FACTS againest MYTHS V0L-VII-1-2002.pdf
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VIKAS ADHYAYAN KENDRA
Vol VII #1/2002
INFORMATION BULLETIN
The Commerce & Politics of Droughts:
The Myths on Drought and Drought Relief
"Once upon a time when the Nawabs ruled Avadh, the kingdom was experiencing a severe
drought. As part of the drought relief programme the Nawabs decided to erect a palace in
Lucknow. The people were provided with work and food. Even the nobles and high officials were
provided with work. While the labourers were paid for raising the walls during the day, the
nobles were paid for pulling down the walls at night. Everybody loved the drought!"
"In 1660, an administrative measure taken by Maharaja Raj Singh of Mewar endeared him to his
subjects. On his demand a huge lake, the Rajasamand Lake, was built. He wanted a lake that
would help his kingdom overcome water scarcity and avoid drought and famine. Not only did the
lake protect his kingdom from this scarcity, but was a source of succour later for at least three
or four districts of Rajasthan right up to modern times.11
COMMENT
Droughts as well as measures to overcome it have existed right since ancient times. (See Box
on next page) However, in the last 50 years there has been a sharp rise in its frequency and
ferocity, assuming alarming proportions today. This year has been officially declared an all-1 ndia
drought year as the drought has been the worst since 1987 with 50 starvation deaths being
reported in Rajasthan where the worst hit are the Sahariya Adivasis of Baran district. Moreover,
the rains this year till July-end has been less by 24 % (by the first week of August this had
already increased to 30%.) One consequence of this is that marginal farmers have been
experiencing a serious
situation of unemployment.
Over 24 crore-farm workers
have failed to get any
employment during the Kharif
season. Hundreds are leaving
their villages to take up petty
jobs in small cities and towns.
A number of farmers in the rich
plains of Punjab are devising
ways to raise cash in total
desperation.Tractor bazars
have been set up following huge
losses where farmers have
been selling the tractors used
in ploughing their farms to raise
money for meeting household
expenses and save some
portion of their harvest.
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FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION ONLY
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Drought in Pre-Colomal India
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In pre-colonial times attempts in controlling drought are scanty. However, the level of
technological development, the economic conditions and the social structure in the given
period determined their nature and the effectiveness of such measures. The economy, then,
was not integrated and there was a considerable local level self-sufficiency. There are merely
few indications of how people tried to cope or fend for themselves during a drought. One was
the storage of grain when the harvest was good as a cushion against times of scarcity. They
were partially helped by the rulers or private charity through supply of foodgrain and opening
of ‘anna chhatra’ (free cooked meal centres). But these were generally confined to the capital
city. There was the customary practice of granting partial and full remission of the land tax
depending upon the extent of the crop failure and also to extend help to resume cultivation in
the next season. As a permanent measure, the rulers undertook the work of constructing
irrigation canals and gave loans for sinking wells. The rajas and sardars employed a number
of villagers in different departments of the state, etc. It also imported grain from abroad and
abolished tolls to facilitate its free movement but this movement was limited due to lack of
mechanical transport facilities and in such severe conditions traditional use of animal power
was very slow. However, in the event of a severe famine, the numbers relieved depended on
the benevolence of the ruler and their capacity to reach the needy population. Special efforts
were made for the return of the cultivators to their land and the rehabilitation of cultivation.
As land tax was the major revenue, land restoration was the major task of the rulers. All this,
however, changed with colonial occupation. Even though the possibilities of extending relief
had vastly increased, the measures were now largely determined by the economics of such
relief measures. The British colonial government did accept the responsibility to take measures,
as far as possible, to protect the population of the distressed districts from starvation. Yet, it
maintained,“...the task of saving life irrespective of the cost is one which is beyond their
power to undertake...”.2 The results of such a policy are reflected in the records of deaths due
to starvation during the major famines of the 19th century and the Bengal famine of 1942-43. In
the early years of their rule they looked upon famines as isolated and unexpected events and
dealt with the situation hesitatingly. However, they subsequently formulated a famine policy.
that emerged from the disastrous famine of 1866, known as the Orissa Famine, the turning
point in the history of Indian famines. In 1880 it formulated a number of principles in correct
managment of famines and preventive measures. How to apply these principles was codified
in the Famine Code. Broad instructions of action and practical instruction of relief operations
are listed in the Code and have been in use till date.
