( UlA ) 



5. When the monsoon failure indicates clearly that famine 

 operations will be necessary, the Forest Officer, in consultation with 

 the Collector, has to draw up the schema of work to be followed, if 

 such scheme is not already prepared. The Collector indicates 

 roughly where relief works will be required, and how much labour 

 at each may be expected. The area? to be worked over are then 

 fixed, and the boundaries clearly demarcated by a dag-bel on the 

 ground. It will enormously facilitate subsequent checking and 

 control if rectangular 10 or 20-acre plots are dag-belled out, and 

 numbered, two or three or five or more such plots being marked at 

 each work as required, simultaneously the bandits required in these 

 plots have to be selected, their sites pegged and dag-belled, their 

 dimensions taken and tracings prepared, and their water escapes 

 clearly defined. This work has to be completed before the opening 

 of any test work, which itself precedes the declaration of famine. 



Preparation of 

 famine relief 

 scheme- 



Chapter -I I. 



ORGANIZATION OF LABOUR AND TASKS. 



6. Before describing the organization of labour and fixing 

 the tasks, a brief account of what famine relief work is will help the 

 uninitiated Forest Officer to understand what follows. It con- 

 sists essentially of daily labour work on a gigantic sale.* With all 

 sorts and conditions of labour (from stout men to infants in arms), 

 which is all carefully graded into 5 or 6 grades, each grade has 

 its standard daily wage. Wages are paid daily in annas and pice 

 to every man, woman, and child on every work, after the daily 

 tasks have been measured up. Tasks not completed to standard 

 'lead to small fines. Daily labour muster rolls are kept up by gangs 

 and grades of labour, but no signatures or thumb-impressions taken. 

 These details of working conditions will suffice to indicate the 

 necessity of really good organization of labour, staff, and tasks, 

 u avoid confusion. When it is added that there are black sheep 

 in every fold, but famine works appear to draw more than the 

 usual proportion, the further necessity of most elaborate check and 

 constant supervision becomes apparent. 



* To give an idea of scope ol the work, payments in forest famine works in 

 the Etawah district in 1918-19 exceeded Ks. 1,000 duly when the famine was 

 in full swing, distribute 1 between 15 works which were scattered over 50 miles 

 of country. The famine lab >ur or ravine reclamation under Divisional Forest 

 OJBcer, Afforestation Division, amounted to more than half the total famine 

 labour for the whole province. 



The essentials 

 of famine relief 

 work. 



