10 Member team to survey areas hit by drought: The Maharashtra state government has officially declared that 60 per cent of its villages were facing a ‘drought-like’ condition.

Drought can be devastating and unlike earthquakes or hurricanes, there is no immediate response for disaster management. At Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics (GIPE), a ten-member team will go to drought-prone Beed, Latur and Osmanabad districts and take a week-long survey to understand why authorities fall short in taking planned and immediate steps. Dr Rajas Parchure, Director of GIPE, told The Indian Express that the survey was not a fact-finding one to assess the ground reality. “There has been ample evidence reported from various districts about the scarce water scenario. Migration of people living in these drought hit areas to other cities has also been recorded. What we aim to find out is why there has been a failure in planning policies and identify the loopholes,” said Parchure. The state government has officially declared that 60 per cent of its villages were facing a ‘drought-like’ condition. Drought comes in several degrees and hence at times it may not qualify to be termed as a disaster. The research team’s plan is to study the norms and check what should be the proportion or severity of drought to term it as a disaster and what kind of response should be anticipated. Researchers to study Solapur model that tackled water crisis Solapur, a chronically drought hit district was serviced with just 18 tankers this year when the monsoon in 2015-16 was just 186 mm. In 2012-13 the district authorities had to send 673 tankers when the rainfall was 278 mm while in 2013-14 when the recorded rainfall was 490 mm, at least 212 water tankers were deployed. However, a five point programme by the District Collector Tukaram Mundhe has helped alleviate the water crisis in Solapur and according to Parchure, the team will be assessing the work at the ground level. According to Mundhe, thanks to creating a systematic inventory of water sources – which were many times not on record, repairing and recharging maximum possible structures and other measures has helped bring down the supply of water tankers to just 18 villages out of 11,444 in Solapur district

Business cycle must be introduced into Indian economic syllabus, say experts

“India has always been through the Cobweb cycle, where the prices of items rise and fall sharply and suddenly. Thus, the time has come for farmers to learn to bring a balance between demand and supply,” said Prof Sangeeta Shroff from GIPE. To access online, visit the link https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/pune/pune-business-cycle-must-be-introduced-into-indian-economic-syllabus-say-experts-6235596

Agrarian distress in Vidarbha, Marathwada: subsidies, debt waivers no solution to farm crisis, prioritise watershed strategies, says study

The study ‘Agrarian distress: Why Vidarbha and Marathwada alone’, which aims to identify the causes behind the farm crisis in these regions, says top priority should be given to watershed strategies while planning mitigation measures

Kisan Call Centre: 'Advisers' mostly rely on own knowledge to guide farmers: Study

Farmers in Maharashtra still prefer seeking agriculture-related information from fellow farmers but the community is fast switching to mobile phones for such information, according to a recent study submitted to the Union Ministry of Agriculture. Led by researcher Sangeeta Shroff from the Agro-Economic Research Centre at Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics (GIPE), the study aimed at understanding the structure, design, implementation and performance of the Kisan Knowledge Management System, Farmers’ Portal and M-Kisan portal operating in Maharashtra. Tele-calling to the Farmers’ Tele-Advisors (FTA) at Kisan Call Centre (KCC), Pune, is among the most favoured ways for cultivators seeking all kinds of information. The KCC operates with 69 ‘advisers’, who guide farmers, and two supervisers, receiving over 3,000 calls on an average everyday from across Maharashtra and Goa. The study covered 30 ‘advisers’ and 80 farmers from Pune, Ahmednagar, Solapur and Osmanabad districts. The study found that farmers heavily relied on it and mostly sought advices on what pesticide to be sprayed on crops under a disease attack, current market prices, appropriate insecticide to be sprayed on a crop, storage of farm produce, among others. Farmers who took part in the study said they fully depended on the KCC for credit and insurance decisions; 74 per cent of them sought advice on disease control while 67 per cent were keen to know about storage. Advice on sowing or how to improve quality was, however, barely sought from the KCC, leaving it solely to the farmer. Interestingly, the ‘advisers’ admitted they mostly relied on personal knowledge while guiding farmers than on government-provided booklets or information kits. “The ‘advisers’ combined their own knowledge with information gathered from web portals like KKMS, M-Kisan and others while fielding calls from farmers,” an expert at GIPE said. Surprisingly, no reference or guidance was taken from nodal officers or experts at agriculture colleges or universities, both of whom are integral to running these call centres. While 80 per cent of the ‘advisers’ said they had a degree in agriculture, about 13 per cent have a postgraduate degree in the subject but 22 of the 30 ‘advisers’ who participated in the research said they had no previous work experience. Number of farmers dialling the call centre rose from 2.21 lakh in 2004 to 48.01 lakh in 2014-2015. With 2.22 lakh calls, Ahmednagar district tops the charts (see box). Calls to KCCs peak during the harvest season, the study found. “With a fixed cropping pattern for paddy followed along the west coast, very few farmers called KCCs for advice,” the study noted. So far, only five farmers have called the centre from Palghar, the least from among the 36 districts of the state. Similarly, Sindhudurg (2,503), Mumbai (2,776), Ratnagiri (2,821), Raighad (3,433) and Thane (7,636) are among places which logged less number of calls. Interestingly, mobile phones have become the most preferred medium among the farming community to gather information: 62 of the 80 farmers who took part in the study said they gathered information from mobile phones, either through SMS or other means; 34 farmers extensively used internet on cellphones to avail farming-related information. An equal number of farmers also depended on TV