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Quick to capitalise on this situation village
moneylenders have hiked rates of interests on loans
to exorbitant limits Besides, on an average, 1,000 sq.
kilometers of land (about the size of Mumbai) is declared
drought-prone each year. And around 6,000 million
tonnes of topsoil, containing rich plant nutrients vital
for the fertility and moisture content of the land, is
washed away annually. Latest information by the
Hyderabad based National Remote Sensing Agency
(NRSA) reveal that 75 m. hectares (mha) are drought
prone and the country is gradually turning into a
parched and unproductive land mass1. In 1974, when
the Union government launched the Drought Prone
Areas Development Programme, 50 mha of land was
under drought. In the 90s it rose to 80 mha. This year,
conservative estimates put it at an additional 7-10 mha
of moisture-strained land. Another disturbing factor is
that the country’s finite and fragile water resources are
stressed and depleting. The situation is already critical
at river basins and local levels; 6 of India’s 20 major
FACTS against MYTHS - Vol VH # 1/2002
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river basins have less than 1,000 cubic meters per year
and localised shortages are endemic in all according
to a report in the Outlook magazine of May 8,2000. As a term, drought generally refers to a deficiency in
rain and its consequences but its quantitative definitions
vary across countries.(See Box on pg.3). Its description
is totally dependent on local conditions and local levels
of water use. Under monsoon weather conditions,
determining what exactly be defined as drought is a
complex issue. For official purposes of declaring
drought, a 25% to 50% departure from normal rainfall
considered moderate drought, while a departure greater
than 50% is considered serious drought3 According one
study, the Weather Bureau of the US defined drought
as a “lack of rainfall so great and long continued as to
affect injuriously the plant and animal life of a place
and to deplete water supplies...” In Egypt those years
which do not bring a flood in the Nile River are considered
drought years. In India, conversely, floods have almost
become the prerequisite for drought.
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What is Drought?
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I The Indian Meteorological Department (IMI) defines a drought as one in which the rainfall j
I over a meteorological sub-division (of which there are 36 in the country) is deficient by 25% or ]
I more from the long-term average (LTA). If the deficiency exceeds 50% by IMD categories it as
I a severe drought. Accordingly, the National Commission on Agriculture has defined the other
I kind of droughts as hydrological and agricultural. The former is one in which prolonged I
I meteorological drought results in the depletion of surface water and a fall in groundwater |
I levels, causing severe shortage of water for livestock and human needs. An agricultural drought |
I is defined as a period of four consecutive weeks (of severe meteorological drought) with |
I rainfall deficiency of over 50% of the LTA or with a weekly rainfall of 5 cm or less during the
‘kharif’ season - mid-May to mid-October - or six such consecutive weeks during the rest of
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year. In practice, states may adopt different criteria in defining a drought. Generally, if
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I 50% or more of the standing crop in a particular district is destroyed or damaged that district is !
I declared as drought-hit
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I An agricultural drought is a condition specific to a region and a local condition may vary. The |
of announcing a drought lies at the district level. The Centre has no role to play
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in announcing drought conditions. The district revenue department makes the assessment of
I crop loss, and based on these results, the decision is taken. Once relief measures, the prerogative ..
I of States, are announced
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Revenue collection for the region is suspended;
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Interest on loans is waived;
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Loan recovery is either stalled or staggered for a certain period. The next set of
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measures include providing relief. This is where the Centre comes in. There are
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two sources of funds to take care of the calamity - the Calamity Relief Fund (CRF)
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and the National Calamity Contingency Fund (NCCP). While the former is s a statej
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administered fund (the Centre contributes 75% of the corpus of the fund for each
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state) the latter is a Central fund. The CRF has Rs.11,000 crore for 5 years for all
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states, while the NCCF has a corpus of Rs.500 crore.
