Perils of catching up game

Sankar Ray

Colossal negligence towards the rural economies spells trouble for the country

Sixty year since independence, India continues to be an agriculture-based economy, where around 45 per cent of its people are engaged in agricultural and allied activities. Agriculture, along with other related fields like forestry and logging, provides employment to an estimate 60 per cent of India's population and accounts for nearly 20 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product and close to ten per cent of the country's total exports.

Over 70 per cent of Indians live in the countryside but the rural economy generates 56 per cent of India's gross domestic product. This reflects a disproportionate sharing of growth for which 800 million rural people must not be blamed. Rural people and their potentials in optimizing economic growth have never been considered by the government seriously.

The policy of neglecting over two-thirds of our people - especially after the International Monetary Fund-inspired Structural Adjustment Programme and their subsequent derivatives for the last two decades - now backfires. During the last decade and a half manufacturing and services sector grew by about 10 p.c. a year contrast to just over 2 p.c. growth in agriculture . This gigantic folly has deprived the agricultural and allied sector to play their role. The most-menacing-ever crisis in the price situation - especially prices in essential commodities - is to a great extent due to the continued and colossal negligence towards the rural economies.

The other day, the Congress MP and former Union minister Mani Shankar Iyer came to Kolkata to address a two-day programme, organized by the Indian Chamber of commerce. The acid-tongue politician presented a contrasting feature of development process. " We talk of 8 or 9 per cent economic growth in India and China, but the growth of anti-poverty programmes is 0.8 per cent. That's the real effect of economic reform." .

He made sarcastic observations to those who never-failingly lament for India's failure to catch up with China where the same mismatch exists.

John Bellamy Foster and Robert W McChesney in an article, The Endless Crisis ,in Monthly Review a couple of months back , pricked the balloon of China's miraculous growth. They wrote, "The giant corporations developed ever more complex supply chains extending to low-wage countries, with the final goods aimed primarily at markets in the global North, and the surplus seized in considerable part by the omnipresent multinational firms themselves. .The biggest question mark generated by this new phase of accumulation today is the rapid growth of a few large emerging economies, particularly China and India. The vagaries of an accumulation system in these countries based on the exploitation of massive reserve armies of workers (in China a "floating population" of peasants) in the hundreds of millions, which cannot be absorbed internally through the standard industrialization process, makes the future of the new Asia uncertain. The imperial rent exacted by multinationals, who also control the global supply chains, means that emerging economies face what may appear to be an open door to the world market, but must proceed along paths controlled from outside. The vast inequality built into a model of export-oriented development based on low-wage labor creates internal faultlines for emerging economies. China is now the site of continual mass protests, occurring on a scale of hundreds of thousands annually"

Shouldn't India's Planning Commission take lessons from the eerie of a mammoth crisis awaiting our militarily powerful neighbour?

Agro-processing sector needs govt's push

MV Sasidharan/ New Delhi

Centre should step in and leverage investments to boost food production

Sixty year since independence, India continues to be an agriculture-based economy, where around 45 per cent of its people are engaged in agricultural and allied activities. Agriculture, along with other related fields like forestry and logging, provides employment to an estimate 60 per cent of India's population and accounts for nearly 20 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product and close to ten per cent of the country's total exports.
Benefiting from its varied agro-climatic conditions and rich natural resource base, India is one of the world's largest producers as well as consumers of food products. It is among the biggest producers of rice, wheat, sugar, cotton, fruits and vegetables in the world. It is also the largest producer of a range of commodities, such as coconut, mango, banana, milk and dairy products, cashew nuts, pulses, ginger, turmeric and black pepper. With access to a large natural resource base of 161 million hectares of arable land, 15 million hectares of fresh water reservoirs, the largest livestock population in the globe and diverse agro-climatic conditions, India is a favourable destination for growth in the food industry.
Despite this, population pressure and rising disposable incomes are steadily putting a strain on the food management front, prompting the urgent need to leverage the available production capability for economic gains and being self sufficient to meet the domestic consumption. The vagaries in climatic patterns, as was evident in the deficient and uneven south-west monsoon last year and its disastrous effect on the summer crop, is another reason why a clear roadmap for the agro industries and the agro processing sector needs to be charted out. Even as the government pins its hopes on a good rabi crop and a good monsoon next year to contain food price inflation, the huge wastage of fruits and vegetables worth Rs 30,000 crore annually due to a highly fragmented supply chain and cold chain infrastructure, stares it in the face.
Going forward, the agro industries and food processing sectors are going to play an increasingly important role in the Indian economy. Food is the biggest consumption category in India with 31 per cent of the consumer's wallet expenditure and by the year 2015, the Indian food industry is expected to reach $258 billion from the current level of $181 billion, according to estimates firmed up by the FICCI- E&Y report of 2009.

