Consequences of the 1987 Monsoon Failure-A Preliminary Assessment

Consequences of the 1987 Monsoon Failure A Preliminary Assessment Arun Kumar Roughly 40 per cent of the population or around 300 million people have been directly affected by the drought. Families of landless and marginal farmers may be taken to constitute 50 per cent of this affected population and they are unlikely to find work till November when the next rabi operation can be expected to start. With a major loss of incomes in the economy, other sectors, like industry will also face deficiency of demand and production all round is likely to decline. Budgetary resources of government are likely to face a severe strain and the balance of payments is likely to turn further adverse with the need to import a wide range of essential items.