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A year ago, 50-year-old Rathi Lal Meena voted for Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in the hope of better days. Now, he is seething with frustration.
“This is a government of industrialists,” Meena says, shaking his head in helplessness. “Over the past year, the price of electricity has increased. Urea is being sold through the black market at a price higher than the government-determined rate. Now, because of unseasonal rainfall, I have lost my harvest.”
Meena belongs to the village of Gajendra Singh, who on Wednesday committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree during an Aam Aadmi Party farmers’ rally. Villagers say Singh was distressed as the state government had not compensated him for the crop damage he had suffered.
“He heard the AAP government in Delhi was paying a higher compensation to farmers. So, he went to Delhi, demanding the Rajasthan government do the same,” said Singh’s cousin, Gopal. “But we could never have imagined he would commit suicide.”
The troubles for farmers in Dausa are aplenty. First, unlike most other parts of the country, the region in western Rajasthan where Dausa is located has only one cropping season every year — from November to April. Anything going wrong during this crucial period wreaks havoc on farmers. This year, two bouts of unseasonal rainfall, accompanied by unusually large hail, caused a major loss of harvest.
Second, though the region is naturally rainfall-deficient, the state government failed to provide alternative sources of water. This leaves farmers entirely at the mercy of rain gods.
Also, there is complete absence of industry in the region. In poor-harvest years, like the current one, farmers have few options except cursing their fate. Add to this people’s antipathy for the state government, which, they allege, has made matters worse by dragging its feet on paying compensation.
“Rarely has anyone from the state government come to check on us. They are coming now, after Gajendra Singh’s death… I am sure BJP would stand no chance here if elections were to be held today,” says 40-year-old Kailash Chandra Gujjar.
Some in the village are hoping Singh’s high-profile suicide would bring about some change in Dausa. “I have never seen so many cars here,” says 36-year-old Vijay. “At least 50 news channels have come by now. Let us hope it leads to some change.”
