Beed district is known for sugarcane cutting workers. These sugar cane cutters are migrating to western Maharashtra and northern Karnataka where more sugar factories are more. They are going for cutting sugarcane for six to eight months from Oct to May month depending on season. They are migrating beacuse they are having less livelihood opportunities in their village. Each couple is getting around Rs. 60000 to 70000 during six to eight month.
The Beed district in Marathwada is the most drought-prone even in this dry region. It is one of the India’s poorest districts. Irrigation facilities are poor and they are not likely to improve in the near future. Crops like sorghum and cotton, which can be cultivated on less water, are grown here. The region is ridden with poverty and illiteracy. Perennial drought has resulted in unemployment, shortage of food and water, resulting into endemic poverty. People in Beed are caught in a vicious cycle of debt-poverty-illiteracy-poverty-debt. This vicious circle adversely affects all social indicators-health, infant mortality, education, violence against women etc. Access to good health services is almost nonexistent for the poor.