How the protest and agitation undermined the Economic and Social transformation of 82% of Small and Marginal Farmers
70 percent of its rural households of our country still depend primarily on agriculture for their livelihood, with 82 percent of farmers being small and marginal. While a tiny percentage of farmers enjoy rich lives and another small percentage live a middle class life, a large majority of farmers in India still live in poverty.
A look at the farmer’s suicide statistics show that out of 5579 farmers suicide, 5098 are committed by farmer labourers. A total of 4 lakhs farmers committed suicide between 1995 to 2018, the onus of much of which lies on the age old antiquated agricultural laws, non-supportive of the real farmers. And though governments of the past through their policies of liberalisation and privatisation, claimed to revolutionise all industries, they could not solve the miseries of the vast section of farm labourers, the poorest of poor amongst them; who remained exploited and driven to suicide.
On 5th June 2020, 3 Farm Laws – The Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020; and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 came into effect. Thereafter, over 221 days that these laws were in force, they were met with unlawful protest and agitation and on 19th November 2021, PM Narendra Modi took a decision to repeal the laws saying –
“I apologise for not being able to explain to some farmers what we wanted to do through the agriculture laws.“Our government brought the farm laws for the welfare of farmers, especially for the welfare of small farmers, in the interest of the agricultural world of the country, in the interest of the country, and for the bright future of the village poor. Despite the efforts made by our agricultural economists, scientists, and progressive farmers, we could not convince the importance of the farm laws to the farmers.”
And what got lost in the process is the huge turnaround the present government brought in the agriculture sector and its related activities. For example, the Farmer’s Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020 proposed an electronic trading platform for direct and online trading of produce. Entities that can establish such platforms include companies, partnership firms, or societies.
A look at the eNam (National Agriculture Market) that is an online trading platform for agricultural commodities in India, one that facilitates farmers, traders and buyers with online trading in commodities, has more than 1.11 crore farmers and 1.14 lakh traders registered and trading online. eNam had covered 90 commodities across 16+ states and 2 UTs.
The best part is that farmers can avail the facility of partial payment in cash (as per the limits set by the respective states) and remaining in their bank account for e-NAM trade.
A glimpse at one of the success story.
Musku Vidyasagar, resident of the Velkatoor village, Balkonda Mandal, aged 45 years old owns seven (7) acres of land where he cultivates Paddy, Maize, and Soybean crops. He has been a seller in the market yard Nizamabad for last 15 years and all through, he was made to perform sale activity through Commission Agents. He has been a witness to open manual auction, electronic and now e-NAM and e-NAM (Direct Purchase) modes of selling in the market yard. In his own words, he says “he never had access to prices of commodities of other markets and earlier used to stay back in the market yard for two to three days till completion of weighment and wait 20 to 30 days for receiving his payment as there was total lack of transparency in price realization and deductions made by commission agents. It was understandable that he was made to sell his produce at the rate offered by the local purchaser, never offered clarity on deductions made and the purchasers have been offering lower rates showing the reason of the presence of high moisture content in the agriculture produce brought by him.
Taking the e-Nam option, he sold 26.16 quintals of soya white in e-NAM (Direct Purchase center) saved an amount of Rs.1427.00 through additional commission and Rs.1501.00 by way of reduced hamali charges. On a quantity of 26.16 quintals, he received a benefit of an amount of Rs.2929.00 in a single transaction of produce worth Rs 70,000.00(approx). Thus, by selling away his 270 quintals of Soya, Vidyasagar has become richer by more than Rs 30,000.00 off his agri produce, which otherwise would have gone to fill coffers of Commission agents. Further, he received the payment for the produce within 24 hours of selling through online transaction.
Online payments on the portal between April and July of this financial year crossed ₹68.17 crore.
And still why did these farmers fail to see what could transform their lives positively.
Is the lack/absence of educated farmers a reason?
Have a large section of the farmers, being uneducated, misled by protestors?
Had farmers been provided by wrong representations and diluted versions of the three historic Farm Laws?
If so, isn’t farmer’s education the key to empowering them and freeing them from the clutches of multiple problems.
Time to bring transformative change not in policy but also in strategy for farmers wellbeing. Let strategy start with educating farmers to empower them with decision making ability, so that they don’t have to depend on others to explain to them what is economically and socially beneficial to them. Let them read, understand, analyse all laws affecting their lives and future and decide for themselves whats good or not good for them; what needs agitation and what needs acceptance.