The the politics of right and left has belittled the real , ground swelling issues. While we may be busy discussing lingua franca but there
are some gruesome reality that needs to be told. One such issue is AGRICULTURE. Our farmers are grued to a level that they want to
take up their own life. What makes us perturbed even more is the perpetual denial of each and every government towards this issue. They subtly
try to make this a political issue which inturn results in demeaning the very credentials of the whole issue. Leaving the political narratives
aside, this article tries to shed some light on the reasons behind the indirect murders(i.e suicide) of our beloved farmers.
WHY DO THEY NEED ATTENTION?(only because they are committing suicide???? NO)
THE fundamental answer will be to feed 130 crore population. But let’s not limit our intellect , dwelling in deep gives us more optimism
about this industry. Bowing down to the fact that they feed us , we must now see agriculture not merely as a cycle of sowing seeds and harvesting
the final crop but also as an industry which determines a large section of our GDP(i.e 17% in 2013-14 as reported by IMF). Though we are proud of
our service sector which contributes the most in our GDP but it is still far and wide in comparision to agriculture sector when it comes to giving employment.
Going through government magazine i.e KURUSHETRA one can imagine the potential of agriculture and kind of impact it has on rural economy. Survey of BRICS
nation confirmed that one percent growth in agricultural sector gives employment to as much people as three precent growth in non-agricultural sector would give.
This is not just another data but it explains the primary reason behind calling agriculture as the backbone of our economy.In a country of 130 crore it is not
possible for any single sector to intake all the unemployed youth. SO therefore we need to orchestrate our youth towards each and every sector, if employment
for all is to be ensured.From clabber to cloths, we need youth in each sector. Todays new generation moving away from agriculture is in fact creating unemployment
more rapidly and of massive scale( 3 times according to BRICS survey) than that from any other sector. As agriculture gulps in more labourers and creates employment,
its high time to put our focus on this sector.
Ours is a country where higher education is a far cry for almost 95% of the people( data is from government magazine KURUSHETRA). Hence many industries
cannot employ anyone and everyone. The people who are less educated are shown the doors and feels humiliated under the likes of IITians, NITians etc working
for that industry.For people who are almost illiterate the doors are closed everywhere in the country from private sector to government sector. These people can be easily
incarcerated(dont take it otherwise) in the open field of agriculture reducing alot of burden about employment( Ofcourse infrastructural development must
also follow simultaneously).
WHAT ELSE NEEDS TO BE DONE?
Every single student of economics knows that waiving the loans is not good economics but it’s just good politics. Loan waiver has become
the modus operandi of every government. But let it be heard that its neither good economics nor good politics. Reason behind this statement is not
a rocket science but a simple logic, HOW MANY TIMES WILL THE STATE WAIVE OFF THEIR LOANS? Actually what farmers want is MSP. It is this price that saves them
when the price falls down to a extreme low. Taking the example of current situation we can argue for the importance of MSP for farmers. Acknowledging the prime
ministers decision to back track RS1000 and RS 500 notes the farmers are in full support of Pm Modi even though they are hit the hardest by this step. Farmers
hardly have any knowledge about the effects of notebandi but it is trust on PM MODI that they stand with him. But slowly they have started to hear through
grapevines about the plight of their own community. Its not just political rumors but it also has some genuine underlying challenges which needs to be addressed
by both centre and state. Demonetisation has turned up being demonization for the farmers. The business slowed down which inturn made farmers sell their products
at rates as low as never before. Dalhan which comprises of various crops are being sold at less than half the average price. One sack full of such crop was previously
sold at an average price between RS 5500 to 6500, but now it reduced to astonishing RS 2300-2500. PM Modis aim to double the farmers income is a success but other way
round. GST is poised to improve the situation a bit but only after the protests of traders are over. Hence isn’t the MSP best option as of now? We do have MSPs but
not on all crops. This is stupid law, if an area with soil unfit for the crop which has MSP is sown with that seed, what will be amount of loss not merely
in its quantity but also in quality.? This bizzare and unscientific logic to give MSP only on certain kind of crops makes no sense. Hence PM Modi must ensure that MSP
is being given not only on handful crops but on all crops. This step will not only be judged as good economics, it will also be great politics. Further it will
reinstate his position in hearts and minds of farmers.
Similar to the MSP, a potentially game changing step of PRADHAN MANTRI FASAL BIMA YOJANA is at present being implemented in not more than 13 states. This needs
to be implemented in full fledged way in all states and districts. SC in its judgement remarked beautifully and told TN government that
state government must ensure the success of schemes such as PMFBY. This remark also raises many eyebrows in the opposition parties as to how it is not being implemented in
letter and spirit even in the existing 13 states. Still why I say this to be a game changer is because of the relief it has given in some districts where
it has been implemented. For example centre has almost disbursed 172 crore to 89000 farmers in Dharwad district(28th june THE HINDU news). This step helped develope
a sense of hope and pride in our farmers. The onus of its implementation largely lies in the hands of state governments. Therefore they need to buck up and make this YOJANA
a success on ground.
WE have acres and acres of arable lands, hence we have alot more quantity of crops which needs to be preserved throughout the year. This needs fully equipped storage
system in almost each and every district of our country. What we saw under UPA government was lack of storage space which inturn played a catalytic role in rotting
of rice purchased by the then government. It was finally disbursed at price as low as RS 1 per Kg to manufacture alocholic drinks. This emotional topic(at least
for farmers) was raised by now PM Modi in his election campaign. He needs to understand now that mere rheoterics wont do, it may win you elections but you wont
count in the category of reformists such as Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Hence this storage system needs to be fixed as soon as possible as Lack of storage is also
one of the prime reasons that government dont buy the harvested products of farmers.
LET THE IDEA OF JAI JAWAN JAI KISAAN PREVAIL IN OUR SOCIETY.