Farmers' wish list for 2014 elections

The whole India is engaged in elections,  the16th Lok Sabha  elections and also some of the states are having Assembly elections, most of the parties have finalized their manifestos with a pack of poll promises. Like in every election, political parties consider the farmers and agriculture are very serious subject before going  to the poll, and soon after the results they ignore the problems and left to the farmers' fate. Farmers have to blame themselves for their perils since they are not active enough to make the political parties as the agrarian crisis is a priority agenda. During the election process, the farmers and farmer groups are working for their individual causes  and political motives. Most of the farmer unions are affiliated with the political parties which work for their electoral prospects  and farmers also forget about their agricultural problems , busy with local issues by dividing  themselves  in to social class, economic status and political party basis.

Each and every class of society have been achieving  their demands by unity though they are a small group of people. But being a 55% percent of the population and a biggest vote bank in India, the farming community  failed to achieve their wishes  and get rid of their problems. If the farmers have collectively agitated on their farming issues they will definitely get benefitted, but they are mediocre educated, lack of leadership skills, lack of  direction and socially segregated  which are the hindrances for their collective bargaining. In the 2014 elections , the political parties must consider the agrarian crisis is a prioritized issue  to help the Indian farmers in all aspects such as making agriculture as a profitable profession and providing a respectable economic and social status to the farmers.

If the political parties really have a commitment and affection on farmers, they should include the below said farmers' wish list in their manifestos and these must be implemented once they come to power.

  

1.     Implementation of Prof. M. S. Swaminathan Committee’ recommendations (National Commission of Farmers).                                     

2.     Special Financial plan (Budget) is required for agriculture and agro allied industries. (Not included irrigation).

 

3.     All farmers need to be provided Institutional credit with nominal interest rates i.e 4% and the amount should be based on their crop pattern and farm size.

4.     9 hours uninterrupted quality power supply to agriculture ( Day time).

5.     MNREGS program should be linked up with agricultural operations like transplantation, weeding, harvesting and so on which can solve the man power shortage problems to the farmers. Panchayats have to co-ordinate with Department of rural development in the allocation of MNREG works based on the villagers’ discretion.

6.     Agriculture, Revenue, Irrigation, marketing & warehouses, animal husbandry, fisheries, such as agro allied department ministers should be farmed as special cabinet ( Empowered Group of Ministers for Agriculture) which works for farmers empowerment. This cabinet should meet every month, the issues to discussed and resolved. The group should consider the suggestions of all farmers’ organizations, peasant organizations and voluntary organizations.
 

7.     The CACP(Commission for agriculture Cost and prices)  should be declared as  an autonomous organization, it should be restructured with new terms and references. CACP should consider all prescribed 12 factors and also other issues  like inflation, cost of living and losses due to import - export  policies while formulating the price recommendations.  
                                                                                                                                                                               

8.     Risk mitigation  fund for bonus on food grains to compensate the losses by natural calamities if anything occurred. Establish a Price stabilization fund ( Market intervention fund) to insulate the farmers from market price fluctuations.

9.     A required capacity of warehouses should be constructed since we don't have enough godown facilities to store the grains. The market yard godowns should be renovated and fully utilized, funds need to be allocated for market yards development. Value added agriculture , food processing unites, supply chain facilities must be created.                                    

10. Establish a farmers’ income commission for measuring the farmers’ economic conditions, all old age farmers should get monthly pension for their social security and all peasants’ children should get free education with hostel facility.

11. Empowerment of women farmers like capacity building and giving right to land ownership. Allocating unused lands to women self help groups / Dalit women groups. The farm wages should be equal without any gender difference.

12. National Rain fed Area Authority (NRAA) has been working on cloud seeding and artificial rains; in fact all these efforts are not really helpful to the farmers. Incorporate a State Rain fed/Dry land area authority to identify the suitable crops, harnessing the water resources for at least to cultivate two acres of land and save the lives of draught animal.  Identifying the viable alternative livelihood activities. Protecting and preserving the water bodies like natural lakes, ponds and village tanks.

13. Establishing crop based growers group (Kind of Collective farming /General Body of farmers Ex: Mulkanor cooperative, Ethonda PACS) for power of collective bargaining. The government should provide the support like credit facilities, subsidized inputs, Special markets, warehouses, processing units and so on.

14. State owned Agriculture Finance Corporation to be established. It shall be to assist in the development of agriculture and agricultural industries by making loans to farmers, co-operative societies, private companies, public bodies, and other persons engaging in agriculture or agricultural industries.
 

