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.
