The suicide of farmers in Odisha has become almost a daily event. The misery of the farming community requires intrusive and intensive intervention. The administrative machinery has to reach out to the farmer and rescue his position to a reasonable level of economic stability. Instead of being involved in immediate remedial steps and long-term corrective measures, the events of shameful misery of failing to survive has become the capital source for a political circus. Public rallies or agitational modalities adopted by those who are now critical of the Government are no more limited to the parties in Opposition. The ground realities regarding the condition of the dominantly marginal and small farmers are alarming and the situation is worsening. The apparently successful movements for self-help have in practice turned out to be self-destructive.
A farmers’ rally by the ruling party, which enjoys a brute majority, is indicative of an “event management” strategy and propagandist postures. It was a rally of party workers of the ruling party to show its continuing popularity, especially amongst the peasant community. But the events as they took place had some distinctive features. The Bargarh region has become an attractive spot for visits of many leaders of national or regional parties. The congregation was projected to be in the context of the farmers of western Odisha. The Ministers, who were not to be seen in this party rally, were mostly from the coastal part of Odisha, a few exceptions being persons like Mr Surjya Narayan Patro.
The expenditure of all the political parties on rallies taken together could have been a source to wipe out the loan burden of a large chunk of the farmers. However, the “events” are to be managed as an assertion of source of strength, but they do not alter the situation in any meaningful manner.
Time need not be wasted any further on rallying without really remedying the plight of the community of farmers. There are areas where the local leaders have gone on hunger strike demanding that their areas be declared as “drought-stricken”. This is indicative of a struggle for survival, but there are no measures for permanent solution. This is the time for enforcing radical policies of reforming the agro sector including the rural credit system. But we choose to continue to be the slaves of the “famine” and “relief” codes.
After the relief and package period ends, there is no strength left to cross the hurdle of threat to the survival level. The lure of the electronic media has snatched away our political actors, but alas, eventually, we seem to be staging the theatre of the absurd!
The farmers are entitled to ask the political parties and other activists about the quantum of resources they have utilised for their grand projections through organised propaganda. The measures hitherto taken appear to be of the character of an oxygen mask. The Gram Sabhas ought to be activated to restructure the agriculture, horticulture and animal husbandry, etc. Alongside, there should be a thrust for growth of rural infrastructure. There has to be a concerted action by the leaders and activists to get back to the village level and ensure appropriate measures and restructuring modes at the ground level so as to bring an agrarian revolution. The chronic crybaby syndrome is a usual phenomenon, given the “cycle” of drought and flood. If there is energisation of the village economy, the electrifying effect would be inevitable as the whole network would be lit up with different colourful lights. Massive metros and cornering of agricultural land by industrial houses have made food security fragile and vulnerable. The lasting solution is in ensuring prosperous villages, and that would automatically result in a robust and prosperous India.
But the political leaders and activists continue to operate in the age-old moribund manner. Their operational modalities are conditioned by a set formula. They arrange and collect people to from their gatherings, but they do not reach the persons in peril. Archaic over-contralised planning of actions and programmes continues to be the pattern of governance. There is no major change to ensure lasting or permanent solutions. The police machinery continues to be misused in the same manner as under the colonial rule. The prosperous and the rich have enriched themselves further. A large section of the poor have turned poorer. The economic disparities have increased, providing an impetus to social unrest. Welfare-oriented development gets distorted and lopsided when there are tremours in the social structure. The judiciary, the legislature and the executive are hardly pursuing a common cause. There are apparent tensions that are not conducive to better tomorrows.
The future of the youth is now affected by distortions. They are pawns on the chessboard of politics. It is imperative now that they wake up and shape their future in a different manner. The leadership amongst the youth is not thinking for itself and the future. They have got to assert now and reshape things so that the system does not kill the provider of food and sustenance. The situation being alarming, a new orientation is unavoidable. The movement to get back to the “roots” and cause radical changes requires the involvement of the entire society. And this certainly concerns us all!
(The writer, a Senior Advocate, is a former All India Service officer, a former diplomat, a former editor, a former President of Orissa High Court Bar Association and a former Advocate General of Odisha. jayantdas@hotmail.com)