Vidarbha on the verge of water riots-DNA

Vidarbha on the verge of water riots Poor monsoons, depleting water tables, and dams with no water have brought the 3,400 villages of Vidarbha to a water crisis the likes of which they have never seen before, writes Jaideep Hardikar Mangi-Sunday, May 2, 2010 2:17 IST Jaideep Hardikar Sitting in the front yard of his hut, Babarao Turankar, 50, and his neighbours in Mangi village of south Yavatmal are engaged in deep discussion. Finally, one of them says, "Let's begin our search after lunch." It's been more than a month since they began hunting for a well that has water, says an agitated Turankar, sarpanch (head) of the village. "So far we haven't found one source that will see us through this summer." The village's two wells and the three bore-wells that fed it are parched. They have gone dry for the first time. Understandably, Mangi is in panic. Turankar says they need to find a well or a bore-well within 2km of the village boundary soon, because the only well that has some water left would run dry in another week. "This is the first time," says the sarpanch. "Mangi has never seen dry wells before." Mangi is by no means an isolated case. In Maharashtra, 20,000 villages are in acute drought, a situation described by the water supply and sanitation minister Laxman Dhoble as "very, very critical." In May it could turn ugly, he told reporters in Nagpur on April 29. The situation is worst in Vidarbha's 3400 villages, as almost all the major reservoirs in the district are running at dead storage levels, from where the water can't be lifted into the streams. Yavatmal is the worst hit. Here, two of the 3 major dams have zero water storage at this time, and there's May to go. A failed 2009 monsoon in Vidarbha came on the heels of two bad monsoons. Yavatmal's long-term average annual rainfall is 911 mm. In 2009, it received less than 450 mm of erratic rains in small spells. In 2007, it got 844 mm rainfall, and in 2008, 633 mm or 70 per cent of the average. "What we face in the middle of March every year, we were facing in October last," says the district collector Sanjay Deshmukh. Adding to the meteorological drought is the hydrological drought, with the water table receding to disastrous levels. Almost every district has recorded a steep decline in water table: an average of 3-5 meters in five years, and a staggering 8-10 meters over a decade, according to the Groundwater Surveys and Development Authority (GSDA). Over extraction, misuse and illegal 'water mining' have combined with other factors to push the water table ever lower. A failed monsoon only contributes to the problem."Not only has the days of rainfall reduced over the past few years, the water recharging has also been very poor," says Ulhas Band, a GSDA junior engineer at Amravati. This particularly hot summer, in a region where 75 per cent of water supply schemes have shut down, water scarcity is driving the villagers to desperation. "Almost every woman in our village will lose a lot of weight by the time monsoon arrives," says Ankita Chahare, 18, of Pachpore village in Zari tehsil of Yavatmal, as she prepares to fill her can at the only 'live' hand pump alive in the entire village. Chahare is a mother of one, and the hand pump she's working on summons water from several hundred feet. It's 3 pm and the mercury is stuck at 45 degrees for the past 15 days or so. But this is Chahare's fourth trip at the hand pump. And she will be back again with her three canisters. And she makes these four trips three times a day, every day. Almost every woman - in this village and all over Vidarbha - spends four to five hours every day fetching water, often waling for miles. When Chahare's husband returns from work in the evening, she says, he also joins her with a can or two. 'City pipeline's our only source' Pachpore is lucky in one sense: it actually has a working pump. The catch is that it is contaminated with fluoride. Villagers use this water for non-potable purposes and wait for a tanker for drinking water. Alongside this pump is a stream that has long gone dry. There is no trail of water; only a cracked wall of what must have been a substandard barrage. Like Mangi, for Pachpore, too, this running out of water is a first. Most villages in Yavatmal are at the mercy of tankers that supply water from sources far away. Pachpore gets its water from a bore-well in Hiwra-Barsa village, 7 km away, and it is their only hope. "If my bore dries, they are done," says Suresh Bolenwar, a farmer activist of the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti, whose bore-well supplies 24,000 litres of water every day to Pachpore and two other villages, free of cost. Bolenwar prays his bore does not run dry. "Otherwise there will be water riots here." In the saline tracts of Akola, Amravati and Buldana, the search for water is getting angrier. "In some of our villages," says Vasudev Ingle in Kinkhed, Akola, "You can get water supply once in 10 or 12 days." Ingle and his fellow villagers now raid a pipeline that carries water from Katepurna dam to Akola city, every alternate day. "It is the only source available to us," he says, drawing water from the supply line's valve. More than 200 villages in the saline tract, where ground water is salty and non-potable, the scarcity is frightening. Says Maya Ove of Dharel village, carrying three pots on her head, one on top of the other, "Hunting for water takes up most of our time every day." Even the livestock you see are searching for water. And there's little of it to be found anywhere. Not a natural calamity "For years, we neglected strengthening water sources and helping improve recharge," says a senior official. "Now we're paying the price." This is not a natural calamity, avers noted water expert, economist and former planning board member, HM Desarda. "This is a structured, man-made disaster." The state, he says, is facing scarcity as a result of faulty planning and wasteful spending on unwarranted projects, which are benefitting only contractors and some ministers. "Even dams are running out of water! Why?" he asks. Even if Vidarbha receives half its annual rainfall, it comes to 450 mm, he says. On a hectare of land, it means five million litres of water. "Even if you conserve and save 100 mm of it, it comes to a million litres." The drought of mid-2009 really took its toll on people from February and March this year. In a single crop area like Vidarbha, where assured irrigation is barely 7 per cent, even the slightest aberration in rain fall or drop in water table means a sure disaster. Crop failure means up to 24 months without income. Two successive failures can easily break the back of most farmers in a region already beset by crises. Already, the number of farmer suicides is beginning to rise once more, and outstanding debts - after the 2008 loan waiver sop - have shot up. According to the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti, in the first four months of 2009, the suicide toll in the six districts of Western Vidarbha is close to 300. h_jaideep@dnaindia.net ===========================================================

‘Ajit Pawar and Narayan Rane has no right to comment on vidarbha statehood issue-VJAS

‘Ajit Pawar and Narayan Rane has no right to comment on vidarbha statehood issue-VJAS

Nagpur - april 23, 2010

The recent statements of Maharashtra ministers Ajit Pawar and Narayan Rane has strongly condemned by pro-vidarbha statehood activist group Vidabha Jan andolan Samiti (VJAS) terming unwarned and uncalled for ,it’s just rubbing the salt to the wounds of the dying vidarbha farmers and tribal.

