Ram Sevak Pasi and Manoj Chaudhry are both tadi or toddy tappers, the ‘traditional’ occupation of their caste.
At least twice a day, Manoj climbs up a tall palm tree to pierce the fruit and collect its juice in a container, usually an earthen pot, so it can ferment just a little. The fruit, either tad or khajur, depending on the season, forms one of the major sources of his livelihood.
In 1994, Lalu Prasad abolished the tax on fishing and toddy tapping, both professions largely followed by scheduled castes. More recently though, Pasis have often voted in large numbers for Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janashakti Party (LJP), something the NDA is hoping will happen this time as well.
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