Government schemes give no relief

2015-2016 has been the second consecutive year of drought. Following over 12% deficit in the South-west monsoon in 2014, the monsoon this year saw 14% deficit. These figures only give the average deficit in rainfall for the whole of the country.

Government schemes give no relief

2015-2016 has been the second consecutive year of drought. Following over 12% deficit in the South-west monsoon in 2014, the monsoon this year saw 14% deficit. These figures only give the average deficit in rainfall for the whole of the country. Since there are significant variations in rainfall, actually there are many districts and blocks where the deficit is considerably more. For example, Bihar and Haryana witnessed a deficit of 28% and 38%, respectively.

According to the statement made by the Agriculture Minister in Rajya Sabha in December 2015, 19 million hectare of crop area was declared drought-affected in seven states alone that had declared drought by then. The total crop area affected by drought is estimated to be more than one-fifth the total Kharif crop area. The severity of the drought has turned many areas like the Bundelkhand region of UP into ghost villages and towns with people having to leave their homes in search of livelihood. The level of distress can be seen in the result of a survey conducted by Swaraj Abhiyan in the first half of October 2015:

• 2 out of 5 families had not consumed any daals for a whole month
• 3 out of 5 families had not consumed any milk for a whole month
• 4 out of 5 families had to made do with roti and chutney for meals and 1 out of 7 families had to go to bed hungry at least once in this period
• 2 out of 5 families had to make distress sale of their cattle
• Almost 1 out of 4 families had to mortgage their land to make ends meet.

The Central government announces numerous schemes supposedly to help farmers facing drought and other natural calamities. Each of the states are supposed to have State Disaster Management Funds to meet such requirements and the Center has the National Disaster Management Fund. The hailstorm in March 2015 is estimated to have damaged crops in 18.2 million hectares of land estimated by the Centre for Science and Environment to be a loss of over 20,000 crore Rupees. The extent of loss in the ensuing drought is estimated to be at least as much. Yet, till December 2015, when there was a discussion on the agricultural crisis in the Parliament, three of the 10 states (Gujarat, Bihar, Haryana with 14%, 28% and 38% shortfall in rains) had not even declared drought, implying that they had not started giving out drought relief. Only two of the States had asked for assistance from the National Disaster Management Fund. This shows the extreme callousness of the ruling big bourgeoise class when it comes to dealing with disasters befalling the crores of our rural population. If a crisis of similar magnitude had affected the big banks and monopoly houses, like it did in the economic crisis of 2008, then the state responds with lightening speed to take steps to protect the profits of these monopolies.

The callousness of the state can be seen even more clearly when we see that the regular welfare schemes such as the MNREGA, National Food Security Act and Mid-day meal program, etc., which are needed even more in drought years have seen a constant cutting down. (See the Table below for the number of person-days of employment provided under the MNREGA scheme over the previous three years.) It can be seen that the in all the states, the number of person-days substantially reduced in 2014-2015 compared to 2013-2014. This statistics is even more glaring given that government has been announcing since 2013 that in drought affected areas, work will be provided for 150 days instead of normal 100 days in a year.

State	Total person-days for which employment provided under MNREGA (in million days)
Year	2013-2014	2014-2015	2015-2016
Andhra Pradesh	299.47	155.68	144.24
Bihar	86.24	35.27	29.09
Gujarat	23.03	18.15	6.89
Haryana	11.79	6.16	3.17
Jharkhand	43.62	45.34	35.68
Karnataka	71.89	43.37	19.77
Madhya Pradesh	122.95	116.63	49.98
Maharashtra	51.74	61.38	41.77
Odisha	71.18	53.54	41.1
Uttar Pradesh	175.36	131.24	104.36
Total	957.26	666.74	476.07

The extent of the drought and suffering of the people and the wholly inadequate response of the State is a reflection of the fact that the Indian State is under thc control and domination of some 150 big capitalist monopolies and works in their interest. Ruination of the farmers due to disasters is seen as an opportunity by this class to take over the land of farmers who are heavily indebted and forced to make distress sale of their land. India’s peasantry must unite with the working class, to take the power out of the hands of the bourgeoisie and become the rulers. This is the only alternative that can guarantee a secure livelihood and prosperity for all working people of India.