Industry wishlist:
To stimulate the growth of the food processing sector and minimise waste, industry body FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry) had recently suggested immediate policy interventions by way of a 16-point package of measures to streamline and augment the entire agri supply chain, clogged as it is with several intermediaries including farm processors, distributors, and retailers. Apart from initiating steps to make it easier for corporates to enter into contract farming, agri-product distribution, post-harvest management, warehousing and development of cold chains, FICCI has made a pitch for sustained development in agriculture and large investments in technology and infrastructure development.
The following are the FICCI recommendations to stimulate the growth of the food processing sector through policy interventions for beefing up supply and cold chain infrastructure:
n So far there is not enough private investment in the development of agri-focused infrastructure such as creation of pre-cooling facilities at farm gates, warehousing and storage infrastructure facilities including cold storage, wholesale/terminal agriculture markets, because of inherent viability gaps. The government needs to ensure funding of viability gap, for existing food processing units or other entities having cold storage facilities for food products, up to 5 crore for five years. Such tax incentives should be viewed as investments, which will have enormous positive multiplier effects on the agriculture and food processing sectors and the national economy in general.
n The incentives provided for establishing cold chain infrastructure under section 80-IB (11) and (11A) have not proved attractive enough. FICCI has, therefore, suggested that the establishment of cold chain and other modernised technology for upgradation of storage handling and transportation etc. should be granted infrastructure status and the tax benefit thereto provided under section 80 - IA of the Income Tax Act.
n Priority sector lending norms for the banks should be appropriately changed to include investments made by corporates in agri infrastructure concerning supply chain and cold chain in the direct finance category of priority lending.
n Private sector investment in agri infrastructure impacting supply chain and cold chain infrastructure should be eligible for 150 per cent weighted deduction as is the case of investment in R&D.
n Research and development in the area of agri business supply chains should also be eligible for 150 per cent weighted deduction to promote innovation and cost effective solutions.
n Grant fiscal incentives by way of 100 per cent depreciation on all investments in physical assets like infrastructure development by the private sector in agriculture and the entire agri-value chain. They should be given 100per cent tax holiday in respect of the profits of the undertaking for a period of at least 10 years and further giving the assessee an option to claim this tax holiday for any 10 consecutive years out of 15.
n Banks and other financial institutions should offer term loans for all supply chain and cold chain projects at lower interest rate of 6per cent. NABARD under a new window of direct financing should provide direct loans at this rate of interest to the private sector for warehousing, integrated supply / cold chain and allied infrastructure development activities in the rural areas, under RIDF funds.
n Incentivise Green cold chain projects which have eco-friendly design, energy efficient thermal insulation & plant and machinery, water recycling, renewable energy systems etc.

