Features & Articles

Vicious Cycle of Hunger and Famine
Article written by Dilip Bidawat

Recent reports of starvation deaths in Baran district of Rajasthan have shocked us. Droughts may be natural disasters but famines are mostly man-made. Starvation deaths in Baran and other districts of Rajasthan at a time when India's warehouses are groaning with point to that; fifty-one people including children and women died reportedly of starvation in Mamoni, Gangapur Sheharana, Rajpura, Betha, Lal Kankri Bhanwargarh, Beel Kheda Mal, Karwari Kalan, Hatiyadeh and Swaans villages of the district. Nearly 14 children, have died in Beel Kheda Maal and in Swaans villages, a dozen children have died. Those children who have died belong to Sahariya and Chamar communities. Majority of starvation deaths have been in Sahariya tribe, the most vulnerable tribe in Rajasthan. Ironically, Baran is home to one of the largest wholesale markets for grains, especially premium basmati rice. Even Government's schemes, instead of empowering them, have succeeded in economically disenfranchising them. Dependent on rain-fed agriculture, the district has less than 30 per cent of the annual average resulting in severe breakdown of their livelihood support base. They have been left to fend for themselves with hardly any State intervention coming to their rescue. Much needed relief grain or employment has not been given to the starving people. And that too at a time when food silos are bursting. We have some 65 million tonnes of foodgrains rotting in the godowns. What a shame!

Like Baran, Bikaner district on the India- Pakistan border reels under the spectre of unmitigated drought, with the famine stalking the land. In 2001, when bumper millet crop had virtually besieged the market, the district was wilting under the grip of a severe drought with rains playing truant for the fourth consecutive year. Lunkaransar, Chattargarh and Pugal, extremely backward tehsils of the Bikaner district, four years of successive drought and unprecedented heavy downpour in August 2000 have economically shattered the farmers and cattle breeders.

In the villages of these tehsils, people are dependent on rain-fed crops and cattle breeding. They bore the brunt of additional expenses on sowing without yielding any result, buying fodder for their cattle and food for their family, without any assistance from the Government. The worst part is that these expenditures were done by the villagers after raising loans from moneylenders, most of which is yet to be paid.

Most of the families living in these villages face starvation and abject penury. Pushed to perpetual hunger, these families are not eligible to receive the drought relief disbursed through governmental schemes, as their names do not figure in the 'Below the Poverty Line' (BPL) list. The 'Food for the Work' programme run in these tehsils is proving to be ineffectual in alleviating the large-scale human suffering. Most of the families are left out, as they do not qualify the norms set by the Government. Government insensitivity and profligacy comes to the fore, when its official colludes with well-off families to issue them he BPL cards. These families are appropriating the benefits meant for the starving families.

People have strived gallantly to raise crops from parched earth in the desert time and again. But for the fourth time, they have been let down by nature. Their houses are today empty shells inhabited by despairing souls.

This year's sowing could not be done, as there was no rainfall at all. Fields have turned into dry landscapes, without any trace of even cattle fodder. Drought has ravaged 136 villages of Lunkaransar, Chattargarh and Pugal tehsils. According to Revenue officials report, " In 1999, out of 136 villages in 79 villages, has lost 75 - 100 percent of standing crops of millet, maize and groundnut were destroyed. In 45 villages 50 -74 percent and in the twelve villages 50 percent of the crops were damaged. In 2000, out of the 136 villages in 21 villages, 75 - 100 percent of crops of millet, maize and groundnut were doomed. In 105 villages, about 50 - 74 percent and in the 10 villages 50 percent of crops were withered and lost. In 2001, out of 136 villages in 28 villages the drought damaged 75-100 percent agricultural produce. In 87 villages 50-74 percent and 10 villages lost 50 percent of the standing crops. This year, entire of the 136 villages has lost 75-100 percent of the crops."

Government apathy towards drought-affected villages is blatant and sorely lacks an understanding of the malaise plaguing the land. Thus the relief operation launched by the Government once again proved that all its responses are crisis-driven and meant more as a palliative than a cure. What the Government has failed to learn from the past that meagre relief will not raise people out of their misery.

In the relief operation, political bigwigs and their hatchet men are assiduously trying to push their 'pocket boroughs' as most drought affected to extract maximum political mileage out of it. So in this process, those villages actually reeling under severe drought conditions are being sidelined. In this milieu, woes of the worst affected villages have increased manifold as an outcome of political chicanery, insensate and corruption- ridden administration. Panchayats, instead of providing employment, has succeeded in economically disenfranchising the most needy. Major schemes providing relief work meant for the needy families are being appropriated by those tehsils, which have a political clout to wield. Such inordinate generosity for the influential politicians and their familiars has helped in pushing the rightful claimant for relief to starvation.

