My published article in Journal of Youth Affairs of Vishwa Yuvak Kendra, New Delhi

1

Muslim Youth Females in Higher Education: Problems and Concerns

Muslim Youth Females in Higher Education:

                                         Problems and Concerns                    

*Dr. Badar Jahan

“Give a girl an education and introduce her properly into the world, and ten to one but she has the means of settling well, without further expense to anybody.” ― Jane Austen

It is well accepted that the role of education is very significant in social, cultural and economic development of an individual, a society and a nation. In general the Muslim community is legged behind in education and in particular Muslim women are educationally the most backward section of society.

The progress and all development of a country depend upon harnessing the skills and abilities of all sections of society regardless of cast, creed, religion and sex. Women have been discriminated against for ages and they have not been given equal opportunities in many social, educational, economic and cultural spheres. If women’s involvement is not in the development activities, it is not merely obstructs their own development but also affects the progress of the whole country. “Index of modernization of any society is the position of its women vis-à-vis men, the more balanced the opportunity structure for men and women, the large the role women have in society and consequently the higher their status. In a developing society it is essential that both men and women play equal and important role in the development efforts”. ¹ 

In 1979 the United Nation adopted the convention on the elimination of all form of discrimination against women (CEDAW). This is known as the international Bill of women’s right. ²  In 1980 U.N. Report it was reported that “women institute half of the world’s population, perform nearly two third of its work hours, receive one tenth of the world’s income and less than one hundredth of the world’s property.

Statistics disclose that women comprise 66 percent of world’s illiterates and 70 percent of world’s poor”.³ In India the situation of women is very miserable in general. “Women have been socially, educationally economically, physically, psychologically and sexually exploited sometime in the name of religion and sometimes by the custom and tradition”.4  And  in particular since Muslim are in minority in India, their women’s position is even worse because there is an attempt to safeguard the community identity that generally prevent.

Muslim Women face discrimination at dual level one is being minority secondly being women with cultural, traditional and religious restrictions. “In general, women are the most vulnerable section of our Indian society due to its patriarchal nature. Muslim women suffer more because of the patriarchal nature of Islam and are not given enough freedom and hardly have access to higher education, though even the primary level education is not easily accessible to them”.5  The reason why, Muslim women have the lowest education status as compared to their counterparts belonging to other religious communities, Muslim girls are not encouraged to take higher education also their drop out numbers from school  are higher.  They have been pushed into stereotype role of looking after household chores which undermines their capacities and capabilities. One manifestation of this is, as pointed out in one study, that majority i.e. 69.75 percent Muslim women do not want to educate their daughters beyond the primary level of education. Further many middle class women who have requisite qualifications are not allowed to seek employment because ‘community respectability’ is likely to get smeared. This has resulted in general backwardness of Muslims and particularly Muslim women in India.⁶

The struggle for formal education of Muslim women began at the end of nineteenth century. Sir Maulana Hali and Sheikh Abdullah took the lead to fight for the cause of education for Muslim women and opened a girl’s school in 1894. Education of girls and women has transited from extreme opposition to total acceptance by the end of the last century. Sultan Jehan, the Begum of Bhopal was the first women in the Indian history who believed in the emancipation of women through education. She started the first school for Muslim girls in 1903 the Sultania school . A resolution was passed in the annual Muslim Education Conference session at Lucknow to establish a girl’s school in Aligarh and the school was opened in 1906. In 1911, Sakhawat Memorial Girls High School was started in Bengal by Rokeya Sakhawat Hussain. Maulana Karamat Hussain and the Raja of Mahmudabad also supported for girl’s education and started a girl’s school in Lucknow in 1912.

Afterward, since Independence, the Government of India has appointed various Committees and commissions to look into the problems of education. Several policies are being formulated to promote and strengthen education of children. With regard to education of Minorities, some of the important recommendations are e.g. The Report of the Education Commission (1964-66 ), The National Policy on Education (1968), The National Policy on Education (NPE) 1986 revised in 1992 and its Programme of Action (POA), envisages paying greater attention to the education of the educationally backward minorities in the interest of equality and social justice. Government declared for the specially women’s education in minorities “As the women literacy and the girls enrolment is lowest among educationally backward minorities, in the schemes of opening of girls schools, appointment of lady teachers, opening of girls hostels and providing of incentives in the form of mid – day meals, uniforms etc. minorities’ needs should be fully met. A production–cum–training center for crafts exclusively for girls preferably with women instructors to the extent possible in each of the identified minority concentration districts. This will be done by State Governments.” (A study by Anita Nuna supported by NCRT, 2003).  The Article 15 of constitution has recently been amended by the Constitution (Ninety-third Amendment) Act, 2005 to empower the State to make special provisions, by law, for admission of socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or scheduled castes/tribes to educational institutions including private educational institutions, whether aided or unaided by the State, other than minority educational institutions.

Sachar Committee report also highlights the condition of Muslim women’s education as “A wide variety of problems associated with the education of Muslim women were raised. These problems result in low enrolment and retention. In this dismal scenario there is one big ray of hope; while the education system appears to have given up on Muslim girls, the girls themselves have not given up on education. 7

Evan after all the efforts made by educationists and government still the Muslim women are most back ward in field of education. After independence Muslim women literacy rate has been very poor comparatively with their other counter parts. According to ORG-Marg Muslim Women's Survey — commissioned by the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi —conducted in 2000-2001 in 40 districts spanning 12 states, the enrolment percentage of Muslim girl children is a mere 40.66 per cent. As a consequence, the proportion of Muslim women in higher education is a mere 3.56 per cent, lower even than that of scheduled castes (4.25 per cent). On all-India basis, 66 per cent Muslim women are stated to be illiterate. The illiteracy is most widespread in Haryana while Kerala has least illiteracy among Muslim women closely followed by Tamil Nadu. Muslim women are found to be more literate than their Hindu counterparts in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Most of the northern states are in urgent need of vigorous and sustained literacy campaigns. The enrolment figure of 52.1 per cent for urban Muslim females compares poorly to the corresponding figure of 70.7 per cent for Hindu females, which further widens across subsequent age categories to end with 4.7 per cent of Muslim females attending educational institutions, compared to 10.2 per cent of Hindu women or 18.2 per cent of Christian women. Clearly, Muslim women in urban India are much worse off than their rural counterparts, not only in terms of their overall educational status as citizens of India, but also in terms of their relatively poor educational status when compared to Hindu or Christian women. This trend is all the more alarming when this situation is compared to the advances in Muslim female education achieved at the turn of the century. This educational disadvantage of women in Muslim communities mandates attention.

The Indian government has failed to secure primary and secondary education for most of its citizens and its policies have deprived people of their right to education. It could also be assumed that their percentage quite less in obtaining higher education according to a study on the educational Status of Muslim women 2012 don by Dr. SV Shinde & Dr Annie John “a total of 129 universities and 84 colleges provided data. The “all India” estimates generated from these data pertain to just over 1.3 million graduate (bachelors degree) and another 1.5 million postgraduates (masters degree and above) Muslim females.

This poor educational status of Muslim women at primary and secondary school level completely curbs the possibility of their entering institutions of higher education and all over development. In general perception, these women are typically seen as a secluded section and unrecognized in their homogeneity. To highlight their problems means, to do no more than observing the influence of religion and personal law in their lives and emphasizing the usual stereotypes i.e. pardah (veil), multiple marriages, triple talaq (divorce) and so on. Despite these differences, when compared to women from other faiths in India, the majority of Muslim women are among the most disadvantaged, least literate, most economically impoverished and politically marginalized sections of Indian society. Muslim women are secluded and conditioned to such an exploitative situation in their lives and the matter of fact that they accept the fatwas (verdicts) passed by religious leaders. They need to be seen as citizens and social beings, entitled to the same rights that the Constitution of India grants to all its citizens. The right to education, especially at the primary level is mandated by the Constitution. The only solution to liberate them from the shackles of ignorance, illiteracy, exploitation is through education that could help them tremendously to be part of mainstream development.

 In order to improve the situation the first thing need to do is Area Intensive Education Approach that should be applied to all educationally backward regions focusing on Muslim Minority dominated area. Also, there is a need for expansion of secondary and higher secondary education especially for rural Muslim girls by improving the school infrastructure, increasing accessibility to schools by providing free transportation, road connectivity, safe environment and constructing the higher secondary schools near to the villages and towns. It may also help to reduce the drop outs of the girls in the middle of school. As twelve years of formal schooling is required for entry into diplomas, technical and professional education courses or general higher education.

