Life is tough for cattle too

By Mohammed Iqbal

JODHPUR, APRIL 25. The severe drought in western Rajasthan has not only made life harder for the people but also affected 1.5 million cattle population. Hundreds of sheep, cows and camels have died of hunger while many others have been taken away by the cattle-breeders who are migrating on a largescale to the neighbouring States. Though the famine relief work launched by the State Government includes opening of fodder depots, its tough procedure seems to have discouraged the gram panchayats, village- level cooperative societies and voluntary organisations. Of the 94 depots sanctioned for the Jodhpur, Shergarh and Luni tehsils, only 35 have been opened.

Caught unawares by the intensity of drought, the administration has opened the depots in paper under pressure from higher authorities. These facts came as a rude shock to the Minister-in- charge of relief operations in Jodhpur district, Dr. Chandrabhan, who visited the drought-affected villages here on Sunday. The elected representatives urged him to get the ``cumbersome'' procedure simplified at least during the drought spell.

The fatality of cattle has posed an environmental threat, besides exposing the surviving ones to various diseases. The carcasses can be seen lying around near roads and ponds as the arrangements to remove them have fallen short of the requirement.

The unusually high temperature in April has driven the people to despair as it has led to an acute scarcity of drinking water. The dried up ponds and the scant water available in deep wells in the region have demoralised the people who have lost all sources of livelihood except the famine relief works of the government. The relief works - which are mostly in the form of preliminary work for construction of roads - have failed to provide solace to the villagers either.

The wages are neither paid on time nor is there any definite formula for determining the amount. The guidelines for payment every fortnight are flouted everywhere with scant regard for the labourers' right to get minimum wages.

This correspondent saw the digging of land for construction of a road from village Mandna to Dedu, about 30 km from Pokhran. The lone Public Works Department (PWD) official present on the spot said though the distance between the two villages was six km, the sanction for construction had come for only one-and-a-half km stretch.

In most of the relief works, the wages are computed on the ``task basis''. If the number of labourers is high, the remuneration is inadequate for each of them. The relief works launched in this manner can hardly bring any succour to the drought-affected people who are made to toil for the entire day in the scorching heat.

The Chief Minister, Mr. Ashok Gehlot, who visited the neighbouring Jalore district on Sunday, announced that the ceiling on engaging labourers for relief works would be raised from the current 18,000 to 25,000. The decision would bring some respite to the drought-stricken people if it is implemented in the right spirit.

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