FARMERS AGITATION IN INDIA

 FARMERS AGITATION IN INDIA

  

Farmers Agitation and Protest: This is a very controversial topic, which has received global attention. Sadly, majority of the people are supporting this Farmers Protests without even knowing the real reasons or what the farmers are protesting. If protests are the platforms and roads to arm twist and get the wrong, right, then I suppose one of the first ones to protest should be the middle-class and service-class people who have been paying their taxes and running the country without receiving any benefits, while classes who do not fall under the tax bracket are getting all the benefits, plus protesting to get more or should I say squeezing and demanding more.

 

Coming back to this Farmers Protest, so who are these farmers? Well, they are from Punjab, Haryana and UP states of India, who are amongst the richest not just amongst the Indian farmers but amongst the richest people of our country, and they Don't Pay TAX and additionally get many other subsidiaries.

 

So, I did a bit of digging and my own research to go below the unrest waters to understand what the real issue is. I have to admit here that our Government has NOT done due diligence in explaining the issues to masses and world at large, hence all these celebrities and other influencers are stating that the government is wrong and farmers getting all the emotional support. Media too has NOT been (not surprising here) providing the right information to its readers and viewers.

 

Let me take this bold step and share what I have learnt so far.

 

I would like to highlight 4-key issues that we should carefully consider for an informed opinion on the said subject:

1. Emissions from Crop Residue Burning. Farmers demanded, and regrettably the Government of India agreed, to withdraw penalties for burning crop residue. Indian farmers, mostly around Delhi in the states of Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh, burn about 100 million tons (Mt) a year of crop residue, which generates 140 Mt of CO₂, 12 Mt of other noxious gases and 1.2 Mt of particulate matter choking a population of about 50 million in the area. Crop residue burning also destroys the nitrogen and carbon potential of the soil, kills the microflora and fauna beneficial to the soil, removes the large portion of the organic matter, and unavoidably leads to increased use of chemical fertilizers.We all know, read and specially people of Delhi have experienced the deadly air called Smog, which makes breathing extremely difficult and people with respiratory problems have nothing less than nightmarish days. Many young children are forced to skip school and stay indoors. 2.2 million children suffer irreversible lung damage.

 

Should we support farmers demand to let them continue to burn crop residue and add to emissions?

                                      

2. Food Wastage. Every year in India, about 67 million tons of food is wasted (and this is only the official and recorded number, unrecorded number will be approximately 3 to 4 times more), which has been estimated to be around US$14 billion and could feed 100 million people. Up to 40 per cent of the food produced in India is wasted, according to the United Nations Development Program, and about 21 million tons of wheat (2.5 Mt GHG) equivalent to gross annual production of Australia, is wasted annually. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO is a United Nations agency that works on international efforts to defeat hunger by developing agriculture) estimates show that two-third of food is wasted in post-harvest transportation, storage, processing and distribution before it reaches the consumer. To understand this better, if food wastage was a country, it would be the third largest emitter after the US and China. Embedded carbon in the wasted food in India is about 60Mt of CO₂ equivalent.  India desperately needs to modernize its agriculture, strengthen market linkages, and invest in the whole supply chain. 

 

Should we support and to continue with the current archaic systems and waste food that could feed 100 million hungry every year?    

             

3. Water Crisis. A severe water crisis is looming large in India. About 85% of irrigated agriculture in India depends on groundwater. India extracts about 230 km³ of groundwater every year of which 90% is used for irrigation. World Bank estimates show that by 2030, 65% of Indian groundwater would be considered over-exploited i.e., extracting more than is replenished by nature. 50-years ago, farmers in Punjab and Haryana boldly rose to the challenge then of food insecurity and started growing rice in a semi-arid agro-climatic zone to feed the country. This has come at a very heavy environmental cost of severe depletion of groundwater, deteriorating water quality, excessive use of chemical fertilizers and cancer-causing pesticides. India is now food surplus and needs to create incentives to make agriculture less resource intensive and demand driven. 

Agitating farmers want the government to lock into the current system of growing resource intensive and chemical ridden agriculture. Should we support that?

4. Corruption-Controlled Agriculture Markets. Many may not be aware but the current system forces farmers to sell their produce through government-established market yards where they have to pay a brokerage of about 2% to 3% and market tax of about 5% to 6%. Market Committees collect this tax supposedly for “rural development”, are controlled by politicians, and their accounts are not audited for years (rather never). The revenue is often swindled by corrupt politicians controlling these Committees. The new laws give a choice to the farmers to either continue to sell in the existing market yards or sell to anyone anywhere in the country and that too without paying any tax.

There are other strong vested interests benefitting from the status-quo. Government procures large quantities of wheat and rice for the public distribution system and pays a pre-announced minimum support price (MSP). Out of about 210 Mt of wheat and rice produced in the country, the Government procures about 85 Mt for sale to the poor at one-tenth of the procurement price. About 52% of this procurement is made from only three states Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, the hub of agitating farmers. More than 90% of the farmers in rest of India do not benefit from this system. Normally, the market price is lower than the MSP. This is what creates a great opportunity for the broker-mafia. Brokers and politicians purchase wheat and rice from farmers in other states at a lower price (about 60% of MSP) and pay them in cash, bring it to government procurement stations in Punjab, Haryana and UP, sell it at a higher price (MSP) and get paid by cheque. This is counted as their agriculture income which is tax-exempt. So, these brokers, often politicians or campaign financiers, not only earn the huge arbitrage but also convert the cash (generally crime or black money) to legitimate tax-free income. New laws would bring in transparency and make it difficult to legitimize crime/black money. Don’t we all see or question how this farmer agitation is so well funded? My assumption is that many innocent farmers may not even know the source of this questionable so called “philanthropic” funding. 

 

Should we support a system of legitimizing crime and corruption money in the hands of corrupt politicians and their associates? 

 

I am hoping that eventually a satisfactory solution would be found not only for the agitating farmers of a few states but also for the remaining 90% farmers of India who would stand to gain from the new laws.

 

Thank you for reading through. The above information has been taken from few original articles as part of my research (secondary). These are my personal opinion and have no intention to create any unrest amongst any society or community of people. My objective is to see the other side of the coin too before deciding whom to support.

 

Jai Hind.