The interim budget loaded with farmer’s benefits is here. Then why are farmers still protesting on the road?
The government, today, presented its interim budget with many vote-catching announcements. Few of them were targeted specifically towards farmers, in order to appease the ann-daata (food provider) category. The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi is one of such populist measure of the Modi government. It calls for a direct benefit transfer of Rs 6,000 per annum to those farmers who own less than two hectares of land. It is expected to benefit about 12 crore small and marginal farmers.
Proposal to offer interest subvention of up to 2% on loans to all farmers, affected by a natural disaster, was another benefit announced in the 2019 budget. Adding to that is a 3% interest subvention, which will also be given for timely loan repayment to the farmers
But even after the announcement of such welfare schemes for them in today’s interim budget, the government is facing the wrath of the farmer’s protest in the capital. The sudden flow of thousands of farmers has swamped vehicles on the DND highway, affecting the free flow of traffic.
But, how is it that our farmers not pleased with this ‘eleventh-hour’ relief ?
Our farmers are now well versed with the vote-bank politics of the government. If at all the government was as pro-farmer as it claims to be, why was this relief not announced over the last 4.5 years? Why are such major changes announced at the eleventh-hour of governance, in desperate attempts to attract voters?
The government’s data on almost 3 lakh farmer suicides in the last 20 years itself, indicates the worrisome trend of farmers’ lives. Still, no long-term policy measures to curb such horror was given a thought. Otherwise, where was this same government when the Tamil Nadu farmers came protesting for drought relief in Delhi?
Also, farmers have already experienced the tardy implementation of the heavily worded “landmark schemes”. Improper and low disbursement of funds, corruption in the market agencies, and lack of infrastructure to deal with farmer’s produce have further deteriorated their belief in the government’s promise. In this regard, doubling farmer’s income by 2022 just seems like a lollipop to innocent starving agriculturists.
Weak implementation of the recommendations of the M. Swaminathan report has further brought out the hollowness of government’s attitude to the farmers’ woes. In the name of ‘loan waiver’ for political gains, a few hundreds of rupees are exempted, sometimes not even that, which is just outrageous and cruel.
Still, the minimum support price, or the MSP, given is not even close to the remunerative price that farmer lobbies are demanding. No proper cold storage infrastructure has been set up in the vicinity of farms. Market linkages are still filled with the middlemen and their exploiting practices. Indian agriculture is already in the doldrums. As a result, despite the dependence of the majority of the population on agriculture (61.5% as per agricultural census 2011), Indian agriculture hardly contributes to 7.68% of the total global agricultural output.
Digital revolution which is apparently the solution for every national problem, is still a pipeline project for far-flung villages where electricity is yet a ‘chaar din ki chandni’ phenomenon. Therefore, nationwide ‘agri-extension’ is still far from reality.
With such sorry state of affairs, how can we expect our food givers to be patient, and how do we count on the intelligence of the government to listen to their problems?
Their anger is more than justified, but the indifference of the government to their plight, and the aftermath of their angst, it is hurting the daily transit of other common citizens too. That may seem like a small price to pay in front of the larger good, but a consensus needs to be drawn at the earliest.
If the government of the day still chooses to not pay heed to their ann-aaata’s demands, they’ll be losing out on many of their matt-daatas. This may also be an indication of a potential massive upheaval in the run up to the 2019 elections, or the commencement of a farmer’s revolution very soon, causing the nation to change its structure forever.
It’s high time the government starts investing considerable resources for the betterment of our food suppliers’ conditions, and for the future of agriculture, because as Thomas Jefferson once said, “Agriculture is our wisest pursuit, because it will, in the end, contribute most to real wealth, good morals, and happiness.”