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Friday, March 29 2024
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Farmers are Angry Again

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Farmers in India have been on the march for a while now. What began in a few states in India has, in this month reached Delhi, the Capital of India. The march is draw attention to their demands for a better quality of life and support from the government. But are these voices heard?

The Government and Framers share a Love-Hate relationship. To voice their concerns, the farmers need their representatives. It’s also undeniable that nothing has been good enough in finding solutions. Every politician and every government worth their salt will always claim to ‘work for the backbone of the country’ aka the farmers, but then it is always the corporate companies that often get away with the booties and murder too.
Statistics has shown that over a thousand farmers end their lives every month in the India. Lakhs of farmers walked up to Delhi few days ago. A cry for war to the Government was heard, “Give us what we deserve. Else, we’ll give you whatever you deserve” – a resounding response in the upcoming elections across the country at both state and national level.
The Indian Economy has been sharply linked to the agrarian system for ages and might so for years to come. India as a nation that rides on traditional and modern methods of farming with less space for innovation in the methods since it is basically a sector that is unorganized and unsupported by successive governments.
The Nation has witnessed a sea of protests starting from Tamil Nadu. The March tried to capture the attention of the central government and failed but there have been sporadic but consistent protests by farmers across the country. This is not only at the national level but also across many states directing their ire at the ruling dispensation irrespective of the party that is in power.
Post demonetization and GST, the situation has gone from bad to worse. Farmers’ suicide rates have spiked up. Renowned journalist P Sainath is of the opinion that the government is masking the truth to a large extent. “The farmers’ suicide rate is so bad, that for two years now, the Modi government is not publishing the NCRB figures. They leak little pieces called provisional data in the parliament,” he reportedly said recently.
Even in the the home state of the PM, Gujarat or in Karnataka where the most farmer-friendly party JD(S) is in power in coalition with the Congress, the anger is palpable. Both claim to have known the pulse of farmers like the back of their hand.
PM Narendra Modi in his election campaign in 2014 had promised to increase farmer incomes and had assured to hike the minimum support price (MSP) formula to deliver a good 50% profits of their produce to the farmers. PM directly hit out against the UPA government calling them callous as far as the unresolved issues of farmers are concerned during his campaigns.
The high debts have forced farmers to end their lives and it seems like the Government has not much time to hear these voices of cry.
Towards the end of November, as the chill was setting in on the national capital, Delhi, about a lakh farmers marched to Ram Lila Maidan from different parts of the country. Their demand was much in keeping with the democratic rights of every citizen of the country. Call for a special parliamentary session to address their issues. Nothing less than that would do.
Statistics show more than 70% of the households that depend on agriculture, spend more than whatever they earn from the farm produce. A glorious picture is shown out now. Other aspects of economy are working to feed the farming sector with no assurance on fixing the core issues.
Framers across the country have been raising their voice so much so that farmers across West Bengal have been making their voice heard over loan waiver and establishment of industries on farm lands acquired by the government.
On the other hand the number of farmers has been consistently dipping since many years now owing to rapid urbanization and focus on corporate-style industrialization where facilities like single window clearance etc help the corporates and never work in favour of farmers who would have held the land as their source of income since many generations now.
When the crop prices crashes, small farmers face the worst, also because they do not have a quantity buffer as far as recovering the losses is concerned. They get exploited at many levels owing to crash in prices and the yards working against their calculation to run them deep into the debt.
One could hope for something for that is all there is to life. Farmers and Agriculture though being the backbone of this country have been hurt countless times. The question is when will it change? Or is the real question. “Will it ever change?”. Only time will tell.

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