'I want to slog, earn and eat. I don't need freebies'

Text: Vicky Nanjappa in Shira | Photograph: Dominic Xavier

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Malleshaiah, 55, a farmer from Shira taluk, Chitradurga in Karnataka is one of the very few farmers who still feel that he has to slog it out to earn his bread and butter.

"Stop feeding us with free or subsidized rice. It is only making farmers like us lazier by the day. Every candidate who comes by my house seeking votes, I make it a point to tell him that the promise to give out free rice is not only ridiculous but also ends up causing loss for the government at the end of it.

"I want to slog, earn and eat. I don't need the freebies. All I need is the infrastructure and the basic amenities from the government.

"I know for a fact that in order to fulfil such stupid promises, the government will end up importing rice from other countries. Not only will the government be spending more on this but will also end up killing the Indian market. Apart from importing the rice, they will buy rice from us for more and then sell it for less, which will only add to the burden.

"Once a person realises that he is getting his food cheap and so easily, there is a tendency of sitting back at home and relaxing which in turn will contribute to laziness.

"If the newly elected government has some concern about the people in this area, then let them improve the water facilities in this place. I hope they build small dams so that water can be stored. This will ensure that we can till our fields with no worry and earn and then live on our own strength.

"I feel, in Chitradurga, the BJP has a chance. We have given the Congress enough and more chances and no candidate has addressed the basic problem of water and infrastructure. I think the overall mood in our constituency is to vote for a change and I was told that it is better to have the same governments at the centre and the state level because, work gets implemented sooner."

Meet Pravin Deshmukh, Vidarbha's net-savvy farmer

Piyush Pushpak / CNN-IBN
TimePublished on Mon, Sep 10, 2007 at 10:27, Updated on Wed, Sep 12, 2007 at 10:39 in Sci-Tech section
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In a CNN-IBN special series Mera Gaon Mera Bandwidth, we are trying to highlight how the Internet is transforming lives in rural India.

Vidarbha: Forty five-year-old Pravin Deshmukh is the new age farmer of Vidarbha. After suffering heavy losses in cotton farming, and incurring huge debts, a desperate Pravin he turned to what he thought had all the solutions - the Internet.

"On the Internet, I found that turmeric is better than cotton. I got so much information, and ideas,” says Pravin.
The journey from cotton fields to turmeric for the net-savvy farmer has truly been an incredible one. He used the worldwide web to come out of the suicide web that cotton farming brings in this part of the world. Pravin is now spreading the good word.

Pravin has doubled his profits in just one year. Now, he travels from village to village, holding chaupals for other farmers and introducing the Internet to them too.
"It's encouraging that it worked for him. Years of cotton farming has only caused suicides. Maybe his technology will change this,” says a cotton farmer, Vishwas Anandrao Pandey.
In the last five years over 3,000 cotton farmers have killed themselves in Vidarbha. Pravin says the Internet didn't just help him make profits. It also saved his life.

S U R V I V O R

Vicky Nanjappa in Haveri, Karnataka | July 2, 2008

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You think India is on the march -- that lifestyles have changed dramatically, and the standard of living has improved tremendously. Well if you thought this is how the real India lives, then read on.

In a small village near Haveri in northern Karnataka, Kattigere Thimappa and his wife toil day after day on a small patch of land so that they can make two meals a day. The meal is ragi roti with onions -- they eat this every day.

Haveri is 375 kilometres from the IT capital, Bangalore, and the lives here are in stark contrast.

Kattigere is 27, he has two acres of land and a family of four to support. The land is of little consolation as the monsoon has played havoc with his hopes. With no water source anywhere close to the field, he is entirely dependent on the mercy of the rain gods. The last two years have been a disaster -- the previous years the rains had failed and this year, excess rainfall destroyed the cotton crop.

Dejected that he could not depend on his land, he started working as a coolie at the local bus stand. Somakka, his wife, went to work at a construction site and with them went their two children.

"Manjunath is four-years-old and goes with his father, while I take Anita, the two-year-old along. There is nobody to take care of them," she says.

Together they earn around Rs 75 a day if they get work and spend all the money on food and some other basic necessities.

"The last time I bought a sari for my wife was a year back. I cannot afford to buy it for another year I think," says Kattigere, "The crops have failed due to heavy rains and the grant promised by the government has not come as yet."

Every morning, the couple set out for work by 7 and return by 6 pm. After that, till darkness falls they work in their field along with the children. Although there is not much work in the field at the moment, they ensure it is kept clean because neglecting it will worsen it.

With an annual income of Rs 8,000, this family has no special days -- time is spent toiling just to be able to subsist.

They hope for a better life, but find their hopes dry as their land. They dream of watching television which they say they have never done so far, and they want to send their children to school.

"We want them to be able to study and are hoping that out condition improves next year so that we can send Manjunath to school," says Somakka.

The last time they had a good meal was around five months ago when Somakka's employer, a construction worker gave her some extra money when work was completed on the building. "It sure was a joyous occasion at our house," she says.

The couple knows no other life apart from their work. Their only pleasure is their children and whatever free time they get is spent playing with them. "I really hope we can give them both a better life. It is not about hard work, it's that our destiny depends on the rain gods. If the rains are good, we are good or else we have to settle for the worst," says Kattigere.

In their misery they never forget one thing -- to pray to god for a good monsoon. They say that is the only hope for a better life.

Vicky Nanjappa responds to those who want to help Kattigere Thimappa:

When Mr Thimappa was informed that Rediff.com readers wanted to help him, he said he was very touched by their thoughtfulness. He, however, declined to accept any monetary help because he said the government was going to give a grant for cotton farmers, which was his legal right and could not be denied to him.

He did ask for one thing, though -- he asked well wishers to pray to the rain gods for a good monsoon.