Suicides, Starvation Deaths and Globalisation (From Frontier Nov 24-30, 2002) by T G Jacob During the last quarter of the last century Keralam was put on the high pedestal of having a high physical quality of life, high literacy rate, successful family planning programme and a widespread health care system. This was so euphoric that foreign and Indian 'experts' on development themes even started comparing life in Keralam to that existing in European countries. But now, at the dawn of the 21st century, the tables are turned completely. The news value of this State is now viewed in terms of the inordinately large number of suicides due to bankruptcy and unemployment, starvation deaths among the marginalised sections, deaths due to lack of health care and preponderance of narcotics and illicit liquor. Whether there was ever in operation anything called the 'Kerala model of development' has become irrelevant simply due to the enormity of the crisis engulfing the State currently. A heavily indebted and bankrupt State treasury and the spiraling losses being continuously made by the public sector energy and transport sectors combined a with the ongoing deterioration of the investment rate are the hallmarks of the macroeconomy of the State. None of these characteristics has emerged overnight. They are structurally and organically linked to the mechanics of crassly dependent economic model related to external forces in a miserably unequal manner. Starvation deaths and increasing number of suicides are nothing but a direct product of this sort of an economy which had been maturing over the last several decades. What is striking now are the glaring visual manifestations which promise no quarter. The situation has become truly desperate and it has clearly become a life and death question for the people. Since the full-blooded entry of liberalisation and globalisation, especially since the beginning of the new millennium, more than two thousand farmers (often entire families) have committed suicide. This trend is a continuing one with no. let-up. The victims are small (five acres or less) cash crop growers concentrated in the highland cash crop belt of the State. They may be coconut growers, coffee or tea growers, arecanut growers or growers of any cash crop. No cash crop grown by Kerala farmers is free from the extreme volatility of the market for their products. If the growers are committing suicide, it is the plantation sector workers or Adivasis who are victims of starvation. Of late, starvation deaths have become routine news. There are plantation workers who have not received their wages for upto three years. Several medium scale tea plantations have closed down and recent reports (Malayala Manorama; 10, 11, 12 October 2002) say that at least 20,000 plantation workers and their families are facing starvation. This also is an ongoing and intensifying trend and the number of workers thrown out of work are bound to increase by leaps and bounds because more and more plantations are facing closure. The current hype on international tourism must be taken into account in this context. Waynad and Idukki districts, incredibly beautiful places and almost totally dependent on cash crops, located in the highlands, are in for the tourist invasion. At a time when the prices of cash crops are playing havoc with the lives of the people, the big planters and their agents are fully involved in invalidating the immense productivity of the land and people, salivating on the enormous potential real estate gains when international tourism gains the place. It is interesting to note that big corporate tea groups like Tata Tea (the Tatas are the biggest landowners in the whole State) and AVT & Co are not at all facing insolvency. Similarly, the big exporters in Kochi and Kooner are also not facing problems. Groups like Tatas and AVT are themselves big exporters besides being manufacturers of popular brands in the domestic market. They have state-of-the-art technology, extensive marketing networks and enormous capital backup. The process is unmistakably showing further monopolisation of the sector and it is the brutal mechanism of survival of the fittest that is inexorably at work in this sector. Their global counterparts like Duncan (tea) and Nestle (coffee and cocoa) are also great gainers and partners in effecting the price crashes which single out the smaller planters, growers and workers in terms of the cumulative impacts. Moreover, these big global corporates are also professionals in committing outright fraud, on the consumers. A telling illustration of fraud is the fact that the quantum of the high price Darjeeling tea marketed in Europe and the upmarket segments in other regions including India is several times the output of Darjeeling tea. What they do is import low quality Sri Lankan or other tea, treat it with Darjeeling tea essence and market the same as genuine Darjeeling stuff. The brand name goes a long way in reaping super profits. It is not surprising that though the wholesale auction prices have crashed by half during the last one year (in the case of rubber and coconut the crash is much more) the consumer pays the same, if not more, at least in the case of some commodities). All the advantages of price crashes of raw materials are cornered by the exporters and brand owners. This is true, in relation to all cash crop based products like automobile tyres, tea or coffee. What this shows is that all the different layers of the market are under the iron grip of a handful of exporters and big companies with strong national and international linkages and unlimited credit facilities with banks and other financial institutions. And all- India