References:

1.      Sushila Jain, 1988, “The Process of Modernization in India and the Status of Muslim Women” in Status of Women (ed) Sushila Aggrawal  p. 78.

2.       Nevdita Giri, 2006, “Laws Institution and Women’s Right in India” in Laws Institution and Women’s Right in India (ed) by Tapan Biswal, New Delhi, Viva Book Pvt. Ltd. p. 302

3.        A. S. Anand, 2003, Justice For Women, New Delhi, Universal Law Publishing Company P. 16

4.       Nevdita Giri, 2006, “Laws Institution and Women’s Right in India” in Laws Institution and Women’s Right in India (ed) by Tapan Biswal, Opp. Cit P. 302

5.      Dr. Annie John, 2012, Educational Status Of Muslim Women In India, Review Of Research, Vol.1,Issue.VI/March; 12pp.1-4

6.      Asghar Ali Engineer, 2005, Islam Women and Gender Justice, New Delhi, Kalpaz Publishers.

7.      Sachar Committee Report, 2006, P.16.

Bibliography                  

1.     “An Analytical Study of Education of Muslim Women and Girls in India”, 2007-8, Ministry of Woman and Child Development, New Delhi, www.jeywin.com,.

2.     Afzal M. Wani, April 1996, “Enforcement of Mahr by Muslim women: A case for reconsideration”, Indian Journal of Social Work, 57:2, pp. 295306.

3.     Asghar Ali Engineer, 1995, “Problems of Muslim Women in India” Sangam Books Ltd.

4.     Dillip Kumar Tripathy and Asheesh Dubey, 2007, “Status of Muslim Women in India”,  PRM-27, Volume 11 No. 2.

5.     Dr. M.I.H. Farooqi, Sidrah, 2011, "MUSLIM SOCIETIES - RISE and FALL" Publishers, Lucknow. 

6.     Hameeda Naeem, , 2005,“The Problem of Muslim Women in India Special Focus on Kashmiri Women” in Women and Gender Justice (ed) by Asghar Ali Engineer, New Delhi, Kalpaz Publishers.

7.     Rakhshanda Jalili, June 2011 “Educating Muslim women in modern India: Problems and perspectives”, Culture and Media at Jamia Milia Islamia University, New Delhi, published by http://www.ummid.com.

8.     Shobha, Anuja, September 1982, “Muslim women and civil rights”, PUCL Bulletin. 

9.     Zakia A. Siddiqi, 1993, Anwar Jahan Zuberi, “Muslim Women: Problems and Prospects”,  Vikas Publishing House, New Delhi.

10.   Zoya Hasan and Ritu Menon, 2000-2001, “ORG-Marg Muslim Women's Survey”, by Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Library, New Delhi.

 *Independent Researcher, baderjehan@yahoo.com

Indian Journal of Youth Affairs: Vol. 17 (1) Jan-June 2013

WATER

WATER

Water and civilization are indissociable. The earliest civilization arose in the great river valleys of Euphrates, the Nile, the Indus and Yangtze, when the transition could be made from substance farming to agriculture surplus. Today, the future of the world’s water supplies depends on the civilized approach requires scientific and natural temperaments. We have to examine the human interference in water cycle; which disrupted the whole global mechanism of natural water cycle and commercialization of water interest of market forces – multilateral finance Institutions etc. have given a high speed to the human interference.

The communities for whom access to water was very simple, it just depended on the distance from the water resources – rivers, springs, and ponds etc. But in the course of development - emergence of nation state, technologies etc. now all these forces control over the water.

Now a day, the scarcity of water is debated globally. Human civilization can find within itself the resources to respond successfully to this global challenge. In this century, total world demand of water has increased seven fold. It compares with a three-fold increase in world population over the same period.
Dealing with uncertainty and risk is part of human condition. This is why, while daring without knowledge is risky, knowledge without daring is fruitless. Daring, caring and sharing are among the human parameters within which solutions to the water crises will found. We have to minimize the differences between to and access to water for everyone – otherwise the peace and survival would be very tough.

There are two different approaches one is ‘water resources management’ and second is ‘water resource development. The word management in this sector has been given by World Bank through E.S.D., Rio and Dublin conferences. The World Bank is one of the major actors in the global water sector, be it in terms of financial aid or in term of general policy – making in the developing countries. In the 1990s it tried integrate three concerns – environmental, internal World Bank reforms and economic globalization – into the concept of ‘water resource management’ which replaced the concept of ‘water resource development’ and focus on water as basic necessity and essential resource that should be provided to all. Instead, the World Bank argued that in order to promote environmentally and economically sustainable development , water resources have to be ‘ managed’. To facilitate this, water has to be treated as an economic good, a concept first articulated in the 4th Dublin principles.

The solution according to World Bank was to reform a country’s institutional and legal environment.
· Water as an ‘economic good’ not ‘natural resource’.
· Privatization and redefining the role of the state in public utilities.
· Decentralization and participation.
· Legal and institutional reforms.
There are the World Bank’s principles for addressing the world‘s water problem.

In these circumstances and given directions by the World Bank many governments across the world are in the process of reforming their water laws, policies and declarations. This is a matter of serious concern that whom these changes will empower whether it will tighten the control over water by the TNCs and curtail the opportunity of the people to access to water.

We have to examine these changed policies and legislations and decide to examine and evaluate the policies, the role of world Bank, A.D.B., T.NCs , and nation state should be evaluated. Above all as far as the water issue is concern we have to identify the circumstances and forces which encourage more and more human interference in global natural mechanism of water cycle in the different times of human history.
Water issues should be understood in holistic way :
· What is water?
· Life and water.
· Natural mechanism of water cycle and human interference (Nature-human relation)
· Access to water comprises of human rights, dimensions, economic, environmental, social and cultural practices aspects. Current changes are seen as response to growing water scarcity as well as changes dominated by Neo-liberal emphasis on structural adjustment and governance reform.
· Effects and changes.
1. Water as an economic good not a natural resource.
2. Resource development v/s resource management.
3. Universalisation v/s privatization and commercialization.
4. Access to water and control over water. (Access to water changing scenario)

· Use and control.
(availability and uses)
· Forces behind the changes.
· Process behind the changes
· Effects on users
· Different interest of different users.
· If any common agenda on water is possible what should be its main components.

Throughout history, human beings have responded to the need to pool their efforts and share resources in the interests of larger security. Water, particular, has been one of the humanity’s historic learning grounds for community building, and we should see it as a potential source not a conflict. But an agreement that can serve as a paradigm for the constructive sharing of knowledge and resources essential for the transition from a culture of war to culture of peace. Moreover, the peace is only possible when we can make a general conscientious for the use and control over water and can declare striate Charter regarding the limits of human interference in global mechanism of nature and water cycle.

The water issue is vast and diverse in its implications, water is life and life is sharing, so let the water be a source of life not the source of profit. Let the water free to all, access to all; not should be controlled few multilateral institutions’ Agents, Nations, World Bank – A.D.B. and their touts.

The interests of water users like common people and industries and market – multilateral institutions, T.N.Cs can not be same. When there is clash among the interest of water users, how the peoples’ common agenda on water is possible.

