Saturday, January 1, 2011

State of the Indian Farmer .

Save Farmer Today 
To 
Save India Tomorrow !!!


Farmers plight brings tears to one and all and reasons are many for this agony . If it wud have been coz of poor rainfall or an cyclone , then that can be understandable . Today , farmers cry not over nature disaster but over government policies . Even, media is swayed by the jingoism of politicians and never tried to find  the real reasons for such a downfall of Agriculture sector.

There was a time when Politicians, Media persons and larger strata of society were of Agriculture background. With English education taking over us , has led to urbanization and this has Invented another industry called ‘Real-Estate’ . This fake Industry was hyped so high that it turned fertile lands into landscapers. Even in a technology advanced country like USA or Japan they have strict policies over Agri’ land , that, fertile lands shud not be used for other than Agriculture .

But in India we have Politicians like Chandra Babu Naidu who made us to  dream in turning our cities into Singapore . The result is all the Agriculture rich lands in a diameter of 100 kms of Hyderabad has vanished with IT companies taking over . Most of them were forcibly taken over by paying nominal rates by Govt in the name of  Special Economy Zone( SEZ’s) . We have another English educated new Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy, just few days back has gone on record saying that Agriculture is no more profitable in India . Our own Rulers telling us that we shud shun Agriculture and find other ways of occupation .  How shud a State where 70% of its subjects are farmers take down CM Kiran Kumar Reddy statement???

Because of leaders like above nearly 2.5 lakh farmers are said to have commited suicides in last 15 years . We have Sharad pawar present Agr Minister who on a TV interview shamelessly said that 1 lakh suicides in India by farmers is a common thing , this is happening for long time. This statement by Agriculture minisister is so  outrageous that something in me is stopping me from commenting further on Pawars statement . I close it just by saying if it was another country he wud have been publicly hanged from lamp post at some village chaupati .

  Neither the state government nor Central government have any policies formulated to regulate the farmers plight . Thousands of farmers have committed suicides in AP , Vidarbha and else where . Media reported them, but media forgot to go deep and find the reasons that are driving them to suicides .  Media was so insensitive that it started projecting all these suicides coz of  debts  and Government believed in it . Debts of farmers is one reason but not the root cause for suicides .  Mostly  its coz of  lack of gud market price for the crop ,lack of  continuous supply of Power and most importantly Middle Man ( Brokers) are the real culprits .

When hue N cry are made over these suicides of farmers, government is forced by opposition  parties and media to grant FREEBIES . These acts may help them to some extent but are no solution for continuing pathetic situation of farmers.  I tell you, freebies and subsidies are the real killers of farmers .  These Vote Bank populism of our politicians are making farmers parasites. Few years back Sonia Gandhi’s UPA-1 government with eye on Vote Bank has waived off Rs 50,000 Crore’s of crop loans and believed this will arrest the farmer suicides . But No , it wont and it didn’t . Free power , waiver of loans by YSR, did they stopped suicides in Andhra Pradesh ??? Again a big No .  So please do not kill the vibrant Indian farmer by bribing with Freebies , and turning him a parasite .

Instead of freebies , make sure he gets a good PRICE for his harvest, eliminate middlemen, make traders to  go to villages and buy the crop at the field  ( instead of farmer coming to city market and getting robed my middle men), encourage farmers to form cooperative societies , tell banks to give Crop Loans on nominal interest as part of their social initiative program , further make it compulsory for all Insurance (Life/Health/Vehicle/General) companies  to extend Insurance to farming sector as well .

 Advice Farmers to change their crops every other season and make soil testing a compulsory as BJP CM  Narendra Modi Ji did in Gujarat.  Government shud involve Police Dept to arrest the spurious seeds and pesticides manufacturers. Any seller caught selling spurious seeds shud be subject to rigorous imprisonment. Farmers shud be taught to use modern equipment like harvesters, soil testing etc ..  Any knowledge of using modern Technologies like Internet , Satellite data can be an added advantage to farmers .  American MNC seed/pesticides companies have destroyed the traditional farming thru their Hybrid seeds . Its time for the Govt to put a ban or at least moratorium on American Hybrid  producing companies in India , to save our age old system of preserving seeds and other farming methods .

When ever farmers organize themselves against the injustice melted to them over market price or taking away their fertile lands for SEZs , their street protest are curbed with excess use of police force by respective state governments . Their voice of protest is gagged by breaking lathis on their backs and firing bullets into their chests . Nandigram in West Bengal  or Sompet in Srikakulam Andhra Pradesh are recent examples of such State brutality .

రైతులని కొట్టి, బడా బాబు లకు పెట్టె కాలం, ఇంకా ఎంత కాలం ...??
 భూమి నుండి మనిషి ని దూరం చేసే కాలం ఇంకా ఎంత కాలం ... ??
హక్కుల కోసం పోరాడితే పోలీసులను ఉసి కొలిపే కాలం ఇంకా ఎంత కాలం…??
రైతుల ఫై ఈ జులుం ఇంకా ఎంత కాలం, ఈ రాజ్య హింస ఇంకా ఎంత కాలం???




Lastly- Please, Please, Please make a sensible man the Agriculture Minister . I don’t remember  when was the last time our Agri-Minister Sri Sharad Pawar talked/worked for farmers ?? His interest lies more in World Cricket rather in Indian Farming sector .  

No comments: