Relief or Pain for Farmers???

Farmers talk? No wonder why so much talk about farmers have suddenly flooded the newspapers. It must be the election time now. Whenever the elections are near the politicians and the authorities concerned start digging the issues related to the farmers. Don’t they have anything better to lie for? Ah! In the proposed budget there is a promise of a “populist budget’ for farmers and the aam garib aadmi this year.

When you pick up the newspaper in the morning, all u come across are the talks with regard to farmers policies be it in the sensational budget wherein the broad contours of the budget this time revolves around the condition of farmers or be it the speeches of various politicians promising the rural class about the new agenda set by them for the so called bad situation of farmers all over the respective state. This isn’t enough, the recent incentive given by the Rajasthan government is no doubt commendable but the critics have something else in their mind. The Rajasthan government has waived electricity bills of four months of small and marginal farmers whose crops were damaged during the recent cold wave and frost across the state. Sounds like a relief to the farmers but the reality is far beyond the black and white written in these newspapers.

The SEZ’s and other industrialization projects which were the major causes for the suicides committed by the farmers is no where in words of the election speeches. Why? Because they form a part of the development process of the country but the fate of the farmers whose land has been acquired without even providing them any kind of proper assistance for their survival is neglected to an extent that the Debt Relief Package for Institutional Loanee Farmers and other such programmes are taking a back seat in the development process.

The growing demand for strengthening the National Agriculture Insurance Scheme (NAIS) is another factor in the arena. Will this cry of the victims ever be heard by the deaf ears of the parties for whom the hot seat of the ministry is of utmost importance irrespective of the fact that the hot seat is granted to them by the people of whom even the farmers form a part. Moreover, the food subsidy bill is likely to cross the Rs 30,000 crore-mark. This is due to the wide difference between the minimum support prices (MCP) paid to farmers and the central issue price of grains sold through the Public Distribution System, as well as on account of the food grains import bill.

In such a scenario, I wonder how well will the plight of workers be addressed? Will they get the relief so desired by them be it in the way of the budget or by the false promises made by the politicians at the time of elections? This puts a BIG question mark on the promises and the so called development plans formulated by the government. The biggest challenge right now is to make agriculture viable for the 82 percent small and marginal farmers and bailing them out of the clutches of the informal system of borrowing. Lets wait and watch what’s in store for the farmers now!