AT THE MERCY OF GLOBALISATION

All elements of India's food security policy are today being dismantled। Starvation is the inevitable result of policies promoting a sudden withdrawal of the role of the State and reckless dependence on markets to bring food to the poor, writes VANDANA SHIVA.IN 1942, more than three million people died in Bengal and Orissa due to starvation. Nobel Prize winner Amartya Sen showed that it was not a lack of food but a lack of food entitlements and food rights which caused starvation deaths. And he also showed that famine did not occur in post-colonial India because people's rights were protected. The Constitution guarantees the right to life, and the right to food is at the heart of the right to life. The State has a related duty to ensure that no one goes hungry. Food for work programmes, the Public Distribution System (PDS), price regulation and anti-hoarding measures have been diverse policy components of ensuring that people's food entitlements are protected.All elements of India's food security policy are today being dismantled under pressure from the World Bank and the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Starvation is the inevitable result of policies promoting a sudden withdrawal of the role of the State and reckless dependence on markets to bring food to the poor.In 1995, in preparation for the World Food summit, civil society in India had drafted a People's Charter for Food Security in which we had anticipated today's starvation deaths and suicides.Trade liberalisation will result in the creation of a class of "redundant" humans, comprising mainly displaced landless rural agro-related communities, including artisans and fisherfolk, who will be doubly hit by the loss of their traditional markets and linkages with the agro-sector as well by loss of food entitlements. The food security of this new class of "dispensable" people with neither food entitlements nor purchasing power will be totally denied by an agri-business dominated agriculture.It is now time for the second food summit, just before the WTO ministerial meeting in Doha in November. The World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) will meet in Washington this month end.The Government in denial modeFamine has returned to Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh. Between July 27 and August 28, twenty deaths were reported from Kashipur district, Orissa. Eleven children were reported dead in Udaipur, Rajasthan, over a week. Earlier, 800 of tribal children had died of starvation. On September 6, when the Chief Minister visited Kashipur, people pelted him with mango kernels, a starvation diet which they have been forced to depend on.Both the Central and the State Governments are making a deliberate attempt at dismantling the people's food security system through trade liberalisation and globalisation policies.These are, however, very direct and clear connections between the policies of "economic reform" and starvation deaths and suicides in rural India.The Bengal famine in 1943 forced intervention by the Government to ensure the supply of food. A rationing system was introduced. The first Foodgrains Policy Committee, appointed in 1943, recommended procurement of foodgrains from surplus areas, rationing for equitable distribution and statutory price control for checking the price rise.The foodgrains policy for independent India recommended abolition of controls and rationing and necessity of imports to maintain central reserves. Between 1957-58 and 1966-67, the PDS had become completely dominated by imports under PL 480.In 1965, the Food Corporation of India (FCI) was set up to procure and import foodgrains and service the PDS system. The FCI was part of the Green Revolution package of centralised food production and distribution.Two central bodies related to food production, procurement and distribution were established in 1965 on World Bank advice. One was the FCI. The other was the Agricultural Prices Commission (APC) which determined the minimum support prices for food grains, and through it, controlled cropping patterns, land use and profitability. Through food price and procurement, the Central Government now controlled the economics of foodgrain production and distribution. The profitability of foodgrain production in this centralised and enclavised form could not be maintained over time.In 1991, the same agency, the World Bank, that had designed the centralised system called for its dismantling through its Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAP) of the PDS system, the removal of the Essential Commodities Act, removal of price and inventory control and a total deregulation of agricultural trade.The revamped PDS (RPDS) was supposed to better target vulnerable regions and reduce public expenditure. However, all it did was create more hunger while increasing Government expenditure. In 1997, the RPDS was replaced by the Targeted PDS (TPDS) which provided 10 kg of wheat or rice per month to families below the Poverty Line (BPL) at highly subsidised prices, and withdrawal of all subsidies from families above the poverty line (APL). As a result, food prices increased, off take decreased, and stocks grew.There were major problems with the TPDS system. First, the BPL/APL categories were arbitrary and the BPL beneficiaries who were to be targeted were artificially reduced. The whole exercise of targeting the BPL families was exposed as a farce when 12 States informed the Supreme Court that they could not identify people in the BPL category. Instead of targeting the poor, the World Bank driven policies made the poor end their food entitlements.The TPDS has artificially divided the population into those below the poverty line (BPL) and those above the poverty line (APL). It is common knowledge that those who access food from fair price shops are those who cannot buy it from the market. Those above the poverty line have been defined earning above Rs. 1,500 a month. Those in the APL category also have to bear 100 per cent of the procurement and distribution costs, which places the foodgrains far above their reach. In fact, the Government committee formulating the long-term grain policy has demanded that the price of grain for those APL be slashed by 25 per cent.Further, the quantum of allotment of 10 kg per family at best meets only 12 per cent of the nutritional requirement, forcing the poor to depend on high markets for 88 per cent of their requirements and eat less, thus reducing off take from the PDS. Table 1 shows how the targeted PDS has reduced food allotments to the poor to below survival levels.Growing starvation, growing stocksThe decline in off take is the main reason for increasing stocks. Fifty million tonnes of foodgrains are rotting while people cannot afford to buy food. Stocks of rice have increased from 13m tonnes to 22m tonnes, while wheat stocks have gone up from 872m tonnes to 2,411m tonnes.Spending more to starve the poorThe main justification for allowing food prices to increase was reducing Government expenditure on food subsidies. However, while more people are eating less due to the removal of food subsidies and consequent increase in food prices, Government expenditure has actually increased.Destruction of livelihood securitySince India is an agricultural society, food security for most people is ensured through livelihood security in agriculture. Agricultural livelihoods provide the entitlements that ensure access to food. Destruction of agricultural livelihoods lead to entitlement failure, and hence to food insecurity. It is little wonder that most areas, and most reports of starvation deaths come from the countryside. The famines of 1942 and 1877 were also reflections of food insecurity faced by peasants.The new threats to the food security faced by the poor especially food producers come from four sources that erode food entitlements.Increasing costs of inputsThe first is the shift from internal input sustainable farming systems to external purchased inputs like seeds, fertilizers, pesticides which drain farmers' incomes and lock peasants into debt. As the subsidies that made the Green Revolution have been withdrawn and the input sector has been deregulated, farmers expenditure on purchasing seeds and chemicals has increased, pushing peasants into debt and penury. The epidemic of farmers suicides is a reflection of this crisis of the rising costs of input.Decline in food productionThe second shift causing food security is the shift from staples to cash crops. From 1960-61 to 1998-99 the area under nutritious grains (called "coarse grains" because of the rice and wheat bias) has gone down from 45 million hectares to 29.5 million hectares, area under cotton has increased from 7.6 to 9.3m ha, and area under sugarcane has increased from 2.4 to 4.1m ha. Since the new economic policies were introduced in 1990-91, the area under foodgrains has declined by - 2 per cent, area under course grains has declined by - 18 per cent, area under non-food cash crops such as cotton and sugarcane have increased by 25 per cent and 10 per cent respectively. During 1999-2000 - 2000-2001, food production has gone down from 208.9 million tonnes to 196.1 million tonnes, a 12.8 per cent decline.The third source of decline of rural incomes and entitlements is related to decline in farm prices with the withdrawal of Government procurement and non-implementation of the Minimum Support Price. Under the Green Revolution model of Public Distribution, the Central Government through the FCI procures food grains. The FCI is increasingly stepping out of its procurement functions. The withdrawal of Government from procurement and hence the withdrawal of the Minimum Support Price will push farm prices down further. In Punjab, farmers had to protest to force the Government to procure their grain. Paddy was sold at Rs. 300-325 per quintal against the MSP of Rs. 540 per quintal due to withdrawal of FCI from procurement.Dumping of imported subsidised productsThe dumping of imported, subsidised commodities and the removal of import restrictions (Quantitative Restrictions) is another dimension of the erosion of entitlements of agricultural producers in India. Prices of coconut have fallen from Rs. 10 per piece to Rs. 2, coffee prices have collapsed from Rs. 68 per kg to Rs. 26 per kg, pepper prices have fallen from Rs. 19,055 per quintal to Rs. 10,550 per quintal. Kerala farmers have suffered a loss of Rs. 6,645 per quintal during 2000 and to the price fall in major plantation crops such as coconut, rubber, pepper, arecanut, coffee, tea and cardamom. This exploitation of incomes translates into declining food entitlements.The destruction of food entitlements by dumping is an unfair trade practice which is totally legal in the asymmetric and unbalanced W.T.O. rules. For example, U.S. soyabeans are cheap not because of cheap production but because of subsidies. The price of soyabeans is $155 a ton. And this low price is possible because the U.S. Government pays $193 a ton to these farmers, who would not otherwise be able to stay in production given the low commodity prices. This Government support is not really a farmer subsidy, it is an indirect corporate subsidy. As heavily subsidised soyabeans flooded India's domestic market, prices crashed by more than two-thirds. The local oil processing industry, from the small scale ghanis to larger mills, started to close down. Domestic oilseed production declined and domestic edible oil prices crashed. Groundnut prices went down by 30 per cent from Rs. 48 per kilogram to Rs. 37 a kilogram. Meanwhile some farmers protesting against the collapse of their markets were killed.The dumping of subsidised soya, wheat, rice, sugar on Indian markets is called "competitiveness" by magazines such as Business India which have suggested that Indian farmers should be allowed to be destroyed by opening markets because they are not "competitive". Sharad Joshi who claims to be a farm leader and chaired the Prime Minister's Committee on W.T.O. and Agriculture has actually recommended that the Government implement an EXIT policy for peasants and farmers. It is this mindset of our elite which sees the rural poor as dispensable and disposable which is causing starvation deaths, even as grain rots in our godowns.While the conditionalities from global trade and financial institutions are preventing the Government from supporting the poor to have access to adequate and nutritious food, they are promoting the diversion of subsidies from people to corporations. While people have been forced to buy wheat and rice at Rs. 11.30 per kg., because of the withdrawal of subsidies, export corporations such as Cargill are getting wheat and rice at highly subsidised prices. Using the artificially created surpluses as justification for exports, the Government will be exporting five million tonnes of wheat and three million tonnes of rice during 2001. While people pay Rs. 7,000 per tonne for wheat, exporters are getting it at Rs. 4,300 per tonne, a subsidy of Rs. 13.5 billion. While people pay Rs. 11,300 per ton for rice, exporters are getting at Rs. 5,650 per tonne, a subsidy of Rs. 60 billion. Exports increase while people starve. Corporations are subsidised while people's food subsidies are withdrawn. This is how globalisation is causing hunger and starvation in the Third World.While people are being denied food, on grounds of cutting back public expenditure, the Government is committing higher public investment on airports and superhighways. The poor in India do not need airports - they need food.(The writer is Director, Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology, NewDelhi.)

