In Raj, farmers hold key to Raje’s future
JAIPUR/SIKAR/BIKANER/JODHPUR: Simmering farm discontent in rural Rajasthan is emerging as the biggest challenge for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in its attempt to retain power in the desert state. Only a quarter of Rajasthan’s households live in urban areas and farmers constitute a strong and influential block of voters in the state.
More than half (53%) of all households in Rajasthan own agricultural land. Farm income is either the sole or an important constituent of family incomes. Rising agricultural input costs, falling profits and poor market infrastructure remains a problem for farmers, who have a lot to complain about the BJP government. “Government announced a minimum support price of Rs 1950 per quintal for Bajra. Government procurement is tardy and payment is delayed, forcing us to sell out produce in the open market,” said Sonaram, in Gumana Ka Bas village at Sikar. “We sold Bajra for ~1,300 in the open market.”
Sonaram is a Jat who voted for BJP in the previous assembly and parliamentary elections. He will vote for a Congress government in Rajasthan this time, but believes the BJP is better than the Congress at the Centre.
Jats are a dominant land-owning class in Rajasthan whose Other Backward Classes (OBC) status helped them get government jobs as well. They earn money through farming, own vast trenches of land, and are widespread across government services such as the police force and administration. Estimated at about 15% of Rajasthan’s population, these factors make them an influential social and electoral group Their discontent with the local government is evident.
In Jodhpur, 300 km away from Sikar, 60-year-old Ghanshyam Chowhdary argues that every farmer is in some sort of debt. “One bad season and a farmer get into the vicious cycle of debt. The debt ranges from a few thousand rupees to lakhs,” he said. The Congress’ promise to waive off farm loans (within 10 days should it come to power) has impressed him, just has it has others in these districts.
To earn a livelihood through farming is not easy. Nearly 61% of Rajasthan’s total area is desert and about two-thirds of this is heavily subject to wind erosion. About 30% of the state’s area is wasteland. The soil has poor water holding capacity and low nutrients, resulting into lower productivity. Rainfall, mostly during the monsoon months, is highly erratic. Rajasthan suffers a drought every three years and a major drought every five years.
Sikar was the nerve centre of a farm protest led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist)’s Amra Ram last year. This 13-day protest saw farmers in the state’s Shekhawati region bringing a halt to most activities to press demands for a waiver of loans, better prices and proper procurement of their produce. Farmers staged dharnas (sit-in protests) at local mandis (markets) across Sikar, Jhunjhunu and Churu. There was another round of protests in February. The government finally gave in and chief minister Vasundhara Raje announced a loan waiver in June.
“Till date 2.7 million small, marginal and other farmers have benefited,” a senior official in the chief minister’s office claimed, asking not to be identified. “The waiver amount has been ~7,700 crore plus.”
BJP leaders insist the Raje government has gone beyond optics to make changes that will have far-reaching consequences. “A scheme to improve ground water situation has shown results across Rajasthan,” claims BJP spokesman Sudhanshu Trivedi.
But journalist and political commentator Naryaan Bareth claims the situation remains grim. “Rajasthan was never known for farm suicides. The agrarian community here has always faced hardships and knows how to deal with such situations. But, we now have a situation where farmers are committing suicide in Rajasthan as well.”
As the BJP prepares for the final push in the election campaign, roping in all its star campaigners ahead of the December 7 voting, the state’s farmers may well hold the key to Raje’s future, and its own.