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food for work programmes
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direct cash relief and aid for damage to crop, livestock, etc
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Drought is a phenomenon that societies the world over
have experienced from time to time. What has differed
is the human response to this challenge vis-a-vis coping
Jmechanisms. When and where wise land and water
management principles and policies were adopted, as
the second quote (above) illustrates, and when scarce
basic resources distributed in a spirit of equality,
problems arising out of drought situation have been
kept to the minimum. In this way people have lived
through periodic droughts without any serious
disruption of their lives. But at times and in places
where such wisdom and good sense have been
ignored, extreme distress had been experienced
sometimes culminated in mass starvation deaths.
Today, when drought strikes the knee-jerk response is
to apply short-term crisis management measures, a
“legacy” from colonial times. One way it does this is
stock up food grains during good years and organises
massive relief works during drought. The poor then
get some money to buy the grains they need for their
survival, which alleviates the problem of starvation but
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nothing more. This approach only meets a part of their
needs - fodder for animals and drinking water. To further
cope with this problem the government provides a
number of relief packages to affected areas.Thus.to
this day, the government's response continues to be
based on short-term rather than long-term permanent
measures.
Once a State is declared drought-affected relief
measures however do not automatically kick in but
typically these States act on these fronts. Crop-loss
compensation varies depending on the nature of the
farmer’s holding. On average Rs,1,000 per acre is
sanctioned for un-irrigated land, Rs.2,500 per acre for
irrigated land, and Rs.4,000 per acre for irrigated land
with perennial crops. This only addresses the concerns
of land-owing farmers; some of the worst-hit are agri
labourers. To tackle this, Food-For-Work programmes
are undertaken by the food ministry and the department
of rural development, paying half the wages in
foodgrains and the other half in cash.
In the current drought and water scarcity situation three
major trends in the area of irrigation and supply of safe
drinking water are discernable. One relates to the large
number of schemes left incomplete or inoperational
(often due to lack of spare parts or need for minor
repairs). Villages may have lift irrigation projects but
many not providing any water or loans for villagers in
digging wells progressed to the stage of empty ditches.
One researcher4 found 9,728 wells lying unused in
district against 5,534 in use.The second trend relates,
ironically not to inefficiency but over-efficiency in
pumping out scare supplies of water by a small number
of big landowners to grow water-intensive crops in an
area whose limited water-endowment cannot really
sustain the new cropping patterns. In other words, the
enrichment of a few arising from their favored access
to a scarce resource often accentuate the water crisis
of the majority of the people and hence diminishing
their ability to face drought situations;
Finally, the total neglect of traditional irrigation systems
which were often more useful from the view of sustained
availability of water. In some regions, the area under
irrigation by tanks had declined from 40,000 hectares
in 1960-61 to 7481 in 1976-77. This is the plight of the
Rajasamand Lake, cited in the quote above
The combined pressure of the first two factors can be
seen, among other parts, where the neglect of tanks
and emphasis on digging tube-wells by better-off
farmers on land not really suitable for this has led to a
lowering of the water-table. Thus, the two processes
- one the modern irrigation system replacing the
traditional forms instead of supplementing them and
two, the derelict condition of the traditional forms of
irrigation have combined to knock out whatever
insurance measures the community had developed over
centuries of struggle with nature. This situation is further
compounded by concentration of the ownership of land
and specially the more fertile and irrigated part of the
land, in the hands of the powerful few. Land-ownership
in the hands of a few is land scarcity for the many.
Land concentration is not accidental being linked to
the experience of colonialism and the development
policies subsequently adopted by post-colonial
governments.
In terms of impact droughts have are highly debilitating
economically and socially. Its socio-psychological
implications may not, however, be as obvious even
though a drought can have an equally profound effect.
