In the last two years, suicides are on the rise again. Andhra CEO Chandrababu Naidu's response was decisive. He sent teams of psychologists to the affected areas. In the Kalahandi-Bolangir region in the 1990s, newcomers swelled the ranks of the migrants in large numbers. Many were small farmers who could no longer cope.
Thousands lose land to creditors each year.
And those who produce plenty of food here quickly lose control of it to their creditors. The destruction of Kalahandi's traditional irrigation systems is one key cause of that region's decline. It has been spurred on by active policy. And by passive neglect. Thus, a food surplus area has acquired the image of a basket case that it has never deserved.