Ch. Prashanth Reddy, Business Line, Feb 13 KOLLAPUR (A.P.), Feb. 12
MIGRATION of people from the drought-prone Mahabubnagar district of Andhra Pradesh is not new. But in Peddamaruru village on the banks of river Krishna, such a thing was not heard of till last year.
The village always used to have enough water for irrigation and household consumption and the agricultural labourers had ample opportunities to make a living. But the situation has changed completely. The mighty Krishna did not flow through its parched lands this year. Severe drought and the Almatti dam upstream in Karnataka arrested its water flow.
The huge pumpsets that used to lift water from the river for irrigating 10,000 acres of the village's agricultural lands remained idle. For the first time, people started migrating from the place.
In the last three months, over 200 people left the land of their birth in search of livelihood. Many more are planning to leave the village in the near future. One such person is Chinna Boddanna, an agricultural labourer. Last month, he got employment just for five days. He has not been employed for a single day so far this month. Now, he is planning to migrate to Hyderabad. And as to what will he do there, he has no clue.
It is not just the agricultural labourers - drought has affected the lives of everyone in the village. In the case of Mr Anjaneyulu, a tailor who used to earn at least Rs 500 per month till last year, is now not even making Rs 100 per month. "People just don't have money to stitch new clothes for themselves", he told Business Line.
Even a seventh class student, Mahesh, feels the impact of drought. He always used to wear new clothes during Sankranthi festival but not this year. His parents do not have money to celebrate the festival like in the past. His mother, who used to work in the farms, is now sitting at home. The income of his father, a barber-cum-agricultural labourer, has also dwindled.
Moreover, being in a higher class, he is not entitled for food under the State Government's mid-day meal scheme while his brother, who is in third class, has the privilege of eating the free lunch provided at the school. Even during the year of normal monsoons, people migrate from several villages of Mahabubnagar district that has a population of 35 lakh.
According to unofficial estimates, as many as 4.5 lakh people migrate from the village every year in search of employment. This year, the number of migrants is expected swell to 8 lakh. Popular as "Palamur labour" (the earlier name of the district), their presence is common in most of the major construction sites across the country. Recently, one such migrant labourer, Laxma Reddy, was reported missing while working on the Narmada Canal Project in Gujarat. His wife Chittamma had to run from pillar to post to know about her husband's plight. The Palamur Contract Labour Union (PCLU) had sent a petition to the National Human Rights Commission in this regard. Consequently, the NHRC had directed the Chief Secretary of Gujarat to file a detailed report. According to PCLU, which has been fighting for the cause of farm labourers in the district, there have been 560 `missing' cases in the past. -----------------------------------------------------------
Where drought threatens very survival of the aged
By K. Venkateshwarlu, The Hindu, Feb 5
MAHABUBNAGAR Feb. 4. Clouds of starvation death loom large over poverty-stricken old in the drought-hit villages of this perennially rain- deficient district, notwithstanding the stout official denials. Virtually abandoned by their young ones, who migrate to far off places in search of livelihood, the old are left to fend for themselves. In the absence of support from their kin, they take up odd jobs and when they fail to find one, they seek alms. On a day they do not get either of these, they are at the mercy of their immediate neighbours. And when none of these work for them, they have no option but to starve to death.
Take the case of the frail 75-year-old widow, Megawat Sajani, a Lambada tribal of Tellarallapally Thanda, in Pangal mandal, who is a whisker away from death. She has five sons and three daughters. But barring the eldest daughter, all of them have migrated to different places, for "dambar pani" (work on re-carpeting of roads). While four of her sons left three years ago, the last one followed them, two years ago. The trickle of rice that used to come from her sons dried up, of late. The other family members -- her daughter and brother-in-law are too poor to take care of her. Too weak, she stopped working. For some time, neighbours fed her. Not anymore. How about ration card ?
"Yes, she has one. But where is the money with us to buy rice" says Bhikya, her brother-in-law.
During the 18th round of the Janmabhoomi programme last month, Sajani was promised a monthly pension of Rs. 75, an amount she is yet to receive. Equally pathetic is the condition of another old, indigent widow, Gopia. Her only son, a physically challenged person left for city in search of work, along with his wife, leaving behind their five-year-old son. The old woman takes care of herself and the little one. "I can`t work anymore. I survive on alms,'' she says. A cot laid under a tree, has become her makeshift shelter now, the one-room tenement she owned, having caved in last year.
The situation is no better in the remote Mallampalli- Kothapalli village of Ghattu, the worst drought-affected mandal in the district. Thimakka of the village, is another of those old souls, solely surviving on the neighbours munificence, having lost her two sons. She neither has a ration card nor gets old-age pension. Her grandson Bheemanna works in Raichur and sends a small bag of rice, "whenever he remembers me."
It is matter of time, before Sajani, Gopia and Thimakka, join the list of those dying of starvation. The local editions of the vernacular press put the toll so far this year, at six. But the State Government refuses to recognise them as starvation deaths.
"How can there be starvation when they have ration cards and get old-age pensions? What else we are supposed to do?'' argues the District Collector, K. Madhusudhana Rao. He concedes that the old-age pension of Rs. 75 is meagre but "you have to take it as a minimum amount required for sustenance. After all they have their sons, other family members and neighbours to fall back."
Quite obviously it raises questions. Does Government responsibility ends by merely issuing ration cards and pensions? Can these be adopted as yardsticks to measure the level of starvation? For many of the NGO representatives involved in drought relief works, it is not these arameters but improving access to food and purchasing capacity that are more important. It is much like the refrain, "How can there be starvation deaths when we have 60 million tonnes of foodgrains in FCI godowns?'' After all food and utrition play key role in building resistance in the body and if that crucial input is lacking, an old person becomes vulnerable and disease and death inevitably follow. Drought: Central team promises to present ground realities to Govt.:
