THE ASIAN INDEPENDENT UK-
Dr. Ramjilal, Social Scientist and Former Principal, Dyal Singh College, Karnal (Haryana-India)
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British imperialism ended in 1947, but due to backwardness in the agricultural sector, the reign of hunger and poverty continued. Food grains started being imported from foreign countries. Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri inspired the soldiers and farmers and gave the slogan ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’ to the nation. It was humiliating that an agricultural country like India had to import food grains from outside or feed the people on the basis of gifts from other nations. Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri and the then Agriculture Minister C. Chidambaram thought over it and came to the conclusion that farmers should get a fair price for their crops; only then can India be saved from hunger and malnutrition.
A committee was constituted by the Government of India to solve the problems of farmers and to give them a fair price for their crops. The Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, LK Jha, was appointed the chairman of this committee. Its four other members were TP Singh, VN Aadharkar, ML Dantwala, and AC Chaudhary. This committee submitted its report to the Government of India on 24 September 1964. On the basis of the recommendations of this committee, the Government of India fixed the minimum support price of grains on 13 October 1964, and the minimum support price was approved on 24 December 1964. But on October 19, 1965, Secretary of the Government of India, Shiv Raman, gave the final approval. On the advice of American agricultural scientist Frank Parker, the then Agriculture Minister of India, C. Subramaniam, declared the minimum support price of wheat as ₹54 per quintal in 1966. The Chief Minister, Punjab (non-Congress), Gurnam Singh, requested the then Agriculture Minister of India, Babu Jagjivan Ram, to procure wheat from Punjab for FCI on the basis of MSP. Babu Jagjivan Ram accepted the request of S. Gurnam Singh and granted permission to FCI to procure wheat from Punjab. Punjab is the first state in the whole of India to implement MSP and urged the central government to procure wheat on the basis of MSP. This is a matter to be recorded in golden letters in the history of Indian agriculture. As a result, the farmers of Punjab felt great relief and security. After Punjab, Haryana also implemented MSP. This proved to be a milestone in the history of Indian agriculture. In year 1966–1967, only wheat was given support price. But at present, support price has been given to 24 crops.
There are three formulas for calculating support price: A2, A2 plus FL, and C2 + 50%. The Swaminathan Commission (2006), in its recommendations, suggested fixing the minimum support price on the basis of the C2 + 50% formula. According to the recommendation of the Swaminathan report, under the C2 + 50% formula, the minimum support price (MSP) should be decided by adding all expenses on the crop along with land rent, interest on land, and permanent assets and adding 50% to the total cost. But this formula has not been implemented, and farmers do not get the minimum support price. Therefore, they do not get any benefit from the production of any crop. According to the report of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), between year 2000-2001 and 2016-17, Indian farmers have suffered a loss of 45 lakh crore rupees due to not getting the proper minimum support price. This loss is approximately ₹8000 to ₹10000 per acre per year.
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, the storm of liberalisation, privatisation, and globalisation (LPG)– ideology of neo-liberalism—also affected Indian social, economic, and political systems. Due to the pressure of capitalist nations and multinational corporations, the Indian government promoted commercialisation in all walks of life. The Indian agriculture labourers sector also could not remain free from NEO–liberalism, and marketisation. As a result, Indian agricultural labourers and marginal farmers also had to depend on multinational companies, corporate, traders, middlemen for seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, agricultural fertilizers, etc. Agriculture got commercialised. This also affected rural lifestyle, rural culture, and rural civilisation. The rapid pace of Neo-liberalism weakened the rural lifestyle, and emphasis started being given on cash crop production instead of traditional crops that provided food security. The ill effects on the crop proved to be so terrible in rural areas, and gradually agriculture became a loss-making deal for marginal farmers. Although the Swaminathan Commission was formed by the then UPA government, it is a matter of regret that the minimum support price was not implemented on the basis of the C2 + 50%. formula.
In the 2014 elections, the then-star campaigner of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Narendra Modi (now the Prime Minister of India), addressed 437 public meetings. In 219 of these public meetings, Narendra Modi promised to implement the Swaminathan report, give farmers the minimum support price (C2 + 50%) for crops and waive off their loans. In the 2014 Sankalp Patra of the Bharatiya Janata Party, farmers were also promised to be given 1.5 times the cost of their produce. But after coming to power, the leadership reneged on its promise and in 2015 filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court of India in which it was said that the government cannot fulfil this promise.
