The Hindu : In Ahmednagar, drought is the main issue

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Mar 26, 2004

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National - Elections 2004

In Ahmednagar, drought is the main issue

Lyla Bavadam

Ahmednagar district in western Maharashtra is geographically termed a rain-shadow area and meteorologically called an area of scarce rainfall. These fine distinctions of terminology mean little to the farmers here. For them it is a question of a good harvest or a poor one. Last year, while the rest of the State received adequate rainfall, Ahmednagar, along with 10 other districts, received less than the minimum. With 14 talukas severely affected by lack of rain it was the worst-hit district in the State. For the farmers here, it is the fourth consecutive year of drought.

The insufficient drought relief measures in the affected districts have been severely criticised and it was expected that the Government would pay for its failure in the coming election. Indeed, this is one of the main reasons for the Democratic Front Government refusing to hold simultaneous Parliamentary and Assembly polls in the State. Its refusal was spurred by the fact that the worst affected areas — western and southern Maharashtra — are those that have traditionally voted for the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress.

Ahmednagar, the largest district in the State, is the milch cow of the NCP and the Congress. It is home to 19 sugar factories and is also the birthplace of the cooperative movement. Sugar, milk and bank cooperatives flourish here. In fact, the founder of the first sugar cooperative factory, Padmashree Vithalrao Vikhe-Patil, was a long time Congressman from Ahmednagar. His son, Balasaheb Vikhe-Patil, will be fighting his eighth term from this Lok Sabha constituency, five of which he fought for the Congress and two for the Shiv Sena. His 1999 victory was on a Shiv Sena ticket but he has recently rejoined the Congress.

In winning back Mr. Vikhe-Patil, the Congress has validated two points of interest. One, that voters in this constituency place greater faith in the man rather than the party (as proved by the fact that they cast winning votes for Mr. Vikhe-Patil when he was a Congressman as well as when he joined the Sena). And, two, that most voters do not differentiate between parliamentary election issues and Assembly poll issues. "Voters have great faith in the Congress-NCP because of the historical associations of the party with the cooperative movement. They were the ones to build it all. So even though they have suffered in this drought they are ready to accept the Government's excuse that inadequate drought relief was the fault of the Centre," explains Bharat Ranadive, secretary of the All-India Kisan Sabha in Karjat taluka.

This faith is despite these facts. When the Government formally declared Ahmednagar district as an area of scarcity last November only some of the obligatory relief measures were put into practice. Employment Guarantee Scheme works such as road-laying, digging or cleaning of wells, bundh-building for which minimum daily wages are paid and food coupons issued were started. But cash compensation for failure of crops was not given in most cases. Neither was the land revenue tax for small and medium farmers waived for the year. While enforced realisation of loans was temporarily halted, the process of rescheduling of loan recovery for small and medium farmers was not initiated. The Government did, however, give small and marginal farmers a concession on their electricity bills and provide seed and fodder.

According to Ashok Dhawale, State general secretary of the All-India Kisan Sabha, there are three main issues rankling the farmers. No compensation for crop loss despite paying their premiums under the Crop Insurance Scheme, inadequate EGS from the point of view of agricultural labourers, and very poor support for livestock in the cattle camps. "In the cattle camps the animals are given just enough fodder to keep them alive. They produce no milk and are unfit for anything when they return to the farmers," says Mr. Ranadive. Furthermore, Mr. Ranadive, who is a practising doctor, says the tanker-supplied drinking water is "filthy" resulting in an increase in the number of jaundice and liver abscess cases in hospitals. He is unable to give a figure for the number of cases but says that there are many who are so poor that they cannot afford to travel to hospitals for treatment.

While the Congress-NCP combine blames the Centre for inadequate drought relief funds, the Shiv Sena and the BJP hammer away at the failure of the State Government to provide complete relief from the drought.

Whether or not the ire of the drought-affected people will dictate the way they vote will only be proved by a post-election analysis. For the moment what is worth noting is that all political parties perceive the drought to be an important poll factor.

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