Promoting AEZs
Another major policy boost that could potentially invigorate the agro processing sector is the Agri Export Zones. With a view to promoting agriculture in the country and to fetch remunerative returns to the farmers, the concept of the Agri Export Zones (AEZs) was initially mooted. Corporate sector players with proven credentials are encouraged to sponsor new zone or to takeover already notified AEZs or part of such zones for boosting agri-exports. The government's agri-trade promotion body, Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), has been nominated as the Nodal Agency to coordinate the efforts on the part of Central Government negotiations. Potential crops that can be tapped where India has a geographical and resource advantages are tea, coffee, spices and cotton.
For investors at large, the demand-supply imbalance in food articles provides an opportunity to invest in companies operating in the agriculture value chain. According to a study by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the world population is expected to reach to 9.1 billion by 2050 as compared to about 6.8 billion currently. This would also lead to demand for food almost doubling led by higher consumption and rising incomes in developing countries, especially India and China. The UN estimates also suggest that about 25 per cent of the food production will be lost by 2050 due to the impact of climate change, land degradation, water scarcity and so on.
On one hand, while demand is growing, arable land is also shrinking. Land, which is already scarce, will become scarcer even as the world will need to double food production in order to meet the increasing demand for food. Estimates indicate that the availability of arable land is reducing by 10 million hectare annually as more and more land is being used for the residential and industrial purposes. Globally, too, water consumption is doubling every 20 years, which is twice the growth in population. According to the estimates of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), availability of the arable land will decline to 0.6 acres per person by 2030 from 1.1 acres in 1960. All this only indicates that food prices remaining firm, if not move up, in the long run.
It is only recently that the supply side issues have been highlighted as a major reason for the surge in food prices. Ways to improve agriculture production and crop yields are seen as the key answers to this problem. However, agri experts believe that the problem may not be solved overnight and will require substantial investment and sustainable policies. In any case, there's light at the end of the tunnel. Companies operating in the food value-chain could be major beneficiaries of the evolving scenario along with the advantage of higher agriculture output prices. This includes players directly engaged in the agriculture business, food processing industry or ones that provide agri-inputs.
With food remaining the most pressing of the basic necessities that form the 'roti, kapada aur makaan' trio, it is for the Government to step in and stem the rot and leverage private sector investments to boost food production to feed the millions going hungry day in and day out.

Haryana's low cost 'health for all' scheme stillborn

Sopan Correspondent/ Chandigarh

Plan in limbo due to staff crunch, lack of infrastructure

The much-awaited low cost health scheme conceived by Haryana government is yet to be delivered.
Having failed to get polyclinics across the state operational even after setting up the buildings, the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) has proposed that the structures be auctioned to the private sector.
The state governments's plans to set up scores of polyclinics across the state was a virtual non-starter with the health department unable to install either the required infrastructure or get the requisite manpower. The result: the move to have health institutions at the doorstep has come a cropper.
In 2009, the state government planned to set up the polyclinics to provide medical facilities free of cost to residents of various HUDA colonies and sectors and adjoining areas across Haryana. By 2011, the buildings were completed, but there was little action after that, with health authorities not taking possession.
And now, HUDA officials have sent a proposal to their headquarters at Panchkula, near Chandigarh, to auction the buildings to the private sector.
The auction proposal originates from Rohtak, home district of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. His son, Deepinder Singh Hooda, represents the Rohtak parliamentary seat in the Lok Sabha.
Chander Prakash, HUDA administrator at Rohtak, told IANS: "The auction is likely to be held through an open bid in the month of June and the preparations have been initiated. The reserve price for bidding at the auction is being finalised. The proposal for auction, however, is yet to be approved by HUDA's head office."
Prakash was hopeful of an early approval as senior officers of HUDA were in favour of the decision to auction the buildings.
"Since the polyclinic buildings were not being taken over by the health authorities responsible for making the facilities operational, it was decided to bring them to auction."
Rohtak Civil Surgeon V.K. Gowila retorted that he had asked the health department for providing staff and equipment, but they had not reverted to him till date.
"Since the matter is pending before the headquarters, I cannot say anything in this regard," Gowila said.
Around 40 staffers, including doctors, nurses, technicians and non-technical staff, along with basic medical facilities, are required to properly run a polyclinic.
Medical facilities, including gynaecological, dental, X-Ray, ultrasound and ECG tests as well as a modern laboratory, were to be made available in the proposed polyclinics so that people didn't have to travel long distances to the civil hospital for minor ailments.
HUDA's decision to auction the buildings has not gone down well with residents. Said Azad Singh Ahlawat, a resident of Sector 3: "It would be a major setback to the residents of HUDA if the polyclinic buildings are auctioned. Residents are eagerly awaiting better medical health facilities at their doorstep.
Added Suresh Singal, another resident: "It will be cheating us if the polyclinics are auctioned. These would be instrumental in providing better medical facilities to residents. HUDA should not approve the proposal to auction."