‘ Ajit Pawar and Narayan Rane both ministers have not moral and legitimate right to decide the statehood issue of vidarbha when NCP has already supported the demand where as congress high command has not taken it’s final decision on the issue. these attempts to aggravate the issue to create law and order problem in the state as both ministers are completely aware on ground level sentiments of vidarbha people and continued injustice done to the people of vidarbha more Ajit Pawar is the minister who is directly- indirectly responsible for thousands of cotton farmers suicides .statements are unfortunate and VJAS strongly condemn it’ Kishor Tiwari President of Vidabha Jan andolan Samiti (VJAS) informed in press note today .

VJAS was reacting to reported statements of Ajit Pawar and Narayan Rane ,here

I QUOTE

No separate Vidarbha, says Ajit Pawar

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_no-separate-vidarbha-says-ajit-pawar_1374518

Mumbai: The NCP has supported the demand for a separate Vidarbha state, but water resource minister and NCP chief’s nephew Ajit Pawar on Thursday indicated that he did not want a separate state.

“We have supported the demand for Vidarbha and Marathwada in the past five years,” he said. “Nobody should doubt our intentions. But we should create such an atmosphere that no one should feel the need for a separate Vidarbha. We will not divert any funds allocated to any region. This is my assurance.”

Pawar was speaking at the legislative council after Manickrao Thakre of the Congress wanted to know if the tenure of the statutory development boards of Vidarbha and Marathwada would be extended. The tenure of the boards will end on April 30.

He told the house that the government would ask the Centre to extend the tenure of the statutory boards. “There are still eight days to make a recommendation,” he said. “But I do not want any region to feel left out.”

He announced that the government would give money from the contingency fund to complete the irrigation projects in Gadchiroli district, Vidarbha.

He, however, blamed leaders from Vidarbha for ignoring the region. “Some people enjoyed their tenure in the cabinet. They did not say anything,” he said. “Why did cooperative societies fail in some areas? Cows were distributed in Vidarbha from the prime minister’s package… why did the production of milk fall? I do not want to criticise anyone but it is everyone’s responsibility.”

Separate Vidarbha? Forget about it-Rane

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_separate-vidarbha-forget-about-it_1373413

Mumbai: Revenue minister Narayan Rane on Monday warned the BJP leaders that they should stop dreaming of statehood to Vidarbha as neither the government nor the people of Vidarbha are in favour of it. This is for the first time that any minister or Congress leader has firmly expressed views on the issue of independent Vidarbha.

Rane said the people from Vidarbha region have never been in favour of the statehood status.

“The results of the two elections recently showed it clearly as the both the ruling parties gained majority from the region. The leaders demanding independent status should realise clearly that they should stop dreaming about it,” he said.

The Congress leaders so far have never come out so emphatically against the demand for a separate Vidarbha. Even in the assembly and the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress chose to take an ambiguous stand on the matter.

Some of its leaders were in favour of the independent status, while others had left it to the party high command.

Rane said the BJP was trying to gain political mileage out of the issue. “Nobody will deny the plight of the farmers in Vidarbha. The need of the hour is to strengthen the farmers socially and economically. Efforts are needed to be put in by all the parties.

“Our government will leave no stone unturned to make the farmers from Vidarbha capable of fighting all odds. Apart from providing them fertilisers and seeds, adequate loans will also be made available,” he said.

The minister said his government never discriminated against farmers based on the region. “If the farmers from western Maharashtra are treading on forefront in farming, we should try to take farmers from Vidarbha and Marathwada on a par with them and my government is committed to achieving this goal,” he added.

“The government can fight if the problems of the farmers are of economic nature. But farmers are committing suicide because of other reasons, such as illness and lack of money for the wedding of their daughters. We should address these issues through awareness drives.”

Rane admitted that 6,161 farmers have committed suicide since 2001. “Suicide is not new to the region. Farmers have been committing suicide for last 50 years. But our government has sincerely attempted to get rid of it,” he added.

He claimed that the per capita income of the farmers in six districts with agrarian crisis of the Vidarbha has improved significantly in the past 10 years.

Rane also said that the government has demanded a new package of Rs7,264 crore from the Centre for the farmers of suicide-prone areas of Vidarbha.

UNQUOTE

‘Vidarbha statehood is issue that the people will decide it,the injustice and on going agrarian crisis has made the situation of the region worst .million of farmers are in despair and million of the tribal are malnourish. The drought in the area has created the severe water, food, fodder crisis in the region and ministers who are directly responsible and accountable to monitor the crisis are issuing such ridiculous and hostile statement.

Massive corruption in the irrigation contracts in last three years has made Ajit Pawar richer by thousands of crore as there are strong evidences of misdeed in the grant of contracts and VJAS has been demanding C.B.I. Probe in the Prime Minister Relief Package ’ Tiwari added.

Please arrange to release this press note

Kishor Tiwari

President

Vidarbha Jan andolan samiti

kishortiwari@gmail.com

kishortiwari.blogspot.com

vidarbhatimes.blogspot.com

Contact-09422108846

Sangli's 10 tigers get Rs 28cr but Vid's 139 only Rs 3.8cr-Times of India

Sangli's 10 tigers get Rs 28cr but Vid's 139 only Rs 3.8cr
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/Sanglis-10-tigers-get-Rs-28cr-but-Vids-139-only-Rs-38cr/articleshow/5764946.cms

Vijay Pinjarkar , TNN, Apr 6, 2010, 04.25am IST
NAGPUR: It is not just people of Vidarbha who suffer discrimination within Maharashtra. The step-motherly treatment extends to even wild animals. Even though Vidarbha has a bulk of Maharashtra's forests and wildlife, most of the funds for their protection are being siphoned off to western Maharashtra.

