VIDARBHA JAN ANDOLAN SAMITI
REGD. OFFICE: 11, TRISARAN SOCIETY, KHAMALA, NAGPUR - 440 025.
PH. 2282447/457 MOBILE-9422108846. vidarbha@gmail.com
REF: - FARMER'S credit CRY URGENT-PRESS NOTE DATED-17th June, 2007
Ø As Banks Call Off Credit Honeymoon For Farmers In Vidarbha Region More Debt Trapped Farmers Commits Suicides-Thousands Of Farmers To start "HALLABOL AGITATION" FOR FRESH CROP LOAN From 18th June.
Ø Farmers' Demands Loan Waiver And Five Year Credit Plan For Farming Finance.
Ø Banks Committee Resolves To Cut Lending Finance To Vidarbha Farmers - Private Monylenders To Suck Blood Of Reeling Farmers: It's Apathy Of Mr.Chidambaram, Fm-Goi To Allow Banks To Push Farmers To Commit Sucides! - KISHORE TIWARI.
NAGPUR-17th June 2007
When Indian finance minister submitted his annual budget for year 2007-08, it was warmly welcomed as "agriculture budget" but in result as per order of NABARD bankers association has taken decision to suddenly drop down the credit outlay for vidarbha cotton farmers .as reported the credit bonanza for farmers in Vidarbha seems to be over. After aggressive lending in the previous fiscal, the credit allocation targets set under the annual credit plan for 2007-08 for six districts of Vidarbha show a steep decline. Incidentally, these are the districts that have been reporting maximum farm suicides and where farmers' dependence on illegal money-lenders has been one of the root causes.
Credit lending targets for six districts have been revised downwards compared to last year, as per recent decision of bankers association. In 2005-06 fiscal, banks disbursed credit of Rs 765 crore in six districts. But thanks to the PM's package, the crop credit shot up to Rs 2,033 crore in the last fiscal. The current plan, however, allocates only Rs 1,683 crore for crop credit For instance, Yavatmal district, which has reported maximum suicides, has been earmarked a target of only Rs 434.96 crore which is almost a 30% decline from its 2006-07 target. Washim district shows a decline of 41%, Akola 36%, and Buldhana 38%, against the previous fiscal's targets. District credit plans have been finalised on the basis of broad guidelines prepared by NABARD.
THOUSANDS OF FARMERS TO "HALLABOL AGITATION" FOR FRESH CROP LOAN FROM 18TH JUNE.
The reported decision of NABARD that "The decline in credit allocation targets is surprising in the context of Centre's directives to banks to double flow of credit to the agriculture sector in three years starting 2004-05," VJAS leader kishor tiwari informed .vidarbha farmers wills strongly protest and we will not only restore credit outlay to rs.3, 300 crore but will have loan waiver too, kishor tiwari added.
Thousands farmers of west vidarbha will start "HALLABOL AGITATION" all NABARD controlled banks demanding fresh crop loan to every defaulter farmers will over due loan waiver ,kishor tiwari said.
It is complete injustice with west dying cotton farmers as most of the growth in priority sector lending has gone to districts in Western Maharashtra and Marathwada, largely due to SHARAD PAWAR NCP base regions as compared to Vidarbha. For instance, Pune gets a 91% rise in its credit allocation target. NABARD is acting against the agriculture sector plan for six districts of Vidarbha was prepared based on the last three years' trend though an upward revision of Rs 1,275 crore was made specially under the PM's relief package during 2006-07."The PM's package, among other factors, rightly appreciated lack of an extensive network of formal credit in Vidarbha as one of the root causes of suicides. Cutting down on credit allocations for this reason amounts to punishing Vidarbha for being chosen for the PM's package, now cotton farmers are left at mercy of private money Leander inviting more farm suicides.
Now time has come for separating vidarbha state from maharashtra due complete contrast in fiscal condition and increasing backlog of region and we will press this demand in future too if we are being neglected and forced to kill ourselves ,kishor tiwari added.
Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti
Email : vidarbha@gmail.com
Contact - 094221 08846
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Friday, June 08, 2007
NDC and UPA Policies
NDC and Agriculture - Krishi Bhasha Sambhrant Varga Aur Bharat -
Right Language, Wrong Direction : Devinder Sharma - Food Policy analyst
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had time and again promised to launch a major initiative for the revival of the ailing farm sector. Addressing recently the 53rd meeting of the National Development Council - NDC in New Delhi, he used the right vocabulary to highlight the enormity of the prevailing agrarian crisis.
If words alone could deliver, Congress-led UPA Coalition would have done it long ago. But like the story of the four blind men and the elephant, the Prime Minister, his Cabinet colleagues and the 29 chief ministers who were present continued to shoot in the dark. Three years into power, it is quite apparent the government has no clue as to what needs to be done to resurrect agriculture.
It was almost a year back when Mr Manmohan Singh had visited the suicide-prone belt of Vidharbha and announced a relief package of Rs 3,750 crores. Embarrassed at no let-up in the number of farmer suicides, he had subsequently said that the relief measures would begin to show results after six months. It sure did. Six months after the Prime Minister’s visit, the suicide rate doubled. From one farmer suicide every eight hours, it is now one every four hours.
The Rs 25,000 crore booster for new farm initiatives to be launched by states in the next four years, and the 14-point resolution adopted by the NDC which aims at achieving four per cent growth in agriculture by the end of the 11th five-year plan, falls in the same category. With the entire focus on integrating domestic agriculture with global economy, and bringing in agribusiness, corporate agriculture and food retail as the saviour, the roadmap being chalked out is likely to lead to further despair.
