Countrywide, farmers’ angst, as a result of falling profitability margins and increasing debt liabilities in the agriculture sector, coupled with Government apathy, has been a cause of worry in the corridors of power, especially when the country is going through a prolonged election mode.
To top it all, are the recent adverse results to the by-elections in Rajasthan and Assembly election in Gujarat, which proved to be the red herring for the present Government. Overall, a downward trend in the farming sector has been observed consecutively for the last two to three years.
As a prudent course-correction, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, while taking cognisance of the prevailing situation, announced a slew of measures during the Budget, like increasing the minimum support price; giving an insurance cover to the farmers; development of infrastructure to facilitate inter-State movement of surplus produce.
However, the agrarian sector can no longer be pacified with temporary measures like populistic sops or loan wavers, which Chief Ministers of various States keep announcing from time-to-time, whenever there is much hue and cry, as a shield for inefficiency. Bureaucratic red-tape is too complicated and slow to reach out to these petty reliefs. Now, the farmers are enlightened enough to understand the political game of hiding the dirt under the carpet. They want a permanent solution so that they don’t have to leave farming and get tempted to migrate to towns, irrationally.
The Government is spot on to deliver a well-crafted package for farmers. Now, the ball is in the courts of respective State Governments. The onus lies primarily on the Chief Ministers of the States to show the will and resolve to follow up on the policies of the Government.
Unfortunately, even Chief Ministers of BJP-ruled States keep themselves busy — thumping their chests, eulogizing the Prime Minister, organising summits, announcing false claims on Foreign Direct Investments and laying foundation stones. They are the actual masters in the game of lip service, forgetting that it is not only the ailing agriculture sector, but also the health sector as well as education, which need their undivided attention. Where is the time for them to campaign and make speeches for the coming electionsIJ
Since the Chief Ministers have no time, no vision and no capability to execute the plan, they should dedicate the job to someone who is competent and honest. They must make them accountable for result-oriented implementation. Forming a committee would mean nothing but starting a blame-game match.
The designated authority must also probe reasons and pitfalls, like distress sales by the farmers of their crops. Inefficiency is really in the working machinery of the Government. Often, a connivance of Government agency with the middlemen is reported. Many a times, designated persons do not reach on time to pick the harvest or to check if the MSP amount reaches the banks on time, without delay. Poor farmers have no storing facility. Besides, they need immediate return to pay their debts that they might have taken for purchase of seeds, fertilisers, illness or marriage in family.
Greedy and exploitative middlemen, with easy approachability and sweet talks, make hay, dupe the farmers and compel them to sell their produce much below the MSP. No wonder, today, States like Jharkhand and Gujarat are also being included in the ignominious list of States where farmers are committing suicides.
Madhya Pradesh boasts of giving insurance cover to its farmers when in case of crop failure, but again, delivery system fails them. Farmers have often complained of months and even a year of unending delays in getting insurance claims. Ironically, the amount of premium they paid was spent beyond their comfort level, but their waiting did not end.
Now, Rajasthan is planning to launch its own Crop Insurance Company to take care of the delays in release of compensation and claims. Unfortunately, this scheme, if at all implemented, offers monetary help after bribing the concerned. The damage has already been done.
The farmers should be protected with a parenting hand, meaning that the Government should open agriculture research centers in every big district having competent technical staff to educate the farmers; and give necessary guidance from time to time. They need regular intervention from a technically sound, competent agency that can advise them, starting from the time when they prepare the soil, to the selection of fertilisers, help them buy good quality seeds and address their problems during the harvesting season.
Farmers must also have good knowledge of pests. One recent example is of Karnataka, where cotton growers were badly hit because they got poor quality of seeds, and when a pest, called Pink bollworm struck, the pesticide that was given did not work. This resulted in 80 per cent of the crop being destroyed. If corrective measures were taken right from the time of buying seeds, such a disaster would not have taken place at all.
(The writer is a freelance commentator)