Indian Farmer Leader On State Of Agriculture & Govt Policies

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In The Financial Express, India, June 11, 2007 THE MONDAY PAGE DEBATE - Will the new investment package announced by the Prime Minister help boost agriculture growth? Govt cannot abdicate its responsibilities Take farmers into confidence, not corporate houses http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=166752 KRISHAN BIR CHAUDHARY Posted online: Monday, June 11, 2007 at 0000 hours IST The prime minister, Manmohan Singh and the National Development Council have failed to realise the problems facing

Indian agriculture and the farming community. Mere announcement of a food security mission for increasing production of wheat, rice and pulses and pegging up central government’s investment to Rs 25,000 crore within a span of four years will not solve the problems. The figures and words of the NDC resolution sounds “big” and “great” , but what does it means to farmers. The PM in his opening speech raised concerns over farmers’ suicides, but he did not dare to say that he had resolved the issue in Vidarbha through a package he had announced. Incidences of farmers’ suicides in different parts of the country are on the increase. Increasing public investment in agriculture, is a right approach, but at the same time it should be ensured that the money is rightly used. The imperfections in the government machinery should be immediately removed to ensure the success of any development and welfare scheme. The PM has on several occasions admitted corruptions and shortcomings in the government machinery. But why is he not prepared to set a definite timeframe for eradication corruption ? Instead a case is being made out that the government machinery cannot be efficient, welfare and development schemes should be scrapped as

they are wasteful public expenditure and there should be greater involvement of corporate houses in agriculture for the benefit of farmers. The aim objective of corporate principles is to garner more and more profit, whilst the priority of a truly welfare state is development. Unfortunately government of the day is abdicating its responsibility. The recommendations of one of NDC sub-committee suggest facilitating greater corporate involvement by way of contract farming and corporate farming (of course with a rider – only when the country attains a reasonable level of food security). The so-called wise men in the country should know that the distress of cocoa growers in

Africa and profitability of multinational companies are on account of contract farming – This is just one of several such instances across the world. What according to the NDC sub-committee is the ”reasonable level of food security at both macro and household levels” in the country to allow corporate farming? – This is not clear, but indications are there that corporate farming would soon become a reality, pushing out millions of farmers from farming. The process has already begun by inducing farmers to lease out their land to joint venture – Land Share Companies - to be formed in association with existing agri-processing companies. Instead of giving more directly to farmers, the government is intending to take away whatever meager they get. Fertiliser subsidy is routed to farmers through fertilizer companies. According to expert studies, farmers get less than 40% of the subsidy reach the farmers. The “wise men” often talk of government machinery being inefficient and corrupt in delivery, but here is an instance of corporate machinery being inefficient. The NDC sub-committee in this regard suggested restructuring the fertilizer subsidy and diverting a substantial amount of it to research, marketing

and infrastructure development. It shamelessly says that diversion of fertilizer subsidy to research, marketing and infrastructure would be “WTO compatible” as if our existing level of fertilizer subsidy is not WTO-compatible. The real intention is to fund MNCs undertaking researches in the transgenic agriculture. Genetically modified crops are being rejected in develoed countries in Europe and other parts of the world and the government wants to thrust this controversial technology on Indian farmers through MNCs. Why can’t the government think of routing fertilizer or any other intended subsidy directly to farmers ? In Europe and North America farmers get direct subsidy. Does the PM and the NDC

mean that Indian farmers cannot be trusted – they should not be given direct subsidy ? The PM has criticized small holdings as a drag on farm productivity. Does he know that countries like Japan and China have farm holding size much less than that in India , and yet they have high farm productivity. Food security and agricultural productivity can only be ensured if farmers are taken into confidence and not the corporate houses. Farmers should be left alone to plan his farming and the intended benefits should go directly to them. (*The writer is the executive chairman of Bharat Krishak Samaj, farmers outfit of the ruling Congress party.) ------------------------ Editorial in The Farmers' Forum monthly magazine - May 2007 People’ s verdict : We want justice, not growth figures Dr KRISHAN BIR CHAUDHARY The landslide victory of the Bahujan Samaj Party led by its leader Mayawati in Uttar Pradesh is significant. It is a reflection of the voice of the people in the country’s largest state. The poll verdict has sounded a note of caution to the ruling UPA coalition at the Centre that people are no longer prepared to buy the concept of 9% growth rate in GDP. They know for certain that this growth figure hardly matters anything for them. They know that 9% growth reflects the benefits cornered by the rich few – corporate houses, multinational corporations, traders and urban rich and upper middle class. They are rather concerned over the increasing number of loss of jobs and unemployment and rise in prices of essential commodities. Government policies in the name of "reforms" and "economic liberalisation"

have created a crisis in Indian agriculture and pushed farmers to acute point of distress. Incidences of farmers’ suicides are on the increase in various parts of the country. In Uttar Pradesh farmers do not get remunerative prices for their produces. The erstwhile Mulayam Singh government did nothing to resolve the farmers’ problems. Rather the state government used its mechanism to gift fertile farm lands to companies like Reliance by acquiring from farmers at a cheap rate. Law and order was at a stake ushering in a goonda raj – rule by muscle power. The poor were, therefore, the worst suffers. Government deliberately kept the minimum support prices (MSPs) for various crops low. Its policies helped the corporate houses and multinational corporations which procured farmers’ produces by paying at a rate nominally higher than the MSPs and stockpiled the grains to create a situation of artificial scarcity and

consequent rise in prices, severely affecting the common man. Manipulations in futures market also skyrocketed the prices. Weekly price inflation rate measured on point-to-point movement of wholesale price index at a point of time touched 6.74%. People in May 2004 dislodged the NDA coalition at the Centre led by the Bharatiya Janata Party, giving clear verdict against its pro-rich and anti-farmer policies. People refused to buy the NDA’s concept of "India Shining" and "feel good factor". Unfortunately the present UPA coalition at the Centre led by Congress is following almost the same policies of the erstwhile NDA government. It may meet the same fate of the NDA government, if it does not amend its policies. Both the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party have suffered miserably at the UP polls. The Bhujan Samaj Party which called for social justice and equality could successfully encash on situation and bounce

back to power with a thumping majority. Congress had recently conceded defeat in Punjab and Uttaranchal. It is time for the party to rethink its policies if it intends to regain peoples’ support

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