level export and import policies are manipulated by these very same groups towards maximising their profits. The credit market, product market and raw materials markets are integrally controlled by the same coteries. And the competition between the different groups or units is contained in such a manner that the advantages of competition do not percolate downwards, The mantra of 'free-trade' and 'liberalisation' stops short of any welcome spread effects for the people. Coming back to the specific case of Keralam, the State has come to be crucially dependent on cash crops and exempting the case of tea and cardamom the whole cash crop sector is predominantly a small grower production process at the base. For example, there are more than 4 million coconut growers in the State. The second most important cash crop, rubber, is also grown in a highly decentralised fashion. The same is the case of coffee, ginger, cocoa etc. These millions of small growers are divided into various political parties, caste and communal organisations. In other words, the growers are a disparate population. This ground .level reality seriously impedes any strong move towards collective bargaining. Economically speaking, they have minimum rights over what they produce and value adding by them is practically nil. Moreover, there is very little policy initiative or programme from the government side to ameliorate this chronically backward condition. The banks, financial institutions, and stock exchanges are clearly playing a major role in perpetuating this backward state of affairs. The recent report compiled by the All India Bank Employees Federation gives interesting details of this role. The report concerns the credit advances of the banks and reveals that tens of thousands of crores are bad debts owed by big companies and money market racketeers and the banks will probably have to write off these debts. The report gives a State-wise break up and the pattern seen in all the States are broadly similar. At the same time, the banks are always very energetic in recovering the loans and interests on the loans advanced to small agriculturists and small industries. The cash crop farmers of Keralam are being perpetually hounded for repayment. If a grower took a loan of Rs 1 lakh five years back for replanting rubber trees or for some such agricultural improvement when the price of a kilo of rubber was in the neighborhood of Rs 60 he is expected to pay back between Rs 4-5 lakh when the loan has matured and the price has crashed to one-third of what it was. The farmer is certainly in no position to pay when he and his family are facing stark starvation. Then comes the bank procedure of confiscating the land and other assets. Farmers' organisations like the Farmers' Relief Forum have put it on record in authentic evidence that the majority of suicides are catalysed by this financial crisis created by the banks in conjunction with the market forces which are totally beyond the control of the producers. Yet another policy of the banks is also important in this context. During the colonial period there came up what is called the "drain theory" which was essentially an elucidation of the siphoning off of the wealth of India by the colonialists and it was found to be colossal. Likewise, the banking system is now draining enormous resources from Keralam. The credit-deposit ratio is now less than 45, which means that out of every rupee deposited in any bank more than 55 paise is drained from the State. In a State where the banking system is relatively well developed and the per capita deposits are high due to the advanced level of monetisation and Gulf remittances, the quantum of investible surplus drained out of the place is bound to be immense. This situation calls for radical changes in. the banking policy and guaranteed implementation of a changed, equitable, pro-people and pro-Kerala policy. The welcome trend is that this bleak situation is giving rise to resistance. Several organisations of farmers have come up with defensive agitational programmes. This is more pronounced in the Malabar region of the State. The demands range from cancellation of all outstanding debts to complete rights over what they grow. It is not uncommon that farmers unite to physically prevent confiscation of land belonging to their debt ridden colleagues or symbolically occupy banks and similar institutions. Under the existing excise laws the growers do not have the right to utilize their crops to their advantage. For example, the more than 40 lakh coconut growers do not have the right to tap toddy (a sweet health drink) from their trees and market it. This right is vested with the rapacious abkari contractors who are in reality poison producers and sellers. The growers are now breaking this 'law' and tapping their own trees in some areas at least. And they have every intention to spread such activities to the entire State. Of course, such initiatives on their own are not sufficient to liberate the Kerala economy and launch it on a healthy footing. A comprehensive industrial and agrarian policy propelled by the political will of the people is required. Such a course will automatically bring the people on to a path of collision with the all-India and global bourgeoisie, the banking system and policy makers who seem to be determined to sell out the place to Asian Development Bank and the World Bank. At present Keralam is a focal state for the machinations of ADB (and hence the World Bank) and there is growing protest from diverse sections of the people against this blatant sell-out. This is another positive development in the political spectrum of Keralam. |
