Suicides in Budelkhand (part II)

Debt trap

Oppression by powerful local goons has pushed poor farmers to the brink.

With no savings and an unkind climate making incomes increasingly insecure, small farmers can hardly see themselves through a crisis. They are forced to borrow often at high interest. Debts quickly mount up. Some end up paying with their life.

“Many small farmers are indebted to moneylenders, landlords and government banks,” shares Bharat Dogra, researcher for Hunger Montoring project.

“As the weather is increasingly unfavorable the chances of paying back loans are thin, leading to increasing stress and in some cases suicides.”

Powerful landlords and money lenders persist in attempts to recover loans regardless of problems a farmer may be facing.

“Even police won’t protect us from moneylenders as they get commissions from them. Where do we go?” complains Awadhesh a villager.

Loss of crops due to bullying landlords also keeps farmers in the debt trap.

Somvati, 50, a villager bitterly complains, "Several times when we have worked hard to raise a good crop, big landlords leave their cattle to graze on our fields," she says.

Community efforts show the way

While exposing the reasons for distress, the Hunger Monitoring project also points to possible solutions and safeguards.

Ways forward in Bundelkhand include using the rural employment guarantee act to restore traditional water sources, clean and repair tanks, undertake soil and water conservation work. Steps are also needed to ensure that drinking water is on hand for people and animals before water scarcity reaches its peak. 

"Worsening hunger and declining food security can be controlled if a higher government budget allocation for farming and ecological rehabilitation is made with a special emphasis on water conservation and aforrestation," says Sanjay Singh.  

Some measures – such as increasing green cover to help conserve water – are already being taken forward by villagers with the support of local voluntary organisations and ActionAid.

In Meengni village, Mataprasad Tiwari an elderly villager has helped raise thousands of trees and cares for them like someone cares for his children.

Setting up village grain banks has been another positive step towards ensuring food security in times of crisis. The grain banks are managed and controlled entirely by the community.

This is not all – coming together of villages has also led to creation of a village emergency fund to provide financial support during crisis situations.

But the scale and speed of response required is far larger.

Act now before it is too late!

Community efforts can show the way but government support and protection is needed to sustain them.

The crisis underscores the demand for a genuine effort to bring sustained respite to the sufferings of the poor farmers.

“The government must act now or the price of negligence could be lives and livelihood of millions of India's poorest,” warns Bharat Dogra.  

Article based on a study by Bharat Dogra as a part of ActionAid’s Hunger Monitoring project; a collaboration with journalists and community activists to expose hidden hunger and prompt authorities to take action.