In an election season which has coincided with unprecedented heat and water stress due to monsoon failure, farmers across the board are unhappy over their issues being conspicuous by their absence in the political discourse panning out in the electoral arena.
In rural areas, the Congress is seen wooing the voters on five guarantee schemes coming as solace amid drought and the imperatives of “saving the Constitution”. The BJP and the JD(S) too have nothing to offer to farmers and are highlighting the general “pace of growth” under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. On the ground, the farmers are struggling to save whatever they can of the drying crops, with no rain and no water in irrigation canals.
This forced a section of farmers to come together in Mysuru on Wednesday and put forth demands seeking emphasis on key issues plaguing the agricultural sector and environment. Kurubur Shanthakumar of the Federation of State Farmers’ Associations said that elections have become all about retaining power and key issues are not being addressed at all.
Climate change
The farmers’ convention held in Mysuru drew a correlation between climate change and monsoon failure which had weakened the agricultural sector and pointed out that while water levels in the reservoirs were plummeting, the groundwater table had also depleted.
Hence, they said it was imperative to take stock of the emerging situation and focus on replenishing borewells, desilting waterbodies and augmenting their storage capacity so as to tide over such a situation in future.
“But politicians cutting across party lines are immersed in the election campaign while ignoring the plight of the farmers and even the officials are in the election mode as a result of which drought relief work has taken a backseat,” said Mr. Shanthakumar.
The federation, whose representatives were part of the brainstorming session, said issues such as abrogation of the amendment to the APMC Act, enacting a law to make minimum support price for agricultural produce mandatory, loan waiver in a year of unprecedented drought, and higher compensation for crop loss suffered are some of the demands of the farmers which are not being addressed by political parties.
Resolution passed
While lakes have been encroached upon, green cover is also on the decline, all of which will have a negative bearing on the agricultural sector but political parties are ignorant of the connection, said the farmers who passed a resolution demanding that environment protection and plans to revive agriculture, replenish groundwater table, and revive and conserve rivers, etc. find a mention in the election manifestoes of all political parties.
Echoing similar sentiments, Shivaleela Misale, regional convener, Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatan, said in Belagavi, “The issue that needs immediate attention is drought and calamity relief. We demand that this should be automatic and not be subject to the discretion of the Union government. The States and district administration should have higher autonomy in this issue. This will speed up relief disbursal and expand the scope of relief measures, including alternative livelihood measures and cattle protection, other than just payment of compensation.”
