The low price for the cotton, soya and redgram in
the last Kharif has resulted in less purchases of food, decoration, steel and
iron items by the Adivasis at the Nagoba Jatara in the district.
It is a general practice that Adivasis purchase
items required for their daily use and also for the marriages of their children
who are prospective brides and grooms at the one of the biggest Adivasi Jataras
in the country, the Nagoba at Keslapur in Indravelli mandal.
Some of them especially visit the Jatara to purchase
items for their future purposes. But things have changed a lot this time. It
was seen majority of Adivasi devotees who visited temple are returning to their
homes with empty hands.
Deepak Singh Shekawath of Indravelli who runs a
hotel in the Nagoba Jatara said, there are no sales of Jalebi and Bhajia this
time for which Adivasis likes very much as they had no cash in hand to purchase
as they got poor prices to their crops cotton, Soya and redgram and they left
with nothing after repaying the money whatever they got through selling their
crops to the money lenders popularly known as ‘Shahukars’ or middlemen.
He said the Adivasis those who are purchasing also
cutting half of the quantity they used to purchase Jalebi and Bhajia and this
is an indication of lowered purchasing capacity due to lower prices to their
crops.
Already, there was considerable fall in the yield
due to crop damages caused by the drought and the low prices for crops further
disappointed the farmers in general and Adivasi farmers in particular.
T. Kishore of Nizamabad who runs puffed rice or
murmur and traditional sweet items at Nagoba temple, regretted that there was
no sale for their items as few people are purchasing them.
He said, ‘Pani Hitho….Fasal Atha ; Fasal
Ayetho.. Paise Athe.. Jab Panihi Nahihai.. Log Kahase Kareethe’(People get
money only when there are good crops but there would be good crops only when
there is good rains. When there are no rains how people will purchase something
they want with less money).
Pendore Devrao of Sirikonda observed that ‘most of
the Adivasis had purchased nothing except few playing items for their children’.
