We
had thought it would be a depressing, even emotionally
draining visit. After all, Anantapur is one of the poorest
and most backward districts not just in Andhra Pradesh
but in all of South India. It has also been one of the
areas experiencing the highest number of farmers' suicides
in recent years. And we were visiting as part of the
Commission on Farmers' Welfare, specifically to investigate
the causes of agrarian distress and consider possible
measures to change the situation for the better.
The
extensive crisis in rural Andhra Pradesh is now well
known, and has also been documented by some sensitive
journalists and local activists in the state. The new
state government also recognises the seriousness and
urgency of the problem, which is why it is actively
considering policies that will not only reverse the
damage done in the previous period, but would actually
put agriculture on a sustainable footing in the medium
term. But the problems are not only immense but complex
and varied, given the diversity of the state itself.
There is no doubt that the situation is especially dire
in this particular district. Anantapur is the largest
district in Andhra Pradesh, but has relatively sparse
population and falls among the lowest per capita incomes
of all districts. The average rainfall of 521 mm per
year is the lowest in the state, and compares with the
state average of 925 mm. The shallow red soils that
cover most of the area in the district have low moisture
retention capacity in any case. Despite these adverse
conditions, Anantapur is dominated by rain-fed agriculture,
with only 18 per cent of the cultivated area covered
by any sort of irrigation.
In the last few years the rainfall has been even more
sparse and erratic, creating a context of continuous
drought. The duration of the monsoon has become shorter
and it tends to occur later and behave more erratically
in distribution. So rainfed crops have been failing
continuously for many years now, driving farmers to
search desperately for groundwater, by digging bore
wells whose failure rate has also increased dramatically
as the water table falls.
But nature has been responsible for only a few of the
problems facing Anantapur farmers. As in other parts
of the state, the deterioration and even destruction
of public institutions, and the strategy of pushing
farmers to face the vagaries of market forces, were
very much part of state government policy over the previous
decade. These have been critical in increasing material
insecurity and allowing for not just the persistence
of poverty but the actual worsening of some basic economic
conditions.
Governmental negligence - which is evident - is only
one cause. The policy of shifting to cash crops with
increasingly uncertain markets has clearly been another
cause. Until fairly recently, the district was certainly
poor, but experienced less starvation and fewer individual
economic catastrophes, because the ragi and barley that
could be cultivated in these tough conditions allowed
for at least minimum survival among the farming community.
But the shift to groundnut over the past decade - actively
abetted by state incentives - has forced farmers to
much greater market dependence. They have to buy more
inputs (many of which are spurious because of the inadequate
regulation of private suppliers and traders) and then
have to sell the crop even to ensure their own food
consumption. Even when harvest failures have reduced
the volumes of output drastically, output prices have
not been remunerative.
Not surprisingly, more and more farmers, even those
who were earlier relatively well-to-do, have fallen
into debt. And more of that debt has been from private
sources, as public institutional credit for cultivation
has been reduced as a consequence of financial liberalisation
measures.
Among the people we spoke to, health expenses were probably
just as significant in pushing families into the debt
trap. The deterioration of public health services and
the promotion of private medical care have dramatically
increased the financial costs of sheer physical survival
and well-being, even among the relatively poor.
Migration has been one traditional response to the lack
of local income opportunities, but the possibilities
even for this have been shrinking, as the entire region
around the district has been economically battered.
Meanwhile, unemployment and the sheer difficulty of
daily life have spawned patterns of frustration and
violence among the youth. Suicide deaths in Anantapur,
even as they continue, are now outnumbered by deaths
resulting from gang wars and factional killings, adding
yet another harsh element to the complex tribulations
of the area.
Given all this, it was probably only normal for us to
expect to be further depressed by the reality that we
would face in Anantapur. And yet, our interactions there
also convinced us of the remarkable resilience and tenacity
of the human spirit. This is now one of the most difficult
geographical terrains in the world for viable cultivation,
and the people here face economic difficulties and uncertainties
that are unmatched even in other parts of rural India.
Those who survive here have to be tough and necessarily
resistant to disaster, and it is an indication of just
how bad things have become that even some such people
have been driven to the ultimate despair of suicide.
But still, there was a lot of determination and continued
hope writ large in the faces around us. Huge expectations
have been generated by the new state government - expectations
that will be difficult to meet, but which still indicate
the capacity of people to commit themselves to trying
for a better future in the face of all obstacles.
In the villages as well as in one of the mandal headquarters,
ordinary people were remarkably vocal and articulate,
even the poorest people, and especially the women. They
could very clearly identify the problems, and trace
the links with official policy, much better than any
of us; they did not hesitate to assign blame even when
the accused was a local authority who was present; they
had many suggestions to improve matters, which were
plausible and often imaginative. The old type of feudalism
which expressed itself even in social relations and
in the lack of voice of the poor in public spaces, seems
to have been much weakened, and there is also greater
recognition of the need for a positive role played by
government.
Certainly, some of the initial measures give indications
that the new government will try to alleviate at least
some of these problems. The relief package for families
of farmers who have committed suicide has been sensitively
worked out and appears to be implemented with some sincerity
at least in this district (although, surprisingly, there
is no provision for compensation for the family of a
woman farmer who commits suicide). The district administration
appears to be energetic and positively oriented. The
state government has also declared its intention to
bring more canal irrigation to this district, although
that it is a far more complex issue.
In any case, addressing the problems of agricultural
development in an area like Anantapur is a hugely challenging
task, since it is necessary to consider the issues of
sustainability and continued viability of farming and
also the related question of developing non-agricultural
income opportunities. The good news is that the people
of Anantapur appear to be determined not only to survive,
but to seize any opportunities for positive change that
may come their way.
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