Positive India:ELSA LYCIAS JOEL:
“See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains”
Earliest of civilized man’s occupations, farming has been the main economic basis of every civilization down to recent times. Indian civilization is grounded on the ideals of an agricultural society. To my surprise, many with whom I interacted about the government’s imbroglio never seemed to know a day existed to celebrate farmers. We await december 23rd, don’t we? To see how the revolution unfolds, to know if the government will come to it’s senses and to celebrate the farmers’ victory which will be a tribute to Chaudhary Charan Singh’s hard work too. It appears our government’s front men are heavy promoters of a hypothetical mega-agribusiness. Claims not recanted. No forethoughts on adverse effects. No hope in the new ‘Zamindari System’. No repeal of laws.
Almost a year ago Mr. Modi shook hands with German Chancellor Angela Merkel over 20 agreements, one of them being AI collaborations in agriculture such as precision farming with the aim to increase efficiency and to save resources as well as reduction of food losses and waste. But Angela Merkel wasn’t briefed about the lack of a cold chain and proper storage facility, exports, transportation, adequate processing facilities, and marketing which are nothing but the failures of the Indian government. Out of the 28 crore tonnes of cereals produced, the Food Corporation of India (FCI) procured just 8 tonnes leaving the rest to rot in open storage areas (Financial express July 31, 2019). Today, we see our farmers threatened and vandalized. Thus, Wasting away under the sun and rain is not just the harvested bounty. The nation agrees that their economic pressure has been exacerbated by new laws that were made without consulting farmers, and they will drive even more farms out of business and end livelihoods and lives too. Over the years farmers have viewed themselves as a beleaguered minority forced to change by an irrational mainstream. But the clear message at the ongoing protest is that they don’t see a need to change.
Revolt of farmers as and when they are bogged down by a myriad of problems is not new to the world but how India responds is definitely weird. If we fail to comprehend the magnitude of the disaster, prosperity can never be restored and the nightmare of 2020 will fade into a bad memory. When a country is plagued by immorality and the leadership doesn’t play a vital role in maintaining morale and leading the country out of crisis, then it is to be concluded that the leadership is faltering. In TN too and other states, farmers have always been disappointed by the centre and state governments. Instead of augmenting its investment and expenditure in the farm sector, the government enacts new laws that ensures nothing but an ongoing struggle.
It’s shocking that the farmers (Empowerment and protection) agreement on price assurance and farm services Act 2020 does seem to sound convincing or promising to any farmer and still the government is hell bent on not repealing the same. Section 4 insists on the quality, grade and standards of the farming produce must be agreed upon by the parties entering into a farming agreement. Any farmer would yearn and toil for the finest produce but crop yields in terms of quantity and quality are known to vary increasingly from year to year due to extreme weather and unpredictable events like heavy rainfall, drought, soil erosion and other factors such as pests and diseases. Quality control of farming produce is rather difficult unlike industrial products given the number of factors involved in agriculture. Shall we remember for our good that even renowned soothsayers/astrologers of the country cannot foresee or predetermine the quality of a farm produce ahead or during the planting or rearing process.
In a country where bridges and flyovers collapse with no quality assurance being given to the public in spite of nothing being dependable on natural forces but specifications laid out in the tender documents, farmers are taunted with laws as these. Anybody who had planted a sapling or a flowering plant would know assessing quality before yield is nothing but silly. As per section 5, once the guaranteed price is agreed upon between the two parties, one strongest and the other the poorest and voiceless without any bargaining power, there exists no minimum support to help uplift India’s languishing agricultural sector. The manner in which our PM continues to assure the protesting farmers that MSP remains sends forth the message that either our honorable PM does not understand what an MSP means or he is at his usual best. Trying to abolish the PDS in the name of reforms or converting it to a private distribution system wherein the government procures stuff from one of it’s cronies is a sinister design. Wrong drafting can be corrected but not an evil intent. Around 90 crore people to be covered under PDS for food grains, a responsible government has to continue distributing ration in the overall interest of the country, especially the poor. So, the farmers’ fight is also to thwart the free market from coming back to bite our hands.