A lot to worry about India's free trade pact with European Union

Ranja Sengupta/New Delhi
Impact of the agreement on livelihoods of small producers, farmers and workers and on access to food, medicines, energy and natural resources is causing worry
Concerns have been expressed for some time by policymakers, analysts, NGOs, and affected groups about the impacts of the ambitious EU-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA) — being currently negotiated — on vulnerable groups in India.
In particular, impact on livelihoods of small producers, farmers and workers and on access to food, medicines, energy and natural resources, including land, water, forest products and minerals is causing worry.
The Recent 'Right to Food Impact Assessment (RFIA) of the EU-India FTA' published by Misereor, Heinrich Boell Foundation, Glopolis, Third World Network and Anthra finds evidence of significant threats to both livelihoods and to the direct access to food of millions of agricultural farmers, workers and poor consumers in India.
The RFIA concentrates in particular on dairy and poultry farmers, informal retail workers and on land & investment.
According to various reports, the EU has asked India to remove dairy and poultry products from its list of protected products (negative list) and is asking for unfettered entry of European retailers into both the single and multi brand retail sectors where foreign direct investment (FDI) is currently restricted or prohibited.
Based on current impact assessment studies, India's gains are highly unequal, both across sectors and within sectors, and lie mainly in narrow service sector segments and in garments & leather.
In addition, the process of negotiations is secret and undemocratic where negotiating texts are not shared in the public domain on either side.
In India, no parliamentary ratification is required for the passage of the agreement.
The value of Indian agricultural production and trade remain low but it is important in this FTA because growing income in the hands of India's middle classes is attracting European producers to India's buoyant food market. Indian agriculture is highly protected and the EU wants access for its high value agricultural products such as wines, spirits and beverages, as well as agro processed products, dairy, poultry, cereals and fisheries (industrial product in trade rules).
It is hardly a balanced scale. India's numerous small producers, unlike their European counterparts, are crippled by low technology, lack of resources, skills and education, infrastructure and state support. 65% of Indian farmers are marginal farmers who own only 20% of total land, with an average holding size of 0.38 hectares.
The sector supports 70% of Indians (about 700 million), 75.38% of women workers and a large chunk of tribal, indigenous communities. Small farmers eat part of what they produce even if marketed surplus is low. Their ability to feed themselves is intrinsically linked to their livelihoods as farmers and their ability to sell.
Access to food is already a critical issue in India. According to FAO estimates for 2006-8, 224 million or 26.9% of the Indian population were living in chronic hunger.
By profession, agricultural workers and small and marginal farmers are the most affected. Rural poverty estimates vary between 28% and 87% and India's Human Development Indicator (HDI) stands at 0.619.
However, this poverty and hunger is not one which can be met by processed food imports, but by enabling India's food production and its distribution in a more even manner across economic and social classes as well as regions.
In this already precarious situation, this FTA may make major inroads for European exports.
The Agreement asks for total removal of applied (actual) tariffs on 92% of products and may have limited provisions for safeguards. With higher tariffs, India cuts much more.
European subsidies cannot be negotiated under this FTA as it is a multilateral issue and easing of EU's non tariff measures like high standards and technical/processes are likely to be highly limited.
In addition to retail, likely investment provisions can affect access to land, water (including for fishing) and natural resources. EU has also made TRIPS plus IPR demands related to agriculture.
Not surprisingly, projections point towards the uneven gains in agriculture in this FTA.
According to an EC commissioned impact assessment by CEPII-CREM (2007), projections for 2020 show that while EU will gain USD 321 million in agro food products, India will gain only 83 million USD.
Similarly, EU will gain 133 million USD in cereals while India gains only 7 million USD. In products from animal origin, EU gains 150 million USD compared to 1 million for India. In primary products EU gains 5128 million USD while India gains 39 million USD.