Ploughing Rs 25,000 crore into agriculture may seem like a mammoth effort to double the growth rate in agriculture. For each of the 29 states, the average support will not exceed Rs 1000 crore, which is nothing more than a drop in the ocean. Moreover, what is not being visualised is that the farm crisis has nothing to do in terms of growth rate. It essentially revolves around declining sustainability in agriculture and the economic viability of farming. Whatever be the new location-specific schemes the states may launch, nothing significant can be expected unless the real farm income goes up.
Take Punjab, the food bowl of the country. Farm indebtedness, both in the formal and informal sector, is around Rs 26,000 crore, more than the Centre’s total pledged allocation for the entire country. No amount of renewed thrust on increasing crop productivity, and that too without restoring the highly devastated natural resource base, as well as raising farm incomes, will revive agriculture. However, the 14-point resolution dividing responsibilities between the Central and the State governments makes little mention of sustainability and boosting farm incomes.
To expect the agricultural universities and the state extension machinery to draw up research plans considering region specific priorities taking agro-climatic conditions, natural resource issues and technology into account is a tall order given that the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has already moved away from subsistence to commercial agriculture. The Indo-US Knowledge Initiative in Agriculture Research, Development and Marketing, launched in early 2006, provides for a diametrically opposite research direction.
The crucial issue of technology fatigue cannot be addressed without first ascertaining what and where has the 1st Green Revolution gone wrong. Instead of pushing 2nd Green Revolution (read agribusiness), the effort should have been to draw a balance sheet and then prepare a cropping pattern plan based on the availability of natural resources. For instance, it does not make any sense to cultivate sugarcane and cotton in the arid and parched lands of Rajasthan.
The action plan only focuses on improved seed supply, fertiliser availability and revamping of state agriculture extension system to reduce yield gaps. It also makes it mandatory for states to make amendments in Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee Act by March 2008, which will allow a variety of marketing trappings including contract farming and corporate agriculture. In essence, the entire focus of the farm strategy is to allow the private sector to take control of agriculture.
Although till date, 16 states have amended the APMC Act, some wholly and others partially, the fact remains that the entire effort of the government is to dismantle the food procurement and public distribution system in the days to come. By amending the APMC Act, the government is actually encouraging development of linkages to markets through a variety of instruments including contract farming and corporate agriculture. Such a system has already played havoc with wheat procurement forcing the country to turn into the world’s biggest importer of the golden grain.
Setting up a time-bound Food Security Mission by enhancing production of wheat, rice, pulses and edible oils comes at a time when the UPA government itself is lowering the custom tariff thereby allowing cheaper imports. Integrating Indian agriculture with global economy defeats the very purpose of ensuring food security. Take the case of edible oils. India was almost self-sufficient in edible oils in 1993-94. Ever since the government began lowering the tariffs, edible oil imports have multiplied turning the country into the biggest importer. Small farmers growing oilseeds and that too in the rainfed areas of the country had to abandon production in the light of cheaper imports.
Autonomous liberalisation of the farm sector has already seen import surges. Agriculture commodity imports have gone up by 300 per cent between 2000-2004. Coconut oil imports for instance increased from 7291 metric tonnes in 2004-05 to 22,307 metric tonnes in 2005-06. The import of pepper similarly increased from 2186.3 tonnes in 1995-96 to 17,725.3 tonnes in 2004-05. These are not isolated cases. Imports of spices and plantation crops including tea and coffee have been on an upswing. Importing food commodities is like importing unemployment.
Not even remotely concerned, the government is planning to further open up farm imports under the Free Trade Agreement with the ASEAN countries. In the years to come, import tariffs on wheat, rice, pulses and edible oils – the crops that are considered crucial for food security – are to be further lowered. Cheaper imports will negatively impact food security. Unless of course the government thinks food security can be assured by buying food off-the-shelf.
For a country like India, with 60-crore farmers, such a policy imperative will spell doom. Indian farmers are not only producers but also consumers. What is needed is a farming system that allows production by the masses in a sustainable and viable way.
PM and NDC - http://docs.google.com/View?docid=df7vhcvn_0f3hjs7
Right Language, Wrong Direction : Devinder Sharma - Food Policy analyst
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had time and again promised to launch a major initiative for the revival of the ailing farm sector. Addressing recently the 53rd meeting of the National Development Council - NDC in New Delhi, he used the right vocabulary to highlight the enormity of the prevailing agrarian crisis.
If words alone could deliver, Congress-led UPA Coalition would have done it long ago. But like the story of the four blind men and the elephant, the Prime Minister, his Cabinet colleagues and the 29 chief ministers who were present continued to shoot in the dark. Three years into power, it is quite apparent the government has no clue as to what needs to be done to resurrect agriculture.
It was almost a year back when Mr Manmohan Singh had visited the suicide-prone belt of Vidharbha and announced a relief package of Rs 3,750 crores. Embarrassed at no let-up in the number of farmer suicides, he had subsequently said that the relief measures would begin to show results after six months. It sure did. Six months after the Prime Minister’s visit, the suicide rate doubled. From one farmer suicide every eight hours, it is now one every four hours.
The Rs 25,000 crore booster for new farm initiatives to be launched by states in the next four years, and the 14-point resolution adopted by the NDC which aims at achieving four per cent growth in agriculture by the end of the 11th five-year plan, falls in the same category. With the entire focus on integrating domestic agriculture with global economy, and bringing in agribusiness, corporate agriculture and food retail as the saviour, the roadmap being chalked out is likely to lead to further despair.
Ploughing Rs 25,000 crore into agriculture may seem like a mammoth effort to double the growth rate in agriculture. For each of the 29 states, the average support will not exceed Rs 1000 crore, which is nothing more than a drop in the ocean. Moreover, what is not being visualised is that the farm crisis has nothing to do in terms of growth rate. It essentially revolves around declining sustainability in agriculture and the economic viability of farming. Whatever be the new location-specific schemes the states may launch, nothing significant can be expected unless the real farm income goes up.
