Churu farmers sell off cattle for a song

SADALPUR (CHURU), APRIL 29: How much do you spend on a bottle of soft drink, a kilogramme of potatoes or a packet of peanuts? Motiram Aadr...

SADALPUR (CHURU), APRIL 29: How much do you spend on a bottle of soft drink, a kilogramme of potatoes or a packet of peanuts? Motiram Aadram walked 35 km from his village, Taranagar, to Sadalpur for two long days, braving the scorching sun, just to sell off his lone surviving calf at the cattle fair here. After heavy bargaining, he he handed it over for five rupees!

“This too is in bad shape,” he said, showing the tattered note he got in exchange for his three-month-old calf. With eyes turned into stone after brazing hot winds and lips parched out of both thirst and despair, Motiram wondered how he would return home. “The bus will cost me Rs 12,” he said.

But Motiram is not particularly unlucky. There are thousands of others in Churu district who are fighting a battle for survival. The wells have dried up, the crop has perished and there is no employment to earn a living.

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So the cattle rearers, mostly farmers, are bringing herds from distant places in the district to the cattle fair held in Sadalpur every fortnight. They want to make some money to keep life going. But hunger and despair are making them easy prey and pushing down prices to as low as five rupees.

The quality breed Nagori calves, which are used for ploughing and other work in the fields, are being sold for a song. And for this, too, there is stiff competition. With cattle feed now selling at Rs 200 per quintal — a luxury in times of drought — they are relieved to just get rid of this liability which could weigh them down.

“Due to non-availability of fodder and dry feed, most of the cattle have already perished, and whatever survive will also die soon. A tanker of about 500 litres of hard water for cattle costs Rs 40. We do not have food for ourselves, how can we feed our cattle?” asks Satbir Sharma, a farmer from Malvas village who sold his calves for Rs 40 each. The same in previous years had been selling for Rs 1500 or more.

The state government is claiming that it is supplying cattle feed at concessional rates. But at Sadalpur, a limited supply arrives at the local agriculture produce market only once a week. “There is strict rationing and we get it for Rs 100 per quintal. But with limited supplies, one has to purchase the same from the open market where it is being sold at a whopping Rs 200 per quintal,” said Anwar Baig, a local contractor.

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“We want to live. We also want our cattle to survive. Please tell the Prime Minister to save us,” plead the villagers. What if the situation worsens and there are no rains? “We will have to commit suicide. But we will try our best to survive,” said Motiram with a defeated smile. “What else can I do, I sold my dear Bhola (name of the calf) for Rs 5,” he added, with his eyes turning misty.