In tribute to Gokhale, his Pune residence to become a museum, showcase his life

In tribute to Gokhale, his Pune residence to become a museum, showcase his life. A museum, dedicated to Gopal Krishna Gokhale, will come up on the campus of Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics (GIPE). The museum has a special link to the eminent social leader — it will be located in the house where Gokhale lived in the early 1900s. Pune is home to several museums dedicated to national leaders and freedom fighters, such as Mahatma Gandhi and Mahatma Jyotiba Phule, among others, as well as artists, sportsmen and defence personnel. Adding to this long list is yet another museum, dedicated to Gopal Krishna Gokhale, which will come up on the campus of Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics (GIPE). The museum has a special link to the eminent social leader — it will be located in the house where Gokhale lived in the early 1900s. Even today, the elegant house with a sloping roof, located in a corner of GIPE, continues to stand apart, even as it undergoes final touches of renovation. Gokhale, one of the prominent names in India’s freedom struggle, lived here between 1907 and 1915. Along with being a member of the Indian National Congress (INC), he also taught at the Fergusson College after graduating in 1884. Under the guidance of his mentor Mahadev Govind Ranade, he was instrumental in establishing the Servants of India Society (SIS) in 1905. Confirming the development, Rajas Parchure, director of GIPE, said, “The society was awarded a grant from the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) to convert Gokhale’s residence into a museum.” The Heritage Cell of the civic body had begun restoration and renovation works of the residence a few months ago, after the PMC provided a grant of Rs 25 lakh last year. One of the senior experts from PMC’s Heritage Cell, who was involved with the project, said, “The restoration and renovation works are underway and the first phase should be completed by September this year.” The home already has over 100 of Gokhale’s photographs, showcasing his life and explaining his political, literary and academic associations. Some of the pictures also have eminent personalities like freedom fighter Balgangadhar Tilak and S Radhakrishnan, the country’s first vice-president. The museum will also have several of Gokhale’s personal gifts and items on display, said Milind Deshpande, secretary of SIS. “Along with his well-known pagdi and personal utility items and gifts, the museum will also showcase some of his prestigious awards ,” informed Deshpande

Pune: C-section costs more in drought-hit Latur: Many surgeries being postponed due to shortfall of water, only emergency cases being taken up.: GIPE team to tour drought-hit districts to assess damage

Pune: C-section costs more in drought-hit Latur Many surgeries being postponed due to shortfall of water, only emergency cases being taken up. Dr Ahtesham Shaikh, who is studying a postgraduate diploma in emergency medicine at Jehangir hospital, had to rush to his native place at Latur city which is in the grip of a severe drought and has had no water for the last two months. “My father is a general practitioner there and has a clinic. While the situation is grim, there has not been a rise in cases of dehydration or gastroenteritis. Planned surgeries, however, have been deferred,” Dr Shaikh told Newsline. Since February, there has been no water at Latur and over 150 small and large hospitals have been purchasing water from tankers. “Our locality has a borewell that supplies water to 8-10 households but we don’t know how long it will last,” Shaikh said. At the 20-bed Lokmanya intensive care centre, director Dr Chetan Sarda, who has been a former municipal corporator, told Newsline that because of the water scarcity, the hospitals have to purchase water tankers of 6,000 litres every alternate day, which cost between Rs 800-1,000. “Planned deliveries via C-section now cost Rs 25,000 as doctors have to use more water and hence are charging a little extra,” claims Dr Sarda. Most of the big hospitals have deferred planned surgeries and taking up emergency ones, he said. At the government medical college in Latur, Dean Dr Ashok Shinde said that their daily requirement is 1.90 lakh litres and they are falling short by 40,000 litres. “However, at the government hospital, we are taking up 35 routine and 25 emergency operations everyday,” he said. Dr VM Kulkarni, Deputy Director, Latur division, said that the situation in Latur city is bleak as compared to others. The Latur division comprises the four districts of Latur, Beed, Osmanabad and Nanded. In Latur city, the borewell at the 60-bed women’s hospital has dried up, but several charitable and social organisations are helping in providing water tankers, Kulkarni said. Indian Medical Association Latur unit chief Dr R Londhe said that they have taken up a campaign to reach out to the interior areas of Latur district and treat people affected by water shortage. Dr Mahesh Patil, Medical Officer of Health, Latur municipal corporation, however, said that no surgeries have been cancelled. “We are keeping watch on any outbreak of diseases, but there has been none so far,” he said. Health dept rules out outbreak of water-borne diseases A sanitary survey last year had issued red cards to 800 villages whose water sources were at risk for contamination. In the wake of severe drought, the health department has now turned its focus on these villages. “There is, however, no drastic rise in gastro, cholera or other waterborne disease,” Dr Kanchan Jagtap, Joint Director of Health, said. Special arrangements are being made to ensure that water in the tankers are clean. Bleaching powder is being given to both tanker drivers and water cleaners so as to prevent any outbreak, Dr Pradip Awate, state surveillance officer, said. GIPE team to tour drought-hit districts to assess damage City based Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics (GIPE) will send a team to the worst drought affected districts of Beed, Osmanabad and Latur to assess the ground reality. “This is our initiative and we will submit a report to the government as the trend of migration from drought-affected areas to other places like Pune, Mumbai and others continues,” Dr Rajas Parchure, Director, GIPE, said

Pune’s poorest homes ate less meals a day, cut dal and meat during Covid lockdown: Study

The Covid-19 lockdown and economic slowdown hit the lowest income groups of Pune the hardest, even forcing them to cut their consumption of dal, meat and overall number of daily meals, a new study has found. The survey was conducted by Food, Water and Energy for Urban Sustainable Environment (FUSE), a transdisciplinary research project involving Food-Water-Energy Nexus in Pune, India and Amman, Jordan. Under FUSE, researchers from India, Jordan, the US, Germany and Austria work on interdisciplinary and applied research to understand food-water-energy systems. The present survey is a collaboration between Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics (GIPE), Pune and the German researchers