Abstract
The pastoral Gaddi tribes of Himachal Pradesh were studied in four blocks of Kangara district. As many as 93% of the households in the sample had access to piped drinking water, 92% had electricity, and more than 90% were connected by roads. TV sets, newspapers and telephones were largely found in well to do families. The male literacy rate was found to be 80% and the female literacy rate, 63%. Women of this community are highly empowered; they express themselves freely, and 90% spend money or go to receive health services without the permission of their men folk. Only 9% of the households were landless. 63.5% were marginal holders. Though size of holdings is small, it was found to promote food security. It was also found that sub tribes like the Gaddi Rajputs, Gaddi Kapoors and Gaddi Bhatts had larger holdings than other sub tribes, notably Gaddi SCs. Likewise poverty was found to be higher among the SC Gaddis as compared to the non SC Gaddis.
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