POLITICS WITH PULSES- FARMERS LIVES AT STAKE
POLITICS WITH PULSES- FARMERS LIVES AT STAKE
Please read the article ( shared ink) and
internalize for yourself, how your own family, brothers, sisters, uncles from our
farming community is suffering due to inconsistent policies, indiscriminate import
of Agri produce etc resulting into huge filing of stocks at farmers level,
agencies level , resulting into market glut and no signs of any recovery in
near future. What a pathetic situation.
Forget for a while that you are a software engineer, high profile
finance consultant etc, walk into the chapels of a farmer and understand how he
is being victimized due to our Government’s urban middle class influenced
policies.
Farmer’s issues:
In last two years I had written many blogs, reached policy
makers including PMO, NITI Aayog, and ministers and presented the case with
full database. Everyone express their
concerns and sympathies with farmers, but act at their own pace. Farmers don’t need anyone’s sympathies; they
need delivery of what was fair and due to them, nothing more, nothing
less. There is no proper basis for MSP
procurement through NAFED or other agencies. Muscle power of states prevails
over logic in getting the procurement quotas allotted for respective states.
The other day farmer died due to sun stroke while waiting for
his turn to register his grain which was brought on hired tractor load at a
mandi in MP. There are farmers waiting for over a month to get slips and their
turn to sell the produce. For many the wait is forever as some of the quotas
gets over through backdoor methods and genuine poor farmers left with empty
promises. Where is it going wrong? Are we not in a position to create
infrastructure to ensure that farmers waiting period is reduced? Can’t the
mandis work during early mornings, late evenings or night shifts to avoid
operations in soaring sun during summer months? These are the micro level failures
and unfortunately even the media is not coming forward and highlight these
failures, as farmer is everyone’s last priority.
Pulses storey:
When pulses were in short supply (mostly artificial
situations created by trade for their short term gains) what is need for going
to Mozambique and enter into long term agreements for supply of pluses to
India. Pulses crop cycle is about 5 months and any projected short supplies or
production can be adjusted by taking up cultivation within the country.
In fact the first crop estimate, second crop estimate etc are
meant for taking such well informed decisions, not for just keeping as
records. Unfortunately lack of
coordination between Food, Agriculture and Commerce ministries, data tampering
to suite certain trade houses involved in imports etc are the reasons for
present fate of the farmers and they need to be addressed effectively.
Global exploitation
of farmers:
Someone might argue that the imported pulses from Mozambique
are cheaper than Indian production. I am not sure how cheap they are, as the
data related to imports and whole supply chain costs are not shared in public
domains. Even if they are cheap, are we not exploiting citizens of another
nation which is under severe poverty when compare to India. The larger farmers
from India, other countries take huge chunks of land in Africa and grow crops by
exploiting the locals there by paying lowest possible wages. It is not wrong on
our part to exploit another starvation nation to please our urban middle class
and at the same time breaking the back of our farmers?
IF YOU ATE TODAY- THANK
A FARMER. JOIN HANDS TO STRENGTEN THE
VOICE OF FARMERS.
B Guruva
Reddy-9866889246
grbonthu@gmail.com
Comments