Sutanu Guru
Executive Director, C Voter Foundation
When rhetoric scores over actual hard data, you can’t expect rational debates or outcomes. When a clear minority is convinced that street power and de facto holding cities and citizens hostage is the most effective way to make the State give in to your demands, the can expect blockades that make life miserable for common folks. And when the State has surrendered in the past, there is all the more incentive for you to use rhetoric, street power and implicit threats of violence to get what you want. All this talk of “farmers” of India are suffering under the Narendra Modi regime is utter nonsense. There is no doubt that farmers in India are in distress and agriculture faces a structural crisis. But that is not why farmers of Punjab have declared “Chalo Delhi” to browbeat the government into giving in to their demands. The last time farmers protested and blockaded Delhi and the National Capital Region, there were farmers from Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and even Rajasthan. They were protesting against the three new farm laws which every sensible person with knowledge of the field rated as good reforms. But propaganda that Modi will use the three farm laws to enable “Ambani & Adani” to grab land of the farmers was a success. And the Modi regime failed miserably to counter that propaganda.
The farm laws were withdrawn in 2021. This time around, an overwhelming majority of the farmers are from Punjab. And their list of demands makes it as clear as daylight that they are not really interested in helping fellow fames across India. Look at some of the demands they have aimed this time. One stipulates that all farmers who become 60 years old must get a life time pension of s 9,000 per month. There are more than 10 million farming families in India. You do the maths yourself to realise how much the state has to spend if it accepts that demand. Even if the government accepts, close to 500 million Indians in the unorganised workforce will demand the same pension. Where will the money come from? Look at another preposterous demand. The farm “leaders” from Punjab, supported by “activists” like Yogendra Yadav want the government to guarantee 200 days of NREGS work for rural families at a wage of Rs 700 per day. Let’s say a husband and wife in a village are paid Rs 700 each per day for 200 days. That woks out to about Rs 2,80,000 per year for a rural couple. The per capita of India is not even Rs 200,000. Besides, the farm “leaders” in Punjab have become used to employing “Bhaiyyas “ from Bihar and UP at low wages for doing all the had work. If this demand is accepted, which landless labourer from a poor state will go to Punjab for work? Will the rich farmers in Punjab then import labour from Canada? Quite clearly, this round of protests has nothing much to do with the serious concerns faced by farmers. Even the demand for a law to legally guarantee MSP is paid for every kilogram for every crop is absurd and unconstitutional.
If you do that, why should tens of millions of women working as domestic help in middle class and affluent Indian homes not demand a law to legally guarantee their monthly salary is at least s 20,000 per month? Most importantly, the non stop propaganda that is being spread about Punjab farmers being the “Anna dattas” of the nation needs to be exposed. Sure, fames in Punjab have played a stellar role in the Green Revolution that transformed India from being at the mercy of food imports to become a major food exporting country in the world. But those glory days are long gone.
The Green Revolution has spread to many other states and Punjab is no longer the dominant player in this sector. In both wheat and rice, Punjab is number three in production. But 99% of the rice output and 74% of the wheat output from Punjab is procured by the government at MSP. No other farmers in any other state can even dream of this. As India has moved from very very poor to lower middle class status, the diets of Indian families have also changed. Even relatively poor Indian families have stated consuming moe fruits, vegetables, milk, eggs and other non vegetarian food items. In fact, horticulture, that comprises fruits and vegetables, is now much bigger than rice and wheat. In this crucial sector, Punjab doesn't even come in the to ten in India. It is also way behind other states in milk and eggs. So the “Anna Datta” story is just hogwash. The author thinks that some vested interests have realised this is the best time to use street power to arm the government since Lok Sabha elections are looming and farm.
Disclaimer:
This is the personal opinion of the author. The views expressed in this write-up have nothing to do with www.prameyanews.com.
