By Arun Srivastava
It is too early to predict the nature and characteristics of the emerging new farmers’ movement in India, but one thing is certain. The coming together of divergent forces and groups would invariably have a major impact on the politics of the country.
Four year ago, when Narendra Modi was moving around the country seeking the mandate of the people for his ascension to the office of the prime minister, he had promised to double the income of farmers within ten years and bring about fundamental change in the agrarian sector. But an insight into the developments taking place in the sector would make it clear that Modi has miserably failed to live up to his promise.
The government keeps mentioning doubling of farm incomes, but fails to clarify whether it is gross income or net income. Gross income can increase if a farmer grows a cash crop with high debt. But when the cost of taking care of the family’s food and nutritional security is included, the net income will go down. The government has to ensure that farmers’ net income increases if their welfare is to be taken care of. Net negative incomes are at the root of the debt crisis and farmer suicides. They must not be pushed into a debt trap by forcing costly inputs on them.
BJP or RSS has never been committed to promote the interests of the farmers. There is no denying that the rot that has crept into agriculture for over four decades cannot be rectified within four years. But certainly a sincere effort to set things right should have been initiated. Unfortunately, that has not happened. What is worse is that during these years while productivity declined, employment in agriculture has also shrunk. While the last two Censuses show a rise of some 10 per cent in agricultural employment, the National Sample Survey shows a considerable fall.
The Modi government did not take the deterioration seriously and has been trying to hide behind statistics. Notwithstanding the government claims, the fact remains that the number of farmers has been falling. A large number of small farmers have been selling their tiny plots and making a living out of casual labour, working in villages as well as neighbouring towns. This has given rise to a new kind of farmer-owner.
During the last four years the farmers have been constantly raising their voice against discrimination perpetrated on them. But the Modi government has refused to pay serious attention. On October 2 thousands of farmers from Haryana, Rajasthan and Western UP marched to Delhi to voice their frustration. Initially they were not allowed to enter Delhi, but at the intervention of some senior BJP leaders, who perceived the march as a challenge to the party, intervened and sought permission to allow them to pay tribute to their leader late Chaudhary Charan Singh at his samadhi.
In protest against the government apathy, thousands of farmers under the banner of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) had begun their Kisan Kranti March in Hardwar on September 23 and reached Delhi on the Gandhi Jayanti day. The police had to resort to violent action to keep the agitating farmers under control.
This was the second long march of the farmers. Earlier, farmers from Maharashtra had organised a long march demanding loan waiver as they were unable to repay loans because of crop failures, droughts, floods, or low MSP, putting them under additional distress and many farmers committing suicide. The protesters have called for a one-time loan waiver and implementation of the Swaminathan committee recommendations. The committee had submitted five reports between 2004 and 2006 for “faster and more inclusive growth” for farmers. They have also been seeking uninterrupted power supply for at least six hours.
Also earlier in April 2017 thousands of farmers from Thanjavur and Tiruchirappalli districts of Tamil Nadu staged a protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, with bones and skulls in their hands to highlight the problem of farmers suicides in the state. More than 106 farmers had committed suicide in one month because of the worst draught that hit the state in more than a century.
“Instead of providing relief to farmers, they are exacerbating the crisis. We haven’t seen such an agrarian distress in India since independence,” said CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury.
The rally of September 5 was significant for the reason that it brought together for the first time in post-Independence India three distinct classes: workers belonging to trade unions, peasants organized under the Kisan Sabha, and the agricultural workers. In the past hey used to hold separate rallies, which never included agricultural workers. The three sections came on single platform as they have come to realise that without unity they would not succeed in challenging the government’s arbitrary action. Also conditions have now been created for such unity, which did not exist earlier
Traditionally, the interests of peasants, who want higher prices for their produce, are seen to go against the interests of workers, who get hurt by the higher prices. Under the neo-liberal regime of BJP there has been a persistent squeeze on peasant agriculture through a progressive withdrawal of state support from this sector. One manifestation of this squeeze is the suicide of more than three lakh peasants over the last two decades while 15 million peasants have left farming between the 1991 and the 2011 Censuses. (IPA Service)