Take Punjab, the food bowl of the country. Farm indebtedness, both in the formal and informal sector, is around Rs 26,000 crore, more than the Centre’s total pledged allocation for the entire country. No amount of renewed thrust on increasing crop productivity, and that too without restoring the highly devastated natural resource base, as well as raising farm incomes, will revive agriculture. However, the 14-point resolution dividing responsibilities between the Central and the State governments makes little mention of sustainability and boosting farm incomes.
To expect the agricultural universities and the state extension machinery to draw up research plans considering region specific priorities taking agro-climatic conditions, natural resource issues and technology into account is a tall order given that the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has already moved away from subsistence to commercial agriculture. The Indo-US Knowledge Initiative in Agriculture Research, Development and Marketing, launched in early 2006, provides for a diametrically opposite research direction.
The crucial issue of technology fatigue cannot be addressed without first ascertaining what and where has the 1st Green Revolution gone wrong. Instead of pushing 2nd Green Revolution (read agribusiness), the effort should have been to draw a balance sheet and then prepare a cropping pattern plan based on the availability of natural resources. For instance, it does not make any sense to cultivate sugarcane and cotton in the arid and parched lands of Rajasthan.
The action plan only focuses on improved seed supply, fertiliser availability and revamping of state agriculture extension system to reduce yield gaps. It also makes it mandatory for states to make amendments in Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee Act by March 2008, which will allow a variety of marketing trappings including contract farming and corporate agriculture. In essence, the entire focus of the farm strategy is to allow the private sector to take control of agriculture.
Although till date, 16 states have amended the APMC Act, some wholly and others partially, the fact remains that the entire effort of the government is to dismantle the food procurement and public distribution system in the days to come. By amending the APMC Act, the government is actually encouraging development of linkages to markets through a variety of instruments including contract farming and corporate agriculture. Such a system has already played havoc with wheat procurement forcing the country to turn into the world’s biggest importer of the golden grain.
Setting up a time-bound Food Security Mission by enhancing production of wheat, rice, pulses and edible oils comes at a time when the UPA government itself is lowering the custom tariff thereby allowing cheaper imports. Integrating Indian agriculture with global economy defeats the very purpose of ensuring food security. Take the case of edible oils. India was almost self-sufficient in edible oils in 1993-94. Ever since the government began lowering the tariffs, edible oil imports have multiplied turning the country into the biggest importer. Small farmers growing oilseeds and that too in the rainfed areas of the country had to abandon production in the light of cheaper imports.
Autonomous liberalisation of the farm sector has already seen import surges. Agriculture commodity imports have gone up by 300 per cent between 2000-2004. Coconut oil imports for instance increased from 7291 metric tonnes in 2004-05 to 22,307 metric tonnes in 2005-06. The import of pepper similarly increased from 2186.3 tonnes in 1995-96 to 17,725.3 tonnes in 2004-05. These are not isolated cases. Imports of spices and plantation crops including tea and coffee have been on an upswing. Importing food commodities is like importing unemployment.
Not even remotely concerned, the government is planning to further open up farm imports under the Free Trade Agreement with the ASEAN countries. In the years to come, import tariffs on wheat, rice, pulses and edible oils – the crops that are considered crucial for food security – are to be further lowered. Cheaper imports will negatively impact food security. Unless of course the government thinks food security can be assured by buying food off-the-shelf.
For a country like India, with 60-crore farmers, such a policy imperative will spell doom. Indian farmers are not only producers but also consumers. What is needed is a farming system that allows production by the masses in a sustainable and viable way.
PM and NDC - http://docs.google.com/View?docid=df7vhcvn_0f3hjs7
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Hullabol Agitation in State of Indian Cricket Minister
Hullabol agitation in state of Indian Cricket Minister who has doffed his hat into the ring for organizing Cricket World Cup :
DEBT TRAPED VIDARBHA FARMERS TO START "HALLABOL AGITATION" FOR FRESH CROP LOAN
NAGPUR - 30MAY 2007 :
SIX VIDARBHA FARM SUICIDES IN DAY ON 29TH OF MAY REPORTED WHEN INDIAN AFTER PRIME MINISTER WAS ADDRESSING FARM DISTRESS ISSUE AT NEW DELHI IN NATIONAL PRODUCTIVITY COUNCIL MEET ALONG WITH CHIEF MINISTERS OF FARM SUICIDE EFFECTED STATES TAKING TOLL OF VIDARBHA FARM SUICIDES TO 410 SINCE JANUARY 2007
HAVING FAILED TO GET NO RESPONSE FROM INDIAN GOVT. ON THE CREDIT FRONT THAT'S VIDARBHA COTTON FARMERS DEMANDING FRESH CROP LOAN BY WAIVING OLD PENDING DUES AS MORE THAN 2 MILLION ARE UNDER DEBT TRAP AND BEING DEFAULTER GOVT. BANKS ARE NOT GIVING FRESH CROP LOAN TO THEM FORCING THEM TO TAKE LOAN FROM UNREGULATED PRIVATE MONEY LENDERS WHO CHARGING EXORBITANT 100% TO 150% INTEREST RATE ,FARMER HAVE DECIDED TO START "HALLOBOL AGITAION" BEFORE THE BANKS IN ORDER TO GET FRESH CROP LOAN FROM 18TH JUNE,2007,KISHOR TIWARI OF VIDARBHA JAN ANDOLAN SAMITI INFORMED TODAY.
