Central India in grip of worst-ever drought

The last five years have been tough on 55-year old Saraswati Devi. Her two sons have left their village to work as construction workers in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh (mp). The family's one hectare patch in Ragauli Bhatpura gram panchayat in Uttar Pradesh's (up) Banda district has been mortgaged. The money barely helps Saraswati tide over a drought that's ravaging Banda

For the water of this earth

In the arid regions of Rajasthan frequent droughts are a phenomenon closely interwoven with ecology and have always been a periodic occurrence. The agricultural economy as it developed traditionally, took this into account. Changes in the local ecology due to changes in agriculture however, have had a far-reaching impact on food security experienced by the rural poor.

Half-baked

smarting from last year's severe drought, the Union ministry of agriculture has asked state governments to encourage crop diversification. The pre-emptive measure seeks to factor in the effect of monsoon failure in the present kharif season. But in the absence of facilities for storage, preservation and processing of alternative crops, it may prove to be a non-starter.

Out of focus

The biggest hurdle in providing the much-needed drought relief is corruption in the government machinery. Rajasthan has spent almost Rs 6,500 crore on drought relief works like employment generation, fodder distribution and drinking water facilities in the past 45 years. Another Rs 628 crore has been spent in the last 27 years to stop the spread of the Thar desert. But there is no impact.

Made to fail

The Employment Guarantee Scheme ( egs ) of Maharashtra is said to be the only one in the world that guarantees employment on demand. This was for the first time an employment generation programme was conceived to create productive works at the village level.

Testing time

During the 1999-2000 drought, Down To Earth ( dte ) reported that five villages in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh had enough water during the drought because of the water conservation activities they had undertaken. dte revisited these villages, reeling under the second successive drought.

Think institution

An analysis of the government's failure at drought relief shows some clear loopholes that are not very difficult to plug for a government that is worried about its political future. The most important thing is to plan decentralised, village-level institutions to both manage drought relief and come up with strategic initiatives to provide security against drought. All government schemes have been plagued by the more-structures-no-institutions approach.

A way out of drought

last year's drought in western Rajasthan had its beginnings in September and October when there was erratic and deficient rainfall, not uncommon to these parts of the country. Over Rs 800 crore was spent to counter the calamity. Since 1955, Rs 3,600 crore has been spent under Desert Development Programme and Drought Prone Area Development Programmes. Yet, there has been little difference at the ground level.

Starving cattle

In defence of ostrich farming

despite the farming of ratites (ostrich, emu, cassowary) proving to be a lucrative business the world over, the same does not hold true for India. The government's attitude has not been very helpful in encouraging and developing the farming of these birds. In fact for the want of an import license ostrich farming in the south languishes at the planning stage.