Last week, there was a demonstrable agrarian and rural revenge. Anger in villages was the dominant factor in the change of guards in three States of the Hindi heartland, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. This has several ingredients and dimensions to ferment itself to a swing of public choice. Agrarian distress coupled with demonetisation had enough stamina to end the 15-year incumbency in two States and a shorter tenure of incumbency in another. Indifferent attitude qua problems of the farming community has washed away all the goodwill created by the so-called good governance. The long-term issues faced by the farming community include the increasing fragmentation of land. The average plot sizes are barely more than one hectare. There is gross lack of post-production infrastructure, marketing mechanisms and supply chains. Ironically, the last two years have actually seen record farm outputs in most major crops. But this has resulted in a glut, further leading to crashing prices. Additionally, input costs have risen and diesel price has increased by around 26% and fertiliser cost has shot up by another 15%. Demonetisation had its own devastating effect on the rural cash economy. It affected farmers’ ability to buy seeds and fertilisers, repay loans and hire farm labour. But the Agriculture Ministry does not agree with such a report. A Government panel aimed at doubling the farm income by 2022 has come up with a 13-volume report. But its final set of policy recommendations is still pending with the Ministry. This report was to highlight the ways to ensure sustainability of production, monetisation of farmers’ produce, re-strengthening of extension services and recognising agriculture as an enterprise and enabling it to operate as such by addressing structural weaknesses. Over the week, the Cabinet has approved an agriculture export policy. It proposes to lift restrictions on organic and processed food. But the basic problems like size of holdings and inherent maladies creating a vicious circle of poverty among farmers are receiving populistic expressions.
Mass march by farmers has become a regular feature in different parts of the country. The October march in Delhi led to violent clashes with the police. The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) statistics show more than three lakh farmers have killed themselves in the last two decades. Indebtedness has been cited as the reason for more than 50% of the farmers’ suicide in 2015. Maharashtra, which had the highest number of farmers’ suicide, has 57% of its farm families in debt. According to the NSSO, more than half of all farmers are in debt with each household owing an average of Rs 47,000. In the States like Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, where the level of indebtedness was 90%, the average debt of a household hovers around Rs1 lakh. Almost 70% of agricultural households spend more than they earn; and almost a quarter of all farmers live below the poverty line. According to the Census of 2011, landless agricultural workers were significantly larger in number than that of cultivators who own land.
The MS Swaminathan Commission had recommended that the minimum support price (MSP) for 23 major crops be fixed at 1.5 times the “cost of production”. According to the Government, it has fulfilled this target. However, the rub is in the computation of the “cost of production”. The Government includes the actual paid-out costs and does not include the cost of family labour, but the commission’s formula was to include the imputed cost of capital and the rent on the land. The procurement at MSP is still dominantly limited to wheat, rice and certain pulses and oilseeds. The jugglery with figures that has been indulged in by the Government is based on an unfair interpretation of the meaning of the expression “cost of production”. The Swaminathan Commission includes the imputed cost in the cost of production. This fundamental lacuna is having its disastrous effect on the socioeconomic fabric of the entire society.
Unemployment has its crude effects on the rural community. Used to the system dependent on underemployment. A majority of the youths is now driving to a situation of being without employment. There is a need to galvanise the rural youth power along with the reforms in the rural and agrarian sector. This mass of youth power presently hangs around local club rooms rather than being involved in the process of governance of the society. The 18-to-23-to-25 age group amongst the youths is to a great extent frustrated because its dreams and aspirations have not become an effective reality. Its lack of attention at the grassroots level has weakened this part of the structure in almost all political parties. The youth power played a dominant role in the change of governance in the three States. Peculiarly enough, more women than men voted in Rajasthan. In turn, the woman-Chief Minister had to relinquish power. Another disturbing feature is the callous attitude of the Government to resolve the structural problems in the rural society. The mass of youth folk depends on agriculture with the fragmented holdings.
Now on to 2019: Till the general elections are over, the rural distress and farmers’ penury will be in the forefront. What is heartening is that the peasant movement has caught the imagination of the people in almost all the States. From Maharashtra to Odisha, from Punjab to Tamil Nadu, farmers have demonstrated their solidarity and the extent of their disenchantment. People want a caring government. Good governance is inherent in an empathetic attitude of the ruling class. In this world of mutual acrimony, the basic healing touches are sometimes required to be reapplied. The discourses during the last Assembly elections were very coarse and reached an all-time low.
It is time we inspired our youths from a very tender age to become good human beings, conscious citizens and responsible regarding their obligations. The educational system does not ensure a holistic development of the personality of the young elements. This calls for a fundamental reform. Education, healthcare and rural economy have taken a back seat in the real priority of the Government. The “urban naxalite” did not yield any results in the campaign in the recent elections. There is a mismatch between the job market and the supporting educational programmes. Large-scale production of graduates without any specialisation or additional skill has a limited opportunity of employment. Educated to be white-collar workers, they are driven now as first class masters degree holders to compete for driver’s post. Similar instances are plenty. Getting a job is not based solely on merit but several other factors, including power patronage. This intervention distorts the norms of public employment. Such exercise of power should be limited to higher echelons of administration and not at the grassroots level. Several administrative reforms have been carried out, but the picture has remained equally gloomy. In this background, the next few months will be studded with visible activities at anger-pacifying peace missions and short-term measures, which would not really lay the foundation for eradication of malady. Social consciousness and well-embedded value pattern are essential for the proper functioning of the social metabolism. This cannot be left to an area of darkness. Earlier, the debates on the issue came to the forefront; the better it is for the future of our society. This calls for a concerted united action by the conscious citizens for ensuring a better progeny-generation. This is not a matter concerning any single part of the social structure.
(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 )