Joining the
Padayatra in Nanded were 12 farmers and 3 teachers from the Jat tehsil of
Sangli district in southern Maharashtra. Coming from drought affected regions,
they actually found that Marathwada was a land of plenty! Some of us were in
Jat last week… and we can see their point…
the situation is so grim that in January not a blade of green can be
seen anywhere.. the huge lake at Bhivargi, one that was reputed to never go
dry, was completely bereft of water…. We actually drove across the lake bed…
The farmers are planning a similar mobilization action in that area and intend
to cover 25 odd villages in the same… the Dushkaal Hatawu : Manoos Jagawu forum
will be supporting that initiative..
Villagers
in Sonmanjri (Nanded) took an oath to address problems of their village. This
was a dramatic moment.. it was 11 in the night.. there was no electricity… we
were all sitting in the dark on a new moon day.. the villagers assembled in
front of the Hanuman temple and took the oath… incidentally they started work
on sanitation and field ponds the next morning. 2 of the villagers from
Sonmanjari walked with the Padayatra to Kharab Dhanora (Parbhani) and spoke to
the villages there.
The
Padayatra crossed the Godavari, also called Ganga by the locals on its way into
Parbhani district. The Padayatra reached the village Dhanora Kale after a well
deserved day of rest (1st January) and reflection.
This is
arguably the wettest patch in Marathwada. The mighty Godavari, flows almost
perennially through this region. The left canal of the Jaikwadi dam reaches out
to the villages in the area. Dhanora Kale has actually NO DRINKING WATER
PROBLEMS… over 25% of the land is irrigated… the land is fertile and the black
cotton soil actually goes down upto 60 feet before hitting stone… people are
not hungry but they are hapless… this is the way we see it …
The
landless labourers do not see anyway of coming
out of the trap of surviving on the edge. Most of them are in subtle (and in
some cases overt) bondage and manage to earn just enough to keep body and soul
together.. nothing more… that is the way the system keeps them on the edge..
Small farmers are exploited at all turns… sometimes one feels that small farmers are like mere objects of exploitation… getting an update in the 7/12 (land record) costs Rs. 15/- in bribes… bank officers will not release any payment (sugarcane, cotton or compensation for natural calamities) without a cut, pesticide and fertiliser dealers mark up prices by 28% for items bought on credit… one could go on… but you must have got the point…
Even large farmers are staggering
under debt… every farmer of the 500 we met in Dhanora Kale has mortgaged his (women
don’t own land in this highly feudal and patriarchal area) land and has a loan
outstanding..
Women and children don’t really matter in the overall scheme of things!!! they have no voice and a substandard quality of life… girls (even 8 year old) get married off early… women go out only for work and nothing else… education standards and access is abysmal…
One could go on about the
situation but that is not the point… we need to look at the root causes of the
illness in society… We feel that some of the main cause of these issues are
·
Almost complete absence of
any form of just and fair governance.
·
Lack of knowledge and even
access to knowledge.
·
Unreasonable and unfair
policies of government.
·
A scattered and
un-empowered society.
The question to be asked is when are we going to think
of changing this? If we wait for much longer… it will be too late… even in the
land of the mighty Godavari… the time to act is NOW…
The MAHARASHTRA
VIKAS NIDHI (MAHARASHTRA DEVELOPMENT FUND) awaits contributions from all of
you… Watch this space for further updates. Do also watch the updated
blog at www.greenearthconsulting.org/padayatraprogress.htm.
Also read a compilation of some stories on www.empowerpoor.org
grnearth@vsnl.com, 020-25466103,
09422521703
Dushkaal
Hatawu : Manoos Jagawu
(Eradicate
Drought : Save Humanity)
February
03, 2006