This is a column on the happennings in Karnataka, with particular reference to current affairs bringing to bear more than four decade old experience in covering the current affairs in Karnataka.

Thursday, April 26, 2012


Mathihalli Madan Mohan,   Senior Journalist and  Columnist  
 Tel No. 0836- 2374872; Mobile: 94480-74872
                                                       
                                                         
Mishandling of drought

HUBLI, Apr  27th, 2012
           
            Drought has been an integral part of the life of Karnataka, with more than 70% of the area depending on rain fed agriculture, and the vagaries of the nature being what it is.
            Over the years as the track record of the state shows, Karnataka has been living with one or the other kind of natural calamities, and suffer from either the excess  or the shortfall of the rains, which has been affecting the agricultural production one way or the other.
            However this should not make us to jump to the conclusion that tryst with drought has helped the state to evolve an effective drought management system with a view to mitigating the sufferings of the people afflicted.   Far from it. Its policy continues to be tentative and adhoc even after years of grappling with the situation.
            The reaction of the government is the same whether it is flood or the drought.  The only difference between the two is the former comes unexpected while the latter is not. It comes with due warning and it cannot be faulted if those who are in charge of it fail to take cognisance of the developing situation. And what is wrought by the nature in case of drought is compounded by the man made failures and mishandling at different levels.  
            The state government continues to bumble every time it faces either of the natural calamities and the run up goes on the expected lines.  The flurry of activities starts only when furore is raised. The government tries to get into the act, with the Chief Minister talking to the officials, “giving strict instructions” on tackling the phenomenon, the ministers are despatched to the districts in a show of misplaced earnestness to “study the situation”. There is the usual talk of leading an all party delegation to the Centre seeking more funds for tackling the situation. And the party in power at the Centre is invariably accused of being unsympathetic and step motherly in it attitude towards Karnataka. The opposition brays for the blood of the ruling party. And the blame game fills the columns of the media.
            In Karnataka, it has been a practice to utilise drought situation to get more money from the Centre. It with this in view that the district administrations prepare the report which is wetted at the state government to paint an exaggerated picture of the problems faced. Quite aware of the propensities of the state governments in such a situation the Centre has also learnt the art of scaling down the claims. (That the yardsticks used by the Centre and the state in assessing the situation lacks uniformity, is another reason for the divergence in the assessment made by the two).
             And nobody bothers when once the money is released and works undertaken. What works are executed and what kind of relief was given to the affected remains in the realm of speculation, since nobody bothers  once the aim of getting assistance from the Cente is achieved.
            Incidentally, the Centre coming to the rescue of the state to tackle the natural calamities in the states, has undergone a see change over the years. Earlier the Central assistance used to come in favour of advance plan assistance, with the amount given being adjusted in the plan assistance given next year. This was later changed and led to the formation of the Calamity Relief Fund, with the state governments getting fixed share of assistance every year. In addition the Centre set up a Natural Calamity Contingency Fund, with sizeable corpus to meet the states needs. For purposes of better handling of the funds, the districts receive assistance from both the sources under a suitably single head from this year by the state government.
            What is happening at the moment in Karnataka where the State Government has officially stated that 121 of the 174 taluks are drought affected runs on familiar lines. And the matter is complicated by the callous negligence   on the part of state government, in keeping tab on the developing situation   casual manner in which the opposition failed to discharge its primary objective of keeping vigil on the activities of the government and plight of the people in distress.
            The problems faced in the affected taluks are essentially two fold – of, the scarcity of drinking water and of migration of people from the select taluks in search of work. Had somebody in the government been able to keep a tag, the government would not have been caught napping as it has been so now.
            The situation has its essential origin in  performanance in the rabi season. The deficiency in the rainfall has resulted in the agricultural workers being deprived of their quota of work, as a consequence of which they were forced to migrate to other districts in search of work and scarcity of fodder for the animals.  The government has started talking about them, at   a time, when the migrated workers are scheduled to return to take up the agricultural operations. And the unseasonal rains which are normal around the holi celebration has aggravated the drinking water.
            With the political busy in fighting for the chair, a comatose government had hardly any time to spare for the mundane issues like the failure of the rain, the migration of the workers and the increasing crisis developing on the drinking water front especially in the rural areas and not but not least the acute shortage of fodder for the cattle.
            The state government was unable to keep a vigil. But should it also fail to take cognisance of others who had studied the situation? This is the worst that has happened and highlights the lack of proper governance. A couple of months ago, a Central team happened to visit Karnataka for study and based on the symptoms of the developing situation, had reportedly recommended for an assistance of around Rs. 600 crores. The state did not bother to follow up the matter. Even to this day, it has been dillydallying on the matter of submitting a memorandum seeking further assistance. When the state government does show any seriousness, how cans one otherwise expect Karnataka’s MPs to act, who have acquired a dubious distinction of inaction in parliament.
            Besides another moot point is that there are enough avenues to meet the situation on its own without waiting for the Central governments assistance too. The twin needs of the present situation namely providing water and employment, besides the shortage of fodder come within the ambit of the rural development where enough funds are available.  But the government has not been doing this also.
            One cannot help but recall similar situation faced by the Urs government in seventies. The seniors recall how a team of three ministers coming of the Revenue, Rural Development and Finance jointly toured the districts conducted meeting and sorted out the problem of utilisation of the available funds.  But nothing of such coordinated work is taking place now and uncoordinated tours by the ministers singly or severally is certainly not going to bring about any qualitative relief to the affected people.  But the time the snail paced approach reaches fruition, the next monsoons will start rendering the whole exercise infructuous.
            If the ruling party has faltered, the opposition parties have not covered with any glory either in highlighting the problems. The opposition has to be blamed for the lackadaisical approach of the go, creating public opinion and forcing the government to tackle the situation effectively and meaningfully.
            In the eighties, when a serious drought had occurred in the state under the rule of Janata Dal, one active opposition MLC, ( Mr  H K Patil, who was on his first term as MLC) toured the districts, took the pressmen with him for on spot study of the situation and pointed out the gaps between what government professed and practiced. The sum total of the effort was that the Central Government took notice of the same and amended the drought policy to include for the first time the concept of the cattle camps at a the time of severe shortage of cattle with a view to effectively prevent distress sale of cattle. Not even one single Congress/JDS legislator is bothered in finding what is happening in their respective constituencies. The party of course is supremely oblivious to the developing situation dreaming of the prospects of being returned to power rather than worry about the plight of the people.
            Even the media, which should have taken a proactive line in moulding the public opinion is supine in its approach and has confined itself to doing the routine stories in a routine manner. Some of the placed in the district and really concerned about the developing situation find themselves helpless in the absence of credible information and limitations of travelling the interiors. The officials would not part with information, the legislators do not know what is happening in their own constituency. “We wish we had a legislator like H K Patil   to create awareness” rued a senior journalist of Northern Karnataka, who had just begun his career when H K Patil went on with his bold programme way back in eighties.
            This is how the situation remains in Karnataka.-a government and opposition in comatose condition, and media which has no time for the human sufferings. One can imagine what relief the people in distress can expect under circumstances.
Eom  10.27 hrs.  27.04.2012
             

           
           
             
             

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Journalist with standing of more than fifty years in the profession. Retired as the Special Correspondent of The HINDU and has become a columnist on current affairs, the panchayats and other allied subjects