Reference Text
Time Left10:00
The
despair
is
palpable
and
325
farmers
have
committed
suicide
in
this
region
since
January
this
year.
We
had
met
Mr.
Bhumre
at
a
cattle
sale
in
Pachod
in
Aurangabad
district
where
he
had
sold
two
pairs
of
bullocks.
Sitting
in
a
group
of
distraught
farmers,
he
was
dejected
and
close
to
tears.
He
had
sold
the
animals,
bought
for
Rs.1
lakh
a
year
or
so
ago,
for
just
Rs.20,000.
Another
farmer,
Salar
Khan,
had
a
similiar
story.
He
had
sold
a
pair
of
bullocks
for
half
the
price
he
had
paid
for
them.
In
debt,
for
Rs.90,000,
his
daughters
have
had
to
drop
out
of
school.
After
the
ban
on
cow
slaughter
imposed
by
the
Bharatiya
Janata
Party
led
government,
the
price
of
these
animals
has
plummeted
throughout
the
State.
In
the
Marathwada
region,
the
situation
is
further
accentuated
by
the
high
cost
of
maintenance.
There
were
around
3,000
heads
of
cattle
brought
for
sale
to
this
fair
a
distress
sale
is
a
last
ditch
survival
strategy.
They
had
no
alternative.
The
cattle
shelters
set
up
under
a
government
scheme
could
have
provided
some
relief.
But
the
government
outsourced
them
to
a
variety
of
registered
cooperatives.
In
Beed
district,
where
the
late
BJP
leader
Gopinath
Munde's
two
daughters
fought
and
won
the
election,
there
are
137
such
cow
shelters,
the
highest
in
the
region.
One
of
the
bigger
shelters,
in
Kej,
with
1,400
animals,
is
run
by
the
Jai
Bajrang
Bali
society
which
has
not
received
funds
since
it
started
in
March.
According
to
the
supervisor,
the
running
cost
is
close
to
Rs.1
lakh
a
day.
How
do
they
manage,
we
asked.
Through
more
loans,
he
said.
However,
others
said
that
many
of
these
registered
societies
do
not
give
out
the
actual
amount
of
fodder
that
a
farmer
is
entitled
to.
The
government
subsidy
to
be
provided
in
kind,
and
fodder
and
water
for
the
animals
is
set
at
the
rate
of
Rs.70
for
a
large
animal
and
Rs.31
for
a
small
one.
But,
in
a
bizarre
policy
decision,
the
government
cuts
Rs.8
of
the
subsidy
per
animal
against
the
price
for
the
manure
that
the
owner
is
presumed
to
get,
from
the
sale
of
the
manure.
This
has
infuriated
cattle
owners.
One
asked,
'Did
a
government
officer
measure
the
manure
of
my
cow
before
he
cut
eight
rupees?'
In
most
districts,
the
scheme
for
cattle
shelters
has
not
taken
off.
Clearly,
it
is
the
government
that
should
run
these
shelters
in
greater
numbers
for
a
specified
period
and
the
Central
government
needs
to
provide
assistance
for
this.
No
assurances
were
made
in
the
parliamentary
debate.
The
despair
is
palpable
and
325
farmers
have
committed
suicide
in
this
region