The manner in which funds were distributed under the state plan in 2009-10 show how the government, in its eagerness to take monies to western Maharashtra, is even leaving state's tigers unprotected. Of Rs 41.56 crore grants released under various heads, only Rs 3.78 crore were given for Vidarbha, while protected areas (PAs) in Western Maharashtra, which have only a fraction of wildlife of Vidarbha, managed to grab the rest.

Apart from the grants released under the centrally sponsored scheme (CSS) by the ministry of environment & forests (MoEF), money is released under state plan for promoting eco-tourism, wildlife protection, relocation of villages inside PAs, forest tourism, rescue centres and nature conservation.

Of the Rs 3.78 crore, Nagpur Wildlife Circle got Rs 1.80 crore for eco-tourism. It includes Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (Rs 96 lakh); Pench (54 lakh); Bor (Rs 12 lakh); Tipeshwar (Rs 7.50 lakh); Chaprala (Rs 8.71 lakh) and Bhamragarh (Rs 2.10 lakh). Besides, Rs 1.43 crore were released for Melghat Tiger Reserve (MTR) including Rs 1.25 crore for MTR; Rs 7.40 lakh for Wan and Rs 10.60 lakh for Ambabarwa sanctuaries.

The state released Rs 3.18 lakh for a nature interpretation centre in Nagpur. Nagzira and Navegaon areas were completely ignored. Rs 10.67 lakh has been released for development of forest garden in Chikhaldara; Rs 6.67 lakh for Wadali (Amravati) and Rs 62.17 lakh for proposed works on Gorewada Zoo. The PAs in Vidarbha got Rs 3.24 crore but considering their area and importance, this is meagre.

These PAs constitute an area of 3,644 sq km and as per the 2007 official census figures have 139 tigers. The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) puts the figure at 103 (excluding cubs). On the other hand, huge sum of Rs 25.79 crore was released for relocation of villages inside Chandoli National Park, which is part of forest minister Patangrao Kadam's constituency Sangli. Conservationists say this is a cruel joke on tigers of Tadoba and Melghat where 24 villages need to be relocated on priority.

The Departed-Tehelka on vidarbha crisis

The Vidarbha story has been uploaded on www.tehelka.com. You can see it there. Or, go straight to the link at http://www.tehelka.com/story_main44.asp?filename=Ne100410coverstory.asp.

I would urge you to ask your people in Mumbai to get hold of as many copies of Tehelka, issue dated 10 April 2010, as you want and send them to the legislators and officials before the Monday session of the assembly. You could also forward the web link to the story.

To really feel the impact and enjoy the story, you must read it in the magazine. For the record, this is the story:

