Disquiet on farm front smoulders like straw fire

A complete loan waiver for Punjab farmers was a key driver of Captain Amarinder Singh’s campaign during the 2017 assembly polls, but once in power, the Congress government led by him rolled out a watered-down version of farm debt waiver in late 2017. The scheme only covered 10.25 lakh marginal and small farmers owning up to 5 acres of land and those with loans up to Rs 2 lakh.

As the Congress government in Punjab completes two years of its term, the government figures show that Rs 4,514-crore debt of 5.64 lakh farmers has been written off in three phases. In the fourth phase launched on March 7, a relief of Rs 164 crore has been provided. This means that so far 5.80 lakh farmers have benefited from the loan waiver amounting to Rs 4,678 crore. Apart from this, a relief of Rs 520 crore is to be provided to 2.85 lakh landless farmers and farm labourers. But, this constitutes only a fraction of the total debt burden of state’s farmers, who owe as much as Rs 81,130 crore to cooperative, commercial and private banks. Out of this, they owe Rs 12,500 crore to the cooperative sector. The debt of small and marginal farmers stands at Rs 20,000 crore. In a letter to the PM on March 22, 2017, soon after taking up the reins of the state, Amarinder had sought a special package for one-time loan waiver, citing these figures.

Has the Punjab government’s debt waiver made a difference to small and marginal farmers? A majority of marginal and small farmers have taken farm loans from “arhtiyas” (commission agents) at rates as high as 36%. Experts point out that around 1 lakh farmers many not even be covered by the waiver scheme.

BKU Ekta Ugrahan general secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokri said, “Before the February 2017 elections, the Congress made several promises to farmers, the biggest being a complete farm loan waiver, but after assuming power, the waiver was limited to Rs 2 lakh and only for farmers with up to 5 acres’ land. Two years have elapsed, yet the debt of all eligible farmers hasn’t been written off.”

The PM Narendra Modi-led NDA government at the Centre, too, has announced a farmer support plan and assured that farm income will be doubled by 2022. However, not much has changed on the ground.

The farmers say that the debt waiver has only provided minuscule relief to marginal and small farmers, while the rural banking sector is of the view that it has impacted recovery of rural and cooperative banks.

In the build-up to the Lok Sabha polls, Punjab farmers are in protest mode. They are seeking complete loan waiver, fixing of MSP as per C2 formula, uninterrupted compensation for suicide-hit farm families and stopping the practice of obtaining cheques from farmers while advancing loans.

The farmers are also not enthused about enhancement of crop damage relief to Rs 12,000 per acre from Rs 8,000 per acre. They want it to be hiked further to Rs 20,000 per acre.

Punjab has over 13 lakh farm families and the state government had assured a debt waiver of Rs 9,500 crore to the 10.25 lakh small and marginal farmers. Despite this, farmer outfits claim that over 600 farmers and farm labourers have ended their lives ever since the Amarinder government took over in Punjab – making it one farmer suicide a day. The opposition parties, however, put the number of farmer suicides in this period at 900.

Diversification blues

With 128 out of 148 zones in Punjab marked critical in view of the depleting water table, the state government in this budget provided Rs 60 crore for diverting one-fourth of the area under paddy — nearly 7-8 lakh hectares — to citrus farming or growing of vegetables and cotton. Achieving this target is almost impossible according to agri-scientists and farmers as there is no marketing mechanism for various crops other than wheat, paddy or cotton. The kinnow growers in Fazilka, Muktsar belt complain of lack of proper marketing system or solution to waterlogging. They cite the plight of potato growers in the Doaba region for the last three years and that of sugarcane growers. Farmers term the claims of the state government on diversification as “hollow”.

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna

The farmers say the Fasal bima yojna is structured to only benefit crop insurance companies. They term the scheme faulty as the insurance companies treat the entire village as a unit to determine the crop loss in case of any natural calamity. They point out that in Punjab the entire village generally doesn’t see crop damage, and the farmers end up getting no benefit.

Cheques by banks

The Punjab farmers are up in arms against the state-level bankers’ committee, presently headed by Punjab National Bank. The farmers are protesting to force the panel to stop the practice of collecting cheques as instrument of security from farmers. They claim that if a farmer’s cheque is dishonoured, a case under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act is filed and orders of auction of land or arrest warrant of farmer is obtained. The state cooperative department has asked banks not to force farmers to provide cheques and the committee is thinking of returning the cheques, but the farmers are determined for protest till the state gives a written assurance that it will not forcibly obtaining cheques from farmers while advancing loans.

Suicide compensation

The previous SAD-BJP government had increased the ex gratia for ‘farm suicide due to debt’ cases to Rs 3 lakh from Rs 2 lakh towards the fag-end of its term. The Congress had promised to raise it to Rs 5 lakh. However, the farmer organisations claim that even Rs 3 lakh compensation is not provided to the families as most cases are rejected on flimsy grounds. A district-level committee takes up the case and sends its recommendation to the state-level committee after which the state revenue and rehabilitation department sanctions the money. Farmers maintain that hundreds of cases are rejected and it takes months and even years to clear cases.

BKU Dakonda general secretary Jagmohan Singh said that all promises regarding debt waiver, full MSP, double income, “Fasal Bima Yojna” made by the central and state governments have proved hollow. The state government has even failed to provide compensation to families of farmers who committed suicide due to debt.

A leaf from the past

In 2006, Kerala drew on the Sir Chhotu Ram Commission model of Punjab to address the problem of farm distress. This helped the state to wipe out farm debt. A team of farmers, legal experts, farm economists, political appointees and others goes to villages, speaks to the farmers and decides on the quantum of relief on the spot.

Stubble economics

State farmers blame the Congress government of forcing them not to burn paddy stubble without formulating any long lasting workable solution. The farmers do not want to burn the stubble but have no other viable option. They demand that the government should provide them compensation of Rs 200 per quintal or Rs 6,000 per acre and farmers will spend the money for some workable solution so that they can sow next crop without burning paddy straw but the demand has not been met. The government has provided subsidy on various equipment to be used in paddy straw management but the farmers are not in a position to buy the costly machinery or to put superSMS on combine harvesters, says farmer organisation Punjab Kisan Union president Ruldu Singh.

The farmers are also suffering from the menace of stray cattle and want some solution to the vexed problem. The y say that they have to stand guard in their fields all the time so that the stray cattle do not enter and destroy the standing crop. Many a time, the stray cattle cause friction among residents of villages, with farmers of one village trying to chase stray cattle to another village.

Certain incidents have happened in Bhucho area in Bathinda and Tapa in Barnala in the past causing even injuries to farmers in such clashes.