The discriminations adopted in disbursement of relief work among the panchayats have a strong pro-elitist bias. Just take the case of Lunkaransar tehsil, wilting under severe drought for four successive years as well as unprecedented heavy downpour in August 2000, has been sanctioned to employ 3352 villagers having BPL cards, while Bikaner and Nokha tehsils relatively less affected by drought has been asked to employ 7044 and 5275 villagers respectively. Like Lunkaransar, in Kolayat tehsil, just on the India- Pakistan border has been asked to employ 3738 BPL cardholders. It is being held that these tehsils are being singled out for the reason that they have BJP MLAs.

However, the bottom-line is that the panchayats having a powerful clout to wield are strongholds of Congress, the party ruling the state. The relief operations, which would have conducted in a humanitarian manner, but its quite tragic that it being guided dirty and murky politics. Sarpanches supervising the relief operations in their panchayats are not free from favouritism. They are not disbursing relief to those villages, which have voted against them. As told by Surjaram, Noparam and Kalyandan of Nathusar village, which fall under Ranwasar gram panchayat, though being an extremely backward village where 16 families are facing starvation. Though in this panchayat 100 families are BPL cardholders sanctioned for employment under 'Food for Work' programme but none of them have been given jobs facing Sarpanch's ire as they dared to vote against him in the panchayat elections.

Kalawati Sharma, the Sarpanch of Makdasar, stated before the villagers of Bonjarwali that much needed relief work under 'Food for Work' programme should be provided to the families, which are on the threshold of starvation. Villagers put their collective endeavour to prepare a list of the families eligible for work. To this exercise conducted by the villagers, the gramsevak curtly responded by saying 'I have to save my job, first and those families listed under BPL would only be provided with work'. But the norms qualifying a family to make it eligible for the 'Food for Work' programme border on the absurd. As evident from the fact that Kojhuram, afflicted with tuberculosis and whose 'hearth has not seen the warmth of a fire in the past days' was provided relief work only for a week in place of a well-to-do family whose name feature in the BPL list, that too after much persuasion.

In a survey conducted to assess the economic condition of the villagers of Makdasar panchayat in Lunkaransar tehsil, it was revealed that the Government's own norms set for making a family eligible for relief were thrown into the winds by its officials. Glaring inconsistencies can be seen in issuing of the BPL cards. The panchayat has a population of 3608 but only 169 families qualify to be BPL cardholders. Out of the 46 families facing starvation only names of 16 appear in the Government's list. Names of 36 families out of 141 families, who are poor but yet to face starvation, appear in the BPL list. 27 families out of 96 not so economically depressed figure in the list. The remaining families sanctioned for the relief work fall under the category of middle income. Out of 410 well-off families names of 92 appear in the BPL list.

However, it is quite worth mentioning that the outcome of this false selection of BPL families is not only confined to 'Food for Work' programme. Rather, it leads to fictitious figures of poor, which gives free rein to rich to grab millions of rupees allocated as grants and loans for the impoverished families. Astoundingly, such malpractice adopted in disbursing relief to well-off families and denying it to needy have almost been a norm followed throughout the state. Majority of the impoverished population of the state have been deprived of legitimate relief due to false and fabricated reports prepared by sarpanches, gramsevaks and patwaris.

In another survey conducted in 28 villages of Lunkaransar tehsil to asses the economic condition of the people, it was found that out of 1358 families scrutinised 955 were poor but only names of 333 families feature in the BPL list. Names of 114 families out of 386 families and one from 15 well-off families appear in the BPL list. In these 28 villages, 190 families are at the threshold of starvation but 70 percent have not been listed as BPL families. Hence they can't avail the benefits of the schemes made for BPL families.

It's quite a paradox that on one hand there has been 51 starvation deaths in the villages of Baran district and in other districts like Bikaner, Udaipur etc. drought-affected people are on the threshold of starvation and on the other, the Centre as well as the State Government baffled by the writ petition filed in the Supreme Court by the PUCL are issuing directives at regular pace. It's launching newer schemes for safeguarding the foodgrains stock apparently by allotting a miniscule portion of it for the impoverished and unfed population.

The Government scheme makes a provision for 35 kilos of grain at Rs. 4.60 a kilo for a BPL family but it is not being distributed in time. Moreover, the BPL cardholders seldom get the full ration and Public Distribution System (PDS) shops have not been opened up in all the drought-affected villages. Ration shops, which are operational, are closed most of the time and it is distributed once in a month. The BPL families were not able to scrape together with Rs. 161 required at one go so they get deprived of the ration. Most of the shop owners keep the BPL cards under their custody and even make false entries after giving sanctioned quota for a month fill up entries of two or three months of rations as distributed. Despite umpteenth complaints by the BPL card owners, seldom any action has been taken against them. Five quintals of wheat disbursed to the panchayats for saving those poorest of the poor families from starvation deaths. Often wheat rots and lies unused as the sarpanches have no wherewithal to store it and even don't know whom to distribute it. While disbursing five kilos of wheat to famished families, innumerable formalities have to be completed by the sarpanches, hence they scrupulously avoid engaging in the cumbersome exercise.

