Tuesday, December 8, 2009
the chattisgarh files...
Whichever way we calculate the farmer suicides data from the national crime records bureau (NCRB), Chhattisgarh retains a place in the top five states. It fits in the criteria to reserve its hegemony among the other competing states at the fourth position considering the total number of farmers committing suicide; number three considering the farmers suicide rate (FSR) per one lakh farmers; number three again considering the rate of farmers' suicide per one lakh male farmers; and number one considering farmers' suicide rate per one lakh population. Chhattisgarh tops this list every year since its inception in 2000. When Vidarbha saw 1,065 farmer suicides in 2006, Chhattisgarh saw 1,483 the same year. According to NCRB, the suicide rate among Chhattisgarh's farmers in 2006 was 6.49 per one lakh farmers, followed by Maharashtra with 4.28, Kerala with 3.37, Andhra Pradesh 3.24 and Karnataka with 2.57. While farmer suicides in other states have drawn much media and government attention, those in Chhattisgarh have gone virtually unnoticed. Yet, the suicide rate among farmers is the highest in Chhattisgarh. The media in Chhattisgarh claims farmer suicides does not happen here. Their rather simplistic logic is that farmers do not grow cash crop in the state and paddy does not require much investment, hence the story is not true. The chief minister has vehemently proclaimed, "Not a single farmer has committed suicide ever due to debts. It is not the issue but the people writing about it who need to be investigated." So what is the real story? Police records show the details of farmers who commit suicide due to debt. Moreover, some more digging up of the issue reveals that the problem is very complex. The big farmers in Chhattisgarh have almost stopped tilling the farms on their own and lease out their lands to small farmers and the landless. Hence, many small farmers end up cultivating bigger farms than they themselves own. The input cost in paddy cultivation has been steadily growing and the labour cost has gone up drastically with NREGAcoming in force. After giving rent to the landowner, the cultivator is left with abysmally low profit. So the farmer, who cultivates, thus is compelled by circumstances to take loan which is many times borrowed from a local moneylender who charges a higher rate of interest. The landless cultivating a farm of a big landowner does not get any loan from the co-operatives because they does not have papers to be submitted as against security. Consequently, after being indebted to the moneylenders from head to toes, many of such farmers and the landless commit suicide due to continuous distress. Unfortunately, as they farm on leased land, their suicide is not lodged as farmers' suicide in police records, otherwise, the actual number of farmers killing themselves would be even higher. The districts with the highest number of farmers' suicide are the ones that have the maximum utilisation of fertilisers. The rate of suicides in the tribal districts of north and south Chhattisgarh is less than half of that of the central part of the state. So, is it the income from forests in the north and south that is saving tribal farmers in these areas? The farmers opined that if the labour cost is calculated at the rate of minimum wages, then the minimum support price for paddy should be at least the double, if not more. A moneyed farmer earns profit today only because he pays less than the minimum wage to the labour. Nevertheless, getting labour at cheaper rates is becoming much difficult, especially closer to the urban settlements. Many farmers are keen to sell off their land and resort to self-farming only as a last option available with them. The police records have many cases of farmers' suicides with reasons of death stated as, economic pressure, mental illness, drinking, fight, tension and "unknown". Farm scientist Sanket Thakur explains, "The income from farming is reducing every year and the farmer goes into debt ordinarily. Sometimes it is the general sense of hopelessness which translates into suicides. The immediate reason of a suicide might be a fight with the wife, but in many of these cases farming distress provides an active background." The saga is not just to be concluded here. This subject needs thorough investigation for unravelling the puzzle of loss of hard pressed human lives. Bob Dylan once sang, "How many deaths does it take to be known that too many people have died?" An apt question for Chhattisgarh.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
ENDOSUPLHAN..banned pesticide legalised by govt of india
Endosulfan is a pesticide belonging to the organochlorine group of pesticides, under the Cyclodiene subgroup. It has been introduced in the 1950’s and in India has become a leading chemical used against pests in agriculture. It is used as an insecticide and also to kill fishes in lakes and rivers. It is not recommended for household use as it is known as a potent poison that can cause harm upon contact, eating food contaminated by it, swallowing and even inhaling the odour.
