Why farmer suicides in 2015 underline the need for MGNREGA to be implemented with will in Odisha

Pramathesh Ambasta

Pita Nag, a resident of Jampada village in the Jamkhunta panchayat of Bongomunda block of Bolangir district, western Odisha, was only 50 when he ended his life late last year. A farmer, he faced a 70% crop loss due to the 2015 drought. His 17-year-old daughter’s hospitalisation was the last straw that broke his back. Nag had taken a loan to meet his family’s expenses. When his crop failed, the point of no return was reached.

In the drought-prone, distress-migration and malnutrition hotspots of Bolangir and Nuapada districts of western Odisha, nine farmers have ended their lives so far, joining several thousands of farmers across the country in a tragic and seemingly unending saga of despair and death. But is it so difficult to prevent such tragedies?

It may be tempting for some to jump to the conclusion that these suicides happen because agriculture is far too dependent on the vicissitudes of nature, and hence not worth the effort any more. This line of thought, put forth forcefully by market fundamentalists in the context of the land acquisition debate, suggests that market-led growth will yield incomes and employment.

If farmlands are acquired for this, so be it. This argument is buttressed by the fact that agriculture has around half of India’s workforce but contributes only around a fifth to GDP.

Villagers who are in need but yet to be allotted MGNREGA work agitate

However, this simple view overlooks the fact that despite several decades of growth relying on private investment and over two decades of deregulation of the economy, a large part of India remains poor, inequalities have risen and so has the distress of people in rural areas.

A Social Safety Net

A 2015 OECD study of 25 countries that have shown rapid declines in poverty rates between 1980-81 and 2005 (India does not feature in the list) concludes that while overall economic growth has played a role in poverty reduction, growth in agricultural productivity has been a necessary condition, accounting for more than half the reduction in poverty.

In India, we could disaggregate between a rain-fed and an irrigated agriculture sector, with the maximum impact on poverty reduction being felt through the growth of the rain-fed sector. This is because poverty and low agricultural productivity are concentrated in precisely these areas, which account for more than two-thirds of the country’s land area and more than half of the population. Thus, the answer lies not in “doing away” with agriculture but to improve it. Nag belongs to a large proportion of small and marginal farmers in rain-fed India who are — as per the Rural Labour Enquiry of the government of India — “landed labour”, and are forced to offer their services in the labour market despite being owners of land because their lands are unproductive.

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) has to take the lead in turning around India’s rain-fed areas. Durable assets that can arrest soil erosion, conserve soil moisture, harvest rain water and provide irrigation need to be created in the lands of such farmers. Past experience of watershed development and MGNREGA work has shown that such public investment incentivises private investment in agriculture which has the potential to put the rural economy on an upward spiral. Building on top of this infrastructure, a host of livelihoods avenues, including off-farm income generation, can also be implemented.

This asset creation needs to be supported by agricultural research and a focus on rain-fed crops, price support policies and formal rural credit mechanisms. The rain-fed areas of India have been completely neglected in this regard. The other critical function that MGNREGA plays is that of a social safety net. There is credible evidence from across the country to show that employment under MGNREGA has helped the poor tide over income deficits in drought years.

However, 2014-15 was a year when resource allocation to MGNREGA was cut back sharply by the Central government to focus only on selected blocks across the country. Release of funds from Centre to state also suffered delays, leading to drastically reduced person-days of work. In Bolangir and Nuapada districts, total person-days generated fell by about 46% between 2013-14 and 2014-15. Person-days generated for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes fell by 49% and 51% respectively over the same period. Thus, poor farmers had nothing to fall back on in their hour of dire need.

A Catalytic Role

There exists strong evidence of how MGNREGA is already playing a hugely catalytic role where implemented well. In the poor tribal village of Malpada in the Bolangir district of Odisha, an earthen water-harvesting was constructed by the panchayat under MGNREGA at a cost of Rs 7 lakh, assisted by a local civil society organisation. The water from this structure has provided life-saving irrigation to nearly 70 acres of land and has saved the crops of about 45 farmers.

Farmers have decided to save about 10 feet of water in the pond to be used when required. Similarly, Tejpal Herna and Tricha Maji are two of the 43 small and marginal farmers of Dabri panchayat of Nuapada district whose crop is not damaged because of the drought. Supported by a civil society organisation, the panchayat has renovated two earthen bunds, which are now coming to the rescue of these villagers. The renovation of a mahabandha in village Sunabahal in Bolangir has saved the crop from the drought.

It is time for those arguing against social protection expenditures to take note and stop undermining such schemes. The state government needs to learn from these examples and work on a war footing so that such tragedies do not happen again. The Central government should remain committed to ensuring adequate and smooth flow of funds and pledge never to arbitrarily cut back on what is a lifeline for the poor.

(The author is convenor, National Consortium of Civil Society Organizations on MGNREGA)