According to the RFIA, there are 14 millions farmers in India's dairy sector mostly small and marginal farmers.
The current tariff on skimmed milk powder (SMP) is 15% up to 30,000 tonnes of imports under a tariff rate quota or TRQ, and 60% on residual imports. EU wants tariffs cut to 0 to increase production and maintain options for export refunds in CAP.
In the past, tariff cuts on SMP have been costly for Indian farmers. In 1999, once quantitative restrictions were lifted with zero tariffs, European exports increased from 600 to 25,000 tonnes. In 2009, the TRQ was extended from 10 to 30,000 tonnes and imports reached the limit immediately.
The Report predicts that the higher imports as a result of the FTA will depress producer prices, reduce income, increase farmers' debts and will restrict the right to food of smallholders.
It will also disconnect national supply from the growing demand within the country and transmit global volatility, often at risk to consumers.
In the poultry sector, 96 million small, marginal and landless agricultural households keep 85% of poultry stock and it acts as core support and a risk diversifying system for subsistence farmers and growing income source for small contract farmers.
Poultry meat is currently protected in India with a 100% import duty. Being the third largest exporter globally, EU has shown clear interest in this sector.
EU exports chicken legs, not in demand within EU, at very low prices and there is high demand within India for legs. But Indian producers cannot sell breasts to EU because of the latter's high standards.
The RFIA argues that plagued already by high production cost, debts, and high price sensitivity, European exports can threaten small contract farmers' right to food by threatening their productive and selling capacity.
Even if backyard poultry keepers are not directly affected, the environment towards maintaining RTF can be challenged.
The retail sector in India is the second most important job market and provides 37 million jobs, largely in the informal sector.
Job alternatives are low, particularly for the 10 million poor and often food insecure hawkers (vendors). Food accounts for 74% of retail revenues and is an important market for small scale farmers.
Hawkers offer low prices for poor consumers but even middle class consumers buy from them.
The supermarkets in Delhi were found to be cheaper in processed, labeled and packaged food targeted towards the middle class and rich consumers.
Even though a recent attempt by the Indian government to open up multi brand retail to FDI failed in the face of huge opposition, the FTA may allow FDI up to an equity cap of at least 51% in multi-brand retail and 100% in single-brand if EU's demands are met by India.
The Report finds that this can impact jobs of small retailers who already faced 15% decline in profit in 21 months and 4.2% annual closure rate near modern retail formats.
Carrefour has predicted 1.8 million direct and indirect new jobs through supermarkets within five years, with increased market share from 4.1 to 43-48%.
However, even if this can be actually done, this would mean a loss of 2.9-5.7 million informal jobs.
Small farmers will also lose as big supermarkets usually buy from large farmers with higher education, land size, capital and efficiency.
Established EU sources for processed food may also displace domestic suppliers due to tariffs cuts. Poor consumers also stand to lose as hawkers get pushed out.
The disappearance of small retail in India therefore will threaten the right to food of small retailers, farmers and consumers, the Report highlights.
Along with specific provisions related to goods and services trade liberalization, the RFIA recommends that EU and India should both conduct their own Human Rights Impact Assessments (HRIAs), and include human rights clause that takes into account the impact of EU's own demands as a result of this FTA and allow for revisions of harmful provisions along with monitoring mechanism.
Based on this and other analyses from a development and rights perspective, it is clear that this FTA needs a major overhaul if it has to serve the needs of Indian people at large.
Given the unequal gains in this agreement where gains will go to only a few sectors and people, we really need to think about different models. We need to strengthen the domestic sector, local food production and distribution for and by our people.
(Ranja Sengupta works as Senior Researcher, Third World Network, based in New Delhi, India)

State of the nation

Sangita Jha/ New Delhi

Economic disparity among different states is widening

India has seen over two decades of high economic growth. The time span is enough to do some reality check to see if the high economic growth is translating into overall wellbeing of people or not and more particularly if the poor are able to break out of the poverty cycle or not.