In the 2014 public meetings, Narendra Modi held the then Congress-led UPA government responsible for the suicides of farmers. But after 2014, the series of suicides did not stop even during the tenure of the BJP-led NDA government. Between 2014 and 2020, 78,303 farmers have committed suicide. due to the Modi government’s policy of ‘bowing to capitalists and suppressing farmers’, out of which 35,122 agricultural labourers have also committed suicide. 12336 in 2014, 12602 in 2015, 11379 in 2016, 10665 in 2017, and 10,350 male and female farmers have committed suicide in 2018. In 2020, agricultural labourers have committed 18 percent more suicides than in 2019.
As a result, farmers had to take the path of agitation. From 2014 onwards, farmer revolts, agitations, strikes, dharnas, demonstrations, rallies, and processions started happening everywhere against the government. According to an estimate, the number of farmer protests increased from 628 to 4837 between 2014 and 2016. After the Mandsaur firing incident (June 2017), the “Long March” from Nasik to Mumbai (March 2018) by farmers in Maharashtra under the leadership of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the “Kisan Kranti Yatra—Delhi March” (23 September 2018–2 October 2018) in Western Uttar Pradesh, the movement of farmers in Tamil Nadu, Delhi (30 June 2018), and Kisan Andolan (30 November 2018) are important movements. A A very big movement of farmers was mobilised in Delhi (30 November 2018) under the leadership of the coordination committee of 207 organisations.
On 5 June 2020, when the Corona (Covid-19) pandemic was at its peak, three ordinances were issued by the President of India 1. Essential Commodities Act 1 April 1955 (Amendment), Ordinance 2020, 2. Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance 2020, 3. Farmers Agreement on Agricultural Produce Price Assurance and Agricultural Services (Empowerment and Protection), Ordinance 2020; and on 14 September 2020, the Government of India presented them in the Parliament. After the approval of the Parliament and the signature of the President, on 27 September 2020 (Sunday), the Law Ministry of the Government of India got them published in the Gazette, and all three agricultural laws came into force at once. These Three agricultural laws made the problems of the farmers even more serious. The form of the farmers’ movement from 2020 to the end of 2021 is unique in itself in the history of the farmers’ movement of the world. This movement lasted for 378 days. About 750 farmers were martyred there. On 19 November 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi withdrew these three agricultural laws. This was an unprecedented victory of the sacrifice of the farmers. The three agricultural laws were repealed by Parliament by making a new law. But the rest Many of the demands of the farmers have not been met yet. Even today, the demands of The farmers are the same as they had said in a message to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in November 2021.
The main demand of The United Kisan Morcha is that farmers should be given a minimum support price on the basis of C2 + 50% formula based on the total cost of cultivation, and a law should be made regarding MSP. This law should be applicable all over India. Violators of this should be fined, imprisoned or both.
Apart from the legal form of MSP, other demands of the farmers include implementation of other recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission; pension for farmers and farm laborers; waiving agricultural loans; Withdrawal of police cases registered during the farmers’ agitation from 2020 to 2021; Justice for eight people killed, including four farmers, during the protest in Lakhimpur Kheri; Compensation and rehabilitation arrangements for the families of about 750 farmers who have been martyred during the agitation; and land on the Tikri border to build a martyr’s memorial. These are the same demands that were made in November 2021. After November 2021, the government threw the demands of the farmers into the dustbin; as a result, the farmers had to agitate again to fulfil these demands, which is called Kisan Andolan 02.
For almost a year, the movement has been going on under the leadership of Samyukta Kisan Morcha (non-political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha. The most important aspect of this movement is that more than 70 days have passed since the hunger strike of farmer’s leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal.. Recalling the historic rally of 26 January 2021,
tractor/vehicle/motorcycle rallies were taken out at the district level in most of the states on 26 January 2025. According to the press release issued by the media cell of Samyukta Kisan Morcha, rallies were taken out in Sabarkantha and Aravalli districts of Gujarat, including states like “Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Assam,” etc.
