Special Parliament session on agrarian crisis need of the hour
P Sainath, veteran journalist
Veteran journalist known for his writings on rural India and recipient of Ramon Magsaysay Award P Sainath reveals the extent of agrarian crisis India is undergoing, with 53 percent of its population engaged in farming and 3.20 lakh farmers having committed suicide in the last three decades. In a tete-a-tete with Kenneth John, the veteran journalist who turned down Padma Bhushan a few years ago said if the government could call a special session of parliament for GST in just four days, it should also hold a three-week special session of Parliament for sorting out issues pertaining to agriculture and implement recommendations of the Swaminathan report at the earliest.
What is the present situation of farmers in India?
In an agriculture-based country, census defines a farmer as someone who cultivates a plot for 180 days or more in a year. A person who cultivates for less than six months is a marginal farmer.
Going by this definition, according to the 2011 census, only 7.8 percent of the population qualified as farmers but if we add all the workforce associated with farming, including farm labourers, the percentage increases to 22.5 percent.
Women comprising 60 per cent of the workforce in the farming sector are not accorded recognition as they do not have a ‘patta’ or piece of land in their name. Wrong assessment has led to formation of policies with loopholes, resulting in debt-ridden farmers committing suicide.
What is the main reason for farmer suicides and how grave is the problem?
In the last three decades, 3.20 lakh farmers have committed suicide in our country and the number could increase if all those engaged in the farming sector, including wives of farmers who committed suicide were taken into account. I call Maharashtra the graveyard of farmers as it alone witnessed 65,000 farmers end their lives in three decades. The major factor leading farmers to commit suicide is debt. There was a time when the State Bank of India gave loan for a Mercedes Benz at 7 percent interest while it provided finance for a tractor at 15.9 percent.
› Women comprising 60 per cent of the workforce in the farming sector are not accorded recognition as they do not have a ‘patta’ or piece of land in their name. Wrong assessment has led to formation of policies with loopholes, resulting in debtridden farmers committing suicide.
How can the exact picture of farmer suicide be ascertained in current scenario ?
Most of the governments have tried to cover up the exact count of suicides so as to present their claim of development as a truth before the voters.
In 2010, the then Chhattisgarh chief minister claimed that there were no more suicides committed by farmers in his state while West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said farmer suicides were not possible in her regime. Presently, 12 states and six union territories have claimed no suicide by farmers. Accurate reporting of suicides by farmers is important to assess the problem.
What should be done to address farmer woes?
Stopping suicides does not mean the agrarian crisis has been checked. Suicides are not the cause of agrarian crisis, they are its consequences.
The rate of suicides by farmers can be lowered but putting a complete check on it is possible only by addressing issues of indebtedness, price, agriculture policy, etc.
What should be done to make farmers raise their voice on a national level ?
If the government could call a special session of the Parliament for GST in just four days, it should also hold a threeweek special session to sort out issues pertaining to agriculture and implement recommendations of the Swaminathan report at the earliest.
The farmer should be allowed to speak on the floor of the House as he is the bread provider. In this three-week period, three days each should be devoted to discussing the Swaminathan Report, women farmers and Dalit presenting their concern on the floor of the house, discussing the increasing water crisis and its management, sorting out unfinished agenda of land reforms, restoration of public investment in agriculture sector, victims of agrarian crisis expressing their woes and finding solution to it etc.
Apart from agrarian crisis, the NDA-II has seen protests by Dalit and minorities also?
The coming days would be tough as far as freedom and civil rights are concerned.
The class and caste character of the ruling formation will show. In any case, we are well into the Gowalkar-Hedgewar vision of minority having to accept second class citizenship.