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A 2019 government investigation revealed that, of the surveyed 82,309 female sugarcane workers in Beed, around 13,861 — roughly 17 percent — had undergone hysterectomies (a surgical procedure to remove the uterus). In an article published online, Deepa Mudhol-Munde, the district’s magistrate, had reasoned the medical decision of the women — “The thinking of women is, if we get the surgery, then we’ll be able to work more.”
One would presume that the decision to get a hysterectomy done was to avoid having another child. However, in the case of Beed, the problem is coloured by various underlying shades. The answers lie in the sugarcane fields of Western Maharashtra.
Distress migration and what is it?
In 2019, over 151 talukas in the Marathwada region — eastern Maharashtra — were officially declared drought-hit. One such hamlet in the Pachegaon village of Beed experienced the side effects of the drought. But the villagers reason that the absence of rainfall isn’t the only culprit of their farming woes.
The once-thriving rivers, now choked with silt, mean that water does not percolate into the ground. Hence, even the rain that does fall washes away in a matter of weeks. As one of the farmers, Durga Mukund Rathod, explains, “Our borewell goes 300 feet deep. If only the ground could hold the water, we wouldn’t be in this situation.”
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Farmers are forced to move out of the village to neighbouring sugarcane fields, where they turn into labourers and cut cane. This is distress migration, a migration caused by desperation and not ambition.
It’s their last-ditch effort to survive. As a New York Times report indicated, about a million workers, typically from Beed, migrate from about October to March. The report found that, instead of wages from farm owners, they receive an advance — often around $1,800 per couple (Rs 1,55,862), or roughly $5 a day (Rs 433) per person for a six-month season.
At the sugarcane fields, conditions are tough. As another New York Times article found out, sugar mills claim they have no obligation to provide workers with services like toilets, running water or time off for medical care or pregnancy.
This means that any gynaecological woes are the woman’s responsibility.
At the sugarcane fields, farmers we spoke to from Beed who are part of the distress migration, reveal that they live in makeshift shanties and work for 15-hour stretches — work starts at 4 am and goes on till 7 pm, breaking for lunch in between.
How does a woman on her period get through a day of such heavy labour?
This is where they see hysterectomies as a solution. “They’re not allowed a single day off – not even during menstruation, pregnancy or miscarriage. It’s bonded labour in every sense. They’re not only losing their daily wages if they take a break, but they also have to pay the labour contractor,” Seema Kulkarni, a spokesperson for an alliance of organisations working for the rights of female farm workers, told The Guardian.
The women of Beed who sacrifice their wombs
From the 2019 survey deductions, the rate of hysterectomies among women in Beed was 36 percent compared with a national average of 3 percent. A majority of them were in the age group of 35-40, while a small section under 25 had undergone hysterectomy.
Dr Neelam Gorhe, deputy chairperson of the Maharashtra Legislative Council, under whom the 2019 study was conducted, shared, "We found that due to early marriage and repetitive child berths women in the area face several health issues including infections etc. and instead of getting right treatment for such health issues, the women tend to go for hysterectomy to end the health issues once and for all.”
As Savita Dayanand Landge, a sugarcane worker in her 30s who got a hysterectomy last year because she hoped it would end her need to visit doctors, told New York Times, “I couldn’t afford to miss work to see the doctor.”
Women like Savita perceive the hysterectomy as a way of stopping their periods, preventing ovarian cysts, uterine cancer and an end to the need for gynaecological care. In addition to the hysterectomy allowing them to extend their working hours, it also saves them money on menstrual hygiene products; tampons and pads are expensive and the lack of running water adds to the problem.
How The Better India is trying to help
The Better India, along with Nabhangan Foundation, is running a campaign to help revive the Pachegaon river. With your donation, once the river is de-silted, it will enable the farmers of Beed to stay back in their villages and continue farming. This would end the need to migrate to the sugarcane fields of western Maharashtra.
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This would essentially mean, the women — masters of their land — wouldn’t be forced to become labourers in another’s field. They wouldn’t need to go under the knife and get a hysterectomy.
The case is complex, but it all starts with ensuring that these farmers can continue farming on their lands, which will only be possible with a river that is able to hold water.
And you can make this happen!
Read more about our campaign here.
Edited by Vidya Gowri Venkatesh