The media cell of Samyukta Kisan Morcha further said that after four years, the PM Modi-led NDA Government-3 is once again trying to bring back the pro-corporate laws. The three agricultural laws have been reborn through the National Policy Framework on Agricultural Marketing (NPFAAM). According to the press release of the United Kisan Morcha, the National Policy on Agricultural Marketing directs the state government to regulate its agricultural markets. So that there can be corporate control over agricultural production, marketing, and food distribution. The United Kisan Morcha demands that the National Policy on Agricultural Marketing be rejected.
The farmers of the country are facing a grave crisis. On the one hand, in view of the problems of the farmers, the Finance Minister has described agriculture as the “engine of development” in her budget speech. On the other hand, in terms of allocation of funds in the budget for the financial year 2025-26, the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare is three percent less than the revised estimate for the financial year 2024-25. The main focus points for agriculture and farmers in the current budget are as follows:
1. Pradhan Mantri Dhan-Dhanya Krishi Yojana:
The nine missions that have been focused on agriculture. were announced in the budget, out of which Pradhan Mantri Dhan-Dhanya Krishi Yojana is the most important. Under this, 100 districts with low crop productivity will be covered, or a 6-year mission for self-sufficiency in pulses, a national mission on high-yield seeds, a mission for cotton productivity, and a program for vegetables and fruits.
2. Subsidy on Agricultural Equipments:
Under the Pradhan Mantri Dhan-Dhanya Yojana, subsidy has been announced on agricultural equipment, such as tractors, pumps, etc. Agricultural experts believe that the maximum benefit of the scheme will go to the industrialists instead of farmers.
3. More Special Economic Zones for the Fisheries Industry:
Special Economic Zones will be created for the fisheries industry. But it is not clear whether these special economic zones will be controlled by the government or handed over to corporate houses.
4. Kisan Credit Card
In the current budget, the loan limit under Kisan Credit Card has been increased from Rs. 3 lakh to Rs. 5 lakh, and there is a provision of 2% subsidy on interest for repaying the loan on time. If the farmer repays the loan on time, there will be a discount of 3%. Thus, the interest will be only 4%.
But this budget does not mention what will happen if the crop is damaged due to recession in the market, natural calamities, fake seeds, fake fertilisers, etc., and the farmer is unable to repay the loan on time? As a result, the burden of the loan will increase on the farmers. It will slow down the speed of the’engine of development’, and this is likely to increase the problems of the farmers. Apart from this, the problems of farmers will increase due to an increase in the prices of chemicals and seeds, agricultural equipments, especially tractors, water pumps, diesel, and petrol, an increase in the wages of labourers, the cost of livestock, the lack of welfare of marginal farmers and agricultural labourers under the MNREGA scheme, failure to repay government and non-government loans, the water crisis, climate change, etc. As a result, it will be even more difficult for them to repay the loan.
5. Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY)
Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in February 2016. Its main objective was to provide comprehensive coverage to the crops of farmers so that their income can be stable. The Union Budget for FY2025-26 has allocated Rs 12,242.27 crore for PMFBY, which is about 23 percent less than the revised estimates of Rs 15,864 crore for FY2024-25.
6. No loan waiver:
In the 2014 elections, Narendra Modi, who was the star campaigner of the BJP, announced a loan waiver for farmers. But no provision for loan waiver was made in all the budgets from 2014 to 2025, whereas this is the biggest demand of the farmers. Although the agriculture sector is the first engine of development,. But in stark contrast to this, whether it was the Congress-led UPA government under the leadership of Manmohan Singh or the BJP-led NDA government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Both have been in favour of capitalists and corporate and have done the’mundan sanskara’ of banks’ by putting the loans of capitalists in NPA. According to the information sought by RTI activist Prafulla Sharda through RTI, the Modi Government has ‘written off’ Rs 11,19,482 crore of banks from 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2021. It has also been revealed in the RTI that from 2004 to 2014, loans worth Rs 2.22 lakh crore were waived off by the UPA government at the Centre. According to an estimate, this amount has increased to about Rs 16 lakh crore. Lack of loan waiver will slow down the speed of the ‘engine of development’ and this is likely to increase the problems of farmers.
By analysing the budget, it is known that farmers are disappointed because of their two biggest demands—legal guarantee of MSP on the basis of the C2+ 50% formula and loan waiver—are not mentioned in the budget. Our firm opinion is that the speed of the development engine of agriculture can increase only after accepting both of these demands; otherwise, the speed will be slow, and there will also be a possibility of a decrease in the production of food grains.
