Farmers forced to dump their produce as note ban turns bumper crop worthless // Vegetable prices crash // Demonetisation Deaths Are Likely Far Higher Than Reported
Farmers across India
are battling a steep fall in wholesale vegetable prices and are forced to
discard their produce as a nationwide cash crunch following the scrapping of high-value banknotes hurts
demand. The crash in wholesale prices comes at a bad
time for farmers, who reaped a bumper crop and were hoping for good returns to
make up for losses induced by two straight drought years.
Andhra Pradesh: Last Wednesday, S Raju, a farmer from Anantapur
district, brought around two tonnes of tomatoes to Bowenpally market in
Secunderabad but had to return home empty handed.Raju said he spent nearly Rs 4
per kg to raise the tomato crop and it cost him another Rs 2 per kg to
transport the produce to Secunderabad, more than 400 km from Anantapur. But he
was shocked when traders at Bowenpally offered not more than Rs 2 a kg for his
crop. Raju realised the price quoted was not sufficient even to meet the
transportation cost, as he had to travel back to Anantapur.
Frustrated, he
unloaded boxes of tomatoes and dumped them in the market yard, before cursing
the traders and market authorities. Some vendors picked up tomatoes for free,
while cattle feasted on the remaining dump. “Apparently, he has come all the
way to Hyderabad, because tomato prices came down drastically in Anantapur
market,” Srinivas, a local commission agent, told the media. The situation is
similar in other parts of Rayalaseema that are known for production of tomatoes…
read more:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/farmers-forced-to-dump-the-produce-as-note-ban-turns-bumper-crop-worthless/story-q79Oaf8eGTLX0yaHXwkJLL.htmlVegetable prices crash after demonetisation
‘My business will be finished’: Cash crunch hits farmers in Punjab
Demonetisation Deaths Are Likely Far Higher Than Reported
According to doctors working in hospitals
providing low-cost treatment, the number of patients has reduced by about 30%
since demonetisation.
The recent debate on
demonetisation-related deaths has taken place mainly in the context of people
who died while waiting in bank queues or collapsed while standing in these
queues and died soon after. In addition, there are those whose sudden
death is being attributed to stress from not finding valid currency for
urgent needs, such as a wedding. There are also those who committed
suicide due to frustration at not getting cash or related hardships. And
finally there are the few bank employees who are reported to have died due
to stress and overwork.
Several cases falling
in all four categories listed above have been reported in the media. Not all of
them were poor. Retired Flying Officer Prahlad Singh bravely fought in two wars
to defend his country, but collapsed and died while
waiting in a bank queue in Laadnu (Rajasthan). Senior cashier Purushottam Vyas died while counting cash in
his bank in Bhopal. Saud-ur-Rehman, a poster designer, died while standing
in a bank queue in Old Delhi. Satish Kumar, a west Delhi vegetable
vendor, died while waiting
in a bank queue. Asha Rani, a widow living in Ludhiana, was waiting in a
bank queue to withdraw cash needed for a family wedding when she collapsed
after being pushed and died. Rajesh Kumar, a cooperative bank manager
in Rohtak, died in his cabin due
to overwork, he had not been able to go home for three days. Rambhavan
Singh of Banda district in Uttar Pradesh committed suicide after he could not
withdraw money from his bank. Mohammad Haider had struggled to arrange a loan
for his daughter’s wedding, but after demonetisation he could not use these
notes for wedding expenses and died in a heart attack right on the wedding day.
These are only a few
of the several tragic examples already reported in the media. In terms of
numbers, various media sources have been between 80 and 100 deaths, while
Congress leaders mentioned 84 deaths in parliament. The Uttar Pradesh
government has promised compensation of Rs 2 lakh to family members of
such victims in the state, while the Bengal government has offered a job to a
family member of a deceased. The Union government, however, has not
acknowledged the existence of these victims or the reality of such deaths.
Demonetisation-related
deaths are likely to be much higher than what has been reported generally in
the media or even alleged by opposition leaders. The reason for this is that
while bank queue deaths have received considerable attention, another category
which is likely to have much higher numbers has not received the same
attention. The reference here is to people requiring urgent medical attention
who could not get this due to the cash crunch.
Of course in India
even in normal times many people desperately needing medicare are denied this
due to poverty, absence of adequate public healthcare facilities, poor
transport and other factors, in many cases resulting in death. This happens in
cases relating to diseases as well as injuries (accidental as well as other
injuries). However, as a result of demonetisation, the number of such serious
patients increased dramatically. People could not access even their own
savings, while wages were not paid in time and crops remained unsold or fetched
much less price because of the cash crunch. Even money needed for immediately
taking patients to hospitals could not be arranged in many cases, let alone the
full costs of treatment.
I checked at some
hospitals famous for providing low-cost treatment to poor patients in remote
areas and found that the number of patients coming to these hospitals came down
significantly after demonetisation. Shaheed Hospital in Dalli Rajhara,
Chattisgarh, is one such hospital. Dr Saibal Jana, coordinator of the hospital,
said that after demonetisation, the number of patients coming to the OPD of
this normally crowded hospital decreased suddenly by about 30%. Jan Swasthya Sahyog is
one of the most respected rural health initiatives in India. Its famous
hospital in Ganiyari village, Bilaspur district, Chattisgarh generally has a
large number of patients waiting for their turn, but after demonetisation this
number declined significantly. Dr Yogesh Jain, the coordinator of the
initiative, said that this decline has been to the extent of about 30%. As most
of the patients come here with very serious ailments, it is clear that a large
number of seriously ill patients who would have come otherwise did not come in
the post-demonetisation days due to the cash crunch and related factors.
Social activist Rehana
Adib of Uttar Pradesh said that soon after demonetisation, she had difficulty
in purchasing her regular medicines which she had to obtain on credit – so
she can imagine how difficult it must have been for poorer people to ensure
supply of essential medicines. Most of the people I talked to could give at
least one example among their acquaintances of medical care becoming more
difficult or inaccessible because of the lack of cash. At the same time, tens
of millions of people have experienced at least a temporary loss of earnings
and employment. Their worries regarding meeting essential expenses and
withdrawing money have increased. Even elderly and ailing people have been
forced to stand in queues for long hours.
The overall result is
that over a period of several weeks, there has been a decline in nutrition and
an increase in mental stress as well as physical weakness and ailments. This
can be a problem in itself and can aggravate existing medical problems. At the
same time, the ability to obtain timely medical care has declined
significantly. It is due to the combination of these factors that a large
number of demonetisation deaths are likely to have taken place in various parts
of the country, over and above the reported death rate. These may be
defined as deaths relating to the denial of medical care and aggravation of
medical problems due to cash crunch-related factors. In a large country with a
total population of around 1,200 million, the number of such demonetisation
deaths is likely to be in thousands and not hundreds.
It would be safe
to conclude, then, that the number of all demonetisation-related deaths is
much higher than what has been quoted so far in the media or even by
opposition leaders. A realisation of this reality should be accompanied by
stronger efforts to improve public health facilities for vulnerable sections.
Denial of the problem will only aggravate it further.
More posts on demonetisation
Nation-wide public tragedy unreported in India's mainstream media - click to see glimpses of ordinary Indians' reactions to note-ban crisis and please circulate - Scroll down the contents of the link above for clips of mass unrest in Indian society from shopkeepers & artisans to workers & peasants. Information about this assault on the lives of millions is being withheld by the mass media
CRPF Man who survived 5 Bullets shoots himself after failing to withdraw cash from Bank
CRPF Man who survived 5 Bullets shoots himself after failing to withdraw cash from Bank
