A vote of no confidence from the farmers (Agrarian distress)

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A vote of no confidence from the farmers (Agrarian distress)

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• “This government has harmed farmers”: After the no-confidence motion inside the Parliament, a coalition of 201 farmer organisations protested outside it. In their gravest crisis, the govt. has deserted them.
• No talk of agri. growth or suicides: It is futile to compare agri. growth rates and farmer suicide numbers, as two consecutive years of poor rainfall dampened sentiment, and since data on suicides is not reliable. And for 15 months, no data has been released.

• TEN ARGUMENTS of no-confidence by farmers:

1. Economic Survey 2018 accepting that real farmer income is stagnant: That it’s just 1.9% over four yrs blows to bits the BJP’s 2014 promise of dramatic change in farmer situation. Three issues 
1. PMFBY has not worked out, 
2. National Land Use Policy never enacted, & 
3. APMC Act not reformed.
2. Backing off from “50% over production cost promise”: The 2015 affidavit in S.C. said it would distort the agri-markets. Then under pressure the goalpost shifted to 2018 budget.  
3. Routine annual increase in MSPs stopped: The state governments’ bonus over MSPs were stopped. 
4. Poor response to droughts in 2014-15 and 2015-16: There were delays in declaration of droughts, improvement in ration delivery, and response to drinking water management. NDRF allotments to states were cut.
5. MGNREGS: The central govt. has been unwilling to support this. It could not kill it, but has choked it. Net Result? Farm labourers and rural poor are hit very hard. Funds are neither adequate nor timely.  
6. Anti-farmer trade policies: It imported sugar from Pakistan. It put a minimum export price on potatoes in 2014. Overall agri-exports have gone down from $43 b in 2013-14 to just $33 b in 2016-17.
7. Demonetisation blow: The agri markets (especially fruit and vegetables markets) were severely hit. Sudden removal of cash contracted demand and that effect is still lingering.
8. Livestock economy cycle disrupted: The crude way to regulate and ban livestock movement (and later watering down) has badly affected the incomes on one hand, & freely roaming animals damaging farms.
9. Anti Adivasis: The constant dilution of Forest Rights Act and transfer of land and water resources from adivasis to industry has harmed the adivasi farmers badly.
10. Attempts to nullify the 2013 Land Acquisition Act: Four attempts through ordinance made. And the NHAI has already bypassed many of the farmer-friendly norms.

• The most anti-farmer government: Without a doubt, these ten points prove it.
• Summary : There are multiple reasons to believe that the present government is the most anti-farmer government of India, ever!

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