Cultivating distress: cotton, caste and farmer suicides in India.

Nearly 4,00,000 farmers committed suicide in India between 1995 and 2018. This translates into approximately 48 suicides every day. The majority of suicides were those from 'backwarded' castes including Dalit farmers. This ethnographic study on cotton farmer suicide reports narratives of surviving Dalit families. The results reveal that financial and moral debt when accrued within a web of family and caste-related relationships result in patterns of personal and familial humiliation, producing a profound sense of hopelessness in the Self. This loss of hope and pervasive humiliation is 'cultivated' by a cascade of decisions taken by others with little or no responsibility to the farmers and the land they hope to cultivate as they follow different cultural and financial logic. Suicide resolves the farmers' humiliation and is a logical conclusion to the farmer's distress, which results from a reconfiguration of agricultural spaces into socially toxic places, in turn framing a local panopticon. The current corona virus pandemic is likely to impact adversely on peoples who are culturally distanced.

Role of Local Governing Institutions in Community-Based Management of COVID-19 Pandemic in Two States of South-India: Mixed Method Cross-Sectional Study (preprint)

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted that community engagement and health governance are critical for mitigating the impact and enhanced preparedness. This study assesses the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) among elected Gram panchayat representatives (Sarpanches) and volunteers. The study explores enablers and barriers for community-level management of COVID-19 and vaccination in two states of South India – Andhra Pradesh (AP) and Telangana (TS). In addition, the availability and utilization of COVID-19 related care and other Primary Healthcare services including Non-COVID clinical care, Maternal and Child health services was also studied. Methods: : A mixed-method cross-sectional study consisting of 183 semi-structured interviews and 15 in-depth interviews from two districts of AP and TS. In depth interviews were conducted with 10 COVID-19 recovered patients and 20 lactating mothers were conducted. Results: : Quantitative findings suggest a significant association between socioeconomic status and educational level with knowledge. 74% of participants practiced wore masks and 59% washed hands whereas 91% were vaccinated. Sarpanches ensured community compliance and supported the COVID-19 control activities. Most of the COVID-19 patients reported being stigmatized even after recovery. Lactating mothers were dissatisfied with services in government hospitals and high expenditures in private hospitals. Conclusion: The study established the crucial role of sarpanches and volunteers in COVID-19 response. It is important to build their capacities further for better community-based preparedness. Primary health care services should be strengthened for uninterrupted access during such pandemics.