Is Indian farmer being pushed out of agriculture sector?

Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka government have announced partial loan waivers for farmers but the waivers come with riders

Tired of failed monsoons, plagued by drought, lack of support from government and the effects of urban-rural disconnect is forcing Indian farmers to give up agriculture.

Incidentally, experts believe that each time a farmer quits farming, the government gets what it exactly wants, lesser agricultural produce in the country.

"The policy of consecutive governments in India has been and is actually to push farmers out from agriculture. Governments have only created conditions to make agriculture economically unviable to such an extent that farmers quit agriculture. They want farmers to quit agriculture and no policy or government is willing to back them or support," said Devinder Sharma, renowned researcher and writer on agricultural policy.

Sharma highlighted the systematic way through which the government as well as we the people allow farmers to remain economically weak. "We have kept agriculture starved for all these years. It is impoverished and obviously, their loans are mounting. It must be supported by policies to ensure that the loans do not multiple next time. But look at what the government does. Instead of providing a cushion to farmers in the form of minimum support price, we are determined to remove it altogether," he added.

Minimum support price gives the farmer an incentive to grow. While price crash is a common phenomenon after a bumper harvest, the minimum support price provides the farmer with a cushion to not undergo heavy losses. "The government wants to take away the MSP and provide direct market access and this is where the farmer is exploited," he added

Loan waiver and its riders

At least four states including Punjab and Maharashtra have announced loan waivers for farmers plagued by drought. While raging debates over the viability of loan waivers are filling broadcast space, experts believe that the most important questions of 'how', 'who' and 'to what extent' the loan waiver is benefitting are being missed.

"Every loan waiver comes with fine prints and reading between the lines are important. Urban India, thanks to its disconnect with its rural counterpart, is under the impression that all farmer issues are solved by a single loan waiver but never reads into finer details. Entire loans are never waived off. From loan limit to procurement date and category of farmers, the riders are many," Sharma added.

Who is benefiting out of loan waiver?

There are more than 2.14 crore small and marginal farmers in Uttar Pradesh alone. The government has announced a waiver of Rs 36,359 crore albeit up to a limit of Rs 1 lakh per farmer. While close to 85 lakh farmers are expected to benefit out of it, the rest are still left to fend for themselves.

Taking a cue from Yogi Adityanath government, the Maharashtra government announced a loan waiver of Rs 34,022 crore while the number of farmers in the state is over 1.31 crore. Government estimates claim that 89 lakh farmers will benefit out of the waiver but experts do not peg the number at more than 25 lakh farmers. Yet again, the cap is at Rs 1 lakh per person.

Karnataka government has waived off loans worth Rs 8165 crores and has estimated that close to 22 lakh farmers will benefit out of it. The loan waiver is much smaller in comparison to Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh but the number of farmers estimated to benefit out of it is on par. The reason is simple, the waiver limit is capped at Rs 50,000 per person. The waiver is also applicable to only those loans acquired from cooperative banks.

In short, farmers who fit the bill of loan waiver conditions, get the full or partial benefit. Those who have repaid the loan do not get any benefit. "One section of the farmers get benefits. But I don't understand how helpful a Rs 50,000 waiver is. It, perhaps, is huge for someone with an outstanding of Rs 50,000 but most farm loans are in the range of Rs 2 lakh," Devinder Sharma added.

The urban-rural disconnect is a shame

Indian farming is dying a slow death and all of us are responsible for it. "We are insulating our cities and are allowing our villages to die out. Those living in the city have no clue that life of a farmer is horrible," Sharma reiterated. While Karnataka has been hit by drought for almost six consecutive years, its capital Bengaluru shows no inkling of a drought-hit region while farmers merely 20 kms away from the city have no water. The same is the case with a Mumbai or Lucknow.

"We are making our cities comfortable at the cost of our farmers. It is not just the government but all of us, who are responsible for what happened in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra," Devinder Sharma added.

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