From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 7, Issue 14, Dated April 10, 2010 CURRENT AFFAIRS cover story - VIDARBHA’S TRAGEDY The Departed The sowing season in Vidarbha has just begun, but already there is a sense that more farmers could end their lives this year than in the past. What makes them do it? VIJAY SIMHA and photographer PRASHANT PANJIAR investigate, death by death, and find a whole new meaning to the story FARMING WORKS best with innocence. When a farmer retains his talent for a life without clutter, when the skies open up exactly when needed, and when the state keeps its heart sensitive. Thus secure, it was believed that a farmer could die of only three things: old age, lightning, or rolling over in a tractor. In Vidarbha today, it would seem that anything can kill a farmer. Vidarbha is in eastern Maharashtra, an area almost as big as South Korea and 65 times the size of Delhi. The terrain can be brutal and benign. Here, until 1997-98, the farmer was relatively comfortable. The crop, principally soybean and cotton, brought the cash home. Things were so good that cotton from Vidarbha used to have a monopoly, and soybean from the area propped up an entire industry in India. The cotton market crashed globally 10 years ago. In addition, the Indian market was flooded by imports. Cotton became a liability. Soybean was hit by unfortunate events. The railways did not give rakes to lift soy from Vidarbha. They gave priority to fertiliser and cement. The soy wasted away in the mandis. Then, drought hit. So, soy stopped generating money as well. Farmers’ suicides increased. BABA RATHOD, 60 ARUN SATPUTE, 38 LAXMAN TEKAM, 30 PURANLAL RAHANGDALE, 52 ARUN TUPATKAR, 50 ANIL NASRE, 52 VIJAY THAMKE, 45 PRITILAL THAKRE, 55 Farmers in India normally have two seasons, rabi and kharif. Vidarbha has a third, the suicide season, in April, May and June. It is the sowing season and the farmers need to buy seed. Those unable to do so tend to give it up, most suicides happen in June. TEHELKA investigated 10 suicides that occurred over 48 hours or so beginning March 22. Two cases had more to do with alcoholism than farming and were taken off the list. Over the next few pages, you will read about the other eight farmers who killed themselves, and their circumstances. It is normally understood that the Vidarbha farmer chooses to die because he can’t meet the costs of running his farm profitably. But, the deaths of these eight farmers tell a different tale. It appears that suicides in Vidarbha are not merely from problems in the fields. A host of reasons, primarily social, are driving the farmers into a lifestyle and a thought process they can’t sustain. The desire to move up socially is driving up the costs of living as the farmer spends to gain status. When the farm can’t pay for this, the farmer has a choice: lose face or lose life. He prefers to lose life. The first recorded suicide of a Vidarbha farmer was sometime in 1997, when Ramdas Ambawar gave up his life because he couldn’t pay back a loan. The Shiv Sena was heading the government and Narayan Rane, the chief minister, gave Ambawar’s widow Saraswati a cheque for Rs 1 lakh. It was the first widow compensation and triggered a belief that money would come after they ended their lives. Since then, around 7,300 farmers, 7,000 men and 300 women, have committed suicide in Vidarbha because they couldn’t find solutions to a vortex of problems. In 2006, the Maharashtra government listed 1,886 suicides by farmers in Vidarbha, the highest in a year. This year, till the end of March, about 204 farmers have already committed suicide. There is a sense that if the rains stay away, more farmers could end their lives this year than in the past. Also, it may not be enough to limit corrective measures to the farms. The attitude change among farmers is causing a bigger mess. Some of the reasons for the spate of suicides in Vidarbha, therefore, are these: HIGH COST OF HEALTHCARE Astonishingly, many farmers are falling sick in Vidarbha. Most of these farmers avoid the government’s primary health centres because the doctors are rarely there. Even if the doctors are available, the farmers don’t trust government healthcare. So they rush to private clinics and pay higher costs. “Like emperors, they go to the costliest clinics and hospitals in Nagpur and get themselves treated,” says Kishor Tiwari, who runs the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti, an NGO that works for farmers. Tiwari is dismayed at how the issue is getting more complex. Most families where a suicide has taken place, for instance, have a member who requires medical attention. EXAGGERATED WEDDINGS This is probably the cruellest factor. The communities of Vidarbha seem to have created a system of social rituals that includes a generous wedding. A family that does a simple wedding loses respect and that creates serious everyday stress. Several suicides are largely because of the loans taken for dowry. The men would give up their lives rather than get their daughters married in a low-cost ceremony. In many houses, the elders of family keep repeating that the man of the house killed himself because of his daughter’s wedding costs. Daughters are mostly in the room when this is said. NO ALTERNATIVE TO AGRICULTURE Curiously, there is virtually no industry in the area. Though the area is in the centre of India, it is not a hub. So, if the crop fails, a farmer is done for. Jobs are rare. The private sector is absent and the state has no money to employ people. The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) offers lowend work, but the farmers think it would erode their standing. POOR CROP For two years, Vidarbha has had poor monsoon and now, miles of Vidarbha are barren. The life of a farmer ebbs when his farm fades. This is a critical factor because if the crop were to be good, a farmer would happily organise good healthcare for his family, have grand weddings for his daughters and buy pesticide and other farm requirements. If the crop is poor, a farmer needs money because he doesn’t scale down other things. Loans thus become killers. ABSENT STATE The state is the only entity that can handle all the other reasons for farmers’ suicides. For instance, the state can offer good and cheap healthcare and education, it can motivate businessmen to set up industry in the area, and it can provide for irrigation. But, TEHELKA did not find a single government representative in the villages of Vidarbha. There is no one to go to, and no one to trust. On paper, the state government has a compensation policy in cases of suicides, but that is tax payers’ money and comes with many clauses. So, barely a tenth of the suicide cases qualify for compensation. It’s the same with the waiver for crop loans. Civil society has a few demands that they think may help. They are asking for a Rs 30,000 grant to a farmer for a daughter’s wedding, food grain at Rs 2 a kg, free healthcare, more work under NREGA, barring moneylenders from dealing with farmers, and improved irrigation. Maharashtra has no money for this. All these reasons are coming together in the complex world of the Vidarbha farmer. Political parties are nowhere to be found in the villages. Counselling seems to be an urgent need, but there’s no one to do it. Left alone, the farmer is open to anything his mind tells him. At the moment, it is telling him to leave. Two Weddings, a Funeral and a Feast NAME OF THE DECEASED: ARUN TUPATKAR, 50 RESIDENT OF: PIMPRI KALGA, YAVATMAL CAUSE OF DEATH: DRANK ALCOHOL LACED WITH INSECTICIDE DATE OF DEATH: MARCH 23, 2010 EVERYBODY KNOWS them, the farm widows of Pimpri Kalga in Yavatmal. There are 14, which makes the village the suicide capital of Vidarbha. In the house of Arun Tupatkar, the latest farmer to have killed himself here, they gather with the air of a family remembering a man who did the right thing. Tupatkar lived with his wife, three daughters and a son. He was 50, the wife 45, the daughters 23, 20 and 14. The son was 18. He had nine acres, where he grew soybean and arhar (yellow pigeon pea), a favoured lentil. The family watched colour television at home and used cell phones. The soy and pigeon pea should have paid for a couple of sons-in-law, but the crop was low for two years. In Pimpri Kalga, a failed crop is no big deal. But a daughter’s wedding has to be only one way: early and in style. They start to talk about it from a daughter’s teenage, about the dowry and the wedding. A driver and a shopkeeper were interested in marrying Tupatkar’s daughters. They would cost Rs 25,000 each, but at least they were not farmers. Tupatkar had an uncle, Manik Rao, who killed himself 10 years ago. The government’s compensation policy had just been cleared and Manik Rao’s family got the money. It worked for the uncle. It might work for Tupatkar too. So, he borrowed Rs 50,000, partly from family and friends