The Hindu Business Line : A jawan returns; a kisan departs!

The death in action of a jawan from a Maharashtra village and the suicides of two farmers in an adjoining hamlet highlight the pathetic state of the once flourishing farming community of this district.

THIS is a tale of two villages in the adjoining Chikhali and Deulgaon Raja tehsils of Buldhana district in Maharashtra.

On June 29, the body of a farmer's son from Ambasi village was brought home. Kailash Gavai was killed in action in Jammu & Kashmir on June 24. His body was flown to New Delhi and then to Aurangabad, and then transported to his native village. The body was taken in a funeral procession in which participated thousands of farmers from Ambasi and other villages in the neighbourhood.

At the time fixed for the final rites, six jawans in uniform carried the body to the pyre in a sombre procession. The police fired a 24-gun salute after more than a score of local bigwigs had paid homage to the brave son of the soil who had sacrificed his life in the service of the nation. Since Kailash Gavai was a neo-Buddhist, the mantras were chanted in Pali.

The local leader of the Republican Party used the occasion to demand that the whole piece of land covered by the large crowd should be allocated for an appropriate memorial. He also issued a warning that the owner of the land should desist from sowing seeds on that piece of land. He need not have bothered. There was no chance of any sowing operation happening in the near future. The entire land was parched. It was evident that the region had suffered under severe drought for years. One could easily imagine the circumstances under which Kailash Gavai must have left the village, in desperation as eking out a living there became impossible.

His old father, a broken man in tattered clothes, was escorted to the pyre by his neighbours. It was evident that, despite Kailash's joining the Army, the old man had suffered from prolonged starvation. After the 21-gun salute and sky-rending slogans by the thousands who attended the occasion, the pyre was lit.

In the nearby village Andhera of Deulgaon tehsil, the scene was quite different. The land surrounding Andhera was as parched as that around Ambasi. An old woman recounted the tale of two of her four sons.

The elder one, Shivaji Tejankar committed suicide by consuming poison 14 months back. Ten months later, the younger one, Gajanan burnt himself to escape the harassment of the loan recovery officials of the local cooperative bank. The two sons left behind a widow and three children each.

Why did her sons commit suicide? The mother was unequivocal: "It was the burden of bank loans."

What was the outstanding amount? "Barely Rs 10,000."

When was the loan taken? "Over several years. My sons sold a part of the family land and paid off the loans taken from the private moneylenders."

It further came out that only two generations back, the family had 300 acres of land and lived in a house with ramparts, which now lies in ruins. The family has only four acres left now for the livelihood of the surviving family with six children.

The brothers and their father, who died long ago, held shares in the cooperative bank with no dividend received over the several years. The cooperative banks deducts 10 per cent of the amount every time a loan is given, towards the share capital but refuses to adjust the shareholding towards reimbursement of loans.

In every district in Maharashtra, the shareholding of farmers in the cooperative banks amounts to crores of rupees. The bank officials continue to harass the farmers for recovery of loans, ignoring the shareholdings and unmindful of the drought and the famine.

The impoverishment of villages drove Kailash Gavai of Ambasi to join the Army. He returned as an adored hero, to have his final rites performed with full military honours. Of the two anonymous farmers in Andhera, who could take it no more, one consumed poison, another burnt himself. Both were cremated quietly, unsung. Government officials have promised assistance to the bereaved families of the two farmers but none has come so far.

A memorial may soon come up for the martyred jawan. His family has already been assured generous assistance, both in cash and kind. At least, the surviving members of the jawan's family will find their circumstances attenuated, thanks to the Kailash's martyrdom. The survivors of the kisan family will soon end in squalor in some slum of Aurangabad or Mumbai.

(The author is Founder, Shetkari Sanghatana. He can be reached at sharad@mah.nic.in)

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