LAST YEAR INDIAN GOVT. WAIVED OFF OVER DUE INTEREST ON FARMERS BANK DEBT TO THE TUNE OF RS.710 CRORE AND RECONSTRUCTED CROP LOAN AMOUNTING RS.1860 CRORE BRINING AROUND ONE MILLION FARMERS UNDER INSTITUTIONAL CREDIT BUT DUE COTTON CROP FAILURE AND POOR MARKET PRICES FOR THE COTTON MORE THAN 90% FARMERS FAILED TO REPAY THE CROP LOAN. 'MORE THAN 3 MILLION VIDARBHA FARMERS ARE IN HUGE DEBT AND OVER DUE LOAN WAIVER IS THE ONLY SOLUTION TO SAVE THESE DISTRESSED FARMER FROM SUICIDE'KISHOR TIWARI ADDED.
'WHEN GOVT. CAN PAY RS.710 CRORE AS PART OF INTEREST ON UNPAID DEBT THEY PAY FARMERS DEBT TOO' VJAS LEADER DEMANDED.VIDARBHA FARMERS WILL SATRT AGITAION FROM 18TH JUNE-2007 IN ORDER TO PRESS THE MAIN DEMND OF LOAN WAIVER, INFORMED CJAS PRESS REALEASE.
DEBT TRAPED VIDARBHA FARMERS TO START "HALLABOL AGITATION" FOR FRESH CROP LOAN
NAGPUR - 30MAY 2007 :
SIX VIDARBHA FARM SUICIDES IN DAY ON 29TH OF MAY REPORTED WHEN INDIAN AFTER PRIME MINISTER WAS ADDRESSING FARM DISTRESS ISSUE AT NEW DELHI IN NATIONAL PRODUCTIVITY COUNCIL MEET ALONG WITH CHIEF MINISTERS OF FARM SUICIDE EFFECTED STATES TAKING TOLL OF VIDARBHA FARM SUICIDES TO 410 SINCE JANUARY 2007
HAVING FAILED TO GET NO RESPONSE FROM INDIAN GOVT. ON THE CREDIT FRONT THAT'S VIDARBHA COTTON FARMERS DEMANDING FRESH CROP LOAN BY WAIVING OLD PENDING DUES AS MORE THAN 2 MILLION ARE UNDER DEBT TRAP AND BEING DEFAULTER GOVT. BANKS ARE NOT GIVING FRESH CROP LOAN TO THEM FORCING THEM TO TAKE LOAN FROM UNREGULATED PRIVATE MONEY LENDERS WHO CHARGING EXORBITANT 100% TO 150% INTEREST RATE ,FARMER HAVE DECIDED TO START "HALLOBOL AGITAION" BEFORE THE BANKS IN ORDER TO GET FRESH CROP LOAN FROM 18TH JUNE,2007,KISHOR TIWARI OF VIDARBHA JAN ANDOLAN SAMITI INFORMED TODAY.
LAST YEAR INDIAN GOVT. WAIVED OFF OVER DUE INTEREST ON FARMERS BANK DEBT TO THE TUNE OF RS.710 CRORE AND RECONSTRUCTED CROP LOAN AMOUNTING RS.1860 CRORE BRINING AROUND ONE MILLION FARMERS UNDER INSTITUTIONAL CREDIT BUT DUE COTTON CROP FAILURE AND POOR MARKET PRICES FOR THE COTTON MORE THAN 90% FARMERS FAILED TO REPAY THE CROP LOAN. 'MORE THAN 3 MILLION VIDARBHA FARMERS ARE IN HUGE DEBT AND OVER DUE LOAN WAIVER IS THE ONLY SOLUTION TO SAVE THESE DISTRESSED FARMER FROM SUICIDE'KISHOR TIWARI ADDED.
'WHEN GOVT. CAN PAY RS.710 CRORE AS PART OF INTEREST ON UNPAID DEBT THEY PAY FARMERS DEBT TOO' VJAS LEADER DEMANDED.VIDARBHA FARMERS WILL SATRT AGITAION FROM 18TH JUNE-2007 IN ORDER TO PRESS THE MAIN DEMND OF LOAN WAIVER, INFORMED CJAS PRESS REALEASE.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Vidarbha Agrarian Crisis PMPackage Review ?
Chief Minister Deshmukh to review Prime Minister Vidarbha Farmers' packages in Yavatmal ?
[10 May, 2007 l 0421 hrs ISTl Ramu Bhagwat lTIMES NEWS NETWORK]
SMS NEWS to 8888 for latest updates
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Nagpur/CM_to_review_farmers_packages_in_Yavatmal/articleshow/2024327.cms
NAGPUR: During his day-long Vidarbha visit on Saturday next, chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh is scheduled to review implementation of the special relief packages for farmers in Yavatmal district, considered to be ground zero of the region's suicide belt.
In the last six years, over 800 farmers have ended their lives in the district.
Once the prime cotton growing district with the largest area under its cultivation, now largest number of suicides are reported from there among the six cotton growing districts of the region.
Through the special package announced by prime minister Manmohan Singh on July 1 last and the CM's package unveiled months before that, over 12 lakh farmers in the six distressed districts were promised a relief of over Rs 5000 crore.
Even as a controversy is raging after joint secretary (relief and rehabilitation) Praveen Shrivastav's filing of an affidavit claiming poor funds flow, the official website of the relief mission (Vasantrao Naik Shetkari Swawalamban Mission) indicates that only about Rs 38 crore of the promised funds for loan waiver to farmers has been released by the Centre.
The chart in the website claims it is updated up to April 30. However, VNSS director general and Amravati divisional commissioner Sudhir Goel told ToI that the balance amount of around Rs 350 crore was credited by March 31 and he was informed about it during meeting on Tuesday in New Delhi with the PMO officials.
While Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti convener Kishor Tiwari alleged that funds flow continued to be very poor on irrigation projects as well as quality seeds distribution programme under the package, Goel said the state had spent the targeted amount and was to reimbursed by the Centre. He denied that package implementation was suffering for want of funds.
[10 May, 2007 l 0421 hrs ISTl Ramu Bhagwat lTIMES NEWS NETWORK]
SMS NEWS to 8888 for latest updates
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Nagpur/CM_to_review_farmers_packages_in_Yavatmal/articleshow/2024327.cms
NAGPUR: During his day-long Vidarbha visit on Saturday next, chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh is scheduled to review implementation of the special relief packages for farmers in Yavatmal district, considered to be ground zero of the region's suicide belt.
In the last six years, over 800 farmers have ended their lives in the district.
Once the prime cotton growing district with the largest area under its cultivation, now largest number of suicides are reported from there among the six cotton growing districts of the region.
Through the special package announced by prime minister Manmohan Singh on July 1 last and the CM's package unveiled months before that, over 12 lakh farmers in the six distressed districts were promised a relief of over Rs 5000 crore.
Even as a controversy is raging after joint secretary (relief and rehabilitation) Praveen Shrivastav's filing of an affidavit claiming poor funds flow, the official website of the relief mission (Vasantrao Naik Shetkari Swawalamban Mission) indicates that only about Rs 38 crore of the promised funds for loan waiver to farmers has been released by the Centre.
The chart in the website claims it is updated up to April 30. However, VNSS director general and Amravati divisional commissioner Sudhir Goel told ToI that the balance amount of around Rs 350 crore was credited by March 31 and he was informed about it during meeting on Tuesday in New Delhi with the PMO officials.
While Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti convener Kishor Tiwari alleged that funds flow continued to be very poor on irrigation projects as well as quality seeds distribution programme under the package, Goel said the state had spent the targeted amount and was to reimbursed by the Centre. He denied that package implementation was suffering for want of funds.
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Plane From Punjab for Punjab Da Puttar ?
Escape from Punjab : By Devinder Sharma
I was at a dinner with a Punjabi family in the outskirts of London. Mohinder Singh’s youngest brother who had only a few months before made it to England was visibly upset: “You are the only Punjabi I know who keeps on going back to India. Why don’t you stay here permanently?”
When I told him that I am often invited to UK to speak at various conferences, and yet I don’t want to settle here legally or illegally, he couldn’t believe me. “There are instances when I am abused on the streets by the whites if that is what you are meaning, there was also this bizarre incident of one of the white teenager’s pissing on me while I lay on the beach one day but bhai ji this is still heaven. Come on, think about it again!”
Surinder Singh, the youngest brother in the Punjabi family I am talking about, is not the only one who feels he has crossed over to heaven. Millions of Punjabis’ cherish the dream to escape from Punjab. Legally or illegally, they are willing to take all kinds of risks. Such is the desire and desperation to escape that scores of villages in the ‘migration belt’ of Punjab -- Phagwara, Jalandhar and Kapurthala districts – are empty. Almost all houses in these villages remain locked throughout the year.
Punjabis are by nature enterprising. Defying all academic norms of ‘distress migration’ or the ‘pull or push factor’ in migration, most Punjabis believe that migration is the best form of economic growth. They have seen this happening with generations of migratory workers who made it to the plantation sector in Southeast Asia or as industrial workers in England, Canada and to some extent as farm workers in New Zealand, California, Germany and Italy.
It was in early 1980s that I first tracked a group of asylum seekers who had landed in East Berlin (than part of the German Democratic Republic). Once in East Berlin, they would crossover to West Berlin by train where with the help of some lawyers they would have their papers ready. A majority of those who followed this escape route were apprehended at West Berlin. While their papers were being scrutinised, these migrants would be lodged in what was then popularly called ‘flower houses’ – an apology for a dingy accommodation herding some 20-25 people in one room.
The German government provided them with subsistence allowance as long as they were in the ‘flower houses’. Realising that migrants were ‘saving’ from even such paltry amounts ostensibly to send some money back home, the government finally provided them with food stamps that could be exchanged in the grocery stores. I remember asking one of the Punjabi migrants who was awaiting deportation back to India as to why did he take the risk. His reply still reverberates in my ears: “My parents have sold off the land to collect money for my travel. They are under the impression that within months of my landing in Europe, I will start minting money. I therefore save as much as possible from my daily allowance so that I don’t let their dream die.’
The unsavoury trend still continues. After the collapse of the Berlin Wall, illegal trafficking has found new escape routes. Whether it is through Morocco, Egypt or Turkey or whether it is through sports and culture, the fact remains that Punjabis are more than eager to escape. After all, what makes them so desperate that they are willing to take the risk of their life? Why is that Punjabis, who are economically well off as compared to the rest of the country, are still not satisfied? Is something terribly wrong with the underbelly of Punjab that we don’t see?
Punjab is undoubtedly the food bowl of the country. It is the harbinger of the Green Revolution that swept through well-endowed regions of the country. For 40 years now, ever since Green Revolution began, the nation has eulogised the Punjab farmer. Newspapers have reported time and again about the visible prosperity ushered in through intensive agriculture. Magazine articles have featured the opulent life style of prosperous Punjabi farmers. Not many of the feature writers however tried to look beyond the false sense of pride the farmers exhibited. Not many journalists tried to explore the reasons behind the new- found prosperity -- not because of agriculture but because of monthly remittances or their side business activities.