INDIA CANNOT AFFORD RURAL FAILURE

The crisis of India’s farmers has the potential to derail the country’s exceptional economic ग्रोथ
Mira KamdarYaleGlobal, 20 April 2007NEW DELHI: In foreign media reports India is shining। Even India’s biggest English daily has begun a campaign called India Poised. But India’s leaders know that a deepening crisis facing India’s multitude of farmers threatens to spoil the party in Mumbai and Bangalore. India’s Minister of Finance Palaniappan Chidambaram put agriculture at the center of India’s latest budget.1In his speech on the budget, Chidambaram quoted Nehru: “Everything else can wait, but not agriculture.” Agriculture represents much more to India than a mere slice of economic pie – it is the very lifeblood of the country, the source of livelihood for 115 million farming families and 70 percent of the country’s population, the base upon which the entire edifice of the nation rises.With annual growth in manufacturing and in services each topping 11 percent, agriculture’s 2.3 percent growth rate lags stubbornly behind the 4 percent target India must hit if it is to push overall growth – now at 9.2 percent – into double digits. The government’s challenge is to implement policies that promote growth but also provide relief to India’s stressed small-scale farmers, or else the country will have to reckon with much more than a missed growth target.The social, political and economic threats to Indian agriculture are numerous.India struggles with a worsening water crisis that includes plummeting water tables. Global warming increasingly threatens both the annual monsoon rains essential to life on the subcontinent and the Himalayan glaciers and snows long considered eternal. The vast majority of India’s farmers exploit land holdings smaller than 5 acres and as small as half an acre. They have had difficulty coping with the opening of India’s agricultural sector to market forces and the elimination of price supports for crops such as cotton. Many have borrowed money at usurious rates from private lenders to pay for more expensive hybrid and genetically modified seeds, which has plunged them into debt they cannot pay off. Arable land is shrinking as urban expansion and manufacturing gobble up thousands of acres of farmland. During the past decade that brought prosperity to so many in India, more than 25,000 Indian farmers committed suicide. An emboldened Maoist insurgency continues to expand its influence, staging violent attacks and assassinations with impunity.While farmers struggle, agricultural production cannot meet demand. Rising food prices are fueling inflation, causing real suffering among the 850 million Indians who struggle to live on less than $2 per day. One of the ironies of democratic India is that it is the poor who vote. 2 The current government has many reasons for placing agriculture at the center of the new budget.India, long one of the most productive agricultural regions of the world, could not meet its basic need for food grains during the early years of the nation’s independence. The Green Revolution of the 1960s and 1970s dramatically improved yields in India. With considerable national pride, India boasted that it had achieved not only self-sufficiency in food grains, but had become a grain-exporting nation. In 2006, however, for the first time since the Green Revolution, and in part because of changes in agricultural policy, India had to import wheat. India will again have to import food grains in 2007.The new budget presented by Chidambaram includes a smorgasbord of specific remedies to India’s complex agricultural crisis, with increased allocations for irrigation and groundwater recharge, farm credit, rural education, farm-extension services, roads and power, and for the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, which offers 100 days of guaranteed employment to one family member of impoverished rural households.The need is great. Last year, I traveled to villages in the Vidarbha region of eastern Maharashtra state, hard hit by a spate of farmer suicides. In the village of Barshi Takli, I sat with a mother who cried for her 20-year-old son who had killed himself a few days after the family’s sugarcane crop failed. Their well had gone dry, and they couldn’t afford to dig it deeper. With no access to irrigation, they depended on erratic rains, and when these failed, so did their crop.Desperate for income, they had put all their land into a cash crop, borrowing money to purchase the inputs they needed and neglecting to set aside a portion of land to grow their own food. The family’s son, carrying the burden of the household, had no way to repay the local moneylenders from whom he’d borrowed at usurious rates of interest. I visited family after family in similar straits.The expansion of farm credit and investment in irrigation promised in the new budget, while essential to larger-scale farms, would not have saved most of these families. Their farming operations are too small to qualify for bank loans, even those guaranteed by the government. Large-scale government irrigation schemes won’t reach them.Credit and irrigation measures scaled to the limited resources and critical needs of small family farms could make a difference to these farmers. The expansion of micro-credit opportunities as well as low-cost micro-irrigation systems such as those being manufactured and sold in India by International Development Enterprises (IDE), a company supported by the innovative social-venture Acumen Fund, could make a critical difference. Designed for small plots of land and expandable with investment increments, as little as $45, IDE systems can increase water efficiency by 50 percent and improve yields by 30 percent. 3 Small-scale systems such as these not only can save crops, they can literally save farmers’ lives.Large-scale industrial agribusiness will not work in India. Indian farmers have little hope of finding employment elsewhere. They must be able to earn a decent living on their land. And they must be able to do this in a way that is environmentally sustainable. The Green Revolution’s increased yields were achieved in part by huge inputs of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, both of which have inflicted massive damage on India’s stressed environment.Chidambaram admits that his government’s true challenge is not only to come up with the right policies and programs but “to deliver the intended outcomes.” The success India achieved with its IT-led service and now manufacturing industries made it a poster child for globalization. This could be eclipsed by the rural failure. The Manmohan Singh government cannot afford to do what its predecessors have done – let rural India languish. The best strategy it can embrace is one where farmers’ needs dictate innovative solutions from the bottom up and where social entrepreneurship can flourish along with an increasingly empowered and prosperous rural population. Mira Kamdar, an associate fellow of the Asia Society and a senior fellow at the World Policy Institute based in New York, is the author of "Planet India: How the Fastest Growing Democracy Is Transforming America & the World," published by Scribner in 2007.