The chemical came into spotlight in India when at Kasargad in Kerala it was sprayed aerially and the local population of many villages was exposed to it. What followed was very shocking. It led to physical and mental defects in poor farmers and their families. Studies have shown endosulfan to accumulate in a mother's breast milk and it has been linked to appalling birth deformities, the like of which are still being observed at Kasargad, “Kerala’s Bhopal”.
Such events have occurred across the Globe and 62 countries all over the world have either banned it or restricted its use. Unfortunately India has done nothing to stem the use of this endocrine disruptor which can cause changes at the genetic level. Only in the state of Kerala where the endosulfan tragedy occurred that activists, scientists and doctors have been able to enforce a ban.
The U S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classifies endosulfan as Category Ib – Highly Hazardous and so does the European Union. Though it is a very great health hazard the WHO calls it only moderately hazardous.
In which crops are endosulfan sprayed? The list is long. It is used in vegetables, fruits, paddy, cotton, cashew, tea, coffee, and tobacco and also timber crops. In the Bolangir district of Orissa this poison is spread twice on paddy. The farmers of Rayagada too are using it. Being a Persistent Organic Pollutant and also a Persistent Toxic Substance it is not easy to remove this poison from the body or from the food crop upon which it is sprayed. The spraying of this pesticide on food crops, particularly paddy, is unpardonable.
Unfortunately India refuses to ban this pesticide and continues to say that it is safe. "The Indian government, a major producer, vigorously opposes any international ban, stymieing efforts by other nations to safeguard human health", writes a report released by the Environmental Justice Foundation in September. India the largest producer of Endosulfan does not want to disturb the profit it earns by producing and exporting this deadly poison to 70 countries.
Living Farms in Orissa which is opposed against the use of chemical pesticides, calls for an immediate ban on this deadly pesticide. Very recently Pandit Ravishankar has urged, “have some value for life & stop this madness.”. Activists, scientists and doctors round the world are urging the Indian pesticide industry to take a decisive role and end the production and use of endosulfan in India, a move which will have global significance.
The chemical came into spotlight in India when at Kasargad in Kerala it was sprayed aerially and the local population of many villages was exposed to it. What followed was very shocking. It led to physical and mental defects in poor farmers and their families. Studies have shown endosulfan to accumulate in a mother's breast milk and it has been linked to appalling birth deformities, the like of which are still being observed at Kasargad, “Kerala’s Bhopal”.
Such events have occurred across the Globe and 62 countries all over the world have either banned it or restricted its use. Unfortunately India has done nothing to stem the use of this endocrine disruptor which can cause changes at the genetic level. Only in the state of Kerala where the endosulfan tragedy occurred that activists, scientists and doctors have been able to enforce a ban.
The U S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) classifies endosulfan as Category Ib – Highly Hazardous and so does the European Union. Though it is a very great health hazard the WHO calls it only moderately hazardous.
In which crops are endosulfan sprayed? The list is long. It is used in vegetables, fruits, paddy, cotton, cashew, tea, coffee, and tobacco and also timber crops. In the Bolangir district of Orissa this poison is spread twice on paddy. The farmers of Rayagada too are using it. Being a Persistent Organic Pollutant and also a Persistent Toxic Substance it is not easy to remove this poison from the body or from the food crop upon which it is sprayed. The spraying of this pesticide on food crops, particularly paddy, is unpardonable.
Unfortunately India refuses to ban this pesticide and continues to say that it is safe. "The Indian government, a major producer, vigorously opposes any international ban, stymieing efforts by other nations to safeguard human health", writes a report released by the Environmental Justice Foundation in September. India the largest producer of Endosulfan does not want to disturb the profit it earns by producing and exporting this deadly poison to 70 countries.
