NEW DELHI: Deserted by the Rain God, the Santhals, the largest indigenous tribe in Jharkhand, are finding it tough to meet even their basic necessities in the hinterland of the eastern state.“We are a drought-hit state. For over the past four years, the situation has just got worse. Not only there is a dearth of water for irrigation, but also for drinking. We alone know the circumstances in which we are living in,” Dena Mrom, 45, a Santhal woman said.
Dena has three children — two daughters, and a son. Given the current circumstances, their future seems bleak, she added. Jharkhand has over 30 tribal communities and Santhals are a major tribe in the state. They are largely reliant on agriculture to eke out their living.
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Farming is tough for the Karamtola villager as well as for many others like her in Dumka, as the district received less than 75 per cent of rainfall this year. And, Dumka is not the lone such parched district in Jharkhand. The state government plans to seek financial assistance from the Centre for drought-hit areas.
Some of the Santhal farmers from this region are vocal about the reasons for which they decided to land in Delhi. Sosana Marandi, 40, from Jharkhand suffered extensive crop loss due to inadequate rains this year. “There is no respite for us despite the loss of crops.” She wonders if the march will result in any aid from the government.
Prem Lal, another farmer belonging to the Santhal tribe, describes the loss of crops as a “yearly affair”. “I primarily grow rice and wheat. Almost everything was damaged this year.”But it is just not poor prices of farm produce that affect the farmers. They are also worried over unemployment and malnutrition among their children.
“The government is serving the corporate interest and lands are being acquired in the state without consulting the gram sabhas. If agricultural land is taken away, what will be the other means of earning for the farmers? There won’t be any yield from barren land,” asserted Surjit Sinha, general secretary, Jharkhand Raj Kisan Sabha. Mathura Bai Barude, a Bhil woman from Nashik, is candid about how the scheduled tribes of Maharashtra suffer due to absence of their landholdings. “We have no rights. Till day, the lands are not in our names.”