15.  A farmers friendly seed bill should be formulated that shall regulate the quality of seeds, sales, imports and exports. Plans should be evolved for 100% certified seed replacement. The government should allot some funds to agriculture universities to develop hybrid verities with the association of the farmers and the seed should be supplied through Seed Corporation. Promoting the indigenous (native varieties) seeds by incorporating the village level seed bank groups / Seed villages   (like Dwacra/SHG) with incentives and that will create a network among them to share and exchange.

16. Promoting Organic farming and sustainable cultivation practices. Encouragement programs for organic fertilizers, conversion of solid waste to bio – fertilizers.

17. Agriculture should be modernized by Information technology and Bio technology. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is the best possible way to create awareness among the farming community which is  not only on prevailing prices but also about the possibility of exploitation by middlemen.  In order to access the ICT, free mobile phones to be provided to the prospective farmers each cost Rs.1500 which connects the markets digitally.

18. Decentralization of Powers to farmers in Co-operatives societies and Market Yards to strengthen the co-operative system.

19. Encouragement programs on back yard farming and family farming in urban locations.

 

20. Promoting the Agro tourism.

21. Promoting Exceptional Agriculture Regions for farming, the integrated approach of EARs will be including all farm-related schemes with respective panchayats and local farmers. They must be empowered to decide which crop to grow, what seeds to use, whether they should take to organic farming or use chemicals, whom to sell to and at what price. This EARs will encourage organic farming, aromatic, medicinal plants and exotic plants for international markets.

22. Subsidy up to 50 % on Solar powered water pumps for all farmers .

23. Successful corporate companies should spend at least 1% of their net profits for agriculture through government networks which is the part of their CSR, the spending amount will be eligible for tax benefits.

24.  The formation of cooperative societies which facilitates the farm implements on lease basis. Encourage the private companies for custom hiring tractors and farm machinery. Formation of sufficient number of agro service centers in entire state for better extension services, each center must cater services for at least 4000 acres under supervision of sufficient extension staff. These centers also provide farm machinery on rental basis like custom hiring centers.

25. Establish Rural Business Hubs for horticulture produces. These rural business hubs will serve as one-stop-shops that offer various agricultural inputs and services to farmers, including weather information, crop management advice, and access to markets and finance. will improve the horticulture produces value chain in the region by increasing productivity and linking farmers with private retailers/ processors and other stakeholders, leading to increased income at all stages - production, processing, distribution and retail.To increase farmer incomes in the region, these hubs are teaming up with public and private sector partners to demonstrate best practices and strengthen producer-processor-retailer linkages to better address the challenges related to production, price, and marketing that farmers face in the region.

26. We have around 50% of tenant farmers; very few of them are getting bank loans. Government should arrange some fund as a guarantee for banks  towards tenant farmer loans.

27. Crop insurance schemes should be developed by making village as a unit which must cover all risks from sowing to marketing with an affordable premium. The loss claim settlements  should be cleared within 60 days of the calamity.

28. Comprehensive Land Usage policy: The farming land area should be calculated as per population growth statistics and based on that only the agricultural land has to be converted to any other purpose.

29. Mobile clinics for Draught/Dairy/Herd animals, medical camps must be conducted in villages with certain schedules.

30. Protect and promoted the native breeds ( Nativ cows/ Ongole breeds), bull,cow and buffalo production programs. Financial medical assistance to Gosalas ( Cow herds).

31. Improved Sheep/goat/Pig herd programs, loan facilities, Insurance facilities. ( Small farmers and landless laborers owned these herds) Meat processing, production and export facilities in rain fed regions.

The quest for water

Water is one of the five elements, Water is life and everything. The availability of water is drastically decreasing and so many developing countries are facing water crisis. There is a connection between water, poverty and hunger; developing countries in Asia and Africa are facing water stress, malnourishment and poverty, coincidentally these countries are closely with arid and semi-arid ecosystem. Urbanization has been increasing in developing nations which push to change in water consumption pattern and demand for water has been increased. The United Nations' FAO states that by 2025, 1.9 billion people will be living in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity, and two-thirds of the world population could be under stress conditions.

The main share of water is taken by agriculture which accounts globally 70%, rain fed agriculture is most common method and some of the countries have been using massive ground water for agriculture. The population growth usually increase the demand for water, we already more than 7 billion and by 2050 we will be 9 billion, we need to face heavy water scarcity especially in agriculture production. The main task for developing countries is to utilization of water resources productively and efficiently i.e. How to produce more food with less water, how to recharge the ground water aquifer, how to reuse the waste water for agriculture.

