Shadow of debt looms over villages of Tamil Nadu’s Dharmapuri

The little black goat hungrily suckled from the feeding bottle Muthammal held to its mouth. Ms. Muthammal had just bought half a litre of milk from her neighbour Ambigai, who stood by holding her alum

The little black goat hungrily suckled from the feeding bottle Muthammal held to its mouth. Ms. Muthammal had just bought half a litre of milk from her neighbour Ambigai, who stood by holding her aluminium milk can, measuring to refill the feeding bottle. “She bought this kid as a new-born from someone, who needed money. She will raise it, and then sell it to make some money,” Ms. Ambigai said, explaining the economics of goat rearing in M.Thanda village in the dry Eiryur block of Dharmapuri. “Sometimes it may go up to ₹10,000, if she is lucky.” As she waits, Ms. Muthammal tells Ms. Ambigai that she withdrew the last of the MGNREGS work payment of ₹1,200 this week. Those were the wages for the six days of work credited for March that she had saved up.