and partly from a moneylender. The dowry was secure. He also borrowed Rs 20,000 from a cooperative society as crop loan. He got his daughters married. Villagers still remember how hearty the spread was. A failed crop is no big deal. But a daughter’s wedding has to be only one way: early and in style. They start planning from a daughter’s teenage The harvest was more stubborn. Crops are not like sons-in-law, they don’t prop up at the sight of money. Tupatkar’s loan got him a little seed and pesticide, but it didn’t buy him rain. The crop failed for two years. Now, Tupatkar had a problem. He had to return money to friends, family, moneylender and a bank. He still had a daughter and a son in school. He began to drink. He would start during the day and end the night drunk. On March 23, Tupatkar left early and began to drink. He returned at lunch time, breezed past the family and went into an inner room. He came into the drawing room soon after and told his wife and daughter: “I’ve taken poison.” They rushed him to hospital but he died en route. Tupatkar’s widow Rajubai barely eats now and has periodic convulsions as she mourns. The village, meanwhile, is preparing for the 13th day feast. They have sent along bags of wheat, rice and sugar for the ceremony. It will be another grand farewell. A Bank and a Man, Both Needed Money A tractor waits outside the courtyard of Pritilal Thakre’s house. There are cots and benches in the courtyard. There’s a satellite dish. Inside, a mobile phone is being charged. There is a landline phone, covered by dust. A fan is whirring and about 20 people are in the room. Thakre’s widow, Pramila, is crying. His son, Pramod (24), is staring into the distance, and two daughters, Malti and Manju, are attending to their infant children. Pramod and other male relatives take the questions. NAME OF THE DECEASED: PRITILAL THAKRE, 55 RESIDENT OF: DONGRALA, BHANDARA DISTRICT CAUSE OF DEATH: CONSUMED INSECTICIDE DATE OF DEATH: MARCH 24, 2010 What happened? On Ramnavami (March 24), he (Pritilal) went to the farm as usual in the morning. He returned at 11 am, had lunch and lay down inside. After a while, he said he wasn’t feeling well. We thought his blood pressure had shot up. He went quiet and began to foam at the mouth. We took him in a tractor to the government hospital at 2.30 pm. At 4 pm, they declared him dead. They said too much time had passed before he was taken to hospital. Why did Pritilal kill himself? He had taken a loan of Rs 2.01 lakh in 1994 from the Bhoomivikas Bank here to buy a tractor. Some days ago, employees of the bank came and said they would take possession of the land against which he had taken the loan. Word spread through the village that the land was being seized. It’s a 16-year-old loan. Was it not paid back all this while? We had already paid Rs 4 lakh for a Rs 2 lakh loan. We used to pay between Rs 40,000 and Rs 80,000 a year as instalment. But they said it was going towards the interest of Rs 36,000 a year. The bank employees claimed we still owed them money. We stopped paying three years ago. We wanted a settlement. The bank was not interested in one. What type of bank was this? It was a cooperative society bank, which was later dissolved. The government then nominated a few people to try and revive the bank. The bank is bankrupt and the employees want people to pay instalments, which would go towards their salaries. We paid Rs 4 lakh for a Rs 2 lakh loan. The bank said we still owed them money. We wanted a settlement. The bank was not interested Evidently, the family has been doing well. So, why did Pritilal end his life? Pritilal was a supplier of building material. He also used to work on the farm. He bought a tractor on loan because he thought he could supply building material faster and better with the tractor. But his business started to fail because of the recession. Was suicide the only option? No. We told Pritilal that we would help with the bank settlement. But he didn’t listen. He should not have killed himself. The Poor Little Rich Adivasi NAME OF THE DECEASED: LAXMAN TEKAM, 30 RESIDENT OF : MANGI, YAVATMAL CAUSE OF DEATH: HANGED HIMSELF DATE OF DEATH: MARCH 24, 2010 THE SON Laxman Tekam, father of two boys Nilesh (5), Dinesh (3), and a girl Neelam (six months). Husband of Ratnamala, 25, who was away giving birth to Neelam when Laxman began to show signs of dysfunction. An active farmer who would begin work in the fields at 5 am, earlier than everyone else, he would also stop passers-by on the road and shout incoherently. Apparently believed he was too poor to pay back the loans his father, Champat Tekam, had taken. THE FATHER Champat Tekam, 50, who takes loans to handle farm costs. Now has to raise his grandchildren. Also has to care for his wife, Yamuna, and Laxman’s widow, Ratnamala. Changes his story according to the listener. Tells the police that his son was mentally ill and therefore hanged himself. Tells journalists that his son couldn’t handle the pressure of the loan. Lives in a two-room shack where his son hanged himself. THE LOAN Two loans from the Sahkari Bank, both taken by the father. Rs 15,000 in 2006 and another Rs 6,560 added to the same loan in 2008. The passbook shows an interest of Rs 440 on this loan. In 2008, the loan was fully paid and the passbook entry shows ‘nil’ as the pending amount. In April 2009, a fresh loan of Rs 30,800 was taken as crop loan, and an amount of Rs 9,200 added to it as another loan component. Total loan outstanding is Rs 40,000. The family had 20 acres next to the highway. But, the son believed he was too poor to pay back the two loans his father took for seed THE LAND Twenty acres of prime land adjacent to the national highway. The police station is located on this land, which must be worth a lot. The land is in Champat’s name, and he gave 10 acres to his sister. Of the 10 acres left with him, he grows soybean, cotton, pigeon pea, and jowar (sorghum). The farm is big enough to provide handsomely for the Tekams, but it hasn’t given much over the past two years because of scanty rain in the area: just one quintal cotton, and 50 kg each of soy and jowar. THE ACT On March 24, almost everyone in the village was attending a marriage. Laxman’s family was there as well. Laxman returned home without telling the others at the marriage. He picked up a nylon cord, tied it around a wooden beam in the house and hanged himself. He must have been short because the distance between the beam and the floor is barely over six feet. When the family returned, they found Laxman’s body hanging. The entire village turned up for his funeral. He was buried in his farm, according to Adivasi tradition. The Man in the Well Dear Father, NAME OF THE DECEASED: PURANLAL RAHANGDALE, 52 RESIDENT OF: MAKHETOLA, BHANDARA DISTRICT CAUSE OF DEATH: DROWNING DATE OF DEATH: MARCH 22, 2010 I am at home talking to journalists who have come all the way from Delhi to know our story. It is some days since you departed and I have still not gone to the 1.25 acre farm. Nor have I taken our Tata Sumo out on work. I used to see you take a train to work every day as a sweeper in the Forest Department. I also used to see you drink every day and behave badly with my mother and, later, with my wife as well. I was sad when we learned two months ago that you had tuberculosis. You used to cough the entire time, father. I was horrified when you abused the doctor who came to see you 15 days before you died. The journalist wanted to know if we have a crop loan. I told him the truth, father. That we do not. I told him we gave the farm out to sharecroppers. I remember, father, that you did not go to work the day you died. You said you wanted to go to the hospital and you asked me for Rs 20. You took the money and my mother saw you returning in the distance, walking across the fields. When you didn’t reach home even an hour later, we looked for you. We found you where you jumped, in the well. We had to fish your body out with a net. That is all I want to say, father. Your son, Durvesh In the Still of the Night Baba Rathod was found at dawn, hanging from a beam near the entrance to his house. There may have been a few arguments between him and his son over the crop loan Rathod took, though the son now chooses his words with care because he expects compensation. This is Rathod’s story in the words of his family. NAME OF THE DECEASED: BABA RATHOD, 60 RESIDENT OF: KHANDALA, YAVATMAL CAUSE OF DEATH: HANGED HIMSELF DATE OF DEATH: MARCH 20, 2010 Rupesh (grandson): Around 6 am, a woman shouted that the old man had hanged himself. I woke up with a start and saw him there. We were sleeping in the courtyard, but didn’t hear a thing. He did it after we were fast asleep. I was not shocked by the scene because I have seen two hangings in the past in the village. Raja (son): He (Baba) took a Rs 36,000 crop loan, mainly for fertiliser. He had five acres, where he