Over 60% of Indian agriculture depends on rains, monsoons are very important to Indian economy, if the predictions go wrong or monsoons fails the GDP share of agriculture will be negative. Uncertainty of the monsoons and drought conditions make the farmers’ life miserable. To overcome rain- fed farming and drought, our Indian farmers are investing heavily on tube wells and high powered motor pumps… but water tables are dropping dangerously and the farmers are being dragged in to debt traps. Lot of irrigation projects were commenced by the state governments which are still under construction, huge finance investment must be required to complete these ongoing projects. According to Indian policy the Irrigation is a state subject, the state governments don’t have enough budget to complete them unless the financial support given by central government. As of now 400 irrigation projects are pending in nationwide.

Government of India should take preventive measures in agriculture to face water stress, since most of the Indian population depends on agriculture and need to feed 1.20 billion people. Recently Supreme Court of India has impelled the mega project which will link the major rivers in north and south as optimum utilization of water. This is the better way to manage the water from surplus areas to lacking but the project requires huge investment and takes long time. India needs to improve its agriculture by implementing scientific applications in irrigation system like drip, sprinklers and sprayers and also government needs to promote the low cost methods to harvest and conserve the rainwater. There is still great need of research on drought resistant and climate resistant crops, our agriculture scientists must focus on developing such verities, and Africa is the best example for such innovative crops and practices. India must take inspiration from Israel by their customized irrigation methods and reuse of waste water for agriculture.

Most recent US intelligence report says that in next ten years, water is going to be a bargain chip and as a weapon too... growing demand for water leads to wars. As we know... India has been experiencing many international river disputes like Ganges, Sindhu and Brahmaputra linked with other countries of Nepal, Pakistan and China, and inter-state river disputes like Babli, Almatti, Mullaperiyar, Kaveri etc. Privatization in the urban supplies makes more diversion of irrigated water to cities and Industrial purpose. Private corporations like Coke and other bottled water companies are taping the public water and excessive pumping the ground water which caused to water table aquifer fall. Since the available water is limited, allocation of the water to irrigation, domestic and industrial purposes shall be based on proper methodology, otherwise it leads to clashes among the people within India only not with neighboring countries. I don’t wish the quests and crusades for water; let us all together preserve the fresh water.

A nexus between land and food

Prime minister Mr.Manmohan stated that we need second green revolution to feed our people despite the nation produced  record level of 241 million tones of food grains in this year and he said that 2% of growth  per annum is required to meet the food needs of growing population. Indeed, we should preserve our agriculture land for the same what prime minister said, ironically the Indian farm land has reduced by 0.43 percent i.e182.39 million hectares in last five years and we know that the government has been forcibly acquiring the farm lands in the name of development. If India loss its cultivable land for non agriculture purpose… imagine how the 1.20 billions of people grapple for food, we already importing the pulses and oil seeds for our needs. A typical Indian family is spending 30-60 percent of their income for food alone; if we don’t conserve the farm lands then the food expenditure will be more for Indian house hold.

Recently Mr. Rahul Gandhi protested against NOIDA, Agra Highway farm lands acquisition, he said that he is going to introduce the revised land acquisition act  in parliament which is going to favor for farmers. Personally I welcome his substantial statement. He should visit more villages, meet more farmers to get more knowledge on farmers’ perils. The policy makers’ talks a lot about farmers’ issues in accordance to the situation and events… but we know the UPA 2 government’s economic model i.e. fast industrialization….the people income levels will be increased, eventually the living standards and purchase power will be more. Yes of course, being a progressive thinker, I too support industrialization but agriculture is important too. The thing is who is going to cultivate the land and where is the land to cultivate if the cultivable land is being transformed to industrial purpose?? A recent study says that a typical Indian family is spending 30-60 percent of their income for food alone, if we don’t conserve the fertile farm lands, definitely the food is going to be very expensive for Indian house hold.

As we know that governments are forcible acquiring thousands of acres of land for industries in the name of development i.e. in Noida & Agra in Utter Pradesh, Ambala in Haryana, Mansa in Punjab, Singur in West Bengal , Jaitapur in Maharashtra, Mangalore & Sullia in Karnataka, and Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh. When the governments are trying to convert the fertile lands to non agriculture usage, they should have a responsibility to develop or conserve the fertile lands elsewhere as part of replacement which is not happening, where as in USA… being a largest agriculture land holder; it’s still spending millions of dollars to conserve the cultivable land. Being a developing a nation and having a large population, we need to develop and secure the farm lands.