Living Farms in Orissa which is opposed against the use of chemical pesticides, calls for an immediate ban on this deadly pesticide. Very recently Pandit Ravishankar has urged, “have some value for life & stop this madness.”. Activists, scientists and doctors round the world are urging the Indian pesticide industry to take a decisive role and end the production and use of endosulfan in India, a move which will have global significance.
Monday, January 26, 2009
P SAINATH WRITES ANOTHER MASTER PIECE...YET ANOTHER STORY OF TRIAL AND TRIBULATION
YET ANOTHER BLUNT REALITY
No sugar-coated pills for cotton farmers
P. Sainath
This time three years ago, there were around 300 cotton procurement centres at work in Maharashtra. This year that number is 56. The farmers are being pushed towards private traders. And much lower prices.
THE SAME day the Prime Minister told us agriculture would be our top priority, Vidharbha saw the last rites of a farmer shot dead by the police in Wani, Yavatmal. The same week that Opposition parties staged mock funerals for farmers inside the Maharashtra Assembly, real funerals were held for more than 20 farmers who had committed suicide in those seven days. All of them driven to it by debt. Months after the `relief packages,' Vidharbha's crisis has gotten worse.
Large numbers of police had been shifted to Nagpur by December 3. With the session to begin the next day — and a dozen protests planned outside the legislature — the force there was beefed up strongly. Khairlanji, of course, grabbed most of the attention. In the process, the problems simmering at the procurement centres across the cotton belt were sidelined. When things boiled over, as they were sure to, no one could cope.
The tension and clashes at the procurement centres were easy to predict. As reported in this newspaper, "procurement delays could force many farmers to sell in distress to private buyers." ( The Hindu , November 25, 2006.) Being forced into the corner was what sparked off the clash that saw farmer Dinesh Ghugal lose his life. This time three years ago, there were around 300 cotton procurement centres at work. This year that number is 56. The farmers are being pushed towards private traders. And much lower prices.
The official price this season is between Rs.1,700 and Rs.1,900 a quintal. That's where the role of the cotton graders comes in. Farmers — often rightly — see the graders as serving trader interests. By placing their best produce in lower categories. So the price offered in practice falls even lower.
To begin with, the Maharashtra Government brought down an already low cotton price last year by withdrawing the `advance bonus' till then paid to the farmers. That pushed the average price down from Rs.2,250 per quintal to just around Rs.1,700. It was clear then that an already stressed farm community would respond in despair. It was pointed out that the region "could see a huge rise in the already dismal numbers" of farm suicides. Which is what happened. ( The Hindu October 28, 2005)
Even if the price were Rs.2,250, the farmer would be selling at a loss. The State admits that the cost of production is far higher than what the growers are paid for their cotton. An official document puts this clearly. It says "... the MSP fixed is about 20 to 30 per cent lower than the cost of production." The document is titled "Farmers' Suicides in Maharashtra, an Overview."
Farmers ran into much worse at the procurement centres this season. They found they could not get even the stated price of Rs.1,900. That's when trouble broke out. To date, a government that just a month ago announced a "bumper crop" has not procured even four lakh quintals of the 350 lakh quintal harvest it predicted. Farmers see that as a deliberate action. Aimed at pushing them into distress sales at abysmal prices. What's more, it's clear now there is no bumper crop. All that farmers at Wani were demanding was that the Government honour the promise that brought it to power in Maharashtra. A cotton price of Rs.2,700 a quintal. For this they were punished.
It's odd that these actions come from a government that has admitted on record that some 10 million human beings — 17.44 lakh farm families — in the region are in distress. Which also states on record that two million people among this lot are in what it terms "maximum distress." Some of the details of mass misery in the six worst hit districts of the region are in that government paper on farm deaths. And also up on its own website. They come from the largest ever survey of its kind conducted by the government of Maharashtra. One that needed the services of close to 10,000 government workers and other staff.
