Editorial #09

THE HINDU EDITORIAL 

Tamilnadu's move to declared a drought, ironically विडम्भना में on the eve of the harvest festival of Pongal, is an important step to address the agrarian कृषि प्रधान  distress संकट that is sweeping the State following poor rainfall during the northeast monsoon. Even with relatively better governance structures, desperation निराश among farmers has resulted in a spate झोकना  of suicides, particularly in the Cauvery delta rice belt that has received little water from Karnataka in recent times. An official declaration of drought brings relief: postponement स्थगन of loan recovery, waiver छूट of land tax and alternative employment through schemes such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. The challenge now is to infuse पानी में डालना confidence among farmers that the government is fully behind them. As agriculture scientist M.S. Swaminathan has pointed out, there is a need to look ahead and institute reforms in drought management for effective distress mitigation शमन . These should be founded on a participatory approach, one that intensively अधिकता engages संलग्न  the farm community year-round. A monsoon management center drawing upon the expertise of multiple departments would, for instance उदाहरण , help use scarce दुर्लभ resources conservatively परम्परागत ढंग से during a drought, and maximize their potential in good times. It is also crucial to preserve the health of cattle and other livestock, as they tend to suffer irreparable harm during drought, with cascading व्यापक effects on their future productivity. The Center should provide all support to achieve this under the National Disaster Response Fund and the Prime Minister’s crop insurance scheme.The importance of welfare support for small and marginal farmers cannot be overstated अतिरंजित , given the vagaries अनियमितता of the monsoon. More than a decade ago, the National Commission on Farmers pointed out that successive droughts, illness, high expenditure on social obligations दायित्वो and asset loss push farmers to the brink कगार . Yet, not much has changed in the management of drought from the low-budget practices of the colonial औपनिवेशिक  era, as the Swaraj Abhiyan case in the Supreme Court last year revealed प्रकाशित . No more time can be lost in making the administrative system for agriculture responsive to today’s needs. The Center has to ensure that the Drought Management Manual is updated to reflect farmers’ concerns, chiefly, giving weight-age to the amount of rainfall deficit and declaring a drought without delay. In Tamil Nadu, excessive reliance भरोषा on water-intensive rice cultivation, and lower priority for hardy millets बाजरा  have raised the risk for many farmers. Active recharging of groundwater and harvesting of surface water are vital महत्वपूर्ण to meet the challenges.

VOCABULARY 

1.  Ironically                          विडम्भना में
2. Agrarian                           कृषि प्रधान
3. Distress                            संकट
4. Desperation                      निराश
5. Spate                                झोकना
6. Postponement                  स्थगन
7. Waiver                             छूट
8.  Infuse                               पानी में डालना
9.  Mitigation                        शमन
10. Intensively                       अधिकता
11. Engages                           संलग्न
12. Instance                           उदाहरण
13. Scarce                              दुर्लभ
14. Conservatively                परम्परागत ढंग से
15. Cascading                        व्यापक
16. Overstated                       अतिरंजित
17. Vagaries                          अनियमितता
18.  Obligations                      दायित्वो
19. Brink                               कगार 
20. Colonial                           औपनिवेशिक
21.  Revealed                          प्रकाशित
22. Reliance                          भरोषा
23. Millets                             बाजरा
24. Vital                                 महत्वपूर्ण