Punjab’s underbelly was gradually caving in. Agriculture had turned not only unremunerative but also highly unsustainable. Intensive farming had led to the collapse of Green Revolution. Farmers were pumping in more chemical inputs to maintain their crop harvests. Over the years indebtedness began growing to phenomenal levels. A recent Punjab Agricultural University shows as many as 89 per cent of Punjab farm households are reeling under debt. The per farm family debt today stands at a staggering Rs 1,78,934. In other words, for every hectare of land holding, the outstanding debt is Rs 50, 140.
Still worse – tractors -- the symbol of prosperity have now turned into a symbol of suicides. Tractor owners are more heavily indebted with the average outstanding exceeding Rs 2 lakh. Marginal and small farmers owning tractors are still worse off. With the input prices climbing year after year and the output prices remaining static, Punjab farmers became a victim of the same economic policies that projected them as country’s heroes. No wonder, the average income of a Punjab farm family hovers around Rs 3,000 a month.
Over the years, intensive farming practices have pushed farmers deeper into debt. High-chemical input based technology has already mined the soils and ultimately led to the lands gasping for breath, with the water-guzzling crops (hybrids and Bt cotton) sucking the groundwater acquifer dry, and with the failure of the markets to rescue the farmers from a collapse of the farming systems, the tragedy is that the human cost is entirely being borne by the farmers. In Punjab, of the 138 development blocks, 108 have already been declared dark zones, the level of groundwater exploitation in these blocks has been in excess of 98 per cent against the critical limit of 80 per cent. The resulting destruction wrought on the natural resource base – soil health deteriorating, water table plummeting and pesticides contaminating the environment – agriculture has turned into a losing proposition. More and more Punjab farmers therefore began to abandon agriculture. With no job opportunities coming in handy, escape from Punjab became a viable alternative.
What is intriguing are the missing numbers. In 1990-91, there were 2.95 lakh marginal and 2.03 small operational landholdings. In ten years time, by 2000-01, these had come down to 1.23 lakh marginal and 1.73 lakh small operational holdings. A careful perusal would show that nearly 1.20 lakh farm families had moved out of agriculture in the ten years period. Where have these families gone? What alternative employment opportunities have they adopted? No one knows about that.
I am not suggesting that they had migrated in search of greener pastures. But with rampant corruption keeping them out of government jobs, the only avenue open for the Punjabi youth is to migrate. Whether they apply for a police constable job or for a bus conductor, they are invariably asked to cough out money. “If I have to pay Rs 20 lakh to Rs 35 lakh for a Class III government job, what do you expect me to do?” asks Manpreet Singh, a resident of Ropar district. “Isn’t it better that I spend the same money to pay to the travel agents to find me an escape to Europe or Canada?”
Punjab’s underbelly is certainly in an unforeseen crisis. It is time to feel the pain and anguish the youth are faced with. It is time to put the house in order. The sooner the better.
I was at a dinner with a Punjabi family in the outskirts of London. Mohinder Singh’s youngest brother who had only a few months before made it to England was visibly upset: “You are the only Punjabi I know who keeps on going back to India. Why don’t you stay here permanently?”
When I told him that I am often invited to UK to speak at various conferences, and yet I don’t want to settle here legally or illegally, he couldn’t believe me. “There are instances when I am abused on the streets by the whites if that is what you are meaning, there was also this bizarre incident of one of the white teenager’s pissing on me while I lay on the beach one day but bhai ji this is still heaven. Come on, think about it again!”
Surinder Singh, the youngest brother in the Punjabi family I am talking about, is not the only one who feels he has crossed over to heaven. Millions of Punjabis’ cherish the dream to escape from Punjab. Legally or illegally, they are willing to take all kinds of risks. Such is the desire and desperation to escape that scores of villages in the ‘migration belt’ of Punjab -- Phagwara, Jalandhar and Kapurthala districts – are empty. Almost all houses in these villages remain locked throughout the year.
Punjabis are by nature enterprising. Defying all academic norms of ‘distress migration’ or the ‘pull or push factor’ in migration, most Punjabis believe that migration is the best form of economic growth. They have seen this happening with generations of migratory workers who made it to the plantation sector in Southeast Asia or as industrial workers in England, Canada and to some extent as farm workers in New Zealand, California, Germany and Italy.
It was in early 1980s that I first tracked a group of asylum seekers who had landed in East Berlin (than part of the German Democratic Republic). Once in East Berlin, they would crossover to West Berlin by train where with the help of some lawyers they would have their papers ready. A majority of those who followed this escape route were apprehended at West Berlin. While their papers were being scrutinised, these migrants would be lodged in what was then popularly called ‘flower houses’ – an apology for a dingy accommodation herding some 20-25 people in one room.
The German government provided them with subsistence allowance as long as they were in the ‘flower houses’. Realising that migrants were ‘saving’ from even such paltry amounts ostensibly to send some money back home, the government finally provided them with food stamps that could be exchanged in the grocery stores. I remember asking one of the Punjabi migrants who was awaiting deportation back to India as to why did he take the risk. His reply still reverberates in my ears: “My parents have sold off the land to collect money for my travel. They are under the impression that within months of my landing in Europe, I will start minting money. I therefore save as much as possible from my daily allowance so that I don’t let their dream die.’
The unsavoury trend still continues. After the collapse of the Berlin Wall, illegal trafficking has found new escape routes. Whether it is through Morocco, Egypt or Turkey or whether it is through sports and culture, the fact remains that Punjabis are more than eager to escape. After all, what makes them so desperate that they are willing to take the risk of their life? Why is that Punjabis, who are economically well off as compared to the rest of the country, are still not satisfied? Is something terribly wrong with the underbelly of Punjab that we don’t see?