You'd think that findings like these would prompt the state to declare an agrarian emergency. Instead, most of last Saturday went in arresting people voicing that distress. Not even letting journalists know where those detained were being been held till their release hours later.
Meanwhile, the main Opposition has failed to put the government on the mat. Their actions inside the House were based on drama, not debate. Gopinath Munde did articulate two or three major demands of the farmers. But too many of the BJP's MLAs seem to know little and care less about the dynamite the government's own data placed in their hands. So total is the disarray of the Sena-BJP that the Congress still won the by-elections in Vidharbha's Chimur and Daryapur Assembly seats. True, the candidates were both ex-Shiv Sainiks holding on to their personal turf. This time they just won on the Congress platform. But it gives us a glimpse of how badly the
Opposition has failed to focus on the region's burning problems.
Both ways, the State-wide debate has ranged mostly from the inane to the insane. One strange idea is that Vidharbha should move from cotton to sugarcane. It's amazing the notion persists even when Maharashtra is drowning in the latter. (Mr. Munde rightly attacked this.) The mills cannot handle all the cane there is. But for massive state support, sugar prices would plummet to Rs.12 a kg. Oddly, this action comes from a government that has withdrawn its intervention in cotton. As critics point out, this suggests cotton exists in the free market. Sugar, outside it. If there's one thing Maharashtra does not need more of, it is sugarcane. If there's one thing Vidharbha needs more of, it is water. Sugarcane could take up to 200 times the water that an acre of jowar does.
U.S. subsidies
Does cotton exist in a free market? The State also admits that giant U.S. subsidies to that country's 20,000 cotton growers is hitting the millions of farmers in this region. Yet the Centre has not seen it fit to raise import duties. Which now stand at just ten per cent. And so India's cotton imports in seven years leading to 2005 were three times what they were in the preceding 25 years.
The U.S. cotton crop last year was worth around $3.9 billion. But that nation's handouts to its growers the same year totalled $4.7 billion. Such subsidies have sunk global prices. As a result, says the State Government's own paper, "imported cotton now sells at Rs.17,000 a bale compared to Rs.19,000 a bale for Indian cotton." It also points out that in 2001-02, "U.S. raw cotton exports to India more than tripled to over one million bales. And the U.S. share of total Indian imports rose from 20 per cent to 60 per cent."
A noble admission by the state. But others making the same point face possible arrest and false charges. Activists are being hauled up for the trouble in Wani. The Vidharbha Jan Andolan Samiti's leader Kishore Tiwari was among those held for some hours. He was not in Wani at the time of the trouble. In fact, the same man and his group now accused of sparking unrest were weeks ago widely covered in the media for practising non-violent `gandhigiri' at the region's hated banks.
So we now have a State Government that confesses in black and white to the very charges that farmers are making. But which resorts to force against those making the charges.
Both State and Centre, though, stick to a stubborn public stance that things will improve. Once the `relief packages' begin to work, they insist, things will get a lot better. Yet, the State's own paper on farm suicides is candid about their progress. "In spite of the PM's and CM's relief packages," it says, "the numbers of suicides in the six districts continues to be in the range of 100 a month."
The Maharashtra Government's own count for this year is more than 1,250 suicides. In just the six worst-hit districts. It admits to that figure but says more than half of these are `not genuine.' That is they will not get compensation. They were not due to distress. Every officer, though, knows better. They also know this has been the worst year ever. There have been over 450 in just the last four months. The first eight days of December saw 36.
With the death of Ghugal, things will hot up again as the session resumed this week. It appears the State Government could announce some measures aimed at curbing farm turmoil. There could even be some kind of payments to those in distress. But as two `relief packages' have shown, these will not achieve much if they do not also address the basic issues. That is, a fair price for cotton. A loan waiver. Improved credit. Support that helps lower input costs. A boost for food crop. Otherwise, the next session of the Assembly will be discussing the failures rising out of this one.
No sugar-coated pills for cotton farmers
P. Sainath
This time three years ago, there were around 300 cotton procurement centres at work in Maharashtra. This year that number is 56. The farmers are being pushed towards private traders. And much lower prices.
