Reports responses to interviews conducted in three rural villages in Eastern India in January 2000 as well as replies to questions asked at a forest meeting in West Bengal of groups/persons interested in rural women and development. The questions were designed to provide information on gender-bias and possible reasons for it, especially any economic reasons. These interviews supplemented detailed questionnaires directed to wives in these villages. Interviews were conducted with Kondhs in a village (Badala) west of Dashapalla in Orissa, with Santals in an all Santal village, (Bandhgora) in the Midnapore region of West Bengal and with Santals and scheduled caste Hindus in a mixed village, (Sadanandapur) in the same region. The results highlight significant... |