Punjab is undoubtedly the food bowl of the country. It is the harbinger of the Green Revolution that swept through well-endowed regions of the country. For 40 years now, ever since Green Revolution began, the nation has eulogised the Punjab farmer. Newspapers have reported time and again about the visible prosperity ushered in through intensive agriculture. Magazine articles have featured the opulent life style of prosperous Punjabi farmers. Not many of the feature writers however tried to look beyond the false sense of pride the farmers exhibited. Not many journalists tried to explore the reasons behind the new- found prosperity -- not because of agriculture but because of monthly remittances or their side business activities.
Punjab’s underbelly was gradually caving in. Agriculture had turned not only unremunerative but also highly unsustainable. Intensive farming had led to the collapse of Green Revolution. Farmers were pumping in more chemical inputs to maintain their crop harvests. Over the years indebtedness began growing to phenomenal levels. A recent Punjab Agricultural University shows as many as 89 per cent of Punjab farm households are reeling under debt. The per farm family debt today stands at a staggering Rs 1,78,934. In other words, for every hectare of land holding, the outstanding debt is Rs 50, 140.
Still worse – tractors -- the symbol of prosperity have now turned into a symbol of suicides. Tractor owners are more heavily indebted with the average outstanding exceeding Rs 2 lakh. Marginal and small farmers owning tractors are still worse off. With the input prices climbing year after year and the output prices remaining static, Punjab farmers became a victim of the same economic policies that projected them as country’s heroes. No wonder, the average income of a Punjab farm family hovers around Rs 3,000 a month.
Over the years, intensive farming practices have pushed farmers deeper into debt. High-chemical input based technology has already mined the soils and ultimately led to the lands gasping for breath, with the water-guzzling crops (hybrids and Bt cotton) sucking the groundwater acquifer dry, and with the failure of the markets to rescue the farmers from a collapse of the farming systems, the tragedy is that the human cost is entirely being borne by the farmers. In Punjab, of the 138 development blocks, 108 have already been declared dark zones, the level of groundwater exploitation in these blocks has been in excess of 98 per cent against the critical limit of 80 per cent. The resulting destruction wrought on the natural resource base – soil health deteriorating, water table plummeting and pesticides contaminating the environment – agriculture has turned into a losing proposition. More and more Punjab farmers therefore began to abandon agriculture. With no job opportunities coming in handy, escape from Punjab became a viable alternative.
What is intriguing are the missing numbers. In 1990-91, there were 2.95 lakh marginal and 2.03 small operational landholdings. In ten years time, by 2000-01, these had come down to 1.23 lakh marginal and 1.73 lakh small operational holdings. A careful perusal would show that nearly 1.20 lakh farm families had moved out of agriculture in the ten years period. Where have these families gone? What alternative employment opportunities have they adopted? No one knows about that.
I am not suggesting that they had migrated in search of greener pastures. But with rampant corruption keeping them out of government jobs, the only avenue open for the Punjabi youth is to migrate. Whether they apply for a police constable job or for a bus conductor, they are invariably asked to cough out money. “If I have to pay Rs 20 lakh to Rs 35 lakh for a Class III government job, what do you expect me to do?” asks Manpreet Singh, a resident of Ropar district. “Isn’t it better that I spend the same money to pay to the travel agents to find me an escape to Europe or Canada?”
Punjab’s underbelly is certainly in an unforeseen crisis. It is time to feel the pain and anguish the youth are faced with. It is time to put the house in order. The sooner the better.
Monday, May 07, 2007
Thousand Rupees Debt ? Visit Jail
In Andhra Pradesh - After a lull of some years, farmers are being jailed for debt in Andhra Pradesh. Even those in drought-hit districts who cannot repay their loans. Farm unions see the banks as driving a dangerous and explosive process which lets off crorepati defaulters but jails bankrupt farmers owing a few thousand rupees.
Story in The Hindu by P Sainath - grandson of former President of Indian Shri V V Giri
M. Nallapa Reddy, an Anantapur farmer in his Sixties who was jailed when he failed to repay his bank debt in full. Other farmers in Andhra Pradesh appear to be in similar trouble.
More - Date: 05/05/2007 -http://www.thehindu.com/2007/05/05/stories/2007050507911100.htm
Story in The Hindu by P Sainath - grandson of former President of Indian Shri V V Giri
M. Nallapa Reddy, an Anantapur farmer in his Sixties who was jailed when he failed to repay his bank debt in full. Other farmers in Andhra Pradesh appear to be in similar trouble.
More - Date: 05/05/2007 -http://www.thehindu.com/2007/05/05/stories/2007050507911100.htm
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Distressed CM, Distressed Babus, Distressed Farmers
With the Maharashtra Chief Minister, Bhau Vilasrao Deshmukh, taking immediate steps at damage control, and to plug the bureaucratic leaking hole, created by the state government's affidavit regarding the delayed release of Central funds for the distressed debt numbed, cotton farmers of Vidarbha, it is clear that the Vidarbha issue is beginning to cause some spin off distress, among the sections of Indian society which have an assured income every month.
As against the farmers, dependent on faulty weather, farm exit policies, political corruption, monopolistic private sector intervention in agriculture and countless other problems.
It started off with the Relief Commissioner,, Sudhir Kumar Goyal, IAS, donning the cap of a seasoned farm strategist and philosopher, and claiming that the Vidarbha farmers were victims of a lopsided system, where they were trying to generate profits from GM cotton farming in non irrigated areas, high cost inputs, low incomes. Shri Goyal initially was persuaded to conduct political damage limitation excercises.
Shri Goyal never felt the need to tell us who approved large scale GM cotton experimentations with Vidarbha farmers in the first place despite a sprawling agricultural science network existing in India. Even more GM specific laboratories and extension institutes are being rapidly planned as India exceeds China in GM crop coverage.
