Wooing With Farm Waivers
Tehelka|May 15, 2017

Taking a cue from Uttar Pradesh, more state governments including Maharashtra and Punjab could waive offloans to farmers to woo rural voters in the run-up to the 2019 general election.

Charanjit Ahuja
Wooing With Farm Waivers

 India produces over 265 million tonnes of food grains per year that can suffice to feed all its people and make farmers a happy lot! Yet, we see many go hungry and farmers are driven to commit suicide. The recent protests by farmers at Jantar Mantar grabbed national attention due to their novel, and often shocking, forms of agitation. The farmers held protest cross-dressing as women, staged street plays carrying skulls, ran naked near Prime Minister’s off ice, held mouse in their mouth, conducted mock funerals, snake meat, and drank urine. The agitating farmers agreed to suspend their agitation till May 25 after getting assurance from Tamil Nadu Chief Minister E Palaniswami. During the course of their protest, the farmers met political leaders including Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, finance minister Arun Jaitley but the Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not meet them.

The fact is that agriculture in India has been facing many issues from fragmented land holding to depleting water-table levels, deteriorating soil quality, rising input costs to low productivity. Nearly 80 per cent of the 140 million farming families hold less than two acres of land and as land holdings are small more farmers are forced with the obsolete technology resulting in low farm incomes. Most of the farming in India is monsoon dependent and irrigation consumes more than 80 per cent of the total water use in the country. Most of the farmers are dependent on seeds sold but the spurious seeds hitting the market, farmers do not get adequate yields. Harried farmers are forced to use high amounts of fertilisers and pesticides. To add to it, the heavy dependence on traditional crops like rice and wheat points to the lack of a proper national plan on agriculture.

ERODING CREDIT DISCIPLINE

この記事は Tehelka の May 15, 2017 版に掲載されています。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。

この記事は Tehelka の May 15, 2017 版に掲載されています。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。

TEHELKAのその他の記事すべて表示
Why Did Ratan Tata Feel Compelled To Take Charge Again?
Tehelka

Why Did Ratan Tata Feel Compelled To Take Charge Again?

Did Cyrus Mistry fall victim to an ossified corporate culture or did he violate Tata Sons’ ethos and culture? MG BanGa tells the story so far.

time-read
10+ 分  |
30 November 2016
Misguided Youths Or Trained Terrorists?
Tehelka

Misguided Youths Or Trained Terrorists?

As part of a dangerous trend emerging across the world, homegrown ISIL sympathisers are willing and attempting to carry out deadly terror attacks without any comprehensive support system.

time-read
5 分  |
July 31 2016
Indian Railways: Living In Dreams
Tehelka

Indian Railways: Living In Dreams

Indian Railways is changing track, giving up its separate Budget and experimenting with surge pricing on three popular trains. That leaves the behemoth with no funds to replace ageing assets and encourage further investments.

time-read
10+ 分  |
31 October 2016
Priyanka Gandhi Agreed To Play Bigger Role In UP
Tehelka

Priyanka Gandhi Agreed To Play Bigger Role In UP

Further delay in decision making could be detrimental to the party’s goal to rejuvenate its prospects in the State Assembly elections.

time-read
4 分  |
July 15 2016
Mission 2019: Banega Swachh India?
Tehelka

Mission 2019: Banega Swachh India?

Two years ago, Modi kicked off a cleanliness drive in a spectacular way. Showing the contrast between world cities and Gurgaon, MG BANGA suggests ways in which the mission can be accomplished by 2019.

time-read
7 分  |
September 15 2016
The Goodwill Enjoyed By Mehabooba Mufti Has Been Erased!
Tehelka

The Goodwill Enjoyed By Mehabooba Mufti Has Been Erased!

Mehbooba Mufti risks losing her popularity and irking her party ranks by using New Delhi’s rulebook to deal with the unrest in Kashmir.

time-read
8 分  |
August 31 2016
Is China's Support To Pakistan, Big Threat To India?
Tehelka

Is China's Support To Pakistan, Big Threat To India?

New Delhi needs to be cautious as in Pakistan’s scheme of things, strategic ties with China can serve as a powerful weapon to deal with adversaries like India.

time-read
4 分  |
August 15 2016
Panama Papers: Nawaz Sharif'S Troubles Escalate
Tehelka

Panama Papers: Nawaz Sharif'S Troubles Escalate

After his name surfaced in the Panama paper leak following several other charges of money laundering filed against him, there is pressure on Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif to resign.

time-read
5 分  |
30 November 2016
This Potus Will Make The World Go Bust
Tehelka

This Potus Will Make The World Go Bust

The man who believes global warming is a hoax and has a short attention span will now preside over the affairs not just of the United States but of the whole world. A daunting prospect.

time-read
9 分  |
30 November 2016
Reel-Life Bohemians, Real-Life Hyprocrites
Tehelka

Reel-Life Bohemians, Real-Life Hyprocrites

ADHM vs Palm Grove Heights: In cinematic life, two strangers Ranbir and Anushka meet in a pub in London and go on a kissing spree while in actual life back in India, a woman from Barcelona was evicted from her male friend’s home in Gurugram. Is cinema really a mirror of society?

time-read
4 分  |
30 November 2016