Jharkand, August 03: With arms up and eyes glued to the sky, a group of Muslim farmers in Satbarwa village in India’s eastern state of Jharkhanda are praying to Allah for rainfall.
A distance far, a group of Hindu farmers are ringing the temple bells, hoping to catch the ear of the rain god.
“There has been no rain so far this year,” Abdul Sakur, a Muslim farmer from Khola village, told.
“We have not been able to sow rice. Our corn crop has been destroyed by pests. We have nothing to eat. We have nothing to feed our cattle.
“There is a pond in our village. But it has no water. It’s all dry.”
Satbarwa and surrounding villages have been suffering a shortage of rainfall this season.
This has turned the life of the residents into a nightmare, as 80 percent of the population are dependent on farming.
“We are in the throes of a famine,” Vinod Thakur, a Hindu resident of Makri village, said.
“Water shortage is our biggest problem. We have had no rains this year so we can’t grow rice.”
There are some 140 million Muslims in Hindu-majority India.
Hindus make up 80 percent of India’s 1.1 billion population, followed by Muslims at 13 percent.
Neglect
Residents accuse the government of turning its back to them.
“The government is supposed to give us 10kg of rice every month,” Sanjhar Bhuin, 70, a widow, told BBC on Saturday, August 1.
“But they say they’ll give it to us when they get it. We haven’t received any rice since April. We are dying of hunger.”
Known as a “rich state”, Jharkhand has nearly 40 percent of India’s mineral reserves.
However, Jharkhand residents are among India’s poorest people, whose free ration is usually late.
Every day, Bhuin walks nearly 15km to the nearby Dhurki village to ask for her ration.
But what she only gets is government promises to fulfil her needs.
“It is our top priority to ensure food security and survival of the people – our fight here is with hunger,” Amitabh Kaushal, senior administration official in Palamu, said.
“We are working hard to reach areas which are not easily accessible. They are starvation-prone areas. We’re trying to identify them so that we can give them the benefits of these free food grains.”
Nevertheless, residents, experienced with their governments vaporizing promises, don’t build great expectations.
“There is too much corruption in the system,” Mohammad Khairullah of Dhurki town said bitterly.
“Only a fraction of the money sanctioned by the government ever reaches the people. Is the government doing anything about it?”
Nand Gopal Yadav, another farmer, points the finger at the government neglect.
“If the government builds a dam on Kanhar river, it will irrigate the whole of Garhwa district And that will solve our problem,” said Yadav.
“But the government is interested only in projects which make them richer.
“Cruel weather and uncaring authorities are threatening our existence. No one really cares.”
-Agencies