271.7.8 Socio-economic Situation
The 2001 Census of India reported that out of a total of 3.4 million individuals rec-
ognised as belonging to Scheduled Tribes in the state of Karnataka, just under
30,000 individuals were identifi ed as ‘Soligaru’.^8 Out of these, around 3300 and
5100 individuals were employed long-term as ‘cultivators’ and ‘agricultural labour-
ers’ respectively [ 94 ]. A further 2900 individuals worked as agricultural labourers
on a ‘marginal’ basis.^9 Overall literacy levels among the Solega are low, even for the
rural part of the state that they primarily inhabit. The literacy rate for Solega above
6 years of age was 33 % in 2001, and was heavily skewed in favour of males (M:
39 %; F: 26 %). In contrast, the literacy level for the state of Karnataka was 67 %
(M: 76 %; F: 57 %) [ 95 ], while the rates for the Yelandur and Chamarajanagar sub-
districts, the populations of which are >80 % rural, were 50 % and 49 % respec-
tively [ 96 ]. The overall literacy rate for all Karnataka Scheduled Tribes combined
was 48 % (M: 60 %; F: 37 %) [ 94 , 97 ], markedly better than that of the Solega.
1.7.9 Attitudes towards Language and Traditional Knowledge
The Solega language has little prestige outside the community, and the Solega’s
own conceptions of the relationship between their own language and Kannada are
varied. I have heard the language referred to as soliganuḍi ‘Soliga speech’ by
Kannada speakers, who tend to also classify Solega as a dialect of Kannada. The
Solega sometimes echo this categorisation by sometimes referring to their speech as
namma kannaḍa ‘our Kannada’, although, for the most part, the generic phrase
namma ba:se ‘our language’ is used. Solega speakers are aware of the proximity of
their language to Kannada, and can, in most cases, alter their speech so as to make
it intelligible to Kannada speakers. At the same time, they point out that Kannada
speakers would fi nd it impossible to understand a normal-speed conversation, in
‘pure’ Solega, between speakers from interior settlements.^10
Practically all Solega recognise that their language is changing, and that ‘young
people’ no longer speak like their parents or grandparents. Language attrition in
favour of Kannada was prevalent in all settlements, but was strongest in lowland
villages, and weakest in interior villages. Solega living in certain lowland settle-
(^8) Soligaru is the Kannada plural form for soliga. The 2001 census recorded a further 124 individu-
als, who were identifi ed as ‘Sholaga’, and provided separate data for them. In the absence of any
further explication of the difference between the two groups, I would suggest that they are the
same.
(^9) ‘Marginal workers’ is the offi cial English gloss for the Hindi term अल्पकािलक कमीर् alpaka:lik karmi: ,
and can be understood to mean people who are employed on a casual or part-time basis.
(^10) I have played recordings of Solega, as spoken in interior settlements, to Kannada speakers from
Bangalore. These people found some of the vocabulary and grammar to be familiar, but struggled
to comprehend the content of the recordings to any great extent.
1.7 Ethnographic Sketch