According to official directives, a family or its member will once get 5 kilos of relief grain if it is either on the threshold of starvation death or if their hearth has not seen the warmth of a fire in the past day! But in the order there is no mention when the next relief grain would be given. Relief grain of only 5 kilos are doled out to the families having six members, which makes is consumed in two meals a day. No one has the answer to this query, where from the relief grains would come for the second time. When the sarpanch of Jaitpur panchayat was asked to give relief grains to the famished families but he refused by saying that it's only meant for physically handicapped and hapless families facing starvation.

In the face of cataclysmic tragedy wrought by the severe famine, acute job scarcity constitute as a major crisis afflicting the poor. Without relief work, they have no money either to buy 5 kilos of grain at a time at the PDS nor they could escape hunger with insufficient grains provided under Centre's food security schemes like Antyodha, Grameen Rozgar Yojana and Annaporna. Moreover, its distribution is state government's responsibility and sarpanches as BPL agents who play havoc with the schemes. Many a times, the agents taking advantage of illiterate villagers mark on it showing that the cardholders had collected their quota of grain even though they had collected 10-15 kilos. Even these sarpanches keep the cards and later sell it off in the market.

The state reeling under the spectre of unmitigated drought, with famine stalking the land for the 48th time in 55 years of independence and this year's famine is worst in living memory, have pushed majority of people to starvation and abject penury. In the villages, the starving families are not prepared to give them even 250 grams of flour. Perpetual hunger gnaws not only in the stomachs of these families but has also taken away their dignity and way of life. These families go to sleep without any morsel of food.

There are several heart-rending instances, which even would jolt the insensate. Lalaram of Sabnia village is poor reduced to abject penury, but not in the official records. Just this year, his father fell from camel's back and sustained a fracture in his backbone. His flock of thirty sheep, goats and a camel were sold for his treatment. Having no access to relief he was forced to sell his son Issarram as ' child servitude' to a zamindar, in lieu of a loan. Later on he got his son freed after mortgaging 15 bighas of land. His wife suffering from tuberculosis has added to his woes and his family has been pushed to perpetual hunger. Starting from 1999 till date, Lalaram had earned Rs. 21,502 through farming, working as a menial labourer and by selling sheep, goats and a camel while his expenditure in sowing, medical treatment, running the household etc., has been Rs. 49190. Four years of successive droughts had economically made turned him into a destitute, imposing a debt burden of Rs. 27688. In the same village lives Rewatram Meghwal, who is physically challenged and has family of six members, including four children is on the threshold of starvation, but his name does not figure in the BPL list. In his house, there is not even a kilo of grain so the entire family, including his emaciated children are forced to sleep without a morsel of food. In the entire village, only ten families can warmth their hearths once for a meal, as they are uncertain about their next meal. Similar is the story of Ramlal living in Rambagh village, who has five mouths to feed in his family including a son and three daughters. Seeing the plight of the family, villagers got him enrolled in the BPL list twice over, yet his impoverishment remains and his condition has not improved. Without livestock or land the unmitigated drought had snatched his job of a carpenter, now pushing him to a dead end. Abject penury had forced his 12- year old daughter, eldest among the children, she begs around the village to feed her sibling and parents. Bewildered at his wife's mental ailment adding to his woes advocates' suicide as a way out. Bhuraram, 60, has 6 daughters and a son, enrolled in the BPL list and entitled for 35 kilos of grains at Rs.2 a kilo under the Antyodaya Scheme. But has no money to buy it His wife died of cancer, which was at terminal stage. Her husband being a BPL card-owner she was operated free of cost, but couldn't survive. Villagers pooled their resources to make arrangements for her funeral.

Rajasthan wilting under the grip of severe famine, the worst in the living memory brings to the fore not one but thousands of horrifying stories of large-scale human suffering. The Government claims that it would not allow anyone to die of hunger. A family on the threshold of starvation and if a member dies of hunger falling victim to malnutrition-related disease but after the death in its post-mortem report, it is never shown as starvation deaths. Moreover, social stigma desist these families to reveal their true condition.

They think that by doing so they would be inviting the risk of public ridicule even in the better days that might follow in future. Any death that might occur in these families will also not be termed as starvation death. It will prove the Govt. claim of not letting anyone die of starvation to be true. No one will tell the truth to the Govt., neither the postmortem report nor the people.

It's a mere eyewash to implement series of orders passed by the Supreme Court on providing basic food security to vulnerable sections of India's citizens. The Supreme Court has ordered that all food security schemes be subject to "social audit" by citizens in gram sabhas and gram panchayats. The apex court expects this to increase transparency and accountability in food security schemes and to help in the implementation of related court orders.



CHARKHA FEATURE
LAST UPDATED ON 2003