grew jowar (sorghum), cotton and soybean. Initially, he paid the instalments but later he didn’t pay up for some time. He never told me very much, but I gather that the Madhyavarti Society, which gave the loan, was asking for money. Mukta (daughter): He felt dizzy one day, fell and hurt his legs badly. He couldn’t walk normally after that. He was mostly in pain and used to say that we should get his legs cut because he couldn’t bear the pain. He was suffering. Sagar (daughter): He had leprosy. There was nothing we could do. It must have been a great effort for him to reach the beam past the people who were sleeping and hang himself. It would have been very painful in his condition. No Orchards for the Child of Buddha NAME OF THE DECEASED: VIJAY THAMKE, 45 RESIDENT OF: SONBARDI, YAVATMAL CAUSE OF DEATH: DRANK ALCOHOL LACED WITH PESTICIDE DATE OF DEATH: MARCH 27, 2010 EVEN IN death, Vijay Thamke had to wait. He lay on the post-mortem table for long because he was taken there on a Sunday. And then, just as they got ready to cut him up, seven more bodies landed — victims of a horrific accident the previous night. Thamke probably didn’t mind. He had waited long in life as well. Until a year ago, Thamke did enough to keep going. He grew fruit on his three acres, mostly mangoes and oranges. He managed. Then, his crop began to fail over two years of drought and the money flow got thinner. Most farmers were struggling in Vidarbha, and Thamke tried a way out. He began to sell fruit grown by others. He would fill a basket and get to the crossroads. There, he would sit until dusk and return with the earnings, about Rs 100. Slowly, the sale dropped. Not many people wanted to buy fruit in tough times. Thamke’s basket used to return almost as it left in the morning — full. Thamke lived in a tightly packed Dalit colony where everyone knew what the others were doing. Neighbours saw Thamke leave and return with a full basket. When a man begins to fall, the tone in people’s voices changes. There is pity in their eyes. They pay less attention to what you say. It’s not the same. Thamke sensed this. A year ago, he hit the bottle. “He used to worry about the expenses. He often said he didn’t know how to get Pooja, our daughter, married (Pooja is 15). I’d tell him what will be, will be. But he didn’t heed,” Rama, his widow, wailed. Six years ago Thamke had borrowed Rs 30,000 as crop loan. He stopped paying the instalments after three years. After a few tense months, Thamke sent his son away to his grandfather (Rama’s father) because he couldn’t feed four mouths a day. On Saturday, after a day of binge drinking, Thamke came home. He curled up, and died. His was the 200th suicide this year Then, on a Saturday, after a day of binge drinking, Thamke came home. He curled up, and died. They found him at 7.30 pm. When he came home for the last time, from the post-mortem, he was wrapped up in plastic. The colony turned up to mourn. In Dalit tradition, Buddhist chants were played over a public address system. They prayed to two gods: the Buddha and Ambedkar. With them, Thamke wouldn’t cry. And so they carried victim No 200 for this year on his last journey. It was blazing hot. They walked a mile. In a small clearing among the barren fields, Thamke’s son Ravikant lit the pyre. He was gone in a hurry. The post-mortem will probably find pesticide in his last drink. Rama, the widow, doesn’t drink. With her rests the future of Pooja. Two women, one life, one room. The story of Vidarbha. The Way to a Dusty Death The office of the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti in Yavatmal is a busy place. The Samiti is an NGO that documents the suicides of farmers in the area. Often, people trust it more than the government. This is a conversation on a hot afternoon. NAME OF THE DECEASED: ARUN SATPUTE, 38 RESIDENT OF: BHADALI, CHANDRAPUR CAUSE OF DEATH: CONSUMED PESTICIDE DATE OF DEATH: MARCH 23, 2010 Caller: “Sir, I am calling to report a farmer’s suicide. We are very upset.” Santosh (a Samiti activist): “Where did it happen? Let me take the details.” (He scribbles the basic details in a register the Samiti has been filling for the past 10 years). Caller: “Sir, Arun Satpute worked in the morning in his fields. He came home around 11 am, had his lunch, had a bath and left again. There is barely work in the fields now sir. There is no crop. He didn’t return till the evening. Satpute’s father took the cow for grazing in the farm at 5.30 pm. He heard gurgling sounds and he looked to find his son lying in the farm sir. There were two packets of insecticide nearby.” Santosh: “What happened then?” Caller: “The father ran home to inform the family. He then rushed to his nephew and they went back to the farm on a motorcycle. They called the sarpanch from there. The sarpanch came in a van. But, by that time, the sounds from Arun had stopped. He was foaming at the mouth. He went still.” Santosh: “Did he have a loan?” Caller: “He took Rs 60,000 last year from the Sahkar Seva Society for a borewell because he thought it would improve irrigation. He also took Rs 20,000 from relatives.” Santosh: “Did the borewell work?” Caller: “No sir. There is no water from the borewell now. There was a little water in the beginning and he celebrated. Then, there was nothing. It broke Arun’s spirit. He began to roam around aimlessly. He often wondered what he would do this year.” Santosh: “How was his mood in the days before he died?” Caller: “A couple of days before his death, he gave his daughter Pallavi, who is 10, Rs 100. Pallavi is fond of school sir, and Arun loved his daughter. Then, a day before his death, he and his family went to the wedding of his niece. He gave his niece Rs 600 as gift. Pallavi hasn’t stopped crying after her father’s death.” Arun, who had taken loans worth Rs 80,000, didn’t know what he would do this year. He slowly cut his wife off Santosh: “Did anyone know he would do something like this?” Caller: “He never told his wife much. He has a brother, but he never told him anything either. Arun and his brother had eight acres each.” Santosh: “We’ll see what we can do. Who are you?” Caller: “I am Arun’s brother, Namdeo.” The Sarpanch Who Was Ready My Dear Trilok, NAME OF THE DECEASED: ANIL NASRE, 52 RESIDENT OF: KHARASKHANDA, WARDHA CAUSE OF DEATH: CONSUMED PESTICIDE DATE OF DEATH: MARCH 26, 2010 There must be many questions in your mind by now, as you hear of what happened. Perhaps I should have told you, but I am writing this so you may understand. I lost my elder brother about 12 years ago, when you were only nine. I couldn’t abandon his family. So I called them to live with us. You know how they have been a part of our family. We have six acres. It was divided among us brothers, but it came to me after he died. The farm is our main possession, but it was not enough to take you all on the path I wanted to. Five years ago, after discussing with your mother, I took a loan of Rs 50,000 from the Khadi Gramodyog. We set up a flour mill with that money. You have seen how your mother runs it every day. When this worked, I decided to take another loan in 2006 for your education. You remember we put you in a private engineering college for your BE in IT. That day, we felt such pride that our son would be a software engineer. But, we needed to pay for your fees, room rent, etc. I took Rs 1.69 lakh as educational loan. I paid Rs 36,000 interest a year on the education loan, and I paid Rs 1,100 a month on the flour mill loan. You will remember how many people used to come to our house every day when I was sarpanch. In my 10 years as sarpanch, I tried to do as much as possible for the people of the village. Which is probably why they kept me in the post for a decade. They say I was a popular sarpanch. I simply tried to do my duty. Anyway, we decided to give your sister Kanchan a good education too. So we put her in the Polytechnic, in a Civil Engineering course. All this meant that our expenses had gone up. I had to do something to get more out of our farm. I took a third loan, of Rs 50,000 in 2007 as crop loan. To my horror, the monsoon failed for the next two years and the crop was poor. Two loans got the wife a flour mill and the son an IT degree. The third loan, for crop, didn’t deliver for the sarpanch A month ago, I was sent an electricity bill of Rs 10,000 for our farm. I have paid Rs 2,000. You know your cousin is to be married on June 6. She has known me as a father all her life. It is unbearable for me to think that I cannot give her a grand wedding. I have thought about this. You are about to complete your course. Soon, you will earn. I think it is time for me to go. The government will probably give your mother compensation. It should help. I am so proud that you got a Dell laptop with your scholarship. Do take care of your sister and mother. I hope you understand. Your loving father WRITER’S EMAIL vijsimha@gmail.com

