Land Acquisition Bill: Missing the big, bleak picture

[prasad1]

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The unseasonal rains over the last few weeks have resulted in enormous loss of crop output across many States of North India. This has shifted attention from the issue of land acquisition to other important problems faced by farmers in India. While it is important to debate the various clauses of the Land Acquisition Bill — what might benefit the farmers and what goes against their interests — it is also important for the government to pay attention to the bigger problems that Indian farmers face. The findings from a survey conducted by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies in late 2013 among 5,480 farmers across 18 States in the country present a rather dismal picture of agriculture today.
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It is not surprising that farmers blame both the State and the Central governments for the massive systemic failure to address their concerns. The high level of dissatisfaction among farmers cannot be considered as an excuse for promoting other sectors at the cost of agriculture.
Reviving the rural economy should be a major challenge for the Modi government. Mr. Modi spoke of some critical concerns of farmers in his speech, but the real test is whether his government will walk the talk. If the BJP hopes to retain the support it received in rural India in 2014, the government must ensure that it is able to take the concerns of Bharat on board even as he harps on the India growth story.

Land Acquisition Bill big picture agriculture farmers - The Hindu

 

[prasad1]

Cartoonscape ? April 25, 2015 - The Hindu

 

[Vaagmi]

We have a tendency to make a mountain out of a mole hill. It is perhaps in our genes. There was widespread nonseasonal rains in paddy/wheat land and crops were washed out. Immediately cry hoarse that farmers are in serious trouble, they are committing suicide in hoards like the penguins, the government is doing absolutely nothing, it has to be defeated in the next election. Period.

For such unexpected calamities we have the crop insurance scheme. The premium for insuring crops is shared by Government by a subsidy. When the crop is washed out the Insurance Company pays the farmer if he has cared to get his crop insured.

a farmer however rich he may be , need not invest in farm equipment like, tractors, threshers etc., He has to touch the nearest Agri. Service Center and they rent out the equipment. The equipment are maintained by them.

When it is time for pesticides to be sprinkled, you can join with other farmers in the area and approach the Farmer service centers to get the aerial sprinkling of the pesticide as it is cheaper, well distributed and economic. The farmers cooperative have to organize this.

The farmers have to contend with just one thing. The all pervasive spread corruption which is in the genes of Indians.

in spite of all these if a farmer commits suicide there are other undisclosed reasons which can be personal. There is no justification for the media hype and political blame game indulged in.

Come on let us move on.

The survey quoted in the previous post is just impressionistic. The questions are too general and are loaded. If you ask a farmer whether he would give up agriculture, he would certainly say yes because he will immediately remember the AC rooms of Babus whom he had occasions to meet. Between the heat of the sun in which he toils and the cool comfort of an AC any human being would like to leave the former and take to the later.

 

[sarang]

It is now proven that the great bengal famines were man made, by the british, exporting the food produced. There was no scarcity. Farmer's suicide is a serious issue, and must be addressed. But link land LAB to this problem is nothing but politics. Congress and the socialist politicians have only aggravated poverty in the last sixty years.

Here is the statistics.