Page 17 - English Tehelka Issue 3&4

BudgetSpecial buDget

ture crops are excluded from MSP Agitations by Farmers selves as part of the protest.
regime and farmers who have shift- Farmers across India have been
ed from traditional crops to horti- frustrated over under-recoveries in Loan Waivers
culture face hardships to market agriculture and rising debts to make Various state governments have
their produce. both ends meet. Protesting farmers tried to appease farmers with loan
According to a study by Food and from Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Tel- waivers but this is not a panacea.
Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of angana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Waivers are only transfer of funds
the United Nations, in India about 9 some other states hit the headlines which have risks unfolding in due
million people left working in agri- throughout last year that culmi- course of time. Economists argue
culture between 2001-2011 mainly nated in a protest by thousands of that farmers are the most disci -
due to distress and not because they farmers under the banner of the plined re-payers of loans. The funds
were hired for more gainful occu- All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordi- could be utilized for soil and water
pations. Investment in marketing, nating Committee in November at conservation, post-harvest infra-
processing and infrastructure in Jantar Mantar in New Delhi where structure to reap sustainable gains.
farm sector is missing. around 184 farmers’ organisations The states emulating each-other
from across the country protested one after the other — Uttar Pradesh,
Capital Formation and organised a mock Parliament Maharashtra, Punjab, and voices
Capital formation is imperative called Kisan Mukti Sansad, raising
for improving long-term growth issues concerning farmers.
potential in agriculture. Public The farmers’ distress is so severe Public capital
photo: pushkar viyas capital expenditure has a long-term that to attract the government’s
beneficial impact on agriculture as attention, farmers from Tamil Nadu expenditure
• Death trail As many as 11,400 farmers registered an increase from 1.6 per mitted suicide. In 2015, the num- compared to subsidies whose im- protested in the national capital has long-term
committed suicide in 2016 cent in 1992 to 2.5 per cent in 2013. ber was 12,602,” he said in his reply pact is short term. While the fact with human skulls, slit their wrists
The intensification of debt bur - after a discussion in the Lok Sabha that the assured supply of water is to spill “protest blood”, conducted beneficial impact
den on farmers in the absence of on agrarian crisis. indispensable for high agricultural mock funerals and held live mice
54 per cent of direct agricultural increase in repaying capacity has Farmer suicides are reported not growth is acknowledged in policy in their mouths and ate their own on agriculture
finance is over 2 lakhs. Thus, the been one of the key factors in push- only from rain deficit areas but from circles, the response of the govern- excreta, saying they couldn’t afford as compared to
share of allocation to needy farmers ing farmers for suicides. the rain-fed and irrigated areas of ment for allocation of resources for to eat anything else! In Rajasthan,
has squeezed substantially. Union Agriculture Minister Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh upgradation of irrigation facilities hundreds of farmers dug up holes subsidies whose
Taking insights from the All In- Radha Mohan Singh said in the last also. This is because of stagnation in been lacking. in the ground and buried them - impact is short
dia Survey of Rural Debt, it can be Monsoon Session of Parliament income and escalating cost of inputs
derived that the number of farmers that as many as 11,400 farmers com- in farming in the progressive states. term
who were indebted had risen from mitted suicide in 2016. “According
25 per cent of rural households in to National Crime Records Bureau Minimum Support Price Regime
1992 to about 46 per cent in 2013. (NCRB) data for 2016, which is yet to The Minimum Support Prices (MSP),
The debt-asset ratio of farmers also be published, 11,400 farmers com- which are announced by the gov- raised in the Southern states — may
ernment for certain crops to save set a bad precedent.
farmers from depleting profits, are
Hightlights of sops for farm not of much avail as they are most- Remedies
ly announced during the sowing
Though the farming community
sector in budget 2018-19 season, when it is too late to prepare is largely frustrated, there is still
additional land and for purchase
optimism about the upcoming
• Plan to double farmers’ income by 2022 of inputs. budget. The frustration is due to the
• 14.34 lakh crore for creating livelihoods in the rural sector Although there are over two Prime Minister’s failure to honour
• MSP of crops to be hiked to at least 1.5 times of production cost dozen crops of Rabi and Kharif sea- his promise of implementing the
• 200 crore announced for the development of agricultural son covered under MSP regime, Swaminathan Commission report,
infrastructure in 585 Agricultural Produce Market Committees only paddy and wheat are procured while the optimism is because it is
• 500 crore for ‘Operation Green’ to provide logistics, storages with advance preparations. There the last full budget of the ruling NDA
and infrastructures for tomatoes, onion and potatoes and other are many flip-flops for other crops government and agrarian issues are
agricultural produces and farmers are mostly left to fend expected to be tackled responsibly.
• 100% deduction to farmer production companies having 100 for themselves. The revision of MSP Farmers also have a feeling that
crore as turnover irrespective of profit is mostly disproportionate to infla- their frail voices have managed to
• 10,000 crore marked up for animal husbandry and fisheries tion and economists and farmers’ reach the corridors of power.
lobbies have been contesting for Ajay Vir Jakhar, President of the
fair price of crops. The horticul- Bhartiya Krishak Samaj, has rec-

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14-18 Budget.indd 4-5 12/02/18 3:36 PM