Articles by Arun Sinha

BECO ENGINEERING has secured an industrial licence for diversification of machine-tool production at the Ballah- garh plant., It has been authorised now to manufacture pipe-threading inn- chines, flame hardening equipment facing lathes, special purpose lathes, and double-column planning machines. Meanwhile, the order position for machine- tools is satisfactory. The company has recently received orders from UK for export of machine tools worth Rs 65 lakhs. The market for rolled products, which was somewhat depressed, is also now showing signs of revival. The company has taken steps to diversify the range of products of the rolling mill too. During 1975, Beco's production of rolled products, including bright liars, was 8,335 tonnes as against 9,936 tonnes during the previous yean Power restrictions in the earlier part of the year and recessionary trend in the economy were responsible for lower production. Production of castings and forgings was also lower at 875 tonnes, against 96-1 tonnes previously. Although sales were lower, the company earned a higher gross profit, and was able to resume payment of equity dividend with a recommendation of 6' per cent.


rats in the field for which they are paid something between 30 and 50 paise per rat, their livelihood is quite closely allied to the existence of a rodent problem. This is one reason why the benefits to the farmer from control overstate the social benefits; another, perhaps a more substantial reason, is the ability of rats to migrate.4 Reduction of losses due to rodents is not of much social value if the control method merely results in the rats migrating to a neighbour's field with only a minimal reduction in the rodent population.5 The only effective method of alleviating the rodent problem is on a communal basis. A control programme is just being started in Hyderabad district by the Andhra Pradesh Agricultural University in collaboration with Agricultural extension officers and pan- chayat officials. The programme, per- Jps rather ambitiously, is designed to cover the whole district within the next year and it will be of great significance if this experimental project establishes that the high degree of co-operation and co-ordination required, right down to household level, is in fact obtainable.

price. Yet, the Petroleum Ministry appears to find much satisfaction in the fact that, as a result of ''rigorous management combined with perspective planning'', consumption of petroleum product during the year increased by only 2.2 per cent compared to average annual increase of nine per cent in the past. True, after the world oil crisis broke out late in 1973, there was a flurry of activity to restrain consumption, and consumption was brought down by three per cent in 1974 compared to the 1973 level. But efforts in this direction were relaxed afterwards and 'normal' increases in consumption of 'oil

BIHAR Death of a Share-cropper Arun Sinha CROP-SHARING being conventionally a verbal contract, the peasant is all the time walking on a tight rope. A mere wave of the landlord's hand means ejectment and penury. Working in such conditions, the share-croppers of Tilkari village in the Kharagpur block of Monghyr district are pitted against a lew absentee landlords. Notable among these landlords is Deoki Mandal who, according to a non-official claim, owns 5,000 acres of land. In Tilkari he has 125 bighas. Land in Tilkari, one-half of whose population of 2,500 depends on -sharing, is classified as the most fertile in Monghyr district. This deserves to be noted, for Monghyr is known for its poor agriculture; while its northern part is annually visited by floods, the south is plagued by droughts. The peasants of Monghyr are very poor, only a little better off than the rural tribal workers. Wages for agriculture work are very low: by convention 1.25 seers of coarse grains a day.

January 17, 1976 DHANBAD Moneylenders' Reign of Terror Arun Sinha SHE was pregnant, but did not look young; her face was wrinkled and scarred and she had black rings under her eyes. "I borrowed Rs 400 some years ago I have paid Rs 4,800 as interest", the haggard woman worker spoke up before the deputy collector. "I cannot do otherwise. I cannot say no," She threw up her hands, folded them in the air, and said, her lips violently quivering: "Only death will save me, Balm!". The moneylenders of Dhanbad are all-powerful. Their writ runs across the entire coal belt. Moneylenders are often men of many "Parts. Tin's one, at the Tetulia colliery of Bharat Coking Coal (BCCL), where this woman works, has been a trade union leader, an employee of BCCL, as well as a successful moneylender. As an employee he receives a sizeable salary, as a union leader he commands union funds, but it is as a moneylender that he does roaring business. On paydays, he brings home gunny bags stuffed with notes. Among his clientele is Sohar Bhuyan, a middle-aged worker, who a decade ago took a loan of Hs 200, By the end of 1975, Bhuyan told the deputy collector, the moneylender had extorted Rs 9,600 as interest. ''I give him Rs 20 every week", Bhuyan said "and yet he is not satisfied". In December last the moneylender had turned up one day and ordered Bhuyan to hand over Rs 1,650 Which, he claimed, was the "unpaid Balance". Bhuyan was dumbfounded. "He said if I didn't manage to pay the money, he will beat me, and even kill me" Bhuyan had no douht that the warning was no idle threat. He had been beaten and tortured in the past.