Unit-4 Drought and Famine

8/10/2019 Unit-4 Drought and Famine

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1

Listtlie

twomajor

droughts experienced in India.

2)Briefly

describetlie

socio-economic impact of the drought that occurred in1987.

3) I~iclicateany f ive i~npor ta~i tneasures for ~naintainingfood security.

4.4 GOVERNMENT POLICY RELATING TO

DROUGHT MANAGEMENT

Tlie experience of 1970s and 1980s sllows that the drought management

approachlias

shifted from crisis response to risk management, at all levelsof the

government. The emphasis has been on integrated disaster preparedness through

early warning arrangements, planned emergency responseand

better

preparedness. This policy proved very useful while dealing with the drought of

1987 which, incidentally, was the last major drought of the20 '

century.

TIie

riskinanagelnent

measuresco~isist

of the following components:

Food subsidy throi~gliPublic Distribution System.

Availability of food grains from states or f ro~ncentral buffer stock.

Supplementary feeding programmes.

Drinkingwater and

health programmes,

Easy credit foragrici~ltural

sector

Piice ~Jabilisation.

Drought& arnine

E iployment

generation.


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Increased Understanding

of Dis i~sters , -

Iis semi n tion of information

Special programrnes for farming communities and for their livestock..

The major initiatives taken by the Government of India during the drought of

1987 are listed below:

Campaign for enhanced agricultural production in the next season through:

Better Water management.

Increased Area coverage.

Upgraded technology package of seeds and fertilizers and extension service.

Relaxed credit termsthrough

the National Bank for Agricultur e RuralDevelopment (NABARD).

Special programmes for energising 150,000 pumpsets through Rural

Electrification Programme.

Additional supply of petroleum products to drought affected areas.

Distribution of 137,000 mini kits in drought affected areas for enhanc ing the

cultivation of vegetables.

Works regarding Employment generation

54 major irrigation projects.

32 tnediun irrigation projects.

Minor irrigation projects e.g. Soil conservation .

Laying of road I inks.

Provision of Drinking Water.

Cattle feed.

Subsidy to small and marginal farmers and growing fodder on 230,000hactares.

Free irrigation.

The Government of India has launched various development programmes to

serve the long- term needs of the different sections of the drought affectedcommunities. The important programmes are listed below:

Desert Development Programme (DDP).

Drought Prone Area Programme (DPAP).

~ o o dfor Work Programme (FWP).

National Rural Employment Programme (NREP).

Rural Landless Employment Guarantee Programme (RLEGP).

Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP).

Accelerated Rural Water supplyProgramme (ARWSP).

Indira Awas Yojana IAY).


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lrrcreasetl nderstar~ding

of Disasters- IExtensive socio-economic develop~ne~ltof drought prone areas would provide a

solution in the long term. However, the short term needs must aim at generating

new sl


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4.7 KEY W O m S Drought Fnrni~~e

c e n t r a l B u f f e r

Stock:The

Central Government maintains a stock of foodgrains

that feeds the Public Distribution system through Fair Price Shops on which the

economically weaker sections of society depend. This has improved the benefits

of this system specially during serious disaster situation, like major droughts.

The buffer stock is replenished through open market purchases at liarvest times

and it is generally not allowed to fall below 12 million tonnes.

Pas tur e: Land suitable for grazing of cattle.

Subsidy: Money contributed by government to keep down prices of essential

commodities.Price St abil izat ion: Keeping prices under control; prevention of undue increase

n

prices of essential articlesduring

difficult times.

4.8 REFERENCES AND FURTHER READINGS

Prasad Ka~ntaand B. D. Singh, 1994 Drought Disaster and Develop~nent,Mittal

Publication, New Delhi.

Namias, J., 1989, Mc Graw Hill Concise Encyclopedia of Science Technology

Sen. A, 1981, Poverty und Fanzine, Clarendon Press, Oxford.

Government of India, 1987, National Water Policy, Ministry of Water

Resources, New Delhi.

SinghTapeshwar, 1995

Drought Disaster and Agricultural Development in

India, People' s Publishing House, New Delhi,

Tl~omas

Babu, 1993, Disaster Response: A Hundbookfor Enze~gencies,Church's

Auxiliary for Social Action, New Delhi.

Report of Irrigation Commission, 1972, Govern~nentof India, Ministry of

Irrigation and Power, New Delhi.

Kulshl-estha, S.M., 1997, Drought Mcznagen?e?zt in India, Tech. Report No. 1,

Insti9ute of Global Environment and Society, U.S.A.

4.9 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PRPGR SS

EXERCISES

Check Your Progress1

I ) Your answer should include the following points:

@ The large scale D r o ~ ~ g h tof 1982

The phenomenal widespread Drought of 1987

2) Your answer should include the following points:

Economic impacts such as reduced income offar111

lands, fall in

industrial oi itput , ~~ne mploym ent ,inflation and higl er prices, decreasedagricultural g ~ ~ t p u t ,loss of livestock, reduced prices, poor purchasingpower.

@ Social impacts i.e. malnutrition, poor hygiene, i l l health, migration and

increased stress and morbidity.


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Incrensetl

l ~ ~ i Ic ~ . s t : t ~ ~ c l i l ~ g

of Disasters - I

3 Your answer shoultl include tlic Ibllowing points:

Price stabilisation by preventing hoarding and starting Fair Price Shops;

Food subsidies.

Increasing purchasing power through Employment generation

programmes.

@ Special programtne for livestoclc and other household assets.

General food s ~ ~ p p l ynd distribution programmes.

Check Your Progress 2

1 Your answer should i~icludetlie following points:

Drought prone areas should be made less vulnerable to droughtassociated problems through various means.

Modes of develop~nent,hat demand less water, should be encouraged in

tlie plannilig process.

I platitling water resource prospects, preference should be given to tlieneeds of drought prone areas.

@

RelieF works i~ivolvingconstruction projects should aim at drouglitproofing of tlie area.

2) Your answer should include the fol lowi~igpoints:

Campaign for enliancing agricultural production.

Relaxed credit terms.

Special prograin for energising pump sets.

Distribution of agriculture mini kits.

Employment gerieratiori works.

Provision of drinlcing water.

3) Your answer should include tlie follawiug points:

Appropriate institutional support arid proper co-ordination of effortsprovide positive results.

The affected people shou Id be supported and assisted.

Rehabilitation needs should be properly assessed.

Proper respolise needs long time commitment of resources and should

preferably be made integral part of tlie development programme of thedrought affected area.


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NOTES

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Unit-4 Drought and Famine