भारतीय लोकतंत्र के साठ साल का लेखा-जोखा

अचिन वनायक
प्रोफेसर, जवाहरलाल नेहरू विश्वविद्यालय'
लोकतांत्रिक मूल्यों के साथ-साथ तमाम मुश्किलें ही भारत को असाधारण लोकतंत्र बनाती हैं' भारत में स्वतंत्रता के बाद 60 साल में राष्ट्रीय स्तर पर लोकतंत्र ख़ासा मज़बूत हुआ है, लेकिन गाँव-तहसील स्तर पर अलोकतांत्रिक व्यवहार और हिंसा भी नज़र आती है।भारत एक बहुत ही असाधारण लोकतंत्र है जिसकी कुछ बहुत ही मज़बूत लोकतांत्रिक विशेषताएँ हैं और कुछ बहुत ही अलोकतांत्रिक विशेषताएँ भी हैं। भारतीयों ने लोकतांत्रित व्यवस्था में रहना पसंद किया है. उपलब्धियाँउपलब्धियों की बात करें तो यही लोकतांत्रित ढाँचा है जिसने ‘सेफ़्टी वॉल्व’ का काम किया है और कभी-कभी असल मुद्दे भी सलुझाए हैं. नहीं तो भारत जैसा बड़ा और इतनी असमानताओं वाला देश भला अविभाजित कैसे रह सकता था?भारत में लोकतांत्रिक परंपरा दूर-दूर तक फैल रही है और उसकी जड़ें और गहरी हो रही हैं. देखा गया है कि चुनावों में संपन्न वर्ग के मुकाबले, आर्थिक और सामाजिक दृष्टि से पिछड़े वर्ग ज़्यादा बढ़-चढ़कर भाग लेते हैं. मुख्य पड़ाव पिछले 15 साल में– 1990 के दशक से लेकर अब तक लोकतांत्रिक व्यवस्था में अनिश्चितता बढ़ गई है. यदि लोकतांत्रिक राजनीति के मुख्य पड़ावों की बात करे तो इमरजेंसी और फिर उसका दोहराया न जाना, मंडल आयोग की सिफ़ारिशें लागू करना, बाबरी मस्जिद विध्वंस, 1998 के पोखरण परमाणु बम धमाके और गुजरात में मुसलमानों के ख़िलाफ़ दंगे प्रमुख हैं दूसरी ओर विकसित देशों में उपेक्षित वर्ग मतदान में ज़्यादा संख्या में भाग नहीं लेता क्योंकि उसे चुनाव में भाग लेने का कोई ख़ास मक़सद नज़र नहीं आता. अब सवाल उठता है कि क्या अपनी स्थिति सुधारने के लिए सामाजिक या आर्थिक रूप से पिछड़ गए वर्ग की लोकतांत्रिक व्यवस्था में पूरी आस्था है?ये आस्था का सवाल कम है और असल बात ये है कि वे इस व्यवस्था को ज़रूरी मानते हैं लेकिन काफ़ी नहीं. उन्हें लगता है कि इससे उनकी मदद होती है और इसका इस्तेमाल करना चाहिए, फिर चाहे ये पर्याप्त न हो. आज़ादी के बाद के 20-25 साल में मज़दूरों और किसानों के संघर्ष, यानी आर्थिक मुद्दो पर आंदोलन ज़रुर हुए थे. लेकिन इसके बाद सांस्कृतिक मुद्दों पर असंतोष, आर्थिक असंतोष से ज़्यादा देखा गया है. विभिन्न क्षेत्रों में आर्थिक विकास के लिहाज़ से फ़र्क तो रहा है लेकिन जनांदोलन सामाजिक-सांस्कृतिक मुद्दों पर रहे हैं. इसका ये मतलब नहीं है कि आर्थिक असंतोष रहा ही नहीं, लेकिन अब आर्थिक मुद्दों पर लोगों को एकजुट करना ख़ासा मुश्किल हो गया है.अहम पड़ावपिछड़ों को आरक्षण देकर उनके अधिकार दिलाने का प्रयास लोकतंत्र का एक अहम पड़ाव रहा भारतीय लोकतंत्र की असफलताओं की बात करें तो पिछले 15 साल में– 1990 के दशक से लेकर अब तक लोकतांत्रिक व्यवस्था में अनिश्चितता बढ़ गई है. यदि लोकतांत्रिक राजनीति के पाँच मुख्य पड़ावों की बात करें तो पहला, आपातकाल का लागू किया जाना और उतना ही महत्वपूर्ण, फिर उसका दोहराया न जाना था. दूसरा था मंडल आयोग की सिफ़ारिशों को लागू करना यानी पिछड़ों को और अधिकार दिलाने का प्रयास. आज़ाद भारत के लोकतांत्रिक सफ़र का तीसरा मुख्य पड़ाव था बाबरी मस्जिद विध्वंस और चौथा था वर्ष 1998 के पोखरण धमाके जिनसे राष्ट्रपिता महात्मा गांधी को बहुत सदमा पहुँचता. पाँचवाँ मुख्य पड़ाव है वर्ष 2002 में गुजरात में गोधरा की घटना और अल्पसंख्यक मुस्लिम समुदाय के सदस्यों की हत्याएँ, जिसके लिए ज़िम्मेदार अधिकतर लोगों को केवल क़ानूनी तौर पर ही नहीं बल्कि राजनीतिक तौर पर भी सज़ा नहीं मिली.ये सब मुख्य पड़ाव है और इनमें हिंसा का पहलू भी रहा है. शायद मंडल आयोग सिफ़ारिशों को छोड़कर बाक़ी घटनाएँ लोकतंत्र के लिए नकारात्मक हैं. ये सब घटनाएँ इस बात का भी संकेत हैं कि भारत के उच्च वर्ग का किरदार किस तरह बदल रहा है. भारतीय लोकतंत्र असल में ‘आप पर कौन शासन करेगा,’ इसकी प्रतिस्पर्धा है. ये उस लिहाज़ से लोगों के सशक्तिकरण की प्रक्रिया कम है. लेकिन राज्यों के स्तर पर लोगों के पास काफ़ी विकल्प हैं जो एक सकारात्मक बात है. संसद में 28 अलग-अलग राजनीतिक दल हैं और पार्टियों की नीतियों में फ़र्क देंखे तो वह भी ख़ासा है. अमरीका या ब्रिटेन में तो लोगों के पास विकल्प सीमित हैं.सक्रिय ताकतेंआज के भारतीय लोकतंत्र और भविष्य के भारत की रचना में कौन सी ताक़तों की मुख्य भूमिका है? इस संदर्भ में सबसे पहली ताक़त है अनिश्चित और धीमी गति से लेकिन लगातार बढ़ रहा हिंदुत्व जिसका प्रभाव केवल चुनावों में ही नहीं, बल्कि समाजिक रिश्तों पर भी दिख रहा है. दूसरी बड़ी ताक़त है पिछड़े वर्ग का अपने अधिकारों के लिए दबाव बनाना. तीसरी ताक़त है दलितों का अपने अधिकारों और सत्ता में भागीदारी के लिए सक्रिय होना. चौथा प्रभाव है मुसलमानों का पारंपरिक नेतृत्व के साथ असंतुष्ट होना, महिलाओं के अधिकार और समुदाय के सदस्यों को शिक्षित करने और रोज़गार दिलाने का प्रश्न. इसके साथ ही यह समुदाय इस अहम सवाल का सामना कर रहा है कि ‘हम (मुसलमान) कहाँ जा रहे हैं?’ अन्य मुख्य पहलू हैं भारतीय राजनीतिक का क्षेत्रीयकरण और भारत के तथाकथित मध्य वर्ग का आगे बढ़ना– तथाकथित इसलिए क्योंकि ये मध्य वर्ग देश का लगभग 15-20 प्रतिशत उच्च और प्रभावशाली वर्ग है. इन प्रभावों का मिश्रण और एक-दूसरे पर हावी होना वह पेचीदा तस्वीर पैदा करता है जिससे वर्तमान और भविष्य के भारत की रचना होगी.क्षेत्रीय राजनीतिक दल आगे बढ़े हैं और राष्ट्रीय दलों को हाथ मिलाने के लिए मजबूर किया है मज़बूत जड़ें क्योंभारत में लोकतंत्र की जड़ें पड़ोसी देशों के मुक़ाबले में मज़बूत क्यों हैं? इसका कोई एक मुख्य कारण नहीं है, इसके कई कारण हैं. आज़ादी के बाद के 20-25 साल में राष्ट्रीय राजनीति पर कांग्रेस का प्रभुत्व रहा. कई मायने में कांग्रेस आज़ादी से पहले ही इस ‘रोल’ के लिए तैयार थी और प्रशासकीय भूमिका निभा रही थी. ये चाहे सतही तौर पर उस समय की भारतीय राजनीति का अलोकतांत्रिक पहलू प्रतीत हो, लेकिन उस समय कांग्रेस में कई धड़े थे जो अलग-अलग विचारधाराओं का प्रतिनिधित्व करते थे. जब कांग्रेस का प्रभुत्व ख़त्म हुआ तो पहले ये राज्यों में हुआ. वहाँ आपस में मुक़ाबला करती काफ़ी हद तक स्थिर, दो-पार्टी या तीन-पार्टियों की व्यवस्था कायम हुई. इसके बाद ही राष्ट्रीय स्तर पर कई पार्टियाँ सामने आईं. राष्ट्रीय स्तर पर दो ऐसी घटनाएँ हुईं जिन्होंने भारत की एकता को बल दिया- भाषा के आधार पर राज्यों का पुनर्गठन और राष्ट्रीय चुनावों को प्रांतीय चुनावों से अलग करना.भाषा के आधार पर राज्यों के बनने से शायद उर्दू को छोड़कर बाक़ी सभी भाषाओं का विकास हुआ और राज्यों में लोगों की पहचान मज़बूत हुई. अगर भाषा के आधार पर राज्य न बनते तो काफ़ी मुश्किलें हो सकती थीं. इसके अलावा, राष्ट्रीय चुनावों को राज्यों के चुनावों से अलग कर दिए जाने से क्षेत्रीय पार्टियों को बल मिला और राज्यों के लोगों को अपने मुद्दे उठाना और उनकी ओर ध्यान आकर्षित करना आसान हो गया. इससे आज़ाद भारत में लोकतंत्र मज़बूत हुआ.

