From Jat to Patidaar to Maratha, agitations are just not about reservations

From Jat to Patidaar to Maratha, agitations are just not about reservations

FPJ BureauUpdated: Thursday, May 30, 2019, 03:38 AM IST
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New Delhi: Jat reservation protests in Haryana, Patidar protests in Gujarat, Maratha protests in Maharashtra and the farmer’s unrest in Madhya Pradesh, all happened in the recent past. If one were to go by the media headlines and the general perceptions, these issues seem to pertain mostly to demands for reservation. However, there is a feeling that the country is missing the fundamental issues behind these recurring protests across various states.

The real issue seems to be that farmers are in distress and the rural youth is facing high level of unemployment. These protests are organised in the name of reservation but in reality it is a manifestation of the anger of rural India particularly due to unemployed rural youth.

Farmers in a ‘Catch 22’ situation 

From my personal interaction with scores of farmers, I can sense the distress of farmers. If crop production goes up, the rates drop and ultimately the farmer does not get good value. Conversely, if the production is low, there is shortage in the market and the rates of the concerned commodities shoots up. However, since the farmer is not having enough produce, again farmers get no value.

Finally when the farmer decides ‘Enough is Enough’ and he should get away from farming and try to venture into any kind of self-entrepreneurship, the doors of banks are mostly closed. Banks have some very impractical and illogical conditions. For instance, often banks insist on a CLU from the concerned State authorities. However, since most of agriculture land falls under de-controlled area, the concerned Town and Country Planning Department refuses to issue CLU. Agricultural land is often not considered to be a bankable mortgage by the banks. This means that only a wealthy farmer can possibly shift away from agriculture to some other more productive sector of economy.

On account of a severe mismatch between what is being spoken and visualised at the top and the actual implementation at the bottom, we have forced our farmers into a ‘Catch 22’ situation where neither have we allowed farming to be a profitable venture nor do we allow the farmer to diversify into areas other than farming.

Reverse migration: Need of the hour

The benefits that will arise out of stopping of migration of rural population to cities and metros will far outweigh the cost involved in giving these benefits to the rural India. The huge saving in transportation cost and social cost arising out of reduced tension resulting from availability of quality education, quality health and suitable employment opportunities in rural India will automatically turn urban habitats into smart cities as soon as the pressure of continuous migration goes off from these cities

Arranging finances

Of course, the next question shall be how to arrange finances for such a large farmer’s populace. At this stage, the only suggestion that can be made is that if the economy can sustain a 7 percent plus growth despite of NPA’s in banks exceeding Rs 6 lakh crore, it can very well afford a big shake up in our MSP system so that the farmers are assured of a minimum standard of living, employment and education.

I am worried that if immediate relief is not provided to rural India in terms of making farming productive and incentivising quality education in schools, the recurring protests in one form of the other may intensify in the times to come and may not augur well for the overall welfare of the society.

The author of the article is the Principal of NVN School, Palwal. This article is based on her grass-root level experience. Read the complete article at http://bit.ly/2jlqm2h

Suggestions for measures to improve farmer’s income level..

Universal coverage of MSP

n Bring all the crops, fruits, vegetables etc. under a Minimum Support Price (MSP) regime. This will allow MSP regime to cover 100 per cent of farmers instead of the existing 10 per cent farmers.

Decent MSP levels

n Devise MSP in a manner that the farmer gets at least 50 per cent return over his cost. The cost should include the labour cost of the farmer and his family.

Immediate relief through MSP

n Announce 25 per cent hike in MSP in pulses, wheat, paddy and other existing crops for each of the next four years till the prices allowed as MSP are at least double the existing cost.

Facilitating setting up of new projects / industries in rural India

n The present mind-set that agricultural land with high productivity should not be diverted for industries and other project needs to be changed. Agricultural land must be given the same treatment as any other piece of land wherein market should decide as to what the residents of that area should do.

Removal of CLU approval requirement

n A large number of areas in the rural India are deprived of very good business opportunities on account of complex CLU provisions which the farmers in the area are unable to satisfy.  It can be, therefore, proposed that for a limited period of 5 years starting from 2018, the entire area under the jurisdiction of village panchayats should be declared as decontrolled area that will not require CLU approval or levy of CLU fees.

Ease of doing business

n The Government has shown a very positive intent for facilitating ease of doing business. While the intent is good, the implementation under the district administration of different State Governments has not been very encouraging. It is suggested that there is an urgent need of a paradigm shift regarding the procedures to be followed for setting up a project in rural India.

Easy availability of credit for rural India

n While the slogan of ‘Gram-o-udya se Bharat-o-udya’ appears very attractive, the fact of the matter is that banks are reluctant to give credit for projects in rural areas. The agricultural credit in the form of Kisan Credit Cards (KCC) is more of a consumption credit while the project based credit that can lead to job creation is hardly available in our rural areas.  One of the biggest constraints has been the prevalent rules in our banking system wherein they insist on CLU approvals before considering a project for credit. Further, banks should be mandated to give at least 60 per cent of their project credit meant for setting up new projects to rural areas.

Ensure setting of quality schools in villages

n Presently, only 9 per cent of CBSE schools are located in rural areas. This is a very unfortunate situation which strikes at the core of rural development.

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