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FARMERS ARE AT THEIR WITS' END-DELHI IS BEING CHOKED UP

Young Bites. Dated: 11/30/2020 12:03:20 PM

T K NANDANAN
It is needless to say that agriculture is the backbone of the country’s economy andtherefore the government is bound to support agriculture more than anything else. It is equally important to say that every farmer is the real gem of the country. But the recent farm laws enacted by the Central government have infuriated the farmers across the country and what seemed to be a trickle of farmers’ protest from Punjab has snowballed into a great movement powerful enough to bring the Centre to its knees. The lesson the farmers’ protest gives us is if the farmers are in disagreement with the government, then the government is doomed. Now the farmers are up in arms against the farm laws of the government and they resolutely dug in their heels and would not go back from ‘Delhi Chalo’ march until their demands are met. However, it is a pity that the government has not been able to gauge the depth of bitterness of the farmers with respect to the recently enacted farm laws. Enraged and embittered by the Centre’s farm laws, thousands of farmers from Punjab made a beeline for the national capital to protest against the Centre’s controversial farm laws. However, the Haryana police tried to crush the ‘Delhi Chalo’ march by using water cannons and teargas on their way to Delhi. It may be pertinent to note that Haryana is ruled by the BJP-led government. The situation became tense at the Shambu inter- state border on the national highway as protesting farmers threw police barricades off the bridge into the Ghaggar River. Amid huge protests, Union agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar appealed to the farmers to suspend their agitation and invited them for talks on December 3. But the Centre on Saturday held out an olive branch to the farmers saying that the government is ready for dialogue any time. Meanwhile, things took on a curious turn when Punjab Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh entered into a war of words on Twitter with Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. It may be pertinent to note that the Centre passed the farm laws promising relief to farmers that they would get better prices by cutting out middlemen and improving marketing efficiencies. The new laws give farmers freedom to sell their produce anywhere in India. But the Opposition parties claim for freedom to sell would mean the end of government procurement at Minimum Support Prices. Besides, the government has not committed in writing that it will procure agricultural produce at MSPs. The million-dollar question is ‘How else will the government get the grain for ration shops?’ As a matter of fact, the new farm laws have not addressed the genuine concerns of the farmers; and by converting the farm sector into pure laissez faire marketing, the Centre has pushed farmers into an unsecure world wherein the dreams of farmers are sure to be shattered. Sadly, our economy has not grown to such a level where the farmers can risk themselves for gaining huge profit for their produce. During this Covidian era, all the farmers are facing a lot of hardships and they still toil hard to till the land to grow wheat and other cereals. Literally, they are fighting many odds like unprecedented and unfavourable weather conditions, shortage of labour, increasing diesel and petrol charges, lethargic attitude by the government and the government officials’ prejudiced attitude towards peasants. Like adding insult to injury, the government is adept only in paying lipservice to them rather than actually helping them. Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh farmers have reached Delhi border to lend support to ‘Delhi Chalo’ march and thus, the situation is worsening day by day. So, it is better for the central government to solve the farmers’ issue at the earliest.