Thirty three crore people were affected in 10 states by the drought in 2015-16. However, despite Supreme Court orders to provide subsidised food grain and continue mid day meal scheme during summer holidays, the centre and the state governments failed to do so. The court’s order had come on May 13, during the Swaraj Abhiyan Vs the Union of India case. In Maharashtra, the government did not continue the mid day meal scheme. In Madhya Pradesh families were denied food grain despite being covered by National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA). Even those who were eligible, found it difficult get food grains as the ration shops opened for less than three days in a month.

An Action Aid (international NGO working in the field of poverty and justice) study titled “Drought 201-16: Lessons from desolation” finds serious flaws in government’s response–both central and states –towards the water crisis. The study collected data from 279 drought hit villages in seven states. It found that in villages, lack of maintenance had made traditional water bodies like hand-pumps, water well and tanks defunct.

In fact the response of the government was so poor that in Sundergarh district of Odisha, where there was an acute water crisis, the state government provided water tankers to only 5 villages, out of a total of 1792.

Harsh Mander, Director of the Centre for Equity Studies and a Special Commissioner to the Supreme Court of India, in a press conference categorised government drought response over the years into colonial, post Independence and the current neoliberal era. “The current response is going back to the colonial times, when the aim was just to keep people alive,” he said.

While his comparison may seem a little farfetched, the story on the ground is very dismal. In Madhya Pradesh, 69% of the farmers received less than Rs. 1000 as compensation and as many as 88% of tenant farmers and share croppers in the state did not get any compensation from the government.

Nor was the government able to activate existing employment programs which, in an ideal situation, would have improved people’s lot. According to the study, MGNREGA [Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act], failed miserably to provide an income to the unemployment created in the agrarian sector due to crop failure. “Specific efforts were not made to activate wage work under MGNREGA,” it states. In Madhya Pradesh, 58% of the surveyed families got less than 50 days of employment under the scheme. Delays in payments defeated the purpose of MGNREGA  in states where employment was provided. MGNREGA workers’ wages worth more than Rs.18 crore are pending in Bundelkhand region of UP according to government data from April this year.

The study documents cases where people faced unimaginable hardships as the government kicked the can endlessly down the road. In Dhanapalli village in Ganjam district of Odisha, residents were forced to dig ditches in the dry Kalabhut river bed to extract water. Caste dynamics worsened the situation in some areas. In an incident in the Sagar district of Madhya Pradesh, a woman was physically abused by an upper caste man for trying to fill water from the ‘upper caste’ well. The two other wells of the area had dried up.  

The findings of the study are, however, not just relevant to last year. Even now, as six states are under the impact of floods with more than six million people affected, there are parts of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh facing water crisis. This, despite Indian Metrological Department forecast of ‘above-average’ monsoon this year, points at factors other than rainfall deficit for the crisis.

“This is a man made crisis,” water conservationist and Magsaysay Award winner, Rajendra Singh said in a press conference. According to him, the government efforts to fix the water crisis have failed. Singh added that where people have taken over water conservation efforts, the crisis has resolved, as opposed to where government contractors are involved. “Despite equal rainfall, no water tankers are needed in Latur today, while neighbouring Jat village in Sangli district and Atwade in Jalgaon district still need them. Reason is community water conservation work in Latur,” he said.  

As the drought crisis has reduced significantly for now, the government’s attention is focused on floods. However, this report, more than just pointing fingers, has done the leg work for the government, to show where it needs to focus. Its relevance lies in zeroing in on specific areas which now, the government can strengthen for a better drought response next year.