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Arora

3.1.5. Health
In this study, “Health” is an outlier value since its parameters have not changed in the past two decades. The health value is
concerned with the natural and social ecosystems in which Raikas operate, such as water, air, lifestyle, access to welfare,
and infrastructure. Many respondents alluded to the fact that a rural lifestyle leads to better health outcomes. They pointed
to the availability of better quality of air, food, housing, and overall lifestyle in villages. This indicates that the health
value has remained aligned with their traditional lifestyle. Despite the admitted benefits, Raikas want their children to
move to urban areas.
“The air in rural areas is fresh. The city has stale air. I was in Mumbai for 18 years, and I had to switch the fan on
during the day. When I go to the jungle, I don’t need a fan.” (35-year-old pastoralist, who was keen to send his kids to the
city despite health challenges there)
Thus, it can be surmised that the Raikas are willing to deprioritize the health value.
3.2. Multidimensional Vulnerabilities

This study contends that Raikas face multidimensional vulnerabilities that have their roots in the distribution and access
to resources, information, and power. They reside in the outskirts of rural areas, away from the benefits of mainstream
resources. Furthermore, their low-caste and ethnic status renders them unable to meaningfully participate in the governance
processes. As a result, they are unable to put their interests and concerns in the public domain. Their financial capital
has diminished with the marginalization of pastoralism and the breakdown of cooperative relationships with farmers.
Environmental change is an additional strain on the already stressed sector. Rainfall variability and water scarcity cause a
multiplier effect that pushes them beyond their adaptive capacity.
3.2.1. Government schemes, programs, and policies
Over the past two decades, the Raika community has faced a severe shortage of grazing land for their livestock (Geerlings,
2004). All the respondents that maintain livestock highlight this as the main threat to their livelihood. Conventionally,
villages had common grazing land known as gauchar, and patches of jungle known as oran, reserved in the name of
deities. These were open for cattle grazing. The Rajasthan Tenancy Act and the Allotment of Land for Agricultural
Purposes Rules protected village lands from being turned into private agricultural land (Land Revenue Portal, n.d.).
However, these commons have become increasingly diverted for other purposes (Geerlings, 2004; Sansthan, 2004). In the
1970s, the national government introduced a new forestry bill that allowed the local village council, called panchayat, to
fence off common lands to improve vegetation cover. The resultant inability to find pasture directly affects the health of
the livestock and has financial implications for the Raikas. During this study’s fieldwork in June 2019, local newspapers
reported a new bill by the State Government that would cordon off forest areas into the protected territory. It would make
Kumbhalgarh Forest Area, a 562-sq. km. reserved forest, inaccessible for cattle grazing.
“If they stop us from the jungles and make it a national park, that’s the end of us. We will have to beg for our food.”
(35-year-old pastoralist)
On June 30, 2014, the Government of Rajasthan designated camel as the state animal. The Rajasthan Bovine Animal
(Prohibition of Slaughter and Regulation of Temporary Migration or Exports of the Camels) Bill 2014 was introduced
to preserve the dwindling camel population, and to prevent the smuggling and migration of camels (Deccan Herald,
2014; Press Trust of India, 2014). With the Governor’s assent, the act introduced severe punishment for selling camels
for slaughter, for taking them outside the state, for castrating them, and even for using the nose peg (Köhler-Rollefson,
2015). The unintended consequence and faulty implementation of this legislation meant that it put a question mark on the
citizen’s right to rear and migrate camels – a routine activity of the Raikas. It impinged directly on their primary source
of livelihood.
3.2.2. Biophysical factors

In the context of biophysical factors, the majority of the respondents pointed to the problem of low rainfall and water
scarcity. Their perception was that the rainfall has decreased in the past two decades. They also point out that river Luni
has dried up. The ramification of this situation is that the Raikas have had to search for other water sources for their
livestock. This entails a variety of decisions, ranging from longer and farther migration to livestock reduction. Their
observation is corroborated by Singh and Kumar’s study (2015), which shows a 50 mm decrease in rainfall over the past
30 years in Western Rajasthan. The Raikas posit that low rainfall leads to low grass cover, which links directly to the
unavailability of cattle fodder. This shortage of fodder would then decrease the productivity of livestock and impact them

International Journal of Population Studies | 2020, Volume 6, Issue 1 61