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Sunday, Apr 18, 2004

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National - Elections 2004

Parties trade charges as the drought intensifies

Three successive years of poor rainfall has led to a virtual collapse of the rural economy, says M. Madan Mohan.

The bitter polemic over drought management is reaching fever pitch in Karnataka as the simultaneous polls to the Lok Sabha and the State Assembly draws near. The two main parties, the Congress and the BJP, continue to take pot shots at each other, while the plight of the people is being ignored. The Election Commission has not helped matters by taking away the power of overseeing of the relief work from the politicians and entrusting the responsibility to the State administration.

The Congress has been focussing attention on the inadequacy of the drought assistance given by the NDA Government and how it has discriminated between Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh in the issue; the party claims that Karnataka has been denied the facility — given to Andhra Pradesh — of appropriating rural development funds for drought relief work. The BJP, on the other hand, has been focussing on the failure of the Krishna Government to utilise the assistance received. The truth lies somewhere between the two, impartial observers say.

Karnataka has gone through three successive years of drought and a large part of the State has been affected one way or the other. The virtual collapse of the rural economy is having its own impact on other sectors. The severity of the situation has manifested itself at various levels. There is an acute shortage of drinking water, both in the urban and rural areas. The water sources in the interiors of the State have practically dried up, the water levels in bore wells are falling and the availability of the water in the rivers and dams has come down. Unless the nature smiles in the form of unseasonal rains, the State is in for a severe water famine.

It is the districts of northern Karnataka, which are the worst hit. However, while the people are mature enough to understand that the Krishna Government had little to do with the continuing drought, the Government appears to be caught on the wrong foot for not doing enough to mitigate the miseries of the people.

There has been a quantum jump in the number of people migrating to other areas in search of employment. Go to any village in north Karnataka, and you can hear tales of people moving out in search of jobs. The three years of drought have hit the people hard economically. Their cash reserves are exhausted. "They have no alternative but move out with their families in search of employment", says the adhyaksha of the gram panchayat of Katageri, Nimbanur of Bagalkot taluk.

This, according to Mr. Basavaraj Bommai, the MLC and former Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, testifies to the failure of the State Government in undertaking employment generation programmes. Had the Government taken proper steps, there would have been no need for the people to migrate, he says.

On the restrictions imposed by the Election Commission, Mallikarjun Kharge, the Home Minister and Chairman of the Cabinet Sub Committee on drought, says, "We are helpless. We do not know what is being done by the officials." Mr. Kharge said that neither can the people approach the officials directly, nor can they go to the people's representatives. "I was needlessly pulled up, when the officials met me to report on the progress in the drought relief programme," he says.

But B.S. Yediyurappa, the BJP leader, suspects that the Krishna Government is utilising the drought relief to its political advantage during election time. There was no reason why the State Government did not set up all-party committees at the State and district level for overseeing the programme and meeting the genuine needs of the affected people, he says.

Karnataka had, over the years, evolved a system under which the Deputy Commissioners had been made the lynchpin of drought relief activities. It was they who were responsible for reporting on the drought, preparing action plans to tackle the situation and distribute the money for implementing the work schemes.

The Governments of the day had also introduced the system of review at the district levels, which was done by the Minister for Revenue or by the Chief Minister. However, no reviews have been held in the districts so far. The State Government introduced another system of designating the Secretaries of the Departments as nodal officers for each district, but it hardly any impact, with the complaints about the inadequacy of relief work continuing to pour in.

The committees at the taluk level under the chairmanship of the MLAs have proved to be more a hindrance than a help in taking the relief to the farmers.

In some areas, it is said that machines were employed instead of men, defeating the very purpose of the drought relief work; the foodgrains earmarked for the purpose were sold too.

Among those who had noticed the laxity in the work was the KPCC President, Janardan Poojary. His public censuring of the ministers and legislators however had hardly any impact. At least two ministers, K N Gaddi of Dharwad and Mallikarjun Nagappa of Koppal, who were warned they would be denied tickets, have been able to get the party nominations.

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