People's Democracy

SAVE PEASANTRY, SAVE AGRICULTURE, SAVE THE COUNTRY

Govt Yet to Grasp Depth of Agrarian Crisis

K Varadha Rajan

There is a big crisis facing Indian agriculture today. The distress facing the peasantry is reflected in the spate of suicides in many parts of the country.

Replying to a question in Lok Sabha on May 18 this year, the minister for agriculture, Sharad Pawar, said that farmers committing suicides numbered 10720 in the year 1995, 13729 in 1996, 13622 in 1997, 16015 in 1998, 16083 in 1999, 16603 in 2000, 16415 in 2001, 17971 in 2002 and 17164 in 2003. Altogether in 9 years, thus, a total of 1,34,321 suicides have taken place in rural India. But these are the government’s figures. Since the policy of liberalisation was adopted, the actual number of farmers committing suicide is much higher --- nearly two lakhs. And this trend continued even in the years 2004, 2005 and 2006. `

REALITY NOT YET GRASPED

In his recent Independence Day address, Dr Manmohan Singh admitted this agrarian crisis and said, “I see that our farmers in many parts are in crisis, not managing to eke out a decent living from their land. When I visited Vidarbha, the plight of the farmers there made a deep impact on me. The agricultural crisis that is forcing them to take the desperate step needs to be resolved. We need to think about how we can provide them a decent livelihood.”

This was the nation’s prime minister worrying about agriculture. But Dr Singh has not grasped why it is happening in Vidarbha and other parts of the country. After his visit to Vidarbha, the average number of suicides in the region has increased from 3 to 5 a day. 

Agriculture is the principal means of livelihood for 65 per cent of population in India. Yet, due to the growing crisis and insecurity, 40 per cent of our farmers have expressed their desire to quit farming if they have an option. This was revealed by a recent survey by the National Sample Survey Organisation.

It is the first time in our history since independence that there is a decline in the per capita foodgrain availability. Wheat is being imported. During this period, the MNCs and local business houses have purchased around 60 lakh tonnes of wheat from the market, by paying a little more than the minimum support price (MSP). Now the government of India and has ordered the Wheat Board of Australia to supply 9 lakh tonnes of wheat at Rs 1100 per quintal. 

At the same time, the public distribution system is in a shambles, putting our food security in peril. What we see thus is a scenario where a few are amassing wealth at the expense of the vast millions whose living conditions are deteriorating.

BASIC REASONS FOR SUICIDES

What are the main causes for these suicides?

Falling Prices: The removal of restrictions on import of agricultural commodities, the state’s refusal to take market intervention measures such as MSP mechanism of procurement, reduction of customs duty on imported agricultural commodities, etc, have led to price falls and price fluctuations in case of most of the agricultural commodities. These price falls and fluctuations are taking place in the background of steep increases in the prices of agricultural inputs.

What are the reasons for farmers not getting a remunerative price? It is not because of overproduction of a particular crop, but because of the unrestricted import of highly subsidised agricultural products. In fact, India’s farmers have got locked into the volatility of global prices, with no shock absorber at all. Cotton prices, for example, have sharply come down. The US and European Union’s subsidies to their mainly corporate growers have smashed the cotton price so badly that last year it fell to almost a third of what it was in 1994. 

No Credit Facilities: There has been a severe shrinkage of institutional credit facilities, with only 27 percent of peasants getting such credit. The remaining 73 percent depend on non-institutional sources (moneylenders, traders, contractors and other middlemen) for credit requirements. These sections charge exorbitant rates of interest on the loans they give the peasantry. Many peasants committed suicide due to growing indebtedness and harassment by moneylenders. 

Increasing Input Prices: The government has reduced subsidies on agricultural inputs like fertilisers, pesticides, agricultural implements, power, water, diesel, kerosene etc. This has increased the burden on the peasantry.

UPA GOVT’S ASSURANCES

In the agrarian sector, the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) of the UPA government promised the following:

1. The UPA government will ensure more public investment in agricultural research and extension, rural infrastructure and irrigation. Irrigation will receive the highest investment priority and all ongoing projects will be completed in a strict time schedule. 

2. The flow of rural credit will be doubled in the next three years and the coverage of small and marginal farmers by institutional lending substantially expanded. Immediate steps will be taken to ease the burden of debt and high interest rates on farm loans.

3. Crop and livestock insurance scheme will be made more effective. Watershed and wasteland development programme will be taken up on a massive scale. Water management in all its establishments, both for irrigation and drinking purposes, will receive urgent attention.

4. There will be fullest implementation of minimum wage laws for farm labour. A comprehensive protective legislation will be enacted for all agricultural workers. 

5. There will be adequate protection for all farmers from imports, particularly when international prices fall sharply. Farmers all over the country will receive fair and remunerative prices. The terms of trade will be maintained in favour of agriculture.

6. Steps will be taken to clear the dues to all farmers, including sugarcane farmers, at the earliest. 

7. In respect of minor forest produce, there will be legislation for conferring ownership rights on all those weaker sections people who work in the forest.

8. Landless families will be endowed with land through implementation of land ceiling and land redistribution laws. No reversal of ceiling legislation will be permitted. 

