Cyclic droughts in Marathwada fuels underage ‘gate-cane’ marriages

Sugarcane industry and cyclic droughts are aggravating early-age marriages in Marathwada, a research revealed. 

The region in Maharashtra is historically prone to drought due to recurring dry spells, loss of livelihoods, which often results in mass migration of locals as sugarcane cutters in the various parts of the state. 

A research paper Gate-Cane: (Un)tying the knots between climate, cane, and early marriage in rural India published in March revealed how drought years have increased child marriages and pushed farm labourers to become sugarcane cutters due to distress as a climate adaptation strategy. 

‘Gate-cane wedding’ is a term used across villages which have high number of villagers migrating as sugarcane cutters. The practice evolved after the drought of 1972, termed as the worst for the region. The gate-cane weddings are shortcut weddings that are fixed and solemnised within hours or a couple of days followed by peak drought months. 

These weddings have no printed invitation or wedding tent or any wedding procession or band. They have minimal guests and the food is usually cooked at home.

These quick-fix weddings occur before or during the post-harvest season. The wedding pattern evolved on the hiring practices followed in the labour-intensive sugarcane industry. Earlier dominated by males, the drought conditions in 1972 pushed women to enter the domain, the study found.

The contractor who recruits the labourers usually prefers a married couple known as koyta or a sickle. They earn Rs 250-320 for very tonne of sugarcane cut. With the wedding, the adolescent girl becomes a wife, helping in domestic chores without getting paid and a labourer or worker supporting her husband. 

The contractor usually lures the couple or pushes the community into the practice by offering advance up to Rs 1 lakh for a harvest season that lasts about six months. 

While the surplus amount helps the family to repay loans or use it for personal or other expenses, it binds them into debt or bondages until the money is recovered. If the debt remains unpaid due to lack of harvest or poor yield, the family is then forced to enter the vicious cycle by bringing other family members into the gate-cane.

According to the National Family Health Survey (2019-21), about 43 per cent of the women across the region recorded underage marriages.

“It is crucial to note that Marathwada’s rate of underage marriage is almost two-fold of the state with 22 per cent. In severely drought affected regions and districts with high migration, underage marriages are reported to be 51.3 per cent in Beed, 49.9 per cent in Jalna, 44.5 per cent in Parbhani during the NFHS-4 (2015-16),” said Reetika Revathy Subramanian, a PhD student at the Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.

Subramanian said that during the 2010s, when the region witnessed a series of droughts, early marriages increased by 20 per cent. This was directly linked with extreme water scarcity and need to migrate for survival.

The region saw drought in 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2018. From 2019 to 2022, the region also experienced untimely rains and hailstorms during harvest or crucial growth times of crops, leading to heavy losses for farmers.

Establishing the link between the drought years and progress of sugarcane industry in the drought region, the research observed, “Sugarcane production has grown seven-fold in the last five decades, going from an average of 11 million tonnes in the 1960s to 75 million tonnes in the 2010s.”

Various socio-economic dynamics are at play for such weddings, research showed. These include caste, number of daughters, dowry, debt, access to groundwater, land ownership and relationship between wife-takers and givers.

To reduce expenses of marriages, get away with dowry, delay dowry and repay loans, the marriage became a means of adaptation. 

Subramanian said that research shows that it is a practice observed in other parts of India and world such as Pakistan and Africa, where marrying off a minor daughter during climate change and disaster means one less mouth to feed. 

Tatvashil Kamble, a local child rights activist from Beed, said drought conditions have increased stress among families and made girls vulnerable to underage marriages. Speaking to DTE, he said that on April 15, he and some volunteers foiled two underage marriages. 

“We learned about the incidents happening in Pimpalgaon village of Aashti taluka in Beed district and rushed to the spot to counsel and talk to family members and village head. Two girls aged 16 and 17 years were planned to be married off under the gate-cane,” he said.

Kamble said that local school principal, teachers and villagers have been informed to keep a close vigil on the families.