(बीबीसी संवाददाता अतुल संगर के साथ बातचीत के आधार पर)

When Farmer's Die

When Farmer's Die

(Almost every sector failed the Andhra Pradesh farmer - the Government, the political class, intellectuals, planners, human rights groups, a once-activist judiciary and the media, says P Sainath. June 2004: )

Andhra Pradesh is in the midst of an agrarian Emergency. The tragic farmers' suicides are, finally, an extreme symptom of a much deeper rural distress. The result of a decade-long onslaught on the livelihoods of millions. The crisis now goes way beyond the families ravaged by the suicides. And beyond the farming community itself. There is an urgent need to end the suicides. But doing so without addressing the larger distress is to try and mop the floor dry with the taps open.
Over 300 farmers have taken their lives these past six weeks. And thousands since the structured assault on agriculture in Andhra Pradesh began years ago. For every farmer who has committed suicide, countless others face morale-sapping despair. Large numbers of people are also in a zone marked by growing hunger and a fragile equilibrium. There have been hunger deaths, too, this year. One more bad season could push many over the edge.
Much as sections of the media would like to believe, this is not a new development. Nor something that can be pinned on a month-old Government. The suicides have been occurring for over seven years now. And in some periods, with even greater intensity. So too has hunger been growing. Even last year, this publication reported that crisis in the state. (A gruel-ing season) And the callous indifference of the Chandrababu Naidu Government to what was going on. (Hi-tech, Low Nutrition). This year, the chickens have come home to roost.
A survey this month, covering scores of rural households across many districts, strengthens that picture. These include dozens of families whose breadwinners have committed suicide. The issues are complex and the linkages many. And cannot be reduced to that old favourite: drought. Sure that's a big problem. But one amongst others. Farmers are taking their lives in better-irrigated regions too.
The rural landscape is a shambles. Agricultural credit and finance systems have collapsed. Taking their place are new entities that can make the village moneylender seem relatively less coercive. Prices have pushed most inputs beyond the reach of the small farmer. For many, the move from food crops to cash crops proved fatal. In some cases, the shift was towards high-outlay, water-guzzling crops such as sugar cane. All this, in an era of huge power tariff hikes. A steady shrinking of local democracy further deepened the chaos.
Add to this, big drops in purchasing power. And the worst performance in rural employment seen in years. Both landed farmers and agricultural workers have taken a terrible beating. The people of Andhra Pradesh are paying the price for a 'Vision' that sought to displace 40 per cent of those in agriculture from that sector. Without a clue as to where to take them next.
All the households surveyed had incredible levels of debt. Many had failed to gain the credit needed at the start of this season (one reason driving the latest suicides). All have seen crop failure for two or more years. Almost every one of them had made distress sales of land or cattle or both in the past few years. Just 20 of them combined had health expenditure running into a few lakhs of rupees. Most had changed crops in recent years. All of them had spent unbelievable sums in their search for water. Mainly sinking borrowed money in borewells. All were selling their produce to creditors of some sort at well below market price.
This is the canvas that Prof. K. Nagaraj of the Madras Institute of Development Studies calls "a predatory commercialisation of the countryside." The farmers have been its prey.
The new awareness of the media is welcome, if ironic. Journals that never once said a word on the suicides when they were most intense now do body counts. Maybe the media are trying to make up for their silence but cannot admit it. The suicides, though, have been going on for years. Some journalists in the Telugu press did a magnificent job of keeping the issue alive. It was the 'national' media that treated it with scorn, even disbelief.
To lay the deaths at the door of the new Government, as some have sought to do, is to ignore the fundamental evidence: That the victims gave up after years of trying to cope with a situation made impossible by others beyond their control. After seven or more years of being crushed, defeated and ruined. People did not wake up one morning and say: "Hey, the government has changed. I think I'll take my life today." Theirs was a heart-breaking, ultimate protest against a society that showed no concern for them. It would be right to haul up the new Government if it fails to give the state a fundamental directional change. But the latest suicides have roots that lie in years of past failure. About the most cruel thing being said, though, is that people are taking their lives to `gain' from the compensation. What a contradiction in terms. Lose your life and gain from it.
Suppose for one moment this crazy thought is true. That people are taking their lives because a government has announced compensation for their families. What does it say of the society that we've built this past decade? That a farmer would rather take his or her life and get Rs. 1 lakh for the children rather than go on living amongst us? It speaks far less about them, far more about us. It also ignores the fact that there were a huge number of suicides in 2000-01 when the 'compensation' had long been stopped.
This notion measures not the 'gain' of the farmers but the loss of our own humanity. The profound indifference to the suffering of others that the 'me-first decade' has legitimised. The idea that a mother and father both end their lives leaving behind aged parents and tiny infants to 'gain' is a heartless one. Or, as in one case, a father and son commit suicide within a year of each other. To make money out of it?
Why has this happened more in Andhra Pradesh than anywhere else? After all, the basic economic model we see here did and does exist across the country.
For one thing, Andhra Pradesh under Mr. Naidu was far more aggressive than any other state in pushing that model. With the national - and global - elite backing him, he acted without compunction. Most of the support systems the poor in the state had (some put in place by N.T. Rama Rao) were ruthlessly dismantled. Also, no other state and leader were so totally exempt from critical scrutiny. The media didn't just hail the Emperor's New Clothes. It was so busy weaving them, it failed to see Andhra Pradesh's fabric being torn apart. The Emperor could do no wrong. So why look? The farmers' suicides never made the cover of a national magazine in the years they were most intense.
For another, the decline of democracy in the state. The 'Janmabhoomi' model of development sidelined the panchayats, robbed them of resources and demoralised local democracy. This meant a collapse of collective action at the village level. The panchayats have played little or no role in dealing with the crisis. The dying of local democracy had a clear corollary. Extreme external interference. Andhra Pradesh was not run by or for its people, or on their wishes. It was run on the blueprints of McKinsey, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the DFID and others of that fraternity. By thousands of expensive 'consultants.' All, unelected and extra-constitutional centres of power.
There have been farmers' suicides in other states too. Karnataka saw a large number last year. They have also occurred in Maharashtra, Punjab and Rajasthan. Even Kerala. Maybe with a change in media attitudes now, we could learn more about what's happening elsewhere.
The new Government has at least acknowledged that the deaths continue. You can dispute its numbers but it has not tried to deny the suicides. Its short-term measures include several that are a must. Like help for the affected families. And the proposed six-month moratorium on debt. But the problem won't end there. Even in the short term, there's an urgent need for food-for-work programmes. And the Government must use the six-month period to work out more lasting moves on debt relief. It has to plan on raising incomes and purchasing power amongst the poor. On restoring support systems. On building rural employment as never before.
The new Government at the Centre must surely also have a sense of how deep voter anger ran in this election. But does it know just how intense the crisis is? Seems doubtful. Parliament met on June 2. The first day of the new session, eight farmers took their lives in Andhra Pradesh. By the time the session ended on June 10, 69 had died the same way. It was a new Lok Sabha meeting after a historic election. Yet the Finance Minister was absent from the House on the very first day. He was busy drying the tears of the distraught millionaires of Dalal Street. Not the happiest signal of this Government's priorities.
Almost every sector of Indian democracy failed the Andhra Pradesh farmer; the Government and the political class; the tame intellectuals and planners. The human rights groups and a once-activist judiciary. And a media that failed in their simplest, yet vital duty in a democracy: to signal the weaknesses in society. (Courtesy: The Hindu) ⊕
P Sainath June 2004
P Sainath is one of the two recipients of the A.H. Boerma Award, 2001, granted for his contributions in changing the nature of the development debate on food, hunger and rural development in the Indian media. He is the Rural Affairs Editor at The Hindu.
URL for this article:http://www.indiatogether.org/2004/jun/psa-farmdie.htm

