Here is an article from The Times of India. It may seem strange to us but lots of such folks around.
Farmers bet future on market they dont grasp
Speculation on commodity futures has become a dangerous addiction in small towns of north-west UP. Farmers, traders & labourers are going broke, some even killing themselves. But the betting goes on...
Avijit Ghosh & Prabhakar Sinha | TNN
Sambhal: Its a small cubicle, barely six by eight feet. Its crowded inside with everyones eyes fixed on the red and blue markers on the computer screens. Its as if they are watching the slog overs of a pulsating one-day cricket match. Only, this is no gameits people tracking the fate of their money invested in commodities.
This isnt a big city and these men are not the usual punters. They are traders, small farmers and even labourers speculating on the futures commodity market that has become a collective and dangerous addiction for thousands in this small town in north-west Uttar Pradesh.
Many such investors cant read or write and are totally unaware of the modalities that govern futures trading. Even cricket betting, if allowed, would be more informed for them. Yet lured by the prospect of making a fast buck, they put their hardearned money on commodities ranging from pulses, potatoes, gold and crude oil, to natural gas and zinc. The itch to gamble is irresistible even though it has devastated many. Of course, the exchange itself cannot be blamed if someone makes a bad investment decision.
Many of those who spoke to TOI claimed to have lost sums ranging between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 5 lakh in the commodity market. At least two persons in Sambhal town have committed suicide due to the losses suffered in the last year. Others have barely survived. House painter Mohammed Nabi lost Rs 3.5 lakh and his sanitynow he is a cart puller (see box inside). Another regular, Nathu Singh, had to sell his house to pay off debts.
But few lessons have been learnt. Addictions, said Joseph Frascella of the US National Institute on Drug Abuse to Time magazine recently, are repetitive behaviours in the face of negative consequences, the desire to continue something you know is bad for you. Its no different with hundreds in Sambhal.
But this is not just Sambhals story. In several other small towns and qasbahs such as Amroha, Chaundasi, Moradabad, Bahjoi and Rampur, people are trading in the futures commodity market. Its almost like playing blind in a card game, says jeweller Anil Kumar Rastogi, who himself has lost over Rs 3 lakh.
It wasnt always like this. Sambhal is a Muslim majority town located 150 km east of Delhi that used to be part of Mulayam Singh Yadavs Lok Sabha seat. Situated at a rail terminus, it has traditionally been a trade centre for agricultural produce. The towns fortunes changed for the better after mentha grass was introduced in the area 15-20 years ago.
The oil and aroma produced from the grass is used for medicine, food flavours, cosmetics, beverages and menthol-based lozenges. Soon, small distilleries and manufacturing units came up, ushering in big money. In no time, Sambhal became one of the most important centres for producing mentha oil in the world. There was a time when a profusion of Sumos often jammed the towns narrow streets, says a local. Now there are only a few.