From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 7, Issue 14, Dated April 10, 2010

Vijay Simha
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Four more Vidarbha farmers commit suicide-Hindustan Times

Four more Vidarbha farmers commit suicide

Pradip Kumar Maitra pradipmaitra@hindustantimes.com

Agrarian crisis continued to be the cause of farm- ers' suicide in Vidarbha with four more taking the extreme step in the last 48 hours in the region.

The victims, each belonging to Buldhana, Yavatmal, Washim and Akola, ended their lives by swallowing pesticide. They deceased have been identified as: Dadarao Hirpurkar (43) of Shindi village in Akola, Nilesh Kolhe (27), Kamargaon (Washim), Shankar Mangam of Telapur (Yavatmal) and Vilas Bhonde (35) of Masla in Buldhana district.

Kishore Tiwari of Vidarbha Janandolan Samiti claimed that as many as 28 farmers from the region killed themselves this month while the figure was 59 last month.

Tiwari said that a sizeable number of farmers are unable to face the burden of mounting debts from banks as well from private moneylenders. The farmers are unable to repay the amount this season because of crop failure.

“Farmers are thoroughly depressed that whether they would get fresh loans in the coming season being default- ers,“ he said and expressed apprehension that such a debt burden may drive more farm- ers to take drastic steps.

He demanded that the gov- ernment should make it clear that farmers would be given fresh loans and other help who are facing crisis because of crop failure.

“The government should also come out with food security package for the distressed farm- ers,“ he added.

Talking to Hindustan Times, Sanjay Deshmukh, district col- lector of Yavatmal, admitted that farmers' suicide figure in the district is more higher than the figure of last year. “We are taking all necessary measures to minimise farm suicide,“ Tiwari said.

State facing worst economic crisis, claim activists-HITAVADA

The oldest and largest circulated English news daily in Central India.
Published simultaneously from Nagpur, Jabalpur & Raipur ESTD : 1911

March 16th, 2010
City

State facing worst economic crisis, claim activists

Mar. 16th, 2010
by Staff Reporter
http://news.hitavadaonline.com/news/index.php?mode=single&page=10&n=27839

As the Democratic Front (DF) Government is set to present Economic Survey and annual budget after two weeks, activists have raised serious questions over the claim of Government about financial prosperity and industrial development. According to official records, the state is reeling under debt of mind boggling Rs 2 lakh crore and has witnessed 46 per cent drop in food production. Going by the dismal figures, Maharashtra is passing through its worst ever economic crisis during its Golden Jubilee Year.