AT THE MERCY OF GLOBALISATION

All elements of India's food security policy are today being dismantled. Starvation is the inevitable result of policies promoting a sudden withdrawal of the role of the State and reckless dependence on markets to bring food to the poor, writes VANDANA SHIVA.
IN 1942, more than three million people died in Bengal and Orissa due to starvation. Nobel Prize winner Amartya Sen showed that it was not a lack of food but a lack of food entitlements and food rights which caused starvation deaths. And he also showed that famine did not occur in post-colonial India because people's rights were protected. The Constitution guarantees the right to life, and the right to food is at the heart of the right to life. The State has a related duty to ensure that no one goes hungry. Food for work programmes, the Public Distribution System (PDS), price regulation and anti-hoarding measures have been diverse policy components of ensuring that people's food entitlements are protected.
All elements of India's food security policy are today being dismantled under pressure from the World Bank and the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Starvation is the inevitable result of policies promoting a sudden withdrawal of the role of the State and reckless dependence on markets to bring food to the poor.
In 1995, in preparation for the World Food summit, civil society in India had drafted a People's Charter for Food Security in which we had anticipated today's starvation deaths and suicides.
Trade liberalisation will result in the creation of a class of "redundant" humans, comprising mainly displaced landless rural agro-related communities, including artisans and fisherfolk, who will be doubly hit by the loss of their traditional markets and linkages with the agro-sector as well by loss of food entitlements. The food security of this new class of "dispensable" people with neither food entitlements nor purchasing power will be totally denied by an agri-business dominated agriculture.
It is now time for the second food summit, just before the WTO ministerial meeting in Doha in November. The World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) will meet in Washington this month end.
The Government in denial mode
Famine has returned to Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh. Between July 27 and August 28, twenty deaths were reported from Kashipur district, Orissa. Eleven children were reported dead in Udaipur, Rajasthan, over a week. Earlier, 800 of tribal children had died of starvation. On September 6, when the Chief Minister visited Kashipur, people pelted him with mango kernels, a starvation diet which they have been forced to depend on.
Both the Central and the State Governments are making a deliberate attempt at dismantling the people's food security system through trade liberalisation and globalisation policies.
These are, however, very direct and clear connections between the policies of "economic reform" and starvation deaths and suicides in rural India.
The Bengal famine in 1943 forced intervention by the Government to ensure the supply of food. A rationing system was introduced. The first Foodgrains Policy Committee, appointed in 1943, recommended procurement of foodgrains from surplus areas, rationing for equitable distribution and statutory price control for checking the price rise.
The foodgrains policy for independent India recommended abolition of controls and rationing and necessity of imports to maintain central reserves. Between 1957-58 and 1966-67, the PDS had become completely dominated by imports under PL 480.
In 1965, the Food Corporation of India (FCI) was set up to procure and import foodgrains and service the PDS system. The FCI was part of the Green Revolution package of centralised food production and distribution.
Two central bodies related to food production, procurement and distribution were established in 1965 on World Bank advice. One was the FCI. The other was the Agricultural Prices Commission (APC) which determined the minimum support prices for food grains, and through it, controlled cropping patterns, land use and profitability. Through food price and procurement, the Central Government now controlled the economics of foodgrain production and distribution. The profitability of foodgrain production in this centralised and enclavised form could not be maintained over time.
In 1991, the same agency, the World Bank, that had designed the centralised system called for its dismantling through its Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAP) of the PDS system, the removal of the Essential Commodities Act, removal of price and inventory control and a total deregulation of agricultural trade.
The revamped PDS (RPDS) was supposed to better target vulnerable regions and reduce public expenditure. However, all it did was create more hunger while increasing Government expenditure. In 1997, the RPDS was replaced by the Targeted PDS (TPDS) which provided 10 kg of wheat or rice per month to families below the Poverty Line (BPL) at highly subsidised prices, and withdrawal of all subsidies from families above the poverty line (APL). As a result, food prices increased, off take decreased, and stocks grew.
There were major problems with the TPDS system. First, the BPL/APL categories were arbitrary and the BPL beneficiaries who were to be targeted were artificially reduced. The whole exercise of targeting the BPL families was exposed as a farce when 12 States informed the Supreme Court that they could not identify people in the BPL category. Instead of targeting the poor, the World Bank driven policies made the poor end their food entitlements.
The TPDS has artificially divided the population into those below the poverty line (BPL) and those above the poverty line (APL). It is common knowledge that those who access food from fair price shops are those who cannot buy it from the market. Those above the poverty line have been defined earning above Rs. 1,500 a month. Those in the APL category also have to bear 100 per cent of the procurement and distribution costs, which places the foodgrains far above their reach. In fact, the Government committee formulating the long-term grain policy has demanded that the price of grain for those APL be slashed by 25 per cent.
Further, the quantum of allotment of 10 kg per family at best meets only 12 per cent of the nutritional requirement, forcing the poor to depend on high markets for 88 per cent of their requirements and eat less, thus reducing off take from the PDS. Table 1 shows how the targeted PDS has reduced food allotments to the poor to below survival levels.
Growing starvation, growing stocks
The decline in off take is the main reason for increasing stocks. Fifty million tonnes of foodgrains are rotting while people cannot afford to buy food. Stocks of rice have increased from 13m tonnes to 22m tonnes, while wheat stocks have gone up from 872m tonnes to 2,411m tonnes.
Spending more to starve the poor
The main justification for allowing food prices to increase was reducing Government expenditure on food subsidies. However, while more people are eating less due to the removal of food subsidies and consequent increase in food prices, Government expenditure has actually increased.
Destruction of livelihood security
Since India is an agricultural society, food security for most people is ensured through livelihood security in agriculture. Agricultural livelihoods provide the entitlements that ensure access to food. Destruction of agricultural livelihoods lead to entitlement failure, and hence to food insecurity. It is little wonder that most areas, and most reports of starvation deaths come from the countryside. The famines of 1942 and 1877 were also reflections of food insecurity faced by peasants.
The new threats to the food security faced by the poor especially food producers come from four sources that erode food entitlements.
Increasing costs of inputs
The first is the shift from internal input sustainable farming systems to external purchased inputs like seeds, fertilizers, pesticides which drain farmers' incomes and lock peasants into debt. As the subsidies that made the Green Revolution have been withdrawn and the input sector has been deregulated, farmers expenditure on purchasing seeds and chemicals has increased, pushing peasants into debt and penury. The epidemic of farmers suicides is a reflection of this crisis of the rising costs of input.
Decline in food production
The second shift causing food security is the shift from staples to cash crops. From 1960-61 to 1998-99 the area under nutritious grains (called "coarse grains" because of the rice and wheat bias) has gone down from 45 million hectares to 29.5 million hectares, area under cotton has increased from 7.6 to 9.3m ha, and area under sugarcane has increased from 2.4 to 4.1m ha. Since the new economic policies were introduced in 1990-91, the area under foodgrains has declined by - 2 per cent, area under course grains has declined by - 18 per cent, area under non-food cash crops such as cotton and sugarcane have increased by 25 per cent and 10 per cent respectively. During 1999-2000 - 2000-2001, food production has gone down from 208.9 million tonnes to 196.1 million tonnes, a 12.8 per cent decline.
The third source of decline of rural incomes and entitlements is related to decline in farm prices with the withdrawal of Government procurement and non-implementation of the Minimum Support Price. Under the Green Revolution model of Public Distribution, the Central Government through the FCI procures food grains. The FCI is increasingly stepping out of its procurement functions. The withdrawal of Government from procurement and hence the withdrawal of the Minimum Support Price will push farm prices down further. In Punjab, farmers had to protest to force the Government to procure their grain. Paddy was sold at Rs. 300-325 per quintal against the MSP of Rs. 540 per quintal due to withdrawal of FCI from procurement.
Dumping of imported subsidised products
The dumping of imported, subsidised commodities and the removal of import restrictions (Quantitative Restrictions) is another dimension of the erosion of entitlements of agricultural producers in India. Prices of coconut have fallen from Rs. 10 per piece to Rs. 2, coffee prices have collapsed from Rs. 68 per kg to Rs. 26 per kg, pepper prices have fallen from Rs. 19,055 per quintal to Rs. 10,550 per quintal. Kerala farmers have suffered a loss of Rs. 6,645 per quintal during 2000 and to the price fall in major plantation crops such as coconut, rubber, pepper, arecanut, coffee, tea and cardamom. This exploitation of incomes translates into declining food entitlements.
The destruction of food entitlements by dumping is an unfair trade practice which is totally legal in the asymmetric and unbalanced W.T.O. rules. For example, U.S. soyabeans are cheap not because of cheap production but because of subsidies. The price of soyabeans is $155 a ton. And this low price is possible because the U.S. Government pays $193 a ton to these farmers, who would not otherwise be able to stay in production given the low commodity prices. This Government support is not really a farmer subsidy, it is an indirect corporate subsidy. As heavily subsidised soyabeans flooded India's domestic market, prices crashed by more than two-thirds. The local oil processing industry, from the small scale ghanis to larger mills, started to close down. Domestic oilseed production declined and domestic edible oil prices crashed. Groundnut prices went down by 30 per cent from Rs. 48 per kilogram to Rs. 37 a kilogram. Meanwhile some farmers protesting against the collapse of their markets were killed.
The dumping of subsidised soya, wheat, rice, sugar on Indian markets is called "competitiveness" by magazines such as Business India which have suggested that Indian farmers should be allowed to be destroyed by opening markets because they are not "competitive". Sharad Joshi who claims to be a farm leader and chaired the Prime Minister's Committee on W.T.O. and Agriculture has actually recommended that the Government implement an EXIT policy for peasants and farmers. It is this mindset of our elite which sees the rural poor as dispensable and disposable which is causing starvation deaths, even as grain rots in our godowns.
While the conditionalities from global trade and financial institutions are preventing the Government from supporting the poor to have access to adequate and nutritious food, they are promoting the diversion of subsidies from people to corporations. While people have been forced to buy wheat and rice at Rs. 11.30 per kg., because of the withdrawal of subsidies, export corporations such as Cargill are getting wheat and rice at highly subsidised prices. Using the artificially created surpluses as justification for exports, the Government will be exporting five million tonnes of wheat and three million tonnes of rice during 2001. While people pay Rs. 7,000 per tonne for wheat, exporters are getting it at Rs. 4,300 per tonne, a subsidy of Rs. 13.5 billion. While people pay Rs. 11,300 per ton for rice, exporters are getting at Rs. 5,650 per tonne, a subsidy of Rs. 60 billion. Exports increase while people starve. Corporations are subsidised while people's food subsidies are withdrawn. This is how globalisation is causing hunger and starvation in the Third World.
While people are being denied food, on grounds of cutting back public expenditure, the Government is committing higher public investment on airports and superhighways. The poor in India do not need airports - they need food.

