent falls on the mother. So in the absence of her husband after a separation or death she has to bear the burden of raising her children almost alone or with the help of her female friends and relatives. Though the brother of the particular woman is respon-sible for taking care of his sister and her children, he is often away at his wife’s place. Although Khasi women have rights over their children, this does not necessarily mean possessing authority. Though the khadduh or the youngest daughter is entrusted with the family property she is bound to listen to her mother’s brother when it comes to making a decision. She is also responsible for looking after her ageing parents; adhering to a high moral code of conduct and is supposed to be the bearer of her tradition. On the other hand, the elder daughters have to depend entirely on her husband as there is no financial support from her family while her husband has to share his energy between his wife and sister.

The author states that colonial records do not mention specifically of women being involved in the production process and revenue generation, but only their participation. According to Gurdon’s The Khasis (1907 and 1975) women were mostly active in weaving, working as construction labourers and coolies. Khasi historian, Hamlet Bareh (1967) credits a Khasi woman for bringing the craft of iron smelting from the North Cachar Hills of Assam to the Khasi Hills via the Jaintia Hills. The author says that women entered trade at a time when there were no opportunities for education or employment. The absence of statistics on business women leaves the author to rely on folklore. According to such lore, after the earthquake of 1897 women were forced to take up trade to look after their family at the death of their husbands. They end up doing unskilled labours as construction workers, etc. Traditionally, men’s pre-occupation with wars and feuds against other tribes and the colonial settlers also forced women to work.

The partition of the country in 1947 and the severance of Sylhet from Assam had far reaching impact on the economy of the Khasi and Jaintia hills. The families which were earlier dependent on agriculture and horticultural activities and were trading with East Bengal suddenly had to stop when the borders were closed and turned to trade and commerce.

With the creation of Meghalaya into a separate state in 1972, there started another process of development. Construction of buildings for administrative and residential purposes began and many tried their hands at contracts, which include some women. The establishment of North Eastern Council (NEC) and Meghalaya Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) facilitated employment and entrepreneurial opportunities. The MIDC provided loans to women. The loans were, however, small and the authorities guided by traditional biases against women who are considered capable of doing only jobs like tailoring, knitting, baking, etc.

The author in her field study at Iweduh, the biggest retail market in the state, finds highest concentration of traders in the age group of 50 to 59 years. Pavement sellers are mostly concentrated in the lower age groups. The small scale retailers are illiterate, landless and often victims of displacement due to government projects, for example, the construction of the Umtrew Dam. Unlike these women who work for subsistence, the middle level traders have enough resources to invest in their business. But they too face stiff competition from capitalist merchants. The big traders are engaged in wholesale trade and commerce. Though the bulk of the women traders constitute of poor illiterate women, a small minority has succeeded in gaining control over the production and distribution of wholesale goods. Some of them spend the profit from trade in variety of non-trading activities. In rural areas some have started jeep and bus services, while some have invested in real estate and agricultural ventures such as share cropping and money lending to poor farmers. Two cases of successful women enterpreneurs in dry fish and fruit supply have been highlighted.

Many women have to take up trade in case of a separation or death. Since it is a matrilineal society, in case of the death of any of the parents, the children would continue to live with their maternal grandmother while the husband would remarry or stay with his own parents. In the author’s sample, half of the women’s homes are run by a single woman, either widowed or divorced. Women are also quick to extend support to their kin. That is why some household consist not only of the immediate family, but distant relatives, too.

However, trade is increasingly becoming a risky venture for women, especially for the poor subsistence level women traders. Conflict in the region is making the market place hostile to women. Frequent closures and strikes by ethnic rebel groups who are demanding the ouster of the non-tribal traders have caused great damage to the petty women traders. Sometimes, women themselves internalise the male biases that they lack certain skills to rise in trade. Many women lack proper education which causes hurdles when it comes to dealing with government officials and schemes. Adoption of middle class values of wanting to become a government servant or marry into a well settled family instead of joining the family business, corruption in the bureaucracy, lack of proper communication facilities, poor marketing structures, technological backwardness, lack of proper credit facilities, etc. are other hurdles that are preventing women from making headways into the realm of trade. The author has acknowledged the role of NGOs, Self Help Groups and some local women’s organizations in providing women the much needed help and support.

The book provides some insight into the plight of women of the region and their undying spirit of struggle amidst plethora of problems inflicting the North East. The book is an easy read and meant for anyone interested in the affairs of the region.