Surinder Sud: Farmers' unheard lament

FARM VIEW

While other sectors have prospered after being freed of onerous controls, the farm sector remains shackled.

Bhartiya Kisan kyon gusse mein hain?" (Why are Indian farmers angry?)""This is the title of a booklet released by the Consortium of Indian Farmers Associations (CIFA), directing their ire at those responsible for the agriculturists' current plight. Their targets include Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Finance Minister P Chidambaram, Parliament, the executive, the judiciary, the corporate sector and even the media. All these have been accused of failing to protect the farmers' interests and pushing them towards committing suicides. Though the points raised in the publication are not wholly new and may, therefore, seem mundane, their import is profound and, as such, merits notice.

Significantly, the booklet questions why agriculture has been kept under strict controls while other sectors like industry and services have largely been liberalised. Elaborating this, it says most aspects of agriculture, such as prices, exports, processing, storage and transportation, remain under controls. Since the beginning of the economic reforms in the 1990s, 35 new models of cars have been introduced; but not one of a tractor. "The Indian farmer has been made a bonded labour to provide low-priced food and low-cost raw material," the booklet adds.

It has quoted numbers to indicate that the outlay for agriculture and allied sectors, including irrigation, dropped from 34 per cent of the total plan outlay in the first plan (1951-56) to 23.1 per cent by the 5th plan (1974-79). Though it rose once to a record 47.2 per cent in the annual plan 1979-80, it fell again sharply to 18.5 per cent in the 6th plan (1980-85) and steadily receded further to merely 10.6 per cent by the 10th plan. The question that it broadly raises is how can a sector getting such low priority be expected to clock faster growth? It refers to the appointment of several commissions on agriculture, headed by eminent persons like Bhanu Pratap Singh, Chokka Rao, Sharad Joshi and Professor M S Swaminathan. But their recommendations have not been implemented. The same has been the fate of the national agriculture policy adopted in 1990.

Taking the Prime Minister on, the CIFA laments that he has appointed a financial advisor and a security advisor, but not an agricultural one. It also reminds the Prime Minister of his unfulfilled promise made to a delegation of farmers in June 2004 that he would regularly hold interactions with farmers' representatives. "Dr Singh meets the captains of the industry to discuss farmers' issues," it remarks rather sarcastically.

The finance minister has come under even more severe criticism, being held liable for the flawed functioning of banks, high taxation on agricultural inputs, restrictions on the movement of farm goods and declining investment on irrigation and agriculture, all of which contribute to the ills of the rural economy. Between 1980 and 2004, the banks have given just 11 per cent of the targeted loans to the farmers. If one single institution has to be held responsible for the failure of the rural economy, it is the finance ministry, the CIFA asserts.

Its censure of politicians and parliamentarians is equally pungent. It points out that 65 per cent of the parliament members""numbering about 400""belong to farming communities such as Jats, Bhumihars, Kshatriyas, Rajputs, Marathas, Reddys, Chowdharys, Patels, Goudas and the like. But the majority of them, after winning on the farmers' support, use political power to make money to promote their industries, contracts and businesses, besides securing their children's interests.

The document lists the numerous woes plaguing agriculture emanating from the continued neglect of this sector. While the crops are regularly lost due to droughts, floods and other reasons, the farm insurance schemes fail to compensate for them. The debt burden of the farmers is swelling because of inadequate bank loans and the higher interest charged by moneylenders. Extension services are inadequate. Traders control the markets, resulting in unremunerative prices. While the costs of inputs are rising, the sale of spurious seeds, fertilisers and pesticides is going on unchecked. Investment in agricultural infrastructure is found wanting.

The net result is that farmers are forced to sell their land to educate their children and get their daughters married. Else, they have to go to the cities to beg or work as labourers. And thousands of them are driven to commit suicides. "We have become the 21st century untouchables," the booklet maintains. Whether their lament is heard in the right quarters or not, is anybody's guess.