THE SAME day the Prime Minister told us agriculture would be our top priority, Vidharbha saw the last rites of a farmer shot dead by the police in Wani, Yavatmal. The same week that Opposition parties staged mock funerals for farmers inside the Maharashtra Assembly, real funerals were held for more than 20 farmers who had committed suicide in those seven days. All of them driven to it by debt. Months after the `relief packages,' Vidharbha's crisis has gotten worse.
Large numbers of police had been shifted to Nagpur by December 3. With the session to begin the next day — and a dozen protests planned outside the legislature — the force there was beefed up strongly. Khairlanji, of course, grabbed most of the attention. In the process, the problems simmering at the procurement centres across the cotton belt were sidelined. When things boiled over, as they were sure to, no one could cope.
The tension and clashes at the procurement centres were easy to predict. As reported in this newspaper, "procurement delays could force many farmers to sell in distress to private buyers." ( The Hindu , November 25, 2006.) Being forced into the corner was what sparked off the clash that saw farmer Dinesh Ghugal lose his life. This time three years ago, there were around 300 cotton procurement centres at work. This year that number is 56. The farmers are being pushed towards private traders. And much lower prices.
The official price this season is between Rs.1,700 and Rs.1,900 a quintal. That's where the role of the cotton graders comes in. Farmers — often rightly — see the graders as serving trader interests. By placing their best produce in lower categories. So the price offered in practice falls even lower.
To begin with, the Maharashtra Government brought down an already low cotton price last year by withdrawing the `advance bonus' till then paid to the farmers. That pushed the average price down from Rs.2,250 per quintal to just around Rs.1,700. It was clear then that an already stressed farm community would respond in despair. It was pointed out that the region "could see a huge rise in the already dismal numbers" of farm suicides. Which is what happened. ( The Hindu October 28, 2005)
Even if the price were Rs.2,250, the farmer would be selling at a loss. The State admits that the cost of production is far higher than what the growers are paid for their cotton. An official document puts this clearly. It says "... the MSP fixed is about 20 to 30 per cent lower than the cost of production." The document is titled "Farmers' Suicides in Maharashtra, an Overview."
Farmers ran into much worse at the procurement centres this season. They found they could not get even the stated price of Rs.1,900. That's when trouble broke out. To date, a government that just a month ago announced a "bumper crop" has not procured even four lakh quintals of the 350 lakh quintal harvest it predicted. Farmers see that as a deliberate action. Aimed at pushing them into distress sales at abysmal prices. What's more, it's clear now there is no bumper crop. All that farmers at Wani were demanding was that the Government honour the promise that brought it to power in Maharashtra. A cotton price of Rs.2,700 a quintal. For this they were punished.
It's odd that these actions come from a government that has admitted on record that some 10 million human beings — 17.44 lakh farm families — in the region are in distress. Which also states on record that two million people among this lot are in what it terms "maximum distress." Some of the details of mass misery in the six worst hit districts of the region are in that government paper on farm deaths. And also up on its own website. They come from the largest ever survey of its kind conducted by the government of Maharashtra. One that needed the services of close to 10,000 government workers and other staff.
You'd think that findings like these would prompt the state to declare an agrarian emergency. Instead, most of last Saturday went in arresting people voicing that distress. Not even letting journalists know where those detained were being been held till their release hours later.
Meanwhile, the main Opposition has failed to put the government on the mat. Their actions inside the House were based on drama, not debate. Gopinath Munde did articulate two or three major demands of the farmers. But too many of the BJP's MLAs seem to know little and care less about the dynamite the government's own data placed in their hands. So total is the disarray of the Sena-BJP that the Congress still won the by-elections in Vidharbha's Chimur and Daryapur Assembly seats. True, the candidates were both ex-Shiv Sainiks holding on to their personal turf. This time they just won on the Congress platform. But it gives us a glimpse of how badly the
Opposition has failed to focus on the region's burning problems.