However, various studies point out to one common thing, that the poor are getting poorer and rich are getting richer. This clearly is a sad commentary on a socialist country with strong commitment for welfare of the poor.

The most overriding concern of economists is that the economic disparity among various states is getting further skewed. It's being clearly pointed out that a large number of poor in the backward states are not able to reap the benefits of the economic growth. While there had been inequality among various states, it's now clearly emerging that the better off states are doing well in improving lots of the poor than the poor states. This is despite the fact that the Centre factors in poverty in states while designing its various schemes and also fund allocation in the form of Central support.

The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) by collating various data and analysis has come to the conclusion that inequalities continue to rise among various states even after two decades of economic liberalization, broadly implying that poor people are getting poorer and rich are getting richer.

The Assocham based its analysis on average household monthly per capita consumption expenditure (MPCE) at current prices, which was deflated by consumer price index, to arrive at a measure of change in real economic well being of people across regions and classes. The study does confirm that growth rate of both average per capita expenditure and resultant demand increased during 2004-05 and 2009-10.

But the flip side of the India's growth story was the fact that while the average per capita consumption expenditure remained unchanged for the poorest 20 per cent people, the average household income of the richest 20 per cent increased by 7.7 per cent. So, the study suggests that the inequality is clearly deepening further.

The Assocham found that on an average, a rural household in the richest 20 per cent category spent more than 258 per cent of what a household of similar size falling in the poorest 20 per cent category spent in 2004-05. This difference further increased to 286 per cent in 2009-10, the study revealed.

Worrying aspect as pointed out in the study was that while the size of consumer markets expanded at a healthy rate of 7.9 per cent, economic inequality further widened over these five years. Also, market size of richer average household monthly per capita consumption expenditure (MPCE) classes too increased at a relatively faster pace.

More particularly the study on the basis of statistically analyzing the data came to the conclusion that income inequalities increased in Jammu and Kashmir by 7.37 per cent, Madhya Pradesh, including Chhattisgarh, by 4.96 per cent and Bihar, including Jharkhand, by 4.9 per cent. Here it is worth mentioning that Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh are facing worst crisis in the form of the leftwing extremism, popularly Naxal menace, for quite a long time, with the proponent of violent means having established their footholds among the poor tribals.

The study further revealed that some of the state did better by reducing inequalities, which was by 5.75 per cent in Orissa, 3.85 per cent in Maharashtra, 2.36 per cent in Haryana and West Bengal. The industry body also noted in its study that Rajasthan, Karnataka, northeastern states and union territories too have seen some fall in the degree of income inequalities.

The study recommended "along with higher economic growth, more efforts need to be made to make it more inclusive", while stressing that reducing income inequalities is necessary for accelerating economic and human development. It also sought from the state governments to play a major role in developing social sectors and critical infrastructure.

National Advisory Council (NAC) member NC Saxena is also of the view that the absolute number of poor has gone up in the last two decades. It's also a well known fact that China, Indonesia and other South-east Asian nations have done much better than India in reducing the absolute number of poor, while riding on decades of high economic growth.

Saxena points out one critical aspect of public distribution, which invariably favors rich states. He says that the Department of Food and Public Distribution has been following the poverty head count ratios of 1993-94 and foodgrain is allocated to states based on this number plus 10 per cent to account for the transient poor. "In addition, some states such as Tamil Nadu, Andhra, Delhi, the North-east states also received quota for the APL, which was not given to the poorer states on the ground that they did not lift it in the past when the market price was low. This policy favours the well-off states and punishes the poorer states," added Saxena.

