To move beyond the limbo created by government neglect, the Katkari must engage with politicians who can reactivate the gaothan extension scheme. They must also apply sustained pressure on government officials to implement the scheme properly. Otherwise, the gaothan will remain out of reach and subject to the whims and personal interests of landholders. For many reasons, such actions are a major undertaking. Katkari communities today are highly fragmented, both socially and politically. Some form of new Katkari collective agency is needed to move beyond the ad hoc and patchy assistance provided by the research team and other activist organizations working with them.

This chapter reflects on efforts by the Katkari and the research team to strengthen Katkari collective organization (committees, youth groups, labour unions, associations) and capacities to bring specific interests and demands into the public sphere. We begin with a brief outline of the reasons why traditional leadership and organization in Katkari communities remains weak and of the systematic exclusion of Katkari from the mainstream political structures of representation normally available to people in rural communities. This is followed by an account of several Katkari initiatives to organize collectively, as supported and reinforced by the inquiry into the gaothan problem. The story provides insight into the opportunities being created by Katkari leadership and also highlights the ongoing constraints that undermine the Katkari's ability to make practical use of their numbers and potential political influence. These efforts can be seen as part of what Fuchs and Linkenbach (2004) have called ‘tribal resistance’ to attacks on the political bases of tribal existence.