₹50L ex gratia, job for family of fallen soldier
CHANDIGARH: Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh announced ex gratia compensation of ₹50 lakh, along with government job to a family member of Naib Subedar Parwinder Singh , who laid down his life in Leh’s Baltik sector.
The farmers have always been the epicentre of the country’s politics. It is rightly so because they are not only the provider of national food security; but also occupy substantial economic space in providing employment, particularly for the poor. The share of agriculture in GDP may have declined but it remains the main source of livelihood in rural areas.
The politics of agriculture is good if it remains in the realm of realism. The current farmer’s agitation though stated to be apolitical, always had political overtones. This has become evident during the last few days of an otherwise long and peaceful agitation. The climbing of an agitator on the Red Fort to hoist a religious flag that too on the Republic Day has earned the ire of the general public. But, it has also raised many questions on the Government’s crisis management.
Most of the agitating farmers are from the original green revolution areas of Punjab, Haryana, and Western UP and have witnessed agricultural prosperity. However, they are small and marginal farmers practicing subsistence farming. They are debt stressed and face huge sustainability issues owing to depletion of their land, water, and even human resources. Land productivity is stagnating, and net incomes are declining due to a disproportionate rise in input costs.
The new farm laws aim to double farmers’ income. The agriculture market is purported to be liberalised to achieve greater free trading in agricultural produce something, which even the WTO is yet to achieve. These are also expected to infuse greater private capital investments and promote agri-enterprises.
Misunderstanding of the laws
However, there is a large-scale misunderstanding of these new laws. The affected farmers are not comfortable and claim that these are a threat to their livelihood. There are apprehensions of the dismantling of the existing agricultural marketing system. The minimum support price (MSP) that has continued for over five decades, does not fully compensate for all costs and intended profits to the producers. State subsidies such as free water and energy are not compensated either to state governments or the farmers. These so-called agricultural input subsidies are targeted to keep food prices affordable, and are thus consumer subsidies, and not farmers’ subsidies.
The farmers’ averments have somewhat been conceded with offers to amend, and defer implementation for eighteen months. In continued parleys, the government has made efforts to clarify the intent and content of the laws, but farmers remain unconvinced. They, even now, have freedom of choice and every right to decide what they intend to do with their produce. The sale-purchase transactions in the APMCs markets are fully recorded transparently.
Instead of appreciating farmers’ viewpoint for a solution, they have been labelled by some as anti-national. This has infuriated a community whose spirit of service and sacrifice is unmatched. Believing in the Great Gurus, this community has struggled for reforms whether in the matters of religion by fighting against the ‘mahants’ or mal-functioning of governments. The welfare of the needy has always been the cornerstone of their actions.
The true essence of Sikhism has been demonstrated at Delhi borders. The agitators are being termed as desh-drohis perhaps due to the presence of some aggressive youth, often called radicals who are suspected to be getting funds from abroad. Such things are not stated publicly but investigated, if there is an iota of truth in it, by the agencies responsible for national security.
Khalistani ‘bogey’
If those sitting on dharna at Delhi borders are Khalistanis, then it is a failure of the governments. How have they reached Delhi? Is Pakistan so successful in its misadventures in our country that it has peacefully dispatched people to Delhi? Or is it a bogey raised by some occupational politicians, civil servants, and police officers?
Minuscule extreme ideologues cannot mitigate age-old traditions of service, sacrifice, and hard work of the community that is patriotic, and truly Indian. They have not only fed the country but have also saved it from the evil designs of our hostile neighbours. Punjab’s international borders were always effectively protected in all the wars we had with them.
Sikhs may appear aggressive but they love peaceful co-existence and prosperity. Their socio-cultural ethos has to be understood in right earnest, rising above personal egos and parochial or communal beliefs. They value self-respect and can sacrifice anything for it.
The agitation has opened up new vistas of politics in agriculture. The agitating farmers have remained peaceful so far, but some miscreants do see an opportunity to do a different politics that may ultimately prove perilous. This is not an agitation of Sikhs, but a community of farmers across the states. It was started from Punjab, and others joined a little late perhaps because they have not benefited as much as Punjab has from the MSP based procurement of food grains. In fact, Punjab should think twice about any new proposal on the MSP, because if the existing systems and proportions of government procurement of food grains are altered in any way, it may turn out to be against the interest of the state.
Poor crisis management
The crisis management at the national level lacked efficacy, maturity, and finesse. There were no clear choices on a subject that is essentially a State subject. The farmers are seeking to repeal the laws, but the government offered to amend and even suspend the laws.
This has emboldened the agitators and made the general people believe that there is something amiss in this game of agriculture reforms.
Many socio-political analysts have rightly suggested that the government should empower the states to decide about the implementation of laws as per their local context. Politically speaking this will deflect the crisis to the states. It will also help to strengthen federal democratic governance in the country. It may be difficult to deny that for once the government of India has enacted legislation on a state subject, using concurrent powers, neglecting the role of states in the matter. This has also strengthened the debate that most institutions of democratic governance, executive, legislature, or the judiciary are being denigrated. In the event of empowerment of the states, these laws will remain a national framework of reforms, and a recommendation to all those who intend to change the course of agriculture to make it more progressive, sustainable, and remunerative. It may also make politics more practical and purposive than being perilous to ruin reforms for a long time.
THE MARKET IS PURPORTED TO BE LIBERALISED TO ACHIEVE GREATER FREE TRADING IN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE SOMETHING, WHICH EVEN THE WTO IS YET TO ACHIEVE