Dalits, landless agriculture workers in Punjab, who make about 32% of Punjab’s population, have mainly two demands to whoever makes the next government at the Centre — take strongest measures to curb drugs trade and expand and strengthen the Public Distribution System (PDS).
Fatuhi Wala and Singhe Wala villages in Muktsar district come under the Bhatinda parliamentary constituency. Both the villages, situated about 10 km away from the Badal village, the home village of Shiromani Akali Dal’s candidate and former Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, have been struggling with drug menace.
Birpal Kaur and her sister Charanjeet Kaur are two agriculture workers who suffered the most due to the problem. Birpal lost her son and Charanjeet lost two of her sons in the last seven and a half months to the drugs. Charanjeet is a widow, and she stays with her sister and brother-in-law Sahi Ram. The sisters have only one demand as the Lok Sabha elections take place on June 1. “Drug trade must stop. No family should suffer like we suffered,” the Kaurs said.
The family works with the big landlords in the village and they are landless labourers. Mr. Ram is on an early contract of ₹1.2 lakh per annum with the landlord and should complete whatever agricultural works assigned to him. With the mechanisation of agriculture, they do not have much jobs in the village. The village has about 200 such agriculture workers. “There is a floor minimum rate for agriculture workers in the State. We get about ₹400 per day, excluding food, for a day’s work. If it’s without food, the amount is ₹350,” said Kala Singh and Makhan Singh, two other labourers, who are also associated with the Punjab Kher Mazdoor Union (PKMU) that organises landless agriculture workers. Both have been associated with the PKMU and have fought for the rights of workers.
Mr. Sahi Ram has been working with the landlords as a child. Ten years ago, the amount was ₹60,000. “We haven’t received any help from the government in healthcare, education of children or for the construction of this house. We have Ayushman cards, but have not availed any benefits yet,” he said, adding that the remuneration is not increasing the way price has risen for vegetables and groceries. The Kaurs work also as domestic help and agriculture workers at the houses of landlords and earn about ₹6,000 a month. They also go for works under the MGNREGA. “We never received works for 100 days. At the most, we got about 40 days of work in some years,” Ms. Kaur said.
Micro financing firms
Micro financing companies are the main loan providers for these agriculture workers. Their interest ranges between 18 and 60%. “These micro financing companies make groups of women and authorise the leader of the group to pay back the loan given to those women,” said Ashwini, a leader of the Naujawan Bharat Sabha, an organisation that works among youngsters.
“A number of youngsters have died in this area due to drug abuse. Five-six of them are under treatment. This is rampant particularly among the families of agriculture workers. Most of them cannot afford chitta [a synthetic drug made from heroin popular in Punjab], but they use some other varieties of chemicals available widely in the State. Whichever government comes at the Centre, they must take the strongest possible measures to stop drug trade. Youngsters are dying. There should be jobs so that we all can survive,” Ms. Ashwini added.
In Kotguru village, near Bathinda, agriculture workers were mainly engaged in the cotton cultivation that is labour-intensive. The women workers used to earn up to ₹500 per day during the harvest season that lasts for about two and a half months. Now, the area no more cultivates cotton due to the pink bollworm pest attack. Sandeep Kaur and Balwant Kaur were earlier agriculture workers who were experts in harvesting and processing cotton. Now both of them work in a liquor factory nearby. “There is no other way as cotton cultivation has stopped,” they said.
Mahendra Singh and Gurlal Singh of the same village used to be tractor drivers in the cotton fields. They too lost their jobs and now working in a shop in Bathinda to make both ends meet. The village too has seen victims of drugs and the villagers, particularly women, have been demanding strongest measures against drugs. “Drug band hojae. Hume aur kuchh nahi chahie [We don’t need anything else, the drugs should be banned],” said Sandeep Kaur.
Elderly women in Kotguru say that PDS is very important for their survival. “Earlier we used to get 30 kg of wheat per person for ₹2 per kilogram. Now we don’t get anything from the State, but we get 5 kg of wheat per person for free. We really don’t know when they are going to stop it,” said Jaspal Kaur, demanding that more items should be included in the PDS. “PDS should be a right and should not be treated as a scheme,” she said, and added that political parties talk a lot, but do not do anything for the poor.
They have not heard about the promises by certain political parties that minimum workdays under the MGNREGA should be increased to 200 days from 100 days. “Forget about 100 days, we do not get work for more than 40 days in one year. The payment is also pending,” Ms. Kaur added.
