Despite having a massive agrarian traditions, successive governments have never prioritized the farmers' problems. Instead, farmers were treated just as an election gimmick. Agriculture is still the largest source of livelihood for most Indians, employing more than half the country’s workforce, mostly in small and local farms.
In late November 2020, tens of thousands of farmers marched to the capital to protest proposed new farm legislation It was the single largest protest in human history. More than 250 million people participated in a 24-hour general strike in solidarity. This massive people’s movement has gained attention worldwide and, moreover, forced the government to come meet the protesters.
However, no solution could be found due to the adamant stand of Modi govt and farmers have continued their protest for the last more than ten months. Its the World longest farmers' agitation.
It is a pity that no successive govt could really understand the long plight of Indian farmers. Despite feeding the entire nation and providing a significant bedrock for India’s economy, farmers have always had a difficult time. Colonial-induced famines, bureaucratic and oppressive government policies, exploitation by feudal-minded landholders, and, of course, adverse climate have left India’s farmers and farm workers among the worst off the world over. The small and marginal farmers owning less than 5 acres of land, are the most vulnerable . Over 58 per cent of the rural households depend on agriculture as their principal means of livelihood.
Despite the 1960s “Green Revolution,” Indian farmers have been left completely strapped by crippling debts, losses on marketed goods, and devastation from extreme weather, and long-troubling suicide rates reaching staggering figures. In 2019, alone, there were 5,957 farmer suicides, along with an additional 4,324 farm labourers also dying by suicide, according to the State of India's Environment in Figures 2021. As of 5 March 2021, 248 farmers including during farmers agitation had died.
Nonetheless. no law can solve the staggering problems of Indian farmers.The problem is that govt of the people in India also look at farmers like Colonial rulers as big source of revenue. Though agriculture income from land in India is exempted from Income tax, yet no one in India can escape from the clutches of indirect taxes like service tax, value added tax, sales tax, etc.
The main problem is that farmers in India are just mere cultivators with almost no control over pricing and selling of their yields. Everything is in the hands of the middlemen who appropriate a huge portion of the profit giving the farmers very little. The insufficient rain, lack of proper irrigation and infrastructure facilities, lack of proper credit facilities, etc. are the major causes of the farmers' plight. Except rainfall, the remaining factors are well under the purview of the government and can be solved by adequate state attention.
It is worth noting here that farmers modified cultivated crops focusing only on crops that could be exported for money. Hence, only cash crops and commercial crops began to be produced, and food crops were neglected. This led to stagnation of Indian agriculture, and thus began the plight of farmers. It is also important to note that this is the point when the farmers are reduced to mere cultivators, as pricing and selling was done by the authorities and the Indian landlords.
Thiagu Ranganathan, Assistant Professor, Agriculture Economics Research Unit, Institute of Economic Growth, in his paper titled Farmers' Income in India: Evidence from Secondary Data, had found, "Farm households earned Rs 77,888 in the period from July 2012 to June 2013 or Rs 6491 per month during this period." Its too meager.
Under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Scheme., the government is transferring a sum of Rs. 6000 per year directly into the account of all small and marginal landowners (those with less than 2 hectares of land) in three equal installments of Rs. 2000 each. It works out to just about Rs. 500 a month. Given the current rate of inflation (manhgai), this sum is too meager an amount to substitute the farmer’s income. This neither helps the farmer to take care of his family efficiently, nor improve his farming techniques, nor enable him to pay off his debts. This seems to just be a way to absolve the state of taking a more comprehensive and effective action in tackling the issue. In simple terms, this is a propaganda stunt to gain votes.
Farmers don't need charity. What they need is direct and active role in marketing their crops. Under the circumstances farmers are not able to repay their loans.The farm loan waivers are just a temporary respite and a populist election gimmick.
The government has to look into better ways enabling farmers to control the pricing the farm produce and instead came up with a direct income transfer scheme according to their yields. The minimum support price at which the government directly procures grain from the farmers is not as much as was promised to them. As such, all these policies that are tailor-made for agri sector but are actually not benefiting the farmers.
So it is of paramount importance to have an clear understanding of the exact nature and causes of the problems being faced by the Indian farmers and tackle them head-on. It is high time to stop treating farmers' problem as an election gimmick. Instead better to start prioritizing the lives of our "Anndata (feeder)".
(Chander Sharma)
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