And as it leads to scarcity, droughts often result in
social disorganisation, affecting the individual, the
family, children and the country as a whole. Firstly,
there is an extreme narrowing of interests. Water
becomes the be-all and end-all of daily-life activities.
Men, women and even children are constantly in se
arch for water. In conditions of deteriorating health like
infant and maternal under-nourishment and disease,
droughts merely exacerbate this situation resulting in
a population that is too weak to recover either
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economically or physically and realise their full physical
and mental potential even after the conditions return to
normal. Further, the drought precipitates migration of
people from rural to urban cities. While this imposes
further pressures on already overcrowded urban centres
it leaves the rural areas with the old, very young and
the infirm, unable to migrate. Related to this is the
distress sale of land and livestock by people wishing
to move out at minimum prices owing to their inability
to provide water and fodder to their livestock. At another
level, when the rains fail groundwater levels in the region
drop precariously leading to an equally alarmingly
concentration of fluoride levels. The result is fluorosis
caused by the fluoride pumped up from the bowels of
the earth through the tube well. One major impact of
this is premature aging among the people. Rajasthan
tops the list of fluororis-infected states (40
contaminated and 22 of the 32 districted affected) with
almost all residents suffering from yellow, cracked teeth
and pronounced limps.
Drought and the resultant scarcity also lead to social
conflicts between communities and castes over access
to water' In 2000 water-riots erupted in Gujarat and
M.P. over water scarcity. There is also hoarding o“ ’
food and the attendant inflation of prices. Further
women with their inferior social status are amongst
the worst sufferers in conditions of drought. They have
to go without food so as to ensure that the males in
the family not only get adequate diet but also get to
eat first.
Compounding the misery are the adverse impact of
the economic reforms, exacerbating the state of the
economy vis-a-vis the people. The reforms have also
added a disturbing dimension hitherto absent in that
as a dreaded reality for poor farmers droughts are now
seen as a bonanza for trade and industry, not just for
politicians. The industry, therefore, has expressed
serious concern at the failure of the rains! The long dry
spell has affected its grandiose plans of entering into
rural India thus upsetting its marketing plans of targeting
the rural elite. And the companies eyeing the rural.
countryside belong to sectors as diverse as cement*../
sugar, automobiles, textiles, fertilisers, chemicals and
food processing. The more the damage to crop
production, the less will be the farmer’s ability to buy,
and that will surely impair the recession-hit industry.
Further, with an economy already in the state of atrophy,
the drought will enormously reduce the purchasing
power for industrial goods, further aggravating the crisis
in the manufacturing sector. The rural market is
estimated5 to be around Rs.50,000 crores for FMCG
(Fast Moving Consumer Goods e.g. soap,etc.);
Rs.45,000 crores for seeds, ferilisers/pesticides, farm
equipment and tractors; and Rs.7,000 crores for
consumer durable like Videos, refrigerators, etc. The
CM IE has now dropped its prediction of GDP growth
for the current year from 4.5% to 3.5%. A severe drought
will only act to further the recession in the economy
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vis-a-vis unemployment. Thus, for a change, it is the
industry which appears to be reeling more under the
impact of drought! This new element of the negative
impact that the industry is faced with has pushed the
poor farmer into the background.
In pursuing merely short-term solutions in combating
drought the Government at the Centre as well at the
State is really not serious in providing any genuine
relief to drought affected people through greater public
investment i.e. reducing the variability in output itself
that has much greater benefit in preventing drought.6
Only the amounts due under various ‘relief fund’
programmes have been disbursed. Funds from the
Calamity Relief Fund have already been given (75%)
to the respective States, even before the drought-like
conditions occurred! The second installment of merely
Rs.700 crores was realised recently from the CRF fund.
The disbursal of such funds is a politically motivated
stratagem. Barely 10% actually reaches those to whom
it is meant for! The bulk is pocketed by vested interests.
