In many parts, the development process has hurt poor people. For instance, the coming of borewells some years ago meant that the small farmers of the Muthuraja colony of Kovilpatti lost most of their lands. The borewell owners were richer and higher caste farmers of the next hamlet. And they used their new weapon to deadly effect. As Dr Nagraj of the Madras Institute of Development Studies puts it: 'The man controlling groundwater becomes extremely important. He sinks the borewells. He has the resources and the bank contacts.'
P Sainath, 'Everybody Loves a Good Drought'
















