Frontline – August 02, 2019

SOCIAL ISSUES

HERAMB KULKARNIis a well-
knownandrespectedwriterin Ma-
harashtra. Troubledby the condition
of hishomeState,he undertooka
personal journeyto try andunder-
standtheground realityof poverty.
FromJuly 2017 to February2018,he
visited 125 poorvillagesin 24 rural
districts of Maharashtra. Hisreport
on whathe sawsaysnothingnew—
andthatin a senseis the tragedy,that
things have remained the same.
Whatis important is thatwhathe
saysis not motivated by anypolitical
thought or ambition butstemsfrom
his observationsandcompassionate
discussionswithpoorpeople.There-
port,entitled“ExploringtheStatus
of Povertyin Maharashtra” andpub-
lished by Pune’s Samakaleen
Prakashan,affirmsonethingabove
all: thatIndia’s economic liberalisa-
tionhas not hada trickle-down effect
amongthemajorityof thepopula-
tion.
Kulkarnisaysthe ideaof the sur-
vey germinatedin 2016, the yearthat
marked25 yearsof India’sshiftto
economic liberalisation. Therewere
“conflicting reportsin themediaon
whetherthishadindeedled to a de-
creasein poverty”,andKulkarnide-
cidedto seefor himself.“Thestudy
wasundertakenpurelyfor myown
enlightenment andwasnot on behalf
of anyorganisation,”he says.
To presenta fairrepresentation
of the State,he chose mainlydistricts
in Vidarbhaand Marathwada. In
northMaharashtra,he choseNan-

durbarandNashik. In theKonkan,

he picked Raigad, Palghar and

Thaneandin westernMaharashtra,

SataraandSangli.Then,he chose the

twopooresttaluksfromeachdistrict

andpickedaboutfive of the poorest

villages in these for visiting. In

Yavatmal district,however,he vis-

ited13 villages becausethedistrict

hadseena verylargenumberof sui-

cidesby farmers.These13 villages

wereselectedon the basisof discus-

sionswithpeoplewhohadworkedin

the area.

Usingthe focusgroupdiscussion

style,Kulkarni spokeat lengthwitha

varietyof people.Hiswas“nota re-

searchproject in theusualsenseof

theword”.When he visiteda place,

he would “requestpeopleto inform-

allyassemble andthencarryoutde-

tailed discussions of their lives,

earnings andexperiences”.In this

way,he touchedon theirdailylives,

andjudgingby whathe haspenned

down,hissincerityseemsto have

toucheda chord.

Thefailureof liberalisation to

changethe livesof the pooris in evid-

enceeverywhere. While fewfamilies

starvein the actual senseof the word,

the foodtheyget is neitheradequate

nornutritiouswithonlymeagrein-

putsof freshvegetables andproteins.

Thecreationof employment,trum-

petedas oneof thebenefits of the

liberalisationpolicies,has turnedout

to be a mirageand“withinState”

migration for work remains

rampant.

Kulkarni writes: “Seasonal em-

ployment for sugarcaneharvesting,

workat thebrickkilnsandstone

quarrying havealwaysbeenthe ma-

jor driversof suchmigration.How-

ever,tribalsmigratingfor workingat

theplantationcropsandvillagers

migrating to citiesandtownsseemto

contribute now an additionalfive

millionor so people.Outof necessity,

overa longtime, people seemto de-

pendlessandlesson thegovernment

andhavemanagedtofindtheirown

approachesforekingouta living

[emphasisadded]. They work in

theirownvillageas longas someem-

ployment is available, and then

routinelymove to the citiesstraight-

away.Theextremehardships(ex-

ploitation, cheating, atrocities,

inhumanworking conditions,etc.)

facedby thesemigrantsin townsand

citieshavebeenso completelyinvis-

BY

SPECIAL

ARRANGEMENT

HERAMBKULKARNI.

Neoliberal road

to poverty

In 125villagesin Maharashtra,thewriterHeramb Kulkarnifindsthe

poortrappedina cycleof povertyandunemployment. BYLYLA BAVADAM