In 2001, the compensation of Rs.1,181 crores given
for calamity-affected corps Gujarat received Rs.770
^rores. Today, according to reports, in UP no relief is
M/oing to those areas, which are the opposition’s
stamping ground. Besides, it creates the mis
impression that droughts are natural calamities and
thus a ‘fait accompli’. All that can be done is to hold
mass prayer gatherings and invocations to the gods
which politicians organise regularly hoodwinking the
gullible sections of society. It is imperative therefore to
lay bare such chicaneries and also distinguish between
droughts that are real and those that are rigged.
MYTH: Drought is a natural calamity and therefrore
unavoidable.
FACT: This is an over-simplified understanding of
drought. Analyses of data from various parts of the
country reveal that scarcity of water as well as food
and fodder has been occurring systematically over a
longer timespan and even during years of normal
rainfall.
drought is not a catastrophe! It is a process that
must be effectively managed. As part of this process
communities attempt and anticipate the crisis. They
often do so by taking measures to conserve and harvest
water. Water use is regulated. Where the ecology is
fragile, farmers desist from planting water-intensive
crops like sugarcane and rice. A number of villages
have proven that this system works e.g. in the Alwar
district of Rajasthan and the Jhabua district of M.P.
The problem of drought is therefore rooted in water
mismanagement. In most parts of the country the local
administration responsible for water supply and water
management overdraws water from available resources.
In Gujarat, for instance, when the monsoon failed, a
100-km long pipeline was laid by the Administration to
supply water to Rajkot from Wankaner at a cost of
about Rs.75 crore. It was decided that 45 m. liters of
FACTS against MYTHS - Vol VII # 1/2002
water would be extracted daily from 125 borewell in
the Jamboodia Reserve Forest in the Halbar-Wankaner
area with the result that within 4 months the water
table went down by 8 metres.7 Besides, deep tubewells
of about 450-600 meters are dug within a radius of 10
km from Rajkot. Each day these borewells supply
about 10-16.5 m. liter of water mainly transported with
the help of tankers, doing a roaring business. The
municipality also supplies 2.5-m. liters of water by
tankers daily. In the Reassume block in Orissa, which
was the worst affected by the cyclone, drinking water
is not available even at depth of 1,500!
Another case of Gujarat where the government
disbursed Rs.10,576.26 lakh as wages to people
involved in relief works and automatically arranged for
the dispatch of water-tankers. The Narmada-Mahi
pipeline takes water to Ahmedabad and parts of
Saurastra. It was laid as part of a Rs.392 - crore master
plan drawn by the Government to deal with drinking
water scarcity which it conveniently believes is what
causes droughts in the country!!
And to reiterate, a drought is not a natural calamity
and nor can providential intervention (!) help in averting
such tragedies. An illustration of such chicanery is
the action of Bhairon Singh Shekawat, the only top
politician to take concrete steps in the worst affected
State of Rajasthan, facing drought for the 5th successive
year. He spent lakhs to perform a ‘maha-Yagna’ at the
Mahadeo Temple of Jaipur by inviting 150 pundits
specifically from Jodhpur for the event! Amidst the
chanting of ‘slokas' a top BJP MP’s wife poured milk
on a shivling. Unfortunately, no rain fell on the parched
land!
MYTH: The failure of rains or water scarcity is the
main cause of droughts.
FACT: Not so! Water scarcity is the most visible
attribute of drought. The correlation, however, between
failure in seasonal rains resulting in drought is (again)
highly simplistic! If water scarcity is an indicator of
drought then Cherrapunji, having the highest rainfall,
on earth, is also drought affected!
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Natural or Man-made?
In reality, droughts are the result of decades of rape of nature, aggravated by toal government
neglect of agriculture. The lives of the peasants have been made so fragile that even a small
disturbance is sufficient to shatter it. Besides, if the people were economically sound the
impact of a drought would be limited due to the resilience in their ability to bare small ups
and downs. But economic reforms have so devastated the countryside that a small drought or
flood is sufficient to send them into ruination. It was earlier the World Bank policy that promoted
‘green revolution’. The rabid use of fertilizers and pesticides, and ruthless extraction of ground
water has laid waste vast tracts of farmland. Destruction of the topsoil, depletion of the
nitrogenous matter in the soil and the continuous lowering of the water table is the outcome
of decades of the World Bank’s ‘green revolution’. And if to this is added its other policy of
the wide-scale clear-cutting of forests and replacing them with harmful monoculture of eucalyptus
and teak has led to the beginning of an ecological disaster.