GADAR HERITAGE FOUNDATION Indians for Social & Economic Justice |
Suicides, Starvation Deaths and Globalisation (From Frontier Nov 24-30, 2002) by T G Jacob During the last quarter of the last century Keralam was put on the high pedestal of having a high physical quality of life, high literacy rate, successful family planning programme and a widespread health care system. This was so euphoric that foreign and Indian 'experts' on development themes even started comparing life in Keralam to that existing in European countries. But now, at the dawn of the 21st century, the tables are turned completely. The news value of this State is now viewed in terms of the inordinately large number of suicides due to bankruptcy and unemployment, starvation deaths among the marginalised sections, deaths due to lack of health care and preponderance of narcotics and illicit liquor. Whether there was ever in operation anything called the 'Kerala model of development' has become irrelevant simply due to the enormity of the crisis engulfing the State currently. A heavily indebted and bankrupt State treasury and the spiraling losses being continuously made by the public sector energy and transport sectors combined a with the ongoing deterioration of the investment rate are the hallmarks of the macroeconomy of the State. None of these characteristics has emerged overnight. They are structurally and organically linked to the mechanics of crassly dependent economic model related to external forces in a miserably unequal manner. Starvation deaths and increasing number of suicides are nothing but a direct product of this sort of an economy which had been maturing over the last several decades. What is striking now are the glaring visual manifestations which promise no quarter. The situation has become truly desperate and it has clearly become a life and death question for the people. Since the full-blooded entry of liberalisation and globalisation, especially since the beginning of the new millennium, more than two thousand farmers (often entire families) have committed suicide. This trend is a continuing one with no. let-up. The victims are small (five acres or less) cash crop growers concentrated in the highland cash crop belt of the State. They may be coconut growers, coffee or tea growers, arecanut growers or growers of any cash crop. No cash crop grown by Kerala farmers is free from the extreme volatility of the market for their products. If the growers are committing suicide, it is the plantation sector workers or Adivasis who are victims of starvation. Of late, starvation deaths have become routine news. There are plantation workers who have not received their wages for upto three years. Several medium scale tea plantations have closed down and recent reports (Malayala Manorama; 10, 11, 12 October 2002) say that at least 20,000 plantation workers and their families are facing starvation. This also is an ongoing and intensifying trend and the number of workers thrown out of work are bound to increase by leaps and bounds because more and more plantations are facing closure. The current hype on international tourism must be taken into account in this context. Waynad and Idukki districts, incredibly beautiful places and almost totally dependent on cash crops, located in the highlands, are in for the tourist invasion. At a time when the prices of cash crops are playing havoc with the lives of the people, the big planters and their agents are fully involved in invalidating the immense productivity of the land and people, salivating on the enormous potential real estate gains when international tourism gains the place. It is interesting to note that big corporate tea groups like Tata Tea (the Tatas are the biggest landowners in the whole State) and AVT & Co are not at all facing insolvency. Similarly, the big exporters in Kochi and Kooner are also not facing problems. Groups like Tatas and AVT are themselves big exporters besides being manufacturers of popular brands in the domestic market. They have state-of-the-art technology, extensive marketing networks and enormous capital backup. The process is unmistakably showing further monopolisation of the sector and it is the brutal mechanism of survival of the fittest that is inexorably at work in this sector. Their global counterparts like Duncan (tea) and Nestle (coffee and cocoa) are also great gainers and partners in effecting the price crashes which single out the smaller planters, growers and workers in terms of the cumulative impacts. Moreover, these big global corporates are also professionals in committing outright fraud, on the consumers. A telling illustration of fraud is the fact that the quantum of the high price Darjeeling tea marketed in Europe and the upmarket segments in other regions including India is several times the output of Darjeeling tea. What they do is import low quality Sri Lankan or other tea, treat it with Darjeeling tea essence and market the same as genuine Darjeeling stuff. The brand name goes a long way in reaping super profits. It is not surprising that though the wholesale auction prices have crashed by half during the last one year (in the case of rubber and coconut the crash is much more) the consumer pays the same, if not more, at least in the case of some commodities). All the advantages of price crashes of raw materials are cornered by the exporters and brand owners. This is true, in relation to all cash crop based products like automobile tyres, tea or coffee. What this shows is that all the different layers of the market are under the iron grip of a handful of exporters and big companies with strong national and international linkages and unlimited credit facilities with banks and other financial