Rain holds Rajasthan to ransom

With parched lips and folded hands they look at the sky for rain to quench the thirst of their barren land and release them from the debt trap. Agriculture and cattle rearing, the mainstay of Rajasthan's economy lies in tatters with rain evading this desert land for five years and leaving farmers and the government with empty coffers.

With parched lips and folded hands they look at the sky for rain gods to quench the thirst of their barren land and release them from the debt trap which has put their subsistence in danger.

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Agriculture and cattle rearing, the mainstay of Rajasthan's economy lies in tatters with rain evading this desert land for more than five years now and leaving both the farmers and state government with empty coffers.

The severe drought has not only paralysed the state's economy and made the government take a hefty loan of Rs 1000 crore from National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development but also forced the poor farmers to borrow huge sum of money to support their families.

Sujay Khan, a farmer in Devikot a small hamlet in Jaislamer district took a loan of Rs 35,000 from Bank of Baroda to purchase cattle. For availing the services of bank he had to get his cattle insured from United India Insurance Company Limited.

His hopes of repaying the loan dashed as monsoons failed and the entire district faced a severe shortage of fodder. The traditional migration to neighbouring states like Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh could not take place as they were faced with similar situation.

His cattle succumbed to harsh weather and botulism, a disease caused by severe shortage of phosphurus in the body. When he wrote to the Insurance Company asking for compensation his application was turned down.

"Stating that tags were not present on the body of the dead animal, the insurance company turned down his application," Dr Lal Singh Deputy Director Animal Husbandry said adding, the sheeps and goat which Khan bought were tagged by me. But as these animals venture into the pasture land they are bound to lose the tags.

It is true that Khan's cattle had died due to botulism as these animals had started feeding on carcass of dead animal to meet their phosphorus requirements, but the insurance comapny is not ready to take this theory and says that the dead animal for which the compensation has been sort for did not belong to Sujay Khan.

"As per 1997 cattle census there are 25 lakh cattle heads in Jaisalmer district out of which 3,66,998 have been affected by drought," Singh said and added Sujay Khan had purchased sheep and goats which dont fall under the famine code. No fodder could be made available to his cattle unlike the Rs 12 subsidy made available in the state for the upkeep of large animal and Rs 6 for small animal," Singh said.

N C Soni, branch manager of Bank of Broda says, "we are well averse with the condition of these poor animals but we are bound by our duty so we have to send henchmen to retrieve the loan."

The terms and conditions of the insurance company are so stringent and harsh that these illiterate farmers easily fall prey, says Soni.

There are many people like Sujay Khan in the state who find survival difficult.

Aasim Khan, a 40 year old lady had taken a loan of Rs 10,000 for buying a camel. The camel died after an accident. Though she had paid back Rs 6,000 she is still harrased by bank officials who want her to pay the balance amount apart from the huge interest.

With her disabled son and a drug addict husband, Aasim finds meeting two ends difficult but the bank is unfazed by her plight.

Apparently with an eye on the coming assembly elections, Congress decided to give cow the top priority under the famine code. It not only opened cattle camps but also gave huge subsidy for its upkeep totally ignoring the sheep and goat which outnumber the cow.

Even the cow owners do not seemed to be satisfied with government's efforts.

Gazhi Khan, a ward panch in a village in Jaislamer said one quintal of fooder contained 50 kilograms of sand.

The people only hope that the government will not levy any interest if not waive the entire amount.

Press Trust of India