Farmers are hurting, deliver relief swiftly

Six farmers were killed in firing in two separate incidents in Mandsaur district of western Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday as food-growers stepped up their week-long agitation across the state’s western region, setting fire to trucks and clashing with the police and representatives of the administrative machinery. A panicky state government offered hefty compensation to the family of the deceased, but has persistently refused to look the problem in the face, with chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan accusing the Opposition Congress of instigating the farmers.

Underscoring the persistent farm distress, the long-pending demand of farmers has been loan waivers and announcement of a minimum support price that would cover costs plus offer the tiller 50 per cent above input costs, exactly what the BJP had promised in its election manifesto. The demand has arisen due to the collapse in agriculture prices over time.

In Maharashtra next door too, farmers have been on the move and four more have committed suicide since their agitation began on June 1. To buy peace, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis offered that for small and marginal farmers, and waiver of loans up to a point by the end of October. But the agitation hasn’t been withdrawn as the farmers wait for results.

Only about two months ago, Tamil Nadu’s farmers had camped for a long spell in the nation’s capital, eventually going back on the strength of assurances. In Uttar Pradesh, the Yogi Adityanath government averted an agitation of agriculturists by announcing some loan waivers. But it is evident that disquieting in the farmers’ community has emerged as an all-India phenomenon.

A number of studies suggest farmers’ monthly incomes are around only '2,000 per month, and this includes some earnings from sources like NREGA. This appears to be an unsustainable state of affairs. State governments are criticised by many people when they offer relief in the form of loan waivers or reductions on the ground that this would beggar the banking system and affect public finances. But no counter-narratives are offered to alleviate agriculture misery, which affects more than 50 per cent of the country’s population.

Instead of taking steps to come to grips with the problem, top BJP ministers at the Centre and in the affected states are content to say that the Opposition Congress should not “politicise” the issue. But the killing of farmers in firing is an emotive issue and the ruling party would do well to appreciate its meaning and offer some meaningful ad hoc assistance until well-considered policy interventions are made. It just won’t do for the BJP and its governments at the Centre and in the states to get worked up over the question of bovine deaths but not be sensitive to farm suicides or farmers’ killings in firings.