Needed in the Little Rann of Kutch,a marketing strategy worth its salt to help the Agariyas

But the proposed market positioning of organic salt could perhaps change all that for them.

According to Pankti Jog of Janpath,an umbrella group of voluntary organisations in Gujarat,the variety of salt the Agariyas produce from sub-soil brine is unique in the world. It is organic,rich in magnesium,and has higher salinity at 16 degree Baume (a measurement of salinity) than common salt which has 3.5 degree Baume.

Partly on the basis of the report,now Janpath,along with Care India and the Central Salt and Marine Chemicals and Research Institute (CSMCRI) at Bhavnagar plans to look at ways the community can sell the salt produced by the Agariyas at a better price.

“It is the purest salt in the world,” Jog said,adding taht the most important step will be to help the community escape the web of moneylenders and salt-traders and help them deal with the market directly at better prices.

But marketing strategy is only one aspect of the problems the Agariyas face.

The government does not recognise most Agariyas as either farmers or landless agricultural labourers because they own land less than 1 acre in size (The government classifications designate a person owning more than an acre as a farmer,while those with no land holdings are known as landless farmers).

This means they are not entitled to compensation in case of accidents – fatal or otherwise.

The most common accident is caused by inhalation of poisonous gases accumulated in borewells,which they dig to extract the brine.

Sometimes in September,after the monsoon rains have ceased – and the Little Rann of Kutch is no longer a huge lake flooded by the seasonal rainfall – Agariyas temporarily migrate from their villages in the desert’s periphery to set up saltpans in the Rann,living in makeshift shelters in the deserts and work for about nine months in the year.

The rest of the year,they raise or,more often,borrow money to buy simple equipment for next year’s work.