People's Democracy

A VILLAGE FOR SALE

Plight Of Harkishanpura In Punjab

Parvinder Jaura, Narpinder And Gautam Rishi

VILLAGE Harkishanpura in Bhatinda district eloquently reflects decline in agriculture in Punjab. The whole village is at present steeped in debt, as a result sons and daughters of the peasants are growing old without getting married. Most of the peasants are in heavy debts and are wanting to sell their land, but there are no buyers. Life in this village is really miserable due to widespread starvation and sickness. People in Harkishanpura are so poor that they have no resources even for medical treatment when they fall sick. The extent of indebtedness in the village can be gauged from the fact that there is not a single household which has not to repay debts to the cooperative banks and the moneylenders. This state of helplessness has driven a number of peasants to commit suicide.

There cannot be a more serious and shameful matter for the people of this country and particularly of Punjab that the peasants who were once carriers of the green revolution are now selling every bit of their property, including land. The prosperous Jats of many villages in Punjab who once merrily counted their incomes accruing to them from their hard labour are now all the time worried about their debts. The plight of peasants in a number of villages is largely due to anti-peasant policies of the government and its inability to provide relief work in the event of drought.

Harkishanpura is one such village which has already reached the brink of disaster. Population of this village is around 900. Out of 125 households of the village, 78 own agricultural land. In all there are 20 tractors (another 20 have already been disposed of), around 65 tubewells (of which water samples of only 7 tubewells have been passed by the concerned department), 35 televisions, 15 telephone connections and 1 car in the village. There are just six government employees in this village of 900 persons.

Village Harkishanpura now presents a picture of decayed agriculture. No doubt there is agricultural land in the village, but crops are not grown. There are farmers who lack both irrigation facilities and resources to raise crops. Under the circumstances the atmosphere in the village is filled with gloom. For five years this village was completely neglected by the Akalis. Now the attitude of the Congress government is not very different. The most shocking aspect of the village economy is that out of 1170 acre agricultural land in this small village, 500 acre land has either been seized by the lenders of credit or farmers themselves have sold their land to clear debt obligations. But these measures have not given any respite to the peasants from the burden of debts. At present out of the remaining 670 acre land 40 acre land belongs to village panchayat and gurdwara and around 400 acre land is mortgaged to the banks and money lenders. The owners of these lands are defaulters and have no resources to repay their debts. As per government reports every household in the village now carries a debt of 4 to 6 lakh which means that the village is presently crushed under a debt burden of around Rs 5 crore. The people of the village have thus decided collectively to put banners within the village and on its outskirts displaying that the entire village is for sale.

In order to provide a healing touch to the sufferings of the villagers recently agriculture minister Rajinder Kaur Bhatthal visited the village. She promised to provide Rs 3 lakh for relief work. She also announced that besides upgradation of the primary school, industry would be developed to provide employment to the villagers. All these assurances created hope for the better future. However, while touring the drought affected areas of the state Captain Amrinder Singh, the chief minister visited the village, he did not announce any relief measures. With this apathy of the chief minister, the villagers lost the hope that was created by the promises of the agriculture minister. The peasants in the village are nonetheless happy because the visits of the chief minister and agriculture minister led to improvement in power supply, digging of a few tube-wells for improving supply of drinking water and cleaning of irrigation canals to make distribution of water more efficacious. However, experts are of the view that most of the agricultural land has lost its fertility and it is now virtually barren. This decline in agriculture has snatched the only source of subsistence from the peasants and everyday starvation has become a fact of life. Under the circumstances idea of celebrating festivals rarely comes to the minds of the people. The reality is so harsh that the moneylenders are no longer inclined to give loans to these hapless peasants and even the village shopkeepers would not sell provisions on credit to them.

This year on account of drought the peasants find themselves in a far more wretched condition. Normally the yield of wheat and paddy is 20 quintals per acre on the village land which is hardly enough to recover even the cost of production. Lal Singh, the village headman has told correspondents of Desh Sevak that this year on account of drought peasants have failed to produce anything on their land. Hence faced with starvation and diseases peasant households are finding even physical survival difficult. Lal Singh further pointed out that some of the peasant households have disposed of their stocks of foodgrains saved from last year for meeting medical expenses. Now members of these households are left with no choice but to go to neighbouring town Rampura Phool in search of work as daily wagers where if they are lucky enough they may get work at a paltry wage rate of Rs 80 for per day.

Sarpanch of Harkishanpura village Smt Harbans Kaur and former Sarpanch of the village Gurjant Singh have said that the entire village is for sale and the banners displaying this offer have been put on the outskirts of the village. In the past residents of this village had submitted a number of petitions to the Badal government but there was no response. In sheer desperation due to economic plight several peasants have already committed suicide. Sabiya Singh, a resident of the village had a debt of around Rs 2.5 lakh. Finding it impossible to repay the loan he committed suicide. Sabiya Singh's sister in law and Bata Singh's wife Naseeb Kaur also committed suicide. Last year Chhota Singh's son Najar Singh had committed suicide under similar circumstances. Teja Singh's wife died lacking medical treatment due to extreme poverty. There are many others in the village who think that only death will bring respite to them from their sufferings. This situation must not be allowed to persist for long. In case no remedial measures are taken promptly, this prosperous village of yester years would soon be transformed into a graveyard.

Bawa Singh who is suffering from some undiagnosed disease and his wife Kulwant Kaur told us with tears in their eyes that their 5 years old daughter Rajni expired four months ago because the required medical treatment could not be arranged due to poverty. Another elderly lady is very much worried about her ailing young son Gurmeet Singh who is undergoing medical treatment in Bhatinda with the help of some residents of the village. Siting in front of the village gurudwara certain residents expressed their anger against political leaders and remarked that Akali legislator Jagdip Singh Nakai did not show his face even once to the residents of the village after he got elected. Jagbir Singh, a young graduate remarked in anguish that he now has no faith in any leader or political party.

One can have some idea of the economic plight of the residents of Harkishanpura from the fact that no one from any other village seems to be willing to have matrimonial relationship with young boys or girls of this village. The obvious reason for this pathetic situation is that each and every household in the village has overtime been caught in the debt trap. Under the circumstances some women have deserted their households and their whereabouts are not known. The residents of the village are shocked to find that the government has given a license to open a liquor shop in the village rather than doing something positive for the hapless villagers. The demand of the villagers for opening a veterinary dispensary for medical care of the cattle has fallen on deaf cars.

If this village is to be saved from being ruined completely, immediate remedial measures must be undertaken to replenish fertility to the barren agricultural land so that it becomes suitable for farming purposes. In addition some industries should be set up to create employment opportunities for those who do not find work in the agricultural sector. But at present no one seems to feel concerned about the plight of the village. Is there anyone listening?