Farmers protests led by the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) is the fourth one in the past seven months despite hike in the minimum support price of 23 kharif crops and subsidy in fertilisers. The protest by farmers is not a good sign for the Modi Government ahead of the Assembly polls in five States.
A few months back, vegetable growers were out on the streets protesting against low prices in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana. Then it was the turn of sugarcane farmers of Maharashtra and Western Uttar Pradesh. And after that milk producers dumped their milk on the streets to draw attention to the glut that had brought prices down. Ahead of the general elections of 2019, farm protests and strikes have caught the attention of our political class.
According to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, there is an almost eight-fold rise in ‘agrarian riots’ between 2014 and 2016 which include conflict over land and water, resources that have come under stress from weather-related shocks and inadequate policy response.
“The plight of farmers hardly changed despite several measures taken by the Government including hike in the MSP. The daily hike of petrol and diesel prices is a big blow to the farmers during kharif season,” said Yudhvir Singh, spokesperson of BKU.
The BKU leader lamented that the Modi Government has failed to learn a lesson from the Assembly polls in Gujarat last year where rural Gujarat did not vote to Modi Government.
Farmers who are protesting, demanding loan waivers, clearance of pending sugarcane payments and implementation of the Swaminathan Committee Report, free electricity for running tubewells and PMFBY should be made applicable to all crops and premium must be paid by the Government, rehabilitation of families for farmers who had committed suicide; the assurance of a minimum income for farmers and a monthly pension of Rs 5,000 for small and marginal farmers who completed 60 years of age.
Parmanand Singh of Bihar unit of BKU, said the protest is an indication that the current policies of the Government are not effective and pro farmers. The frequent hike in petrol and diesel prices has severely impacted the plight of the farmers during the kharif season this year. “Majority of farmers have not been benefitted from the hike in the MSP in Bihar due to lack of procurement mechanism,” he said.
Last year, the country witnessed a massive massive farmers’ protests across the country, starting with the Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra agitations of last summer where six farmers were killed in police firing and reaching a crescendo with the Kisan Long March this year where 35,000 farmers marched from Nasik to Mumbai.
According to Rashtriya Kisan Mahasangha’s founder member Benod Kumar Pandey, the trend is not a good sign to the Government ahead of the assembly polls due this year in five states and general elections next year. “There are three major risks that the farmer faces today, which arise from three different sources-prices, trade policies, and resource stress. One of the major uncertainties facing the Indian farmer is volatility in prices. This has been particularly sharp in the case of vegetables and pulses over the past few years”.
“Excess production of vegetables and pulses invariably lead to a crash in prices, which often trigger protests. The Government’s procurement policy for cereals ensures that prices of rice and wheat are less volatile than those of other food items. The absence of a robust insurance mechanism that protects farmers from these risks means that Indian farmers are being compelled to make unhedged bets when they begin sowing each season.
“With extreme weather events such as high temperatures and erratic rainfall likely to become more frequent because of climate change, the resource stress facing farmers will only increase,” Prof Ajab Singh of Karnal Agriculture University.