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As the ‘green revolution’ destroys the earth, the forest policy destroys rainfall catchment areas.
The faithful implementation of such WB policies has reduced the country into a state of
permanent droughts, floods, etc. It is estimated that forest cover has reduced a massive 12%
since 1947. As a result, the Planning Commission has estimated that each year 60,000 m.
tonnes of fertile top-soil is washed away in the country. A ministry-working group has pegged
the areas affected by water logging, alkalinity and salinity from 9 to 28%.5
♦
Additionally, in the period of economic reforms expenditure on agriculture has been
continuously reducing. The overall drop in investment in agriculture is shown by the fact that
the share of agriculture in gross domestic capital formation has slid from 14.5% in 1980-81 to
just 6.4% in 1998-99. Over the last two decades public investment in agriculture has virtually
halved, it dropped from Rs.1,796 crores in 1980-81 (80/81 prices) to roughly Rs.900 crores (80/
81 prices) in 1998/99. As a percentage of GDP in agriculture it fell from 4.2% in 1980-81 to 1.85%
in 1996-97 and further to 1.45% in 1998-99. An example of this drop is the fall in the Agriculture
Ministry’s expenditure on foodgrain development of Rs.82 crores in 1990-91 to Rs.32 crores in
2000-2001. In 2000-2001, public investment in agriculture was down to Rs.4, 000 crores from
about Rs.4,500 crores in 1993-94.
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The result of such policies can be seen in all states, where those with power and pelf have
resorted to tube-well irrigation. This naturally increased the inequalities in the rural areas
with the well-off getting access to water and the poorer being deprived of it. In UP for instance
it is estimated that 135 lakh hectares or 45% of the reported areas is degraded. Soil and water
conservation expenditure its budget amounted to just Rs.344 crores (2000-01) on revenue
account and nill on capital account. (In other words the full amount was for immediate works
and nothing allocated for any long-term projects). This amounts to a mere Rs.115 per hectare,
the bulk of which goes in establishment costs, to operate the scheme. Irrigation from canals
is also on the decline; it dropped from 33 lakh hectares in 1984 to 31 lakh hectares in 1997. On
the other hand tube-well irrigation has risen phenomenally amounting for 60% of the total
irrigation.
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Added to this overall decline in agriculture has been the massive hike in the basic necessities
of life with the huge rise in prices of foodgrains and kerosene through the PDS. Since the last
two to three years the PDS has all but collapsed leading to mass starvation on the one side
and food mountains on the other. So, for example, even though drought struck a number of
States, Rajasthan lifted 3.7% of rice and 26.5% of wheat allotted to it under PDS in 2000-01
against 28% and 84% in the previous year. Similarly, Gujarat lifted 29% of rice and 32% of
wheat in 2000-01 compared to 73% and 91% four years earlier. Already between 1972/73 and
93/94 foodgrain consumption fell by 5% in urban areas and 12% in rural areas. In the last three
years, due to the scrapped of the PDS scheme, it has fallen even further. It is such a situation
that droughts become devastating. Hence, it is not a ‘natural’ calamity but a man-made crisis.
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Cm e=n ran tssa E=a tssa r=3 c=3 s=ai s=3 cz=s
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nra r=3 era rasa c=a t=xa e=3 mi rasa sssn ma tsta t=» ssa ecei mi tssa mi era ran m na r=8
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‘Drought’ an ambiguous term has been rather freely
bandied about to explain away the problem of everincreasing water scarcity or has been inevitably (and
naively) related exclusively to deviations from normal
in rainfall. Water scarcity and drought are no longer
restricted to arid regions with scanty rainfall. Regions
in non-arid zones, with good rains, are now more and
more prone to drought. For instance the foothills of the
Himalayas. Ironically, high rainfall receiving regions like
Kerala and Goa are also demanding drought relief today.