There is also a well accepted fact that the incidence of poverty is acute in poor states than the richer ones. The poor states also face another crisis in the form that more poor people are left out of the process to include them in the BPL list so that they can benefit from the welfare schemes. In fact, the officials of the ministry of rural development agree to the fact that the incidence of exclusion of deserving poor from the BPL list is very high in the poor states.

In fact, the findings of the study of ASSOCHAM is supported by fact that Bihar has as high as 25 per cent poor who have no BPL cards, which is 22 per cent in the case of Jharkhand, 24 per cent in Chhattisgarh and 30 per cent in Madhya Pradesh. Almost half of the poor people in the poor states find themselves deprived of the benefits of the welfare schemes of the Central and state governments.

"These must be presumably the most poor tribal groups, women headed households, and people living in remote hamlets where administration does not reach. Thus, the people most deserving of government help are deprived of such assistance. On the other hand, almost 60 per cent of the BPL or Antyodaya cards have been given to households belonging to the non-poor category," Saxena noted in a representation to the Planning Commission, while seeking launching of a drive to weed out errors of exclusion and inclusion.

The interesting aspect of the way the Central government and Planning Commission deal with the allocation of resources to deal with poverty and the resultant cap which they impose on number of poor for each state. In fact, Planning Commission has not fixed a uniform cap of 37.2 per cent for every State. The estimate of poverty differs from state to state from a high of 57 per cent for Orissa to 9 per cent for Nagaland and 13 per cent for Delhi. However, the percentage fixed for each State does amount to a de-facto cap for that state as far as central allocation in some schemes and subsidies are concerned, such as Old Age Pension, Total Sanitation Campaign, Public Distribution System, etc.

Some states have issued more BPL cards than warranted by Planning Commission poverty estimates, and that the Central government has not placed any restrictions to this so long as the concerned state makes its own provision for the additional subsidy and food grain requirement. This enables rich states likes Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Maharashtra to do much better than the states of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh in improving the lots of the poor due to better resources at their disposal.

However, the poor states do not have the wherewithal to pump in additional financial resources to improve the overall conditions of the poor.

Neglected lot of God’s country

Dr. S Remadevi/ Kochi

Tribal community in Kerala has been facing manifold challenges. Although the awareness level has gone up among them, women still face exploitation.

Rani (name changed) became pregnant when she was studying in a school. She fell in love with a contractor Raju. Although she used to talk to him for long, she never felt that she should know more about Raju. When Raju came to know that Beena was pregnant, she was not seen in the area.

There were complications during the delivery. Fortunately, doctors were able to save both mother and child. But, for Beena, a tribal hailing from Attappady of Palakkad district, life after the episode was even more hellish. She was thrown out of her house and the community looked down upon her and many branded her as a prostitute and made advances towards her.

The community or her family never tried to find out the culprit because they thought the girl had "committed the crime".

Now, at 40 years of age, Beena earns her livelihood by selling her body. Her son, a heavy drinker, beats her up if she doesn't pay for his drinks. She is suffering from various ailments, including diabetes. "My son beats me up quite often. He thinks I made him a laughing stock. He may be correct also," said Beena, philosophically.

Rani's case is not an isolated one. There are hundreds of such unwed mothers in the tribal hamlets Palakkad, Wayanad and Kasargod districts. Most of the women, discarded by the community and disowned by the men who defiled them, face starvation and penury.

The Kerala State Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Department conducted a survey and found 563 unwed mothers in the state. But the Kerala Women's Commission (KWC) puts the actual number at more than 2,000.

A few years ago, another survey by Deputy Police Inspector-General S Sreejith had found that there were about 1,000 unwed mothers in the tribal areas of north Kerala.

Another finding is that most of the unwed mothers belong to the age-group of 14-20 years. "This is nothing but sexual exploitation. If it were in a non-tribal area, the entire state machinery would have swung into action. No one cares for tribals as they are not a vote bank," said Sivaraman, a tribal activist.

Another shocking finding of a survey is that there has been a steep rise in the numbers of unwed mothers in the last one decade. "The KWC is initiating a police inquiry into the cases of young unwed mothers and making arrangements to rehabilitate the affected women," said a member of KWC.