Now with Congress being rudely voted out of power in the state elections in Punjab and Uttaranchal, despite, the visits of Shrimati Sonia Gandhi, the central Congress think tanks, are beginning to get sleepless nights, and the tough talking, pesticides in mother's milk, Cricket Minister and the fair play Sensex Minister, whose photos with top industrialists were splashed all over the media, while Vidarbha farmers were denied even a ten minutes appointment, are being asked to have a relook at the rural agrarian situation in Vidarbha, much to their dismay.
Not surprising, that the bureaucrats lower down in the pecking order, are beginning to speak out their minds at political incompetence and callousness, that begins from policy levels in New Delhi itself.
Somebody at some level, low down in the IAS bureaucracy and babudom in Maharashtra, took the decision, to defend the state Congress government's handling of Vidarbha agrarian crisis, in a court affidavit, and blame the PMO, for delayed release of funds, promised by Shri Man Mohan Singh himself.
Shri Singh in his much publicized Vidarbha visit, had announced a whopping Vidarbha Relief Package, the internal details of which, however, were known only to Oxbridge economists and think tanks sitting in South Bloc, New Delhi.
Shri Singh followed this up with his passionate advocacy of unleashing a Second Green Revolution on Indian farms, private sector entry into food retail, and advocacy of the need for raising farmers out of debt with rising incomes, so that they can share in the fruits of the Shining India that is sweeping Indian cities and economy, as is their due.
But then, what was not clarified, that a large scale Farm Exit Policy, is already underway in India, with senior economists, think tanks and bureaucrats, unanimous, that farm income dependant Indian populations must somehow or the other be reduced in percentage, before the WTO Doha hand shake takes place with Pascal Lamy, US and Europe.
So call it a gaffe, call it a faux pas, call it bureaucratic distress, somewhere in the lower echelons of Indian bureaucracy, some people are feeling the pressure, and feeling the need to let off some steam in court affidavits and media manipulation, if in nothing else.
Maybe Bhau Deshmukh and Shri Pawar, will succeed in damage limitation by praising the excellent support from PMO in making the Vidarbha crisis intervention a major feather in his cap.
He has been quoted as saying "We sincerely appreciate your concern over the high incidence of farmers' suicides. The assistance from the PM's relief fund has been of immense help to needy families in Vidarbha."
But then, Indian democracy, may show a different door to these ministers, begging for 3-4 extra years under their political supervision, before the urban gains in Indian economy, are transfered to Indian rural areas.
Vidarbha is too important an electoral bell weather for Congress to disregard and take casually.
As against the farmers, dependent on faulty weather, farm exit policies, political corruption, monopolistic private sector intervention in agriculture and countless other problems.
It started off with the Relief Commissioner,, Sudhir Kumar Goyal, IAS, donning the cap of a seasoned farm strategist and philosopher, and claiming that the Vidarbha farmers were victims of a lopsided system, where they were trying to generate profits from GM cotton farming in non irrigated areas, high cost inputs, low incomes. Shri Goyal initially was persuaded to conduct political damage limitation excercises.
Shri Goyal never felt the need to tell us who approved large scale GM cotton experimentations with Vidarbha farmers in the first place despite a sprawling agricultural science network existing in India. Even more GM specific laboratories and extension institutes are being rapidly planned as India exceeds China in GM crop coverage.
Now with Congress being rudely voted out of power in the state elections in Punjab and Uttaranchal, despite, the visits of Shrimati Sonia Gandhi, the central Congress think tanks, are beginning to get sleepless nights, and the tough talking, pesticides in mother's milk, Cricket Minister and the fair play Sensex Minister, whose photos with top industrialists were splashed all over the media, while Vidarbha farmers were denied even a ten minutes appointment, are being asked to have a relook at the rural agrarian situation in Vidarbha, much to their dismay.
Not surprising, that the bureaucrats lower down in the pecking order, are beginning to speak out their minds at political incompetence and callousness, that begins from policy levels in New Delhi itself.
Somebody at some level, low down in the IAS bureaucracy and babudom in Maharashtra, took the decision, to defend the state Congress government's handling of Vidarbha agrarian crisis, in a court affidavit, and blame the PMO, for delayed release of funds, promised by Shri Man Mohan Singh himself.
Shri Singh in his much publicized Vidarbha visit, had announced a whopping Vidarbha Relief Package, the internal details of which, however, were known only to Oxbridge economists and think tanks sitting in South Bloc, New Delhi.
Shri Singh followed this up with his passionate advocacy of unleashing a Second Green Revolution on Indian farms, private sector entry into food retail, and advocacy of the need for raising farmers out of debt with rising incomes, so that they can share in the fruits of the Shining India that is sweeping Indian cities and economy, as is their due.
But then, what was not clarified, that a large scale Farm Exit Policy, is already underway in India, with senior economists, think tanks and bureaucrats, unanimous, that farm income dependant Indian populations must somehow or the other be reduced in percentage, before the WTO Doha hand shake takes place with Pascal Lamy, US and Europe.
So call it a gaffe, call it a faux pas, call it bureaucratic distress, somewhere in the lower echelons of Indian bureaucracy, some people are feeling the pressure, and feeling the need to let off some steam in court affidavits and media manipulation, if in nothing else.
Maybe Bhau Deshmukh and Shri Pawar, will succeed in damage limitation by praising the excellent support from PMO in making the Vidarbha crisis intervention a major feather in his cap.
He has been quoted as saying "We sincerely appreciate your concern over the high incidence of farmers' suicides. The assistance from the PM's relief fund has been of immense help to needy families in Vidarbha."
But then, Indian democracy, may show a different door to these ministers, begging for 3-4 extra years under their political supervision, before the urban gains in Indian economy, are transfered to Indian rural areas.
Vidarbha is too important an electoral bell weather for Congress to disregard and take casually.
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