Neither is a unique phenomenon.
Drought occurs whenever and wherever the links (in
nature’s chain) the water cycle is interfered with and
destabilized. The history of drought in India, especially
since Independence, is a miserable chronicle of
demolition, exacerbated by insensitive and irresponsible
human interference.
Further, even if the argument that the monsoon has
been erratic, the point is that when the average rainfall
that preceded the current drought with the one prior to
the devastating drought (for instance) of 1987, it will be
noted that the present problem is far out of proportion
!th the deficit in the rainfall. In 1987, the rainfall was
30 per cent of the normal average, which in
meteorological terms is considered a severe drought.
This year the rainfall was 61 per cent of the normal
average.
In short,the common refrain, "a drought is a result of
poor monsoon" is a knee-jerk response of the
Government. On the other hand, the Director General
of the Meteorological Department maintains, ‘The
drought in 2001 had nothing to do with a weak monsoon.
We have had a normal monsoon for the 13th consecutive
year”. And, finally, it does not matter how much rain
falls. If it is not harnessed there will still be shortage
of water. It is unbelievable but true that Cherrapunji
which gets 11,000 mm annual rain, still suffers from
serious drinking water shortages!!
MYTH: Emergency relief measures are the only
effective options in tackling these calamities.
3
FACT: ‘Drought Relief’ is not just a short-term measure
but a mode also to disburse charity. And though it
can and at times does reach scarcity prone areas, it
seldom benefits those in desperate need of it viz., the
poor. Consider the case of the Sahariya Adivasis of
Baran district of Rajasthan where 50 of them died from
starvation resulting from severe drought. Despite the
availability of a number of central and state food aid
schemes including a World Bank scheme, the
impoverished community failed to get free food,
subsidised grain, access to public health care or the
food for work programme. This reality, however, is well
understoodby the poor. Hence, they dub ‘drought relief’
as ‘teesra fast’ (the third crop!). Only they, the poor,
are not the ones who harvest it! As is the practice, the
responsibility of ‘drought relief’ is handed over to
contractors who hire private parties delegated to lay
CjFACTS against MYTHS - Vol vn # 1/2002
roads, dig wells, dispatch water tankers, build bridges,
repair tanks, etc. The funds involved are enormous.
Little wonder, drought relief is referred to as the
country’s biggest growth industry! The funds, in a
single year, can make the withdrawals from Bihar’s
animal husbandry department pale in comparison. And
it is all ‘legal’. Above all, state governments all clamour
for more and more ‘drought relief’ every time in such
crises. For instance:
5K
Rajasthan has demanded emergency funds
totaling a staggering Rs.60 billion;
JK
A.P. demands an additional Rs.3500 m.
•X-
Chattisgarh demands Rs.900 m.
*
Haryana has demanded Rs.120 m.
&
Punjab demands Rs.8000 m. and an additional
amount of Rs.4000 m. under the CRF, Rs.2000
for digging deep tubewells for supplying
drinking water in the rural areas; Rs.1000 for
drought reigning and micro management and
Rs.500 m. each for green fodder, medicines
for cattle and deep tubewells in the urban areas
for providing drinking water
x
Orissa Rs.5000 m. and
*
Maharastara has demanded an additional
amount of Rs.2050 m
But ‘drought relief’ rarely addresses the root causes of
drought or water scarcity. Nor does relief translates
into relief against drought. The funds for relief provide
politicians and planners with a golden opportunity to
extend their patronage and together with bureaucrats
get their quota of the booty. For instance,
*
In 1994-5 alone, Maharastara spent over Rs. 1,
70 crores on emergency measures to fight
drought. This was more than the combined
profits in the previous year of the lending
agencies across the country in the organized
sector of the tea and coffee, cement, and car
industries. Their profits, after tax, totaled
Rs 1,49 crores;
In August 1995, the former P.M., Narasimha
Rao, had launched an anti-drought project in
Orissa involving an expenditure of Rs4, 557
crores in 6 years (over Rs.750 crores a year)
on just a few districts.