9. Eviction of tribal communities and other forest dwelling communities from forest areas will be discontinued.

10. The government will enact a national employment guarantee act. This will provide a legal guarantee of at least 100 days of employment a year. To begin with, at least one able-bodied person in every rural poor and lower middle class household will be engaged in asset-creating public works programmes at minimum wages. 

Had the UPA government has implemented these promises, it would have solved many problems in the agrarian sector and given some relief to the peasantry.

However, excepting the Employment Guarantee Act for rural areas and the Scheduled Tribes (Recognition of Rights) Bill, the UPA government has not implemented any other promise made in its CMP. On the contrary, it is following the previous BJP-led government’s policies. Instead of increasing, the government has reduced the allocations in agriculture and rural development, and contemplating to further reduce fertiliser subsidies. The public distribution system is being dismantled. There are moves to undo the minimum support price mechanism for cereals procurement. The centre is pressurising the state governments to change their market laws so that MNCs and big business could establish their private markets. There is also a move to allow foreign direct investments in retail trade, which will be disastrous for small producers, traders and consumers. What we need is a marketing system that protects the interests of peasant producers, industries and consumers. The present marketing system does not protect the interests of the peasantry. 

The government has also introduced a new Seed Bill 2004 to replace the Seed Act 1956. It is a dangerous piece of legislation. If it is passed in the present form, it will take away the right of the peasantry to produce, save and exchange seeds. Only big business and multinational companies would be able to do so. Agriculture will thus be under the complete control of big business and MNCs. 

ON NATIONAL COMMISSION

The National Commission on Farmers, constituted by the UPA government under the chairmanship of Dr M S Swaminathan, has now submitted three reports to the government, making a range of important recommendations therein. The commission covered almost all issues concerning agriculture in India, and its reports are rich in the technical details of agricultural science and technology. They include the following:

1. The government should institute a fund on the lines of calamity funds to assist the farmers affected by crop losses.

2. The rate of interest on loans should be reduced to four percent simple. No compound interest should be charged on arrears. Interest on loans in areas hit by drought, flood and heavy pest infestation should be waived.

3. Crop insurance should be expanded to cover the entire country and all crops.

4. The government should create a fund to stabilise the prices.

5. There should be quantitative restrictions on the import of agricultural commodities.

6. The government should undertake a census of farmers’ suicides in order to gain a proper understanding of the required relief measures.

7. The government should undertake an all-India debt survey.

8. There must be state level farmers commissions in order to ensure immediate responses to farmers’ problems.

It is an illustration of the absence of political will that, instead of responding to the urgent need to mitigate the deep rooted crisis in agriculture and unprecedented distress of the peasantry in independent India, the government has decided to kill time by setting up another committee on agriculture in the National Development Council under the chairmanship of Sharad Pawar, the union minister for agriculture. The committee has, in a futile repetitive exercise, set up six Working Groups on issues identical to those covered by the commission. The manner in which the committee has begun to function indicates that it will take not less than a year to submit its report.

The government’s attitude is very much reflected in some recent actions like the Agricultural Knowledge Agreement, permission for forward trading in foodgrains and import of wheat at higher prices. Not only that, the future planning for agriculture development is going to be more negative. Planning Commission’s approach paper to the 11th five-year plan is a testimony to it. The Planning Commission’s orientation and approach is quite opposite to the CMP’s proclamation and the recommendations of the National Commission on Farmers. The approach paper is a reiteration of the economic ‘reforms’ as suggested by the World Bank-IMF-WTO trio. 

The CMP emphatically says economic reforms will be oriented primarily to spreading and deepening rural prosperity, significantly improving the quality of public distribution system and delivery of public services, and bringing about a visible and tangible difference in the quality of ordinary citizens’ life in our country. The approach paper’s orientation is diametrically opposite.

LAND REFORMS IN DOLDRUMS

The land reforms issue is no priority for the central and many state governments except those in Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura. Around 7,70,00,000 hectares of land, including barren land, are left without cultivation. According to latest reports, around 19 lakh acres of lands are not distributed among the poor farmers and agricultural workers because these are under litigation for a long period. Till now, only 21,75,000 acre of Bhoodan land has been distributed and 20 lakh acres are still to be distributed. Many state governments are extending full help to builders, national and foreign companies and giving them land in the name of development. 

Thus, ending the agrarian crisis needs a big shift in the policies of the centre and also of many state governments. But, unfortunately, we have not seen any positive shift in the centre’s policies in the last two and a half years. It is in this background that the AIKS has decided to conduct National Jathas from four corners of the country to highlight the genuine demands of the peasantry, and with the slogan of “No To Suicide But Unite And Fight!” These jathas will culminate in a massive rally in Delhi on November 20. 

Here it won’t be inappropriate to mention that this year we are celebrating the 70th anniversary of the foundation of All India Kisan Sabha and next year the entire country will be observing the 150th anniversary of India’s First War of Independence in which the peasantry had played a glorious role. 

The demands publicised by the AIKS contain the pressing issues facing the peasantry. The all-India jathas are meant to raise the peasants’ consciousness on these demands as well as rally them to force the UPA government to implement the necessary policy changes. Such pressures exerted by the kisans’ movement will alone be able to ensure that the promises made to them are implemented.