CARPED

K. Venkateshwarlu
20 September 2010

HYDERABAD: When it was launched a few months ago, it was dubbed as an innovative inter-sectoral convergence programme for marginal SC/ST farmers that addressed their concerns of poverty, land development and farm productivity.

The “Mothukuru Model” covering 3.33 lakh acres in over 4114 villages in 321 mandals all over the State at a cost of Rs. 1,332 crore involved intensive soil and moisture conservation (SMC) activities helping poor farmers to go in for multi-tier cropping with vegetables, perennial red gram, castor and fruits, ensuring year- long steady income.

Forget raising their income, the rows of irregular furrows dug up on their tiny assigned lands as part of the National Rural Employment Guarantee and Community Managed Sustainable Agriculture convergence programme are fetching them nothing but tears, a study has revealed.

For these huge furrows (talli saallu) combined with compost pits and farm ponds are occupying major chunk of the two to three acre pieces of lands typically assigned to each of the SC/ST families by government leaving no space for raising crops. These have become such a headache for the poor farmers that they are digging up furrows to get wages and then filling them up to grow crops. “Agreed, furrows are good for SMC concept but they cannot be one-size-fits- all solution all over the State.

Study

“Our study in three mandals in Anantapur district shows that it is not the best solution for those having small land holdings. With no clarity on specifications of furrows, no field level supervision and monitoring and without building awareness among farmers, the programme has failed to give desired results”, says M. S. Chandra, former director of Centre for Action Research and People’s Development (CARPED)who did the study.

He wants Government to exercise caution before scaling it up to 12 lakh acres.

In his study, he has quoted a number of farmers.

“ They made us dig a trench around my three acre farm and then furrows all over, besides a compost pit and a farm pond leaving no space for even moving bulls for ploughing and just about an acre for cultivation. What income will I get from it”, rues Srinivasulu of Poolakuntlapally in Aamduguru mandal of Anantapur district. Several others echo his feelings.

http://www.hindu.com/2010/09/20/stories/2010092059880600.htm

Uma Sudhir, Updated: August 27, 2010 09:52 IST

Medak: Roopli is in her early 20s and has already hit menopause. Married when she was not even 12, she had two children far too soon. After persistent health problems, private doctors advised full hysterectomy – removal of uterus and both ovaries.

The poor tribal woman says, “Government doctors did not offer any solution. Not even an injection. So I went to a private doctor. The operation cost me Rs. 20,000. We had to take a loan for it.”

Bhuli, another poor woman who was advised a hysterectomy, was told it was a Hobson’s choice. She could either get her uterus removed or die.

There are thousands of women like Roopli and Bhuli in villages across Andhra Pradesh. In a tribal hamlet in Medak district, for example, when asked how many have had a “pedda operation” or got their uterus removed, virtually every hand goes up.

All across Andhra Pradesh, thousands of expensive uterus removal surgeries are being performed in private clinics every year. What is most worrying is that 80 per cent of the women undergoing the surgery are between 20 and 40 years of age. These women then age faster with complications caused by hormonal imbalances and osteoporosis.

The government admits it has become a huge problem. Andhra Pradesh Health Minister D Nagender, says, “We are going to take action against all those nursing homes and hospitals that are performing unnecessary removal of uterus.”

Andhra Pradesh records the highest number of such operations in the country. Its health insurance scheme for the poor, Arogyasree, has only made matters worse. Subhash, a health activist, says, “11,000 hysterectomies have happened in just 18 months under the government’s health insurance scheme for poor. Many more must be happening out there.”

Statistics show that 98 per cent of these surgeries have happened in private, ill-equipped clinics. NDTV asked a medical representative at one such clinic whether it was true that private doctors were pushing women to undergo hysterectomy. Narsing Rao, the RMP says, “No, madam. I don’t agree. Specialist comes once a week and does the surgery. It is a social service we are doing. We are not forcing anyone.”

All the women NDTV spoke to said they had not gone to a government health care centre because they did not get any care there. So the women got pushed to private doctors, who then performed the surgeries.

source NDTV : http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/womb-removal-andhras-big-medical-scandal-47462?cp