The proposed land acquisition bill must be included with not only the resettlement and rehabilitation of the displaced public but also the developing and securing the agriculture lands and environmental resettlement.  The existing National Rehabilitation and Resettlement Policy is not giving full fledged support the affected people, it’s failed to restore the lives of dislocated people and they are not receiving the decent, sufficient compensation for their lands, farmers voices have stifled and the governments are using police power to restrain their demands, for that’s the reason only the rural India become violent. The practical studies are not conducted in scientific manner, the government officials are corrupted and the reports are being prepared in favor of construction / power companies. When ever the superior courts intervened then only the feasibility studies are conducting in democratic and scientific manner. (Ex. Court intervention is Sompet -Andhra Pradesh wetlands issue).

I hope the future Land acquisition bill would be beneficial to displaced farmers, let us see how Mr. Rahul Gandhi stands on his promise.

Hopeless Telecom Minister - Hapless UPA Government

Indian political and economical structures have been trembling with scams from past few years i.e. IPL, Commonwealth games, Adarsh housing and 2G Telecom. A bunch of corruption scams have been popping up in the country as a part of global economic reforms and development. The culprits for these organized corruptions are mostly politicians, bureaucrats and corporates. The biggest financial and economic crime in India till date is 2G spectrum (Rs.1.76-lakh crore scandal) which was reported by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG). The allegation on Ministry of Telecom is that the allotments of 2G spectrum licenses were not justifiable. The former telecom minister A. Raja misused his authority in issuing the 2G licenses to the telecom operators with very minor fee and without transparent method of auction which has caused huge revenue loss to the Indian exchequer.

India has huge telecom market in the world i.e. more than 650 millions of telephone connections. In 2008, the Telecom Ministry issued airwave licenses to some telecom companies for second generation (2G) mobile phone services at Rs1,658 crore for a pan-India (Presence Across Nation) operation in the controversial manner without calling for competitive bids. Later, the auction of airwaves for third generation (3G) services, which got nearly Rs. 63,000 crores and that for broadband access, which fetched over Rs. 35,700 crores. Finally, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India reported that the allocation of 2G spectrum was undertaken in an arbitrary manner and the estimated loss to the exchequer due to under pricing of 2G spectrum was Rs. 160,000 crores.

Everybody used to chant the honesty, nobility, credibility and good governance of Mr. Man Mohan sing, but his clean image got diminished when he was trying to give clean chit to A.Raja. Few months ago, Mr. Man Mohan sing was agonized on crony capitalism in the press meet. If Prime minister wants to act against crony capitalism, then why can’t he sack the scandalous minister whenever the scam confirmed? Why UPA chairperson Ms. Sonia has not taken quick action on Raja scam, as she took the fast decision on Maharashtra chief minister dismissal on Adarsh housing society corruption. The UPA government is reluctant to set off Joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe on 2G spectrum scam. All these tricks on 2g scam seem to be suspicious that Congress party also has its share in this dirty money conspiracy.

The worst thing is that the supreme court of India has doubted about the UPA government legitimacy and asked the government to produce an affidavit to explain why the Prime minister did not act on CAG report. Ironically, Mr. Raja got re-appointed as a Union telecom minister by the UPA-2 government despite the financial crime committed by him in 2008. Recently the CBI revealed the tapes of Nira radia (Corporate PR consultant- http://www.vccpl.com/ ), how she lobbied to reappoint the culprit Raja as a cabinet minister in UPA-2 government. These tapes clearly indicate that how the lobbyists and corporates (Sunil Mittal – Anil) are organize the governments.
Click for RAJA – RADIA Tapes: http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?268064

However, Mr. Man Mohan and Ms. Sonia are both together have to take the responsibility on this scam. The solution is not simply replacing or dismissal of the minister. The prim minister has to initiate the prosecution on Raja and the money has to be recovered from the culprits and the licenses should be void. Being a UPA Chairperson Ms. Sonia should not suppose to spare dishonest ministers and the coalition partners for simply to remain in power. She has to look for substitute alliance party to get the support for the stable alliance government. Of course, these are all coalition politics.

I used to read about the scams on natural resources like lands, Mines, forests and rivers and now the trend is AIR. I mean that Airwaves also part of the natural resources. Please do comment :YashwanthX@yahoo.com

In commemoration of freedom