Tuesday, February 8, 2011

WHAT THE FARMERS NEED – II (8th Feb 2011)

A GOOD EFFECTIVE IRRIGATION INFRASTRUCTURE:


Bhartiya kisaan bhagwan bharose (Indian peasants are at the mercy of God)! The old adage has not changed even one bit, even when India’s economic growth is pegged at 8 plus per cent by our Prime Minister and Finance Minister. So what does it really means? Indian farmers are still dependant on rain god for a good harvest each year. If the rainfall is heavy (as it was in 2010), the loss is unprecedented and if there is no rain (as it was from 2006 to 2009) then also it is the farmers who will bear the brunt of losses and in both the cases it is the poor who suffer. Political leaders will shout aloud to raise their voice about all the losses, aid will be declared but as late Rajiv Gandhi had put in 1985 – “to every rupee the government spend, only 15 paise reach the poor” – that means 85 per cent is gobbled by the big corrupt sharks in white kurta and pyajama, who are sitting in various ministries and government offices.

Ironical and a fact that everyone knows yet have closed eyes, for the simple reason that it does not affect the urbanites. How the poor farmers grow food and other cash crops year after year for the whole nation and other countries to benefit... truly one must salute them for their undying selfless service towards the nation and its citizen. How I wish, like all the other sectors, the farmers can go on an indefinite strike to get their demands fulfilled... sadly, they cannot. The basic requirements of irrigation is lacking in the country, courtesy the ruling government since the last 63 plus years... while India as the agriculture dominated nation has achieved so much in the last six plus decades, infrastructure for agriculture has seen no real progress at all... only 10 per cent of Vidarbha land is under irrigation, in spite of Vidarbha having the maximum number of rivers, more than 40 medium sized reservoirs in Nagpur district itself and country’s biggest thermal power station – CSTPS and more than 80 plus new thermal power projects are in the pipeline to be sanctioned by the state government... all in all, depriving the poor farmers water for irrigation and clean and safe drinking water, and not to mention there are thousands and thousands villages which has not seen what electricity is...

This is truly the 21st Century Economic Growth of a nation that has neglected the major agriculture sector for farmers to succumb to suicide, sell wives to feed the children (in Bundelkhand),  leave farming and suffer in hunger, safeguard water for irrigation with guns (in Bihar)... Irrigation projects in Vidarbha region have taken more than 36 and 24 years respectively in Bhandara and Yavatmal districts. Many PMs and CMs have come and gone and the work in the two districts (that I have the knowledge of) are still incomplete and the works are moving at a snail’s pace. All the river water that can save and help farming in the region have and are being diverted to heavy industries and thermal projects... so what will the farmers do without irrigation? Commit more suicides? All the big talks of the Prime Minister about India’s growth are hollow in nature as agriculture sector which was dominated by 70 per cent of population has reduced to 50 per cent... and the migration of villagers towards cities have in fact choked the cities as well.


24th year in progress, the canal is still incomplete...

Each year as farmers’ suicide climbs the statistical bars... the government declares aid but nothing is done to help and support the farmers with their mandatory needs... a simple provision of irrigation can serve the nation at large with farmers in the region cultivating food all through the year and there will be less suicide with farmers earning all through the year. One of the basic needs of every farmer is a good irrigation system in place... it is not rocket science but common sense... but the leaders of the nation are there to deprive the majority of poor farmers of their basic needs so they can please the few select rich industrialists and MNCs in order to fill their coffers in Swiss Banks and other black money havens of the world.

Punjab and Haryana are the only two Indian states which has the best irrigation system in the country but the after effects of the so-called Green Revolution has taken a toll with the farmers... soil treated with chemical poisonous fertilizers & pesticides have reduced the productivity of the produce drastically, labour wages have gone higher than expected, cost of GM seeds have increased the initial investment and with the new generation migrating towards foreign shores for better prospects... farmers are succumbing to suicide or else farmers are leaving the age-old profession because everything is against the farmers... I ask the world and the Prime Minister – Is this really the growth of the nation???

What will happen, when there will be no fertile agriculture land, farmers left and no water to irrigate the farms in near future? How and from where the nation will feed the ever growing billion plus population? The future is really dangerous and it is approaching at a very faster pace...

.... to be continued...

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