The Sad State of Farmers in Bundelkhand

I am grateful to Dr Mayraj Fahim for sending me the following link from ABC News: http://abcnews.go.com/International/drought-poverty-force-indian-farmers-sell-wives/story?id=8599840 I know that some would find this story sensationalist in a sense, but tragedy is not something new as far as India is concerned. Yes, there is a lot that is breathtakingly beautiful and adorable in the country of my birth, but despite all attempts by some of the most resourceful people in the world to try and improve their lives, environmental disasters of the kind that have struck Bundelkhand cannot be addressed by common folk by themselves. Wells are being drained at an alarming pace across the country and as concrete covers the land without any provision being made for rainwater to seep underground, the water table keeps falling year after year. Pesticides that are banned everywhere else are used both to kill insects and by severely indebted farmers to commit suicide.

I have only one question - when will the government wake up and work on a comprehensive agricultural policy to try and support the 70% of the population that is dependent upon the land for its livelihood? The more this gets delayed, the more tragedies of this kind will continue to occur.