(The writer is Director, Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology, NewDelhi.)

बासमती उगाने वाले बेबस और बेचैन

शालिनी जोशी देहरादून से

बासमती के लिए मशहूर देहरादून के किसान बासमती जलाएँगे. इन किसानों ने एक सरकारी परियेजना के तहत बिना रासायनिक खाद का इस्तेमाल किए बासमती की जैविक खेती की थी लेकिन अब इस बासमती का कोई खरीदार नहीं मिल रहा है.
किसानों का कहना है कि इस तरीक़े से खेती करना महँगा पड़ता है और उत्पादन भी कम होता है.
ओमप्रकाश डोगरा देहरादून की विकासनगर तहसील में किसान एकता समिति के अध्यक्ष हैं. आज उनके घर के दालान में करीब 35 क्विंटल जैविक बासमती के बोरे एक तरह से बेकार पड़े हैं.
इस समस्या से वो गहरी हताशा में हैं, "जैविक खेती ने तो हमें खून के आँसू रुला दिए. हमारी उपज में चूहे और चिड़िया लग रहे हैं. अगर यही हाल रहा तो ज्यादा दिन नहीं जब यहाँ का किसान भी आंध्र प्रदेश की तरह आत्महत्या करने लगेगा."
बेहाल
ओमप्रकाश डोगरा अकेले ऐसे किसान नहीं हैं बल्कि उत्तरांचल में बासमती उगाने वाले करीब 500 किसानों की मनोदशा आज ऐसी ही है.
देहरादून का बासमती अपनी बेहतरीन खुशबू, साफ, लंबे, चमचमाते दाने और लज़ीज़ स्वाद के लिए दुनिया भर में मशहूर है.

बासमती का कोई ख़रीदार नहीं
इसकी कीमत आम तौर पर 70 से 100 रूपए प्रति किलो होती है लेकिन कीटनाशकों और रासायनिक खाद के अधिक इस्तेमाल से इसके गुण में कमी आती जा रही थी.
दूसरी ओर, अंतरराष्ट्रीय बाजार में जैविक खाद्य पदार्थों की बढ़ती माँग को देखकर सरकार ने तीन जिलों देहरादून, ऊधमसिंहनगर और नैनीताल में तीन साल पहले जैविक बासमती योजना शुरू की थी.
आज इन इलाकों में करीब 800 हेक्टेयर में लगभग पाँच सौ किसान हैं जो जैविक खेती कर रहे हैं और 1500 टन से ज्यादा बासमती बिना बिके पड़ी है.
किसी खेत को पूरी तरह से जैविक बनाने में कम से कम तीन साल लग जाते हैं लिहाजा इन किसानों की ये पहली फसल है जो पूरी तरह से जैविक है.
खेती का जैविक तरीका भले ही पौष्टिकता के लिहाज से बेहतर हो लेकिन अगर किसान का तर्क देखें तो रासायनिक खेती उसके लिए सस्ती और आसान थी.
जिस एक बीघे खेत से उन्हें तीन क्विंटल धान मिल जाया करता था अब उससे मुश्किल से एक क्विंटल धान उपज रहा है. इसी वजह से जैविक उत्पादों की कीमत ज्यादा होती है लेकिन अगर वो किसानों को मिले तब.
गुस्सा
सहसपुर के किसान सुरेश सिंह चौहान कहते हैं, "सरकार ने हवा में उत्तरांचल के जैविक राज्य घोषित कर दिया, विपणन की कोई व्यवस्था की नहीं. इससे भले तो हम रासायनिक खेती करते थे. सौ रूपए का दवा का डिब्बा लाते थे सारी खरपतवार खत्म हो जाती थी अब उसी के लिए हजार-हजार रूपए देकर मजदूर लगाने होते हैं."
सौ रूपए का दवा का डिब्बा लाते थे सारी खरपतवार खत्म हो जाती थी अब उसी के लिए हजार-हजार रूपए देकर मजदूर लगाने होते हैं

किसान सुरेश सिंह चौहान
किसान दोहरे संकट में इसलिए भी हैं क्योंकि इनकी उपज के जैविक होने का प्रमाणपत्र भी राज्य के जैविक बोर्ड के ही पास है. बंगलौर स्थित आईएमओ लिमिटेड से सरकार ने सामूहिक सर्टिफिकेट लिया था.
इस वजह से किसान स्वतंत्र रूप से अपना जैविक उत्पाद बेच भी नहीं सकते. अब जैविक बोर्ड ये कहकर अपना पल्ला झाड़ रहा है कि किसानों को खरीद का कोई आश्वासन नहीं दिया गया था.
बोर्ड की सचिव विनीता शाह कहती हैं कि "हम सिर्फ कंपनियों को यहाँ खरीद के लिए बुला सकते हैं इससे ज्यादा की किसानों को अपेक्षा नहीं करनी चाहिए. एक जर्मन कंपनी इसे 14 रू प्रति किलो की दर से खरीदने के लिये तैयार है लेकिन ये किसान खुद ही नहीं बेच रहे हैं. ये चावल ही तो है कोई सोना चाँदी तो नहीं."
किसानों का कहना है कि इस दर से उन्हें मुनाफा तो दूर, हर बीघे में करीब 3000 रू का नुकसान है. किसानों की चिंता ये भी है कि इनके खेतों में अभी जैविक गेहूं की फसल भी लगी है जो अगले दो महीनों में तैयार हो जाएगी और तब उसका क्या होगा.