During last economic survey the DF Government has admitted that state had lost 2 million jobs in the year 2008-2009, food grain production dropped by 25% before drought was declared, outstanding debt mounting to Rs.1,58,520 crore, interest payment on debt is Rs. 12,953 crore, 30% drop in employment provided under National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), poverty ratio in the State is 30.7 per cent as against All-India average of 27.5 percent and more than 6000 farm suicides and deaths in tribal pockets due to malnutrition and starvation, the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti President Kishor Tiwari stated. The rosy picture of massive job creation and investments in infrastructure, increase in food crop production, reduction in the debt and providing basic facilities to poor like food, shelter, health, education and rural employment, industrial growth, faded into thin air. Due to drought situation in 20,000 villages, food production is likely to drop below 102 lakh MT for the first time in history of Maharashtra. Tiwari also questioned the figures of industrial investment to the tune of Rs. 5,04,689 crore with 27.54 lakh jobs and claimed in reality nothing happened. Regarding power sector growth, the VJAS pointed out neither generation was improved no transmission losses were controlled. Quoting last economic survey, VJAS pointed out its major high light was Multi-modal International Hub Airport at Nagpur (MIHAN) with lot of growth potential, but even after a long wait, MIHAN is turning out to be a hoax and has failed to give a single job to skilled or unskilled worker of the region, Tiwari stated. The VJAS also slammed the DF for fiscal imprudence and for its failure to cub non-plan expenditure and to undertake development schemes. The food grains production for kharif and rabi season in the State is estimated to be 117.19 lakh M.T. as a preliminary forecast, less by 24 per cent compared to that of the previous year. A steep fall of 49 per cent is expected in production of oilseeds. Sugarcane production is also expected to be much lower by 43 per cent (at 508.13 lakh M.T.) mainly due to reduction of 30 percent in the harvested area. The estimated employment in the State, based on National Sample Survey, which was on rise till 2004-05 at 4.3 crore, declined to 4.1 crore in 2007-08 clearly indicating the footprints of recession. The employment provided under National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) during 2008-09 was 4.2 crore person days as against 6.0 crore person days provided under Employment Guarantee Scheme (EGS) and NREGS during 2007-08.The poverty estimate provided by the Planning Commission of India, reveal that the poverty ratio in the State during 2004-05 is 30.7 per cent as against All-India average of 27.5 percent. Though the results at various points of time show decline in poverty ratios, the number of persons living below poverty line is gradually increasing since 1973-74 and increased by 12.2 lakh persons in 2004-05 as compared to 1993-94. Tiwari has urged Centre to review economic crisis in Maharashtra due to uncontrolled plan and unplanned expenses of state Government and warned that people of Maharashtra will have to pay cost of political misdeed in future, more hardship are in pipeline if corrective steps are not taken today.

Bt cotton has failed admits Monsanto-INDIA TODAY

Bt cotton has failed admits Monsanto

Dinesh C. Sharma

New Delhi, March 6, 2010 http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/86939/India/Bt+cotton+has+failed+admits+Monsanto.html The ongoing debate on biotechnology crops in India took a new turn on Friday when American seed firm Monsanto disclosed that cotton pest--pink bollworm--has developed resistance to its much-touted Bt cotton variety in Gujarat. The company has reported to the regulator, the Genetic Engineering Approval Committee (GEAC), that pink bollworm has developed resistance to its genetically modified (GM) cotton variety, Bollgard I, in Amreli, Bhavnagar, Junagarh and Rajkot districts in Gujarat. This was detected by the company during field monitoring in the 2009 cotton season. The Bt cotton variety in question was developed using a gene--Cry1AC--derived from soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis. It was supposed to be resistant to pest attacks. But, of late, the pest has developed resistance to the gene. The same gene has been used in Bt brinjal to make it resistant to pests. Bollgard cotton was cited as a great success of GM technology by Union science minister Prithviraj Chavan in his July 2009 letter to former health minister A. Ramadoss. "Resistance is natural and expected," Monsanto said in a statement. The company blamed pink bollworm resistance to Cry1Ac protein in Gujarat to "early use of unapproved Bt cotton seeds" by farmers and "limited refuge planting". Farmers are supposed to maintain a distance between Bt cotton farms and other farms as a "refuge". It also advised farmers to take up "need-based application of insecticide sprays" and "properly manage crop residue and unopened bolls after harvest". A second generation variety, Bollgard II, introduced by Monsanto in 2006, contains two proteins, Cry1Ac and Cry2Ab. The company says no resistance has been observed in the variety anywhere in the country, including Gujarat. The revelation has not surprised environment action groups. "This is the pattern Monsanto has been following everywhere. Once Bollgard 1 fails, they start pushing Bollgard 2 and tell farmers to apply more pesticides. This is a vicious circle that Indian cotton farmers have got into," Devinder Sharma of Forum for Biotechnology and Food Safety said. "There is a lesson here for Bt brinjal because the arguments in favour of the crop are same as those given for Bollgard cotton," Kavita Kuruganti of Kheti Virasat said. In a report submitted to environment minister Jairam Ramesh, K.R. Kranthi of the Central Institute for Cotton Research had cautioned about the likely failure of Bt cotton. "Farmers are not following the recommended 'refugia'. With about 90 per cent area under Bt cotton, bollworms can develop resistance soon. The concern needs to be addressed on priority before it is too late," the report says. Not only has Bt cotton been rendered ineffective, it has also led to detection of some new pests never before reported from India. It is toxic only to bollworm and does not control any other pests of cotton. "New sucking pests have emerged as major pests causing significant economic losses", the report says. At the same time, productivity of cotton has fallen from 560 kg lint per hectare in 2007 to 512 kg lint per hectare in 2009. And pesticide expenditure has gone up from from Rs 597 crore in 2002 to Rs 791 crore in 2009.