#khariar

Across Nuapada, the moneylenders have understood the special characteristics of each area and community. They have set up their operations on that basis. They decide what will be the terms of production and extraction block to block. So in Khariar, the moneylenders take the land of the peasants. In Bhoden, they extract their produce. And, in Sinapali, command their labour virtually free. As a senior official in Bhubaneswar who has worked in several backward districts later tells me: 'No government survey can match the information the moneylenders hold on the property, holdings, assets, debts and needs of the peasants. They have it all figured out.'