The headman's duties were in theory very numerous; a few of them were either inescapable or important, or both. He was supposed to report any trouble in the village and any strangers who could not give a good account of themselves. He was also supposed to see that the Registrar was informed of all births, deaths and marriages. He was responsible for seeing that conscripts answered the call to the army. Any special jobs fell on his shoulders, for example, the preparing of the village register of voters for the 1950 election. The headman in Sakaltutan had on one occasion to renumber all the houses in the village, extracting 10 kurush, (about 3d.), from each unwilling household for a useless tin number plate.
He was expected to receive and assist all official visitors to the village - medical officers, court officials, veterinary officers, tax collectors, agricultural officials and so on. On these occasions he usually served food, and sometimes had to provide a bed. In return for this duty he received an allowance, decided by the village, towards the cost of entertaining. Perhaps his most unpopular task was the collection of dues to the village chest. This fund he was supposed to collect, supervise, spend and account for to higher authority. The collection was extremely difficult; he was invariably accused by the villagers of eating it himself; and even if not actually illiterate he was unlikely to be unable to keep accounts, and was thus in permanent danger of trouble from above.
The official policy was to recruit young men as headmen. Plainly a literate, sophisticated young man, if one could be found, would do the job better. The most suitable young men in the village were the migrant craftsmen, whose visits to town gave them the chance to use their literacy and learn something about townsmen. But they were unwilling, indeed unable, to bind themselves to stay permanently in the village as the headman was required to do.
The job was unpopular. Yet it did bestow advantages, particularly that of direct contact with the authorities. Not only was the headman the official channel for his neighbours but his