You reap what you sow, goes the adage. In the pastoral expanse of India, where Gandhi’s Indians live, farmers are reaping sorrow. Agitation in the mind is spilling over on the street. For the past few years, peasants and their leaders have been defiantly sleeping on the road, braving heavy rain and scorching heat. They may not be vote banks now, but they do influence the news cycle.
Last week, the narrative was soured by BJP’s dialogue desperado Kangana Ranaut. She called for the implementation of the three controversial farm laws that the Modi government repealed after the 2021 protests. In search of an identity, she made the provocative demand: “I know this statement could be controversial, but the three farm laws should be brought back. The farmers should themselves demand it.” Her observations were seen as an official attempt to revive the aborted acts.
Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi lambasted the government by posting: “BJP keeps testing ideas. They tell someone to present an idea to the public and then observe the reaction. This is exactly what happened when one of their MPs talked about reviving the farmer laws, which were black laws. Modiji, please clarify whether you are against this or if you are up to mischief again.”
Passed by both Houses of parliament in 2020, these laws were meant to deregulate agricultural markets so that farmers get the freedom to sell their produce to non-official agencies, enter into contracts with bulk buyers and remove stockpiling limits—all of which would enhance the farmer’s income. But agriculturists didn’t accept the argument. Instead, they charged the government with opening up the sector to corporate exploitation. This led to a series of violent protests in which more than 500 people died. The fight has been on for three years against heavy odds.
Leaders call farmers annadatas. But they are without any anna to feed their hunger. Instead, they have been labelled terrorists, anti-nationals, political agents, and have been ridiculed for their agitational approach. No more a vote bank that can make or shake governments, farmers are victims of the growth model which marginalised Indian agriculture and made it part of a profit-making market economy.
India is perhaps an exception to the basic principle of economics. During the past two decades, it has moved from a predominantly agrarian economy to a services-driven one without going through an intermediate state of massive industrial growth. The contribution of agriculture to the GDP has plummeted from 35 percent in 1990 to around 15 percent in 2023.
While India has become the third largest world economy by purchasing power, its per-capita agricultural income is half that of an urban Indian. Over 60 percent of the population lives on 15 percent of the national income. Moreover, the latest Economic Survey says agricultural growth has fallen sharply to 1.4 percent in 2023-24 from 4.7 percent in 2022-23. Justifiably, rural leaders are raising the valid question that if the services sector, along with the stock market, can break all growth records, why does agriculture lag behind?
The Indian services sector comprising aviation, technology, finance etc contributes over 58 percent of the GDP, which is perhaps pocketed by less than 10 percent of Indians. Furthermore, the Indian farmer has been pushed against the wall by rising input costs, import of agro products and the vagaries of nature. Even the economics of scale is stacked against farmers. Fragmentation of holdings has made farming a loss-making venture. According to the latest land-holding survey, around 70 percent of all agricultural households own less than 1 hectare.
During the past decade, the Modi sarkar has taken strong financial and administrative steps to stem the slide. It has paid farmers more than Rs 18 lakh crore to buy their wheat and paddy crops. It has spent over Rs 11 lakh crore on fertiliser subsidies, done massive direct cash transfers and formulated many schemes to improve productivity and ensure better housing for the rural population. But its promise of doubling farmers’ income remains unfulfilled—primarily because tilling a farm isn’t an as attractive a profession as the glittering new mobile-based opportunities are.
Economists attribute the farmers’ abominable plight partly to the corporatisation of the establishment comprising governments and its agencies. Foreign-educated policy makers have been treating Indian agriculture like any other corporate identity. They suggest remedies that create demand for sectors like banking, telecom, technology, and the mega food companies. But even after 75 years of independence, 70 percent of land holdings lack assured irrigation; neither the states nor the Centre have planned a massive canal system to ensure proper water supply. While the government has introduced productivity-linked incentives for the manufacturing sector and startups, there isn’t an attractive monetary incentive for innovative farmers.
Moreover, agriculture is heavily controlled by government rules and regulations. Unlike other sectors without restrictions on pricing and exports, the government can ban exports and impose heavy duties. Agriculture is treated as a responsibility of CSR, or charity sham response. The Indian corporate lobby is busy organising lavish investor meets at government expense, but have rarely held a kisan sammelan to focus on agri-distress. Niti Aayog is flooded with senior consultants from Ivy League institutions who advise the government on agriculture.
Agriculture has also become a victim of farmers’ plummeting political clout. Once, the primary source of income for over half of all Indian lawmakers was agriculture; now it’s just over 35 percent. Of the 28 serving chief ministers, there is hardly one active farmer. This includes the three Congress CMs. AAP has chosen Atishi, a foreign-educated scholar, and Bhagwant Mann, an actor, as their CMs in Delhi and Punjab; its supremo Arvind Kejriwal belongs to the affluent Marwari community and is a former civil servant.
Since state politics has been taken over by leaders from other sectors, the change is reflected in the composition of the central government and party hierarchies. Only two Union ministers were born in farming families; the rest are from academia, civil services, diplomacy, law and social services. So are the top office bearers of national and regional parties.
India once had powerful kisan leaders like Charan Singh, Devi Lal, Prakash Singh Badal, H D Devegowda, Balram Jakhar and Darbara Singh who influenced decision-making. For decades, ‘Jai kisan’ was the mantra for political success; now ‘Kaun kisan’ is the new normal. It would be wise for these deviators to realise that though the farmers are sowing the seeds of anger, the politicians will reap the crop of fury. Rest assured, it will be a harvest of political decimation.
prabhuchawla@newindianexpress.com
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