Both ways, the State-wide debate has ranged mostly from the inane to the insane. One strange idea is that Vidharbha should move from cotton to sugarcane. It's amazing the notion persists even when Maharashtra is drowning in the latter. (Mr. Munde rightly attacked this.) The mills cannot handle all the cane there is. But for massive state support, sugar prices would plummet to Rs.12 a kg. Oddly, this action comes from a government that has withdrawn its intervention in cotton. As critics point out, this suggests cotton exists in the free market. Sugar, outside it. If there's one thing Maharashtra does not need more of, it is sugarcane. If there's one thing Vidharbha needs more of, it is water. Sugarcane could take up to 200 times the water that an acre of jowar does.
U.S. subsidies
Does cotton exist in a free market? The State also admits that giant U.S. subsidies to that country's 20,000 cotton growers is hitting the millions of farmers in this region. Yet the Centre has not seen it fit to raise import duties. Which now stand at just ten per cent. And so India's cotton imports in seven years leading to 2005 were three times what they were in the preceding 25 years.
The U.S. cotton crop last year was worth around $3.9 billion. But that nation's handouts to its growers the same year totalled $4.7 billion. Such subsidies have sunk global prices. As a result, says the State Government's own paper, "imported cotton now sells at Rs.17,000 a bale compared to Rs.19,000 a bale for Indian cotton." It also points out that in 2001-02, "U.S. raw cotton exports to India more than tripled to over one million bales. And the U.S. share of total Indian imports rose from 20 per cent to 60 per cent."
A noble admission by the state. But others making the same point face possible arrest and false charges. Activists are being hauled up for the trouble in Wani. The Vidharbha Jan Andolan Samiti's leader Kishore Tiwari was among those held for some hours. He was not in Wani at the time of the trouble. In fact, the same man and his group now accused of sparking unrest were weeks ago widely covered in the media for practising non-violent `gandhigiri' at the region's hated banks.
So we now have a State Government that confesses in black and white to the very charges that farmers are making. But which resorts to force against those making the charges.
Both State and Centre, though, stick to a stubborn public stance that things will improve. Once the `relief packages' begin to work, they insist, things will get a lot better. Yet, the State's own paper on farm suicides is candid about their progress. "In spite of the PM's and CM's relief packages," it says, "the numbers of suicides in the six districts continues to be in the range of 100 a month."
The Maharashtra Government's own count for this year is more than 1,250 suicides. In just the six worst-hit districts. It admits to that figure but says more than half of these are `not genuine.' That is they will not get compensation. They were not due to distress. Every officer, though, knows better. They also know this has been the worst year ever. There have been over 450 in just the last four months. The first eight days of December saw 36.
With the death of Ghugal, things will hot up again as the session resumed this week. It appears the State Government could announce some measures aimed at curbing farm turmoil. There could even be some kind of payments to those in distress. But as two `relief packages' have shown, these will not achieve much if they do not also address the basic issues. That is, a fair price for cotton. A loan waiver. Improved credit. Support that helps lower input costs. A boost for food crop. Otherwise, the next session of the Assembly will be discussing the failures rising out of this one.
the agrarian crisis opening blog
The green revolution ended in the year 2000 when the gains achieved due to the efforts of the earlier years started to be eroded. It took eight long years to realize that new efforts on a war footing were required to address the rot that had set into agriculture. With declining productivity and an increase in the dependent population agriculture ceased to be a remunerative career for many farmers across the country.
According to a recent survey,
75% children of farmers do not want to remain in the profession and want to move to cities. There appears nothing wrong with this trend superficially but the problem will arise when the best would be second-generation farmers choose to stay from their fields.
This does not augur well for the future of a country whose food demands are soaring at a rapid pace and the country is fighting hard to make ends meet. Today more than any other time this sector needs to be rejuvenated by the innovation that educated second -generation farmers will bring to this sector.