institutions. And all- India level export and import policies are manipulated by these very same groups towards maximising their profits. The credit market, product market and raw materials markets are integrally controlled by the same coteries. And the competition between the different groups or units is contained in such a manner that the advantages of competition do not percolate downwards, The mantra of 'free-trade' and 'liberalisation' stops short of any welcome spread effects for the people. Coming back to the specific case of Keralam, the State has come to be crucially dependent on cash crops and exempting the case of tea and cardamom the whole cash crop sector is predominantly a small grower production process at the base. For example, there are more than 4 million coconut growers in the State. The second most important cash crop, rubber, is also grown in a highly decentralised fashion. The same is the case of coffee, ginger, cocoa etc. These millions of small growers are divided into various political parties, caste and communal organisations. In other words, the growers are a disparate population. This ground .level reality seriously impedes any strong move towards collective bargaining. Economically speaking, they have minimum rights over what they produce and value adding by them is practically nil. Moreover, there is very little policy initiative or programme from the government side to ameliorate this chronically backward condition. The banks, financial institutions, and stock exchanges are clearly playing a major role in perpetuating this backward state of affairs. The recent report compiled by the All India Bank Employees Federation gives interesting details of this role. The report concerns the credit advances of the banks and reveals that tens of thousands of crores are bad debts owed by big companies and money market racketeers and the banks will probably have to write off these debts. The report gives a State-wise break up and the pattern seen in all the States are broadly similar. At the same time, the banks are always very energetic in recovering the loans and interests on the loans advanced to small agriculturists and small industries. The cash crop farmers of Keralam are being perpetually hounded for repayment. If a grower took a loan of Rs 1 lakh five years back for replanting rubber trees or for some such agricultural improvement when the price of a kilo of rubber was in the neighborhood of Rs 60 he is expected to pay back between Rs 4-5 lakh when the loan has matured and the price has crashed to one-third of what it was. The farmer is certainly in no position to pay when he and his family are facing stark starvation. Then comes the bank procedure of confiscating the land and other assets. Farmers' organisations like the Farmers' Relief Forum have put it on record in authentic evidence that the majority of suicides are catalysed by this financial crisis created by the banks in conjunction with the market forces which are totally beyond the control of the producers. Yet another policy of the banks is also important in this context. During the colonial period there came up what is called the "drain theory" which was essentially an elucidation of the siphoning off of the wealth of India by the colonialists and it was found to be colossal. Likewise, the banking system is now draining enormous resources from Keralam. The credit-deposit ratio is now less than 45, which means that out of every rupee deposited in any bank more than 55 paise is drained from the State. In a State where the banking system is relatively well developed and the per capita deposits are high due to the advanced level of monetisation and Gulf remittances, the quantum of investible surplus drained out of the place is bound to be immense. This situation calls for radical changes in. the banking policy and guaranteed implementation of a changed, equitable, pro-people and pro-Kerala policy. The welcome trend is that this bleak situation is giving rise to resistance. Several organisations of farmers have come up with defensive agitational programmes. This is more pronounced in the Malabar region of the State. The demands range from cancellation of all outstanding debts to complete rights over what they grow. It is not uncommon that farmers unite to physically prevent confiscation of land belonging to their debt ridden colleagues or symbolically occupy banks and similar institutions. Under the existing excise laws the growers do not have the right to utilize their crops to their advantage. For example, the more than 40 lakh coconut growers do not have the right to tap toddy (a sweet health drink) from their trees and market it. This right is vested with the rapacious abkari contractors who are in reality poison producers and sellers. The growers are now breaking this 'law' and tapping their own trees in some areas at least. And they have every intention to spread such activities to the entire State. Of course, such initiatives on their own are not sufficient to liberate the Kerala economy and launch it on a healthy footing. A comprehensive industrial and agrarian policy propelled by the political will of the people is required. Such a course will automatically bring the people on to a path of collision with the all-India and global bourgeoisie, the banking system and policy makers who seem to be determined to sell out the place to Asian Development Bank and the World Bank. At present Keralam is a focal state for the machinations of ADB (and hence the World Bank) and there is growing protest from diverse sections of the people against this blatant sell-out. This is another positive development in the political spectrum of Keralam. |
