[dropcap]G[/dropcap]overnment figures show 1,74,000 farmers in India have committed suicide in the last ten years.
This means that every day on average 30 farmers are committing suicide in the country.
Whereas, the BJP-led Narendra Modi government had come on the guarantee that it would give farmers at least one and a half times the cost of producing agricultural produce as per the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission. Will double the income of farmers by 2022. Will waive off the loans of farmers. It will provide interest-free loans up to Rs 1 lakh to each farmer’s family. Sadly, Modi did not fulfil even one of these guarantees.
If given then only cheated the farmers. The situation is such that sacrifices are being demanded from farmers to protect corporate interests. Just six months after returning to power, the Modi-led BJP government told the Supreme Court that it was not possible to implement the Swaminathan Commission recommendations.
The Modi government has cut the annual agriculture budget allocation by 30 percent. Prices of other agricultural inputs like seeds, fertilizers, pesticides and diesel have increased due to cuts in agricultural subsidies by the central government.
The BJP government is gradually weakening the employment guarantee scheme. The annual expenditure required for the project is ₹ 2.72 lakh crore, but only ₹ 73 thousand crore has been allocated in the budget for 2023-24. This is only a fraction of the actual cost.
Farmers’ loans were not waived off. A total of Rs 5 lakh crore is required to waive off the loans of all the farmers of the country. However, the government claims that this is not possible due to a lack of funds.
At the same time, over the same period, loans worth about Rs 30 lakh crore for corporate companies were waived off.
The condition of agriculture is such that the debt of farmer families has also increased by 30 percent. They are trapped in a vicious cycle of debt.
The centre has also misused the ‘National Relief Fund.’ No assistance has been provided to farmers who lost their crops due to floods, drought, or similar disasters.
On the other hand, farmers are being pushed into crop insurance. Agricultural crop insurance is completely in the hands of private companies. Due to this, farmers are being exploited further.
Due to extremely low crop prices, unemployment in rural areas, and a lack of other means to repay loans, the migration of farmers from villages to cities is accelerating.
Forty million people have migrated from rural areas to urban areas in the six years 2016-2023.
The government is trying to implement three anti-farmer agricultural laws. Agricultural Produce Marketing Committees (APMCs) set up by the government to help farmers are being closed down through unethical amendment laws.
Amendments to the Land Act are creating opportunities for companies to easily acquire farmers’ land.
Despite strong opposition from the government, farmers had continuously protested on the streets of Delhi for more than a year. The farmer’s protests were intense and historically significant due to their duration and widespread participation.
Sadly, 752 farmers, including women, lost their lives during this struggle.
Eight farmers were killed after the son of BJP MP Ajay Mishra Teni deliberately drove a car into a peaceful protest in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri. This planned act happened in front of everyone’s eyes, but Ajay Mishra was not removed from the cabinet nor was any strict action taken against him.
Many other tactics were used to scare and disperse the farmers, but they did not budge. Later, when elections approached in Uttar Pradesh, Modi suddenly appeared on the TV screen and apologized to the farmers. He also promised to withdraw all three laws and fulfil other demands of the farmers.
The farmers returned to their homes after being given written assurance by the NDA government.
A year has passed since then, but the Modi government has still not shown any sign of fulfilling its promises.
It has been translated from a Hindi piece.