Nevertheless, while we may try to take the moral high ground we need to understand the problems at the grass roots:
While national income has grown at an average of 10%, income of farmers has grown by only 2%.
Access to fresh credit is limited despite what the government may want to say, thus relapse into the hands of the moneylender is a foregone conclusion. Waiving of old loans will be ineffective as long as fresh credit is not made available.
300 farmers in the killing fields of vidarbha have committed suicides even after the farm waiver package came into effect.
The CAG report has revealed that money meant for various farm welfare programs does not reach at all. It thus is a case of the money not reaching where the mouths really are.
Further and here I refer to the article which appeared in the Hindu dated 19-05-2008, Mr.P Sainath revealed that while the government is not ready to recognize that dry land farmers holding land more than 2 hectares are in dire need of loan waiver as they are too big , the same government is giving entertainment tax breaks to IPL owners as they are not big enough .the logic behind this move which will only make these people bigger billionaires and millionaires defies logic.
While a lot has been made out of the 60,000 crore waiver that has been extended to farmers, very few actually realize that the very Radhakrishnan committee report that the government is quoting here had actually recommended that loan waivers of 60,000 crore be extended every financial year over a period of 5 years since 2002 as it had estimated the total relief amount payable as 300,000 crore.
The fact that the government went in for a populist move in an election year making a political issue out of distressed farmers is shocking to say the least.
The tenth five-year plan had stated a target of 4% as far as agriculture was concerned but what was seen was a dismal 1.8% and that too in a sector that still employs 60% of our total population.
With 80,000 farm suicides reported over the decade it remains to be seen what more needs to happen that will stir the government into action.
The fact that the much touted loan waiver covers only those farmers who took credit from institutional sources alone seems to trivialize the entire issue. Institutional credit today covers hardly 5%
According to a recent survey,
75% children of farmers do not want to remain in the profession and want to move to cities. There appears nothing wrong with this trend superficially but the problem will arise when the best would be second-generation farmers choose to stay from their fields.
This does not augur well for the future of a country whose food demands are soaring at a rapid pace and the country is fighting hard to make ends meet. Today more than any other time this sector needs to be rejuvenated by the innovation that educated second -generation farmers will bring to this sector.
Nevertheless, while we may try to take the moral high ground we need to understand the problems at the grass roots:
While national income has grown at an average of 10%, income of farmers has grown by only 2%.
Access to fresh credit is limited despite what the government may want to say, thus relapse into the hands of the moneylender is a foregone conclusion. Waiving of old loans will be ineffective as long as fresh credit is not made available.
300 farmers in the killing fields of vidarbha have committed suicides even after the farm waiver package came into effect.
The CAG report has revealed that money meant for various farm welfare programs does not reach at all. It thus is a case of the money not reaching where the mouths really are.
Further and here I refer to the article which appeared in the Hindu dated 19-05-2008, Mr.P Sainath revealed that while the government is not ready to recognize that dry land farmers holding land more than 2 hectares are in dire need of loan waiver as they are too big , the same government is giving entertainment tax breaks to IPL owners as they are not big enough .the logic behind this move which will only make these people bigger billionaires and millionaires defies logic.
While a lot has been made out of the 60,000 crore waiver that has been extended to farmers, very few actually realize that the very Radhakrishnan committee report that the government is quoting here had actually recommended that loan waivers of 60,000 crore be extended every financial year over a period of 5 years since 2002 as it had estimated the total relief amount payable as 300,000 crore.
The fact that the government went in for a populist move in an election year making a political issue out of distressed farmers is shocking to say the least.
The tenth five-year plan had stated a target of 4% as far as agriculture was concerned but what was seen was a dismal 1.8% and that too in a sector that still employs 60% of our total population.
With 80,000 farm suicides reported over the decade it remains to be seen what more needs to happen that will stir the government into action.
The fact that the much touted loan waiver covers only those farmers who took credit from institutional sources alone seems to trivialize the entire issue. Institutional credit today covers hardly 5%
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