The member pointed out forest officials, teachers, contractors, labourers and local leaders as among those accused of impregnating young girls. They lure teenage girls by giving them money, liquor, clothes, bags, and perfumes. They flatter the girls and then invite them to their homes or to see a movie. Some men offer marriage proposals.

Dr. K. G. Vijayalakshmi, director of the Thiruvananthapuram-based Women Empowerment and Human Resource Development Centre of India, who has studied the problem, told IPS that the issues of unwed mothers are mainly linked to social backwardness.

"Hunger, poverty, illiteracy, ill-health, lack of communication and financial constraints are leading tribal women to seek the help of non-tribal people," she said. "These forest invaders, especially rich people, sexually exploit the women. Many unwed tribal girls are working free of cost in the residences of non- tribal people."

Chennai-based anthropologist G. P. Paul told IPS the issue of unmarried mothers is as serious as the problem of displacement from tribal territory. Kerala tribes have lost thousands of acres to non-tribal people, who venture into the forest to grab their land.

"No steps were taken to restore their land. Migration of non-tribal people continues. Raped and ravaged by non-tribal people, tribal women in Kerala are paying a heavy price," he added.

News reports cite a survey conducted in 174 hamlets in Attappady in 2000 by the volunteer organisation NAMU, which found 343 unmarried mothers, some of them with more than one child.

Earlier in 1997, a committee of the Kerala Legislative Assembly also examined the problem and submitted a report to the government, which failed to act on it.

Since then, officials and activists have demanded action and social programmes to address the issue of unwed mothers in tribal hamlets.

Pushkala Unnikrishnan, an activist in tribal issues and vice-president of the local self-government institution in Wayanad district, wants the government to implement special welfare schemes such as pensions for unwed mothers.

Kerala Aadivasi Forum (KAF), a tribal organisation, is seeking justice from the government and social agencies for the rehabilitation of unmarried mothers and their children.

Bolan, a state committee member and KAF Wayanad district president, wants government to start planning a long-term programme for the welfare of these mothers. "Living conditions of children born out of wedlock are worst. Most of them have inhibitions to face others, fearing being taunted as the children of harlots."

Experts point out that premature deaths of unwed tribal women were not uncommon, and several crude and inhuman methods have been employed to eliminate infants even after birth.

Kitty Lukose, a social researcher who has studied the condition of tribal unwed mothers in Wayanad, found out that many tribal girls resorted to abortion using traditional medicine. "They go to government hospitals for check-ups. Once they find that they are pregnant, they abort the fetus."

Dr. K. Ramachandran Nair, a physician who has served in tribal areas for more than 45 years, told IPS that hypertension and diabetes are very common among unmarried mothers.

"Some of the unwed mothers later turn into sex workers since there is absolutely no income for survival. The mothers are isolated both from their family as well as from the community. The culprits escape from the net through their economic and political power," Dr. Nair pointed out.

Dr. Beena Kannan, a health expert working in a government hospital in Kochi, a city north of the capital Thiruvananthapuram, suggested that regular medical checkups, both for the mothers and children, are essential for their survival.

"Besides imparting legal and emotional support, health organisations should give awareness on safe sex practices and condom usage," she added.

Recently, the Kerala government had decided to increase the welfare pension for unwed tribal mothers from Rs 300 to Rs 1,000 a month. Besides, one acre of land would be given to each of them. The police would be directed to take strong action against exploiters.

The Chief Minister said the problem of unwed mothers was a serious one. According to the Scheduled Tribes Department, there were 910 unwed mothers in Wayanad district. Police estimates put it around 1,500. Though the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Commission had submitted a series of recommendations to the government in this respect in 2009, only the recommendation for payment of pension had been implemented. The government proposed to take up a rehabilitation plan for them. Land would be provided to such tribal women under the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers Act, if eligible. The Wayanad Collector would be asked to buy land for others. Budget funds of the ST Department would be spent for building houses for them.