MYTH: Emergency relief measures are
immediately launched when a state is declared
drought affected.
FACT: This claim has since proved to be merely hot
air! Instead, all affected States are most preoccupied
in presenting the Centre with a huge list for relief funds
(as shown above). Considering the highly critical state
that the country is in over the drought conditions it
7
for the centrally sponsored scheme of the ‘macro
management of agriculture’. It also utilised the
miserable plight of the peasantry to push through the
World Bank proposal to restructure the cooperative
banks. While it has dispersed a mere Rs.1,200 crores
for the drought affected, it has proposed an allocation
of a massive Rs.8,000 for restructuring the cooperative
Orissa has appointed 8 more ministers which
banks.
v. •.
will result in further expenditure of crores, but
References
yet maintains that it has no funds for drought
would be expected that as a first step States would
attempt to cut off their huge wasteful
expenditures.lnstead, they are not only more keen in
laying their hands on the Rs.17 crores with the Centre,
earmarked for relief but have also other wasteful
v..
priorities. For instance:
*
relief;
3K
*
x
1.
A.P has been hiking its demands almost each
fortnight! Its last demand was Rs.811 crore
plus 15 lakh tonnes of foodgrain. Yet, Chief
Minister Naidu has been preoccupied with
sending 294 MLAs on an East Asia
extravaganza ( so-called study tour) to 5
countries, in batches of 50 each at a cost of
Rs.12 crores;
The Centre itself has also kept up its pressure
on providing more sops to the IT industry.
Even at the peak of the drought that swept
through the drylands of the country in 19992000, the P.M. had announced Rs.11,000-crore
worth of sops to this sector plus a series of
tax concessions and tax holidays thereby
conveying the impression that the solutions
to human misery in the drought-affected
regions are in Pentium technology!
Karnataka has invested millions in the biotech
industry as Top Priority.’
Most shocking however is that even as the drought
situation deteriorated, the Government cut the subsidy
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Produced and Published by:
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Facts Against Myths is a monthly bulletin offactual
information on a number ofdevelopment myths and
fallacies, etc, including information against alien
development models, paradigms and false concepts
on caste, creed and gender.
Printed by : Omega Offset, 4574, Shelly Gaily
Belgaum 590 002. S 0831-424124/433429
a
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Das, B., Drought 2002, Down to Earth, September 15,
2002.
2.
Brahme.S. Drought in Maharashtra, Gokhale Institute
of Politics & Economics, Pune, 1972.
3.
Bandyopadhyay, J. The Indian Drought, 1987-88,
Research Foundation for Science and Ecology, Dehra
4.
Dogra, B. Encyclopaedia of Development, Environment
& Welfare, New Delhi, 1995.
5.
Kamlesh, Drought Stalks the Country, People's March,
No. 9, Kolkata 2002.
6.
Rao, C.H.H (et al), Unstable Agriculture and Droughts,
Vikas Publishing House Pvt. Ltd., Delhi, 1988.
7.
Rangatia, The Myth of Drought, Down to Earth, May 1^
2000.
"
8.
Sainath, P. Everybody Loves a Good Drought, Penguin
India, New Delhi,1996.
9.
S., Unnikrishnnan, 100 Years of Drought, India Disaster
Report, (ed), Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2000.
10.
Sharma,D. India’s Drought: Helping Industry to Fight
Recession, NAPM Bulletin, #3, Bangalore, 2002.
11.
Sharma.D.Faulty Lessons from America, TWN
Feaatures, Goa.
12.
Nitin, R. The Great Bengal Famine by A.Sen and J.Dreze
in NAPM Bulletin, #3, Bangalore, 2002.
13.
Mathur, K. (et al), Drought, Policy and Politics, Sage
Publications, New Delhi, 1993.
Dun, 1987.
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