Supposedly, the produce gets through the quality check and guaranteed price agreements, then the question of payment rears it’s ugly head. Subclause 3 of section 6 clearly states that the deal will be of enormous advantage to the buyer. After paying not less than two-third of the agreed amount at the time of delivery, the biggie can sleep over the rest of the payment for the next 30 days after which the outstanding dues can be or need not be settled based on quality certification. Quality of rice seeds doesn’t decline in a matter of 30 days. If the corporates fail to complete the payment, then the government will remain a mere spectator, a silent one at that. So says Section 7. Evidently, an Act that overrides the Essential Commodities Act. According to a reply given to a question in Parliament on September 15, 2020, the outstanding payment dues to sugarcane farmers across the country stand at Rs 15,683 crore as on September 11. Nobody is to blame anybody for two reasons.
1. This is India
2. Respective state governments have issued notices to defaulting sugar mills.
We have known of marginal farmers who end lives given their inability to face the humiliation that comes with indebtedness. In the list of wilful defaulters who have fled the country to avoid prosecution after defaulting on billions of dollars of bank loans, there is not a single farmer. The government is supposed to be under pressure to act against wealthy defaulters instead of erecting statues, temples and amending laws. If we remember correctly, scam-tainted former Indian Premier League (IPL) chief Lalit Modi was helped by the government to obtain British travel documents on humanitarian grounds even while his Indian passport remained revoked. We will be able to recollect many such names and dramas if we wish to. Once investigative agencies started trailing their finances, defaulters have found refuge in better destinations or tax havens not without offering cues to the government. Indians can’t but freeze in shock as to how carefully the farmers (Empowerment and protection) agreement on price assurance and farm services Act 2020 has been formulated so that it’s about the ease of big business by corporate giants expected to do things ‘in good faith’.
Grievance of both parties if any is not the government’s concern as is mentioned in sub clauses of section 14. A provision for both to form a conciliation board consisting of representatives of parties to the farming agreement is made. Who will comprise the farmers’ conciliation committee is the big question. People who represent farmers can’t hold a candle to corporate lawyers and mediators. If the fair and balanced representation fails to solve the dispute in a matter of 30 days then the concerned Sub-Divisional Magistrate tries his/her best for another 30 days. None in TN needs reminding of the role of a local magistrate in the custodial deaths of the two Tamil Nadu shopkeepers a few months ago. Finally, the buck stops with an Appellate Authority, which shall be presided over by the Collector or Additional Collector nominated by the Collector in another 30 days. Three months of anxiety and trouble might or might not yield solutions for the most deserving.
Those gloating over the provision of free interstate trade are far from reality and it’s high time they introspect as to why farmers are relentless in their demands in spite of many dying/killed/tortured in the line of duty. Amendments made to the ECA is the highest form of threat to food security that encourages big traders to collude and drive up retail prices. In fact it guarantees nothing but artificial scarcity, hoarding and black-marketing.
In India, write-offs and corporate loan waivers are needed to restart and kick-start business cycles whereas legal notices are sent to defaulting farmers under scanner, threatened, fined, jailed and many a time pushed over the edge. Nothing is more ridiculous than the finding of the one who adorned the Reserve Bank of India as governor between 2016 and 2018. Yes, he found farm loan waivers as a moral hazard upsetting the national balance sheet. Former chief economic advisor found writing-off of corporate loans leads to economic growth.
This is not a protest by the farmers, of the farmers and for the farmers alone but for the great revival and rejuvenation of the Indian nation as a whole. Acknowledging Mr. Gandhi as the father of our nation will not suffice if we do not do our part in preventing the government from breaking the backbone of our country. We shall unswervingly uphold socialism with the moral support of liberal democracies around the world. In the meantime, let the council of ministers think of ways and means to summon envoys or condemn any kind of global support to the persecuted lot.
Writer:ELSA LYCIAS JOEL(The views expressed solely belong to writer)
