If government officials in Maharashtra are to be believed, Vidarbha’s claim to notoriety - suicides by debt-ridden farmers - may be a thing of the past, with a significant drop in the number of such deaths. The complacency may, however, prove to be shortlived, because of the manner in which the twin packages for the six suicide-affected districts are being implemented.While a string of relief measures — huge credit flow (Rs 2,000 crore in 2005-06 as against Rs 750 crore in 2004-05), interest waiver of nearly Rs 800 crore and rescheduling of old debts with a moratorium of two years - have benefited over 10 lakh of the 18 lakh debt-ridden farmers and resulted in a drop in suicides, the long-term measures to improve agriculture in the region have failed to take off in a desirable manner.Particularly hit are the watershed schemes which, unlike the irrigation projects, were expected to impact a widespread distress area and help the farmers reap benefits at an early stage. But this may not happen. For the Rs 100 crore per year Vidarbha Watershed Mission in the state government’s package, only Rs 17 crore was released till September 2005, while Rs 80 crore was released only in March this year. In fact, when the package was announced in December 2005, a provision should have been made in the subsequent budget, but it wasn’t. Expectedly, there has been little progress as far as watershed activities are concerned and this year’s target is unlikely to be achieved by March end.Similar is the fate of the three-year, Rs 162 crore NABARD watershed scheme, expected to cover 15,000 hectares every year in each district. So far, only Rs 5 crore has been released. According to sources, NABARD isn’t ready to spend the entire amount as it has not received the Centre’s share of Rs 100 crore for the past five years for the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF), the source of money for the scheme. “So over the next three years, it will spend only Rs 52 crore,” say sources. The scheme employs a mother NGO in each district, with seven grassroot NGOs working under its guidance.The scheme involving check dams is also stuck. Only Rs 7.2 crore had been released till September last year as against a total of Rs 60 crore to be spent every year to build 3,000 check dams (500 per district). This year, Rs 52.8 crore was released only in March, which means the structures can’t be completed by the end of the month at the 2,000 sites where the digging has been completed. “We will try and complete the work,” says an optimistic S. K. Goel, divisional commissioner, Amravati, and the head implementing authority. In December last year, the state government had announced digging of 1,000 wells in each tehsil, but no guidelines for the beneficiaries were issued. Consequently, not a single well has been dug till date. The target for three years in these districts is 64,000 wells.“Big irrigation projects take time to complete and leave an impact, but watershed projects can be done more quickly and cover larger areas,” say sources. “As such, they should have been completed well in time.”But J. S. Saharia, principal secretary, water conservation, and in charge of the release of funds, doesn’t agree. The funds, he says, couldn’t have been released without the “basic groundwork having been done”. “There was no point in releasing Rs 100 crore without first mobilising the village communities and forming committees,” he says. “As for the wells scheme, lists of village-wise targets were not ready. So why should the funds have been released?” he asks.While release of funds may not have affected all the schemes, implementation is still a problem. Take the Subsidiary Income Scheme under the prime minister’s package. Though about 12,000 milch cattle and other animals have been distributed till date, supporting components like animal healthcare, artificial insemination and fodder supply have not been put in place. Goel, however, highlights the increase in milk production. “Till last year, one tanker came to Amravati every day from Nagpur . Now, one tanker goes from Amravati to Nagpur every day for processing. The production has gone up from 25,000 litre per day to 50,000 litre,” he says. But he admits that facilities like bulk coolers for preservation have not been created so far.In the Rs 75 crore Horticulture Scheme, which has seen a spending of Rs 10 crore from the allotted Rs 14 crore, not a single pond of the 1,000 supposed to be built every year in each district is ready.There are exceptions though. The Rs 180 crore Seeds Replacement Programme, which couldn’t take off last kharif year, has been completed for the rabi season. The programme aims at giving quality seeds to farmers for the next three years. “As much as 1.2 lakh quintals of seeds of different crops were distributed to three lakh farmers for rabi and 3.5 lakh quintals will be distributed to 10 lakh farmers in the coming kharif season,” says Goel.
