iblethatthesehavenot evenentered
the socialdebates.”
Agriculturalreformandrevival
are another liberalisation myth.
Kulkarni pointsouthow“shrinking
of areaundercultivation, decreasing
farmincome,increasing expenses,
fallingof employment in agriculture
andthedecreasing of wageshave
beenoperatinginexorablyto push
farmers furtherintopoverty and,tra-
gically,suicide”.He says:“Onecan-
nothelpgettingthefeeling thatthe
governmentpolicyis to downplay
theseriousnessof theproblemby
deliberatelyreportinglowerfigures
in theofficialdata,etc.Thesame
unfortunatestorycanbe heardfrom
mostof suchsuicide-affected famil-
ies—repeatedcropfailuresleadingto
depressionthatultimatelydrivesthe
farmerto takehis ownlife.”
“Whoare the poorestof the poor
is a questionthatI amaskedquite
often,”he writes.“Nomadictribes
seemto constituteonesuchgroup
thathasremainedcompletelyun-
touched by anykindof development.
Thesituationof thosebelongingto
thelower rungsof thesocialladder
evenamongstthesecastesis particu-
larlytragic. It is impossibleevento
knowthe numberof people belong-
ing to thisclass—even the ChiefMin-
isterof Maharashtra willbe unable
to obtainthe relevantstatistics. How
canthenanydevelopmentprocess
everreachthesepeopleaboutwhom
suchabsolutelybasic informationas
the population sizeitselfremains un-
known? Eventoday,thesenomads
stayin the temporaryhutmentsout-
sidethe townthat they are currently
visiting. Problems are far too numer-
ous—no toiletsfor women,water
gushingintothehutmentsduring
monsoon,childrenforcedto begfor
food....
“Themostdisturbingaspectof
poverty is the appalling stateof avail-
abilityof health-care services.Thisis
the mostseriousof the problemsthat
needsurgent attention. Thegovern-
ment hospitals and dispensaries
function veryinefficiently,andcosts
of availingservices of theprivate
medicalsectorare totallybeyond the
reachof thepoor.As a result,it is
impossiblefor themto faceanyseri-
ousillness—deathsby thousandsis
theresult.Onerunsintothisstark
realityeverywhere.Oneof the main
reasonswhyso many familieshaveto
availloansagainandagain(andthus
gettingpushedinto the debt-trap)is
thehighexpenseof medicaltreat-
mentof an ailingfamilymember.
Thebiggest factordrivingpeople
intopovertyseems to be the expenses
related to availing medical
treatment.”RAMPANT CORRUPTION
Kulkarni providesno solutions be-
causethatis notwhathe set outto
do. Hisobservationsreflect the real-
ity, andhe hopesthatthepathosof
the situationwillbe powerfulenough
to forcethe handof the administra-
tion.Buthe is nottoooptimistic
either.
“Corruptionseemsrampant in ir-
rigationprojects,roadconstruction
projectsand(ironically) in thevari-
ousgovernment schemes meantfor
benefiting thecommonpeople.The
Marathwada region seems to be
mostseverely affectedby thismal-
ady.A young recipientof the‘Chief
Minister fellowship’for conducting
research, whilecompiling the listsof
eligiblebeneficiariesof thevarious
schemes,startedcomingacrossbig-
ger andbiggerscams.Insteadof set-
tingmattersright,theBDO[Block
DevelopmentOfficer], whowasin
chargeof thesematters,beratedhim
for whathe hadfound!Thisexample
shouldprovideeloquent testimony
to the all-pervasiveness of corruption
at the groundlevel. Onecannothelp
feelingthatthequantumof money
siphonedoffdueto corruptionis
more thanadequate to eliminate
poverty!Onenormallyciteslackof
adequatefundsas thereasonfor
manypoverty-removalschemesnot
provingto be successful.However,
therealissueis notof thelackof
funds,but thatof the availablefunds
notbeing properlyusedfor thein-
tendedpurpose.”
Hisreportnotesthe“complete
failureof theadministration...the
gramasevaksdo notevenregularly
visitthevillagesassigned to them.
Thegovernmentofficialshavebe-
comeso completelyhabituatedto be-havingcallouslyandwithcomplete
impunitythatpeoplehavelostthe
willto questionthem.Thegovern-
mentsregularly announcemanybe-
neficialschemes withgreatfanfare
but dueto suchbureaucracy, the im-
plementationis pathetic.The‘group
panchayat’systemcurrentlyin force
hasits officelocatedin a majorvil-
lage,withseveralnot-so-nearvil-
lagesaffiliatedto it. As a result,most
of the developmentis restrictedonly
to themainvillageandthefar-off
villages suffer from almost total
neglect.”
Employment and education
schemes are also implemented
withoutthought. Anexample:“A
largenumberof unemployedyouths
are seeneverywhere. Gratuitous ad-
vicethattheyshouldworkis freely
providedto them. However, workre-
latedto agriculturalactivitiesis sea-
sonal....Therealproblemis the lack
of employment in thisremaining
period.WhenI asked a youngman
fromPandharkawadain Yavatmal
district,whowasa trainedwireman,
as to whyhe didnottakeup any
wiring-related assignments,his des-
pondentreplywas:‘Inour taluk
townalone,thereare 122 trained
wiremen.Howwilltherebe anywork
for all of themeveryday?’”
In the contextof unemployment,
Kulkarni raises an issue that is
hardlyspokenof: “Thenumberof
youngpeopledyingdueto excessive
drinkingis seento be disturbingly
highin mostplaces.Thisproblem
tooneverseemstofigurein discus-
sionsaboutpovertyanymore.”
Kulkarni sayshe hada “distinct
feelingthattherearetwodifferent
Maharashtraswithinthe single State
of Maharashtra. Therapidly devel-
oping Mumbai-Pune-Nashik tri-
angle seems to be totally
disconnectedfromthe situationseen
in Vidarbha,Marathwada,Palghar,
Nandurbar,etc.”
Asked whathe hopedto achieve
by undertaking his tourof poverty-
strickenvillages, he said:“I hopeit
willprovidea referenceor feedback
to those organisations,intellectuals,
journalists, studentsandresearchers
whowish to studytheproblemof
poverty.” $