The recent farmers’ marches – one from Delhi’s eastern flanks to Chilla, and the second from its western side from Shambhu, have once again brought us face to face with reality. Despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s personal apologies and promises made after rescinding the three farm laws, farmers still feel cheated.
So how did we get here?
Recap: seeds of trouble
Farmers initially left Delhi’s borders after the contentious farm laws were taken back and Modi promised to look into the demand for a minimum support price (MSP). Farmers were assured that the talks with Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) will continue and an MSP committee will be formed. The government stopped the deliberations in January 2022 as no decision could be reached on the question of MSP.
The MSP committee was also marred by controversy as one of the members resigned, while the rest were alleged to be “pro-farm laws”. The working of the MSP committee was also questioned as no interim report or minutes of the meetings were made available to the public.
Taking cue from this, a breakaway faction from the original SKM organised as SKM (non-political) while the Kisan-Mazdoor Morcha took control of Shambhu and Khanauri border in mid-February. The leadership was taken by Jagjit Singh Dallewal and Swaran Singh Pandher.
The cadre strength was bolstered by other breakaway factions from larger groups like the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU). This is the reason why older SKM leaders or their cadres have not been present at the Shambhu or Khanauri borders. The previous SKM leadership was also denounced after attempts to bridge the movements failed.
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Overtime, the borders also attracted many splinter groups and religious factions. Some mistakes were made by the SKM (non-political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) in failing to unite the older movement and leadership. As a result, they failed to become a bigger movement. The local farmers’ support also dwindled despite the SKM (non-political) plus KMM’s massive campaigns in Haryana and Punjab. The central government, as a consequence, took them less seriously.
The way out
The first step has to be taken by the government. Instead of the tussle between the vice president and the agriculture minister, one point person should lead the negotiations from the government’s side. Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is the ideal candidate for negotiating with farmers given his vast experience as Madhya Pradesh’s former chief minister.
Instead of waiting for the farmers to reach Delhi, Chouhan should use this opportunity to hold public and private meetings with farmers and farmers leaders at Shambhu border. He should also utilise this opportunity to bring in older SKM leadership, which had strong leaders like Joginder Singh Ugraha, to the negotiating table. Let the meetings be televised so the farmers across the country can see what’s really happening. Apart from the farmers leaders of the two SKMs, prominent agricultural experts, farmers, seeds savers, independent agri-policy analysts, et al should be assembled in Delhi for a national workshop on fair price. Small and medium traders should also be represented at these meetings along with big food processors.
The farmers of Shambhu border may belong to one region, but they represent the crisis of the rural economy and the fact that those engaged in farming are suffering. Every day, 154 farmers and daily wage labourers die by suicide as rural incomes from agriculture fall every year.
The government needs to take a step towards peace and transparency and address this grave problem.
If the government takes these steps, farmers at the Shambhu border need to welcome such a move and not be antagonistic towards the government. The protesting farmers should also provide a detailed report of their fundings sources to the public, so there are no questions about foreign interests or ulterior motives behind the protests.
Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty
Our nation cannot afford more dead farmers, especially if they are killed or maimed by police bullets.
The government must move beyond political manoeuvring and genuinely work towards addressing the issue of corruption.
Because if all government schemes truly reached the last village, half of these problems won’t exist. The government needs to create more Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMCs), stop handing government contracts to “friends” and ensure that all government programs on agriculture reach farmers. One wonders how Reliance can have a 600-acre mango orchard, while the rest of the country has to conform to land ceiling laws. At the same time, the government’s flagship programme, PM- KISAN Nidhi, was alleged to have many fake beneficiaries.
But getting back to the fair price question, the government needs to strongly consider giving the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) legal rights for setting price floors for crops, which are backed by the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) as well as state government procurement schemes. Instead of all the procurement from Punjab and Haryana, all states and districts should have procurement quotas based on their agro-climate and water. This should also include procurement of organic legumes, oilseeds and millets apart from wheat and paddy.
The other big demand is a loan waiver. Naturally, the farmers are feeling slighted because big corporate houses are getting away with Ponzi schemes, getting soft loans and loan waivers, but the farmers are not. To combat this, the government should seriously look into the causes of farmers’ debt and try to resolve them. A rural credit crisis is also looming over the nation, as most farmers of the country have an average of Rs 1-2 lakh credit on their Kisan credit cards – which they are in no position to pay back.
If the government only wants to cater to corporations and continue condoning corruption, the rural economy and farmers will be forced to continue to protest to ensure they get their rights.
Indra Shekhar Singh is an independent agri-policy analyst and writer.