Farmers protest 2.0 and the politics around it
There is another protest happening in India, and it is gaining attention from both national and international media. It is currently being called Farmer Protest 2.0, though it is more like a political stunt to thwart the upcoming Modi 3.0
So, what’s farmers protest 2.0 and why are there so frequent protests arising in India?
It can all be attributed to the opposition losing their strength day by day and coming up with nonsense protests.
It may sound like I am against the opposition or the protests, but I am not. The best thing about democracy is the right to protest but the current issue is not picking up the right battles.
India is a growing country and like every other civilization that grew, it is also having its share of issues. These issues are geographical, demographical, changing social norms, and mostly cultural. With a population of about 1.3 billion people, most of whom are below poverty as compared to global standards, the country has done great in recent times and it is not just because of the elected governments. Every individual has contributed to it. While the country didn’t have enough grains to feed its people, now it is one of the top exporters of various grains.
So, what has gone wrong? Why are there so many different groups staging protests? Why is there a noise of dictatorship?
Let us look at the progress of these protests and try to see what has happened in these years.
Though the protests have been around since the independence of the country in 1947, but something changed in 2011 & 2012 with the Anna Hazare & Nirbhaya fiasco. It shook the general public’s confidence in the elected government of Delhi (the capital of India). Both the Delhi government and the national government were ruled by Congress at that time. The governments were already infamous for corruption, and lawlessness, and engaged in minority appeasement. Further, these two events influenced the public perception and gave the current ruling party and then the opposition party a chance to come to power.
Bhartiya Janta Party, came with its own agenda and started working on it. Let us not call their intentions good or bad, because everyone works with their own set of values, and the public knew what was the core focus of BJP. They came with clarity of removing Article 370, working around workforce reforms, speeding up infrastructure, working against minority appeasement, etc.,
And, whatever they promised, they also started delivering. The government worked swiftly towards infrastructure, opening up new institutions, setting up new committees, changing education policy, working on new tax regimes, and so on.
The issues of inflation, rising prices of basic commodities, unemployment, etc., are still here and might have even gone up in recent years but what BJP succeeded in doing was fulfilling their promises, controlling lawlessness, and ensuring minimal corruption.
They were successful in creating a sense of security for the larger set of public. They also worked on controlling their image via media and social connections and people started connecting with the ruling government. If you fulfill your promises and keep working on what you were saying earlier, it is only going to increase the confidence of the public in your actions. That’s what has happened in India.
The party won again with an even bigger margin and it also started the current issues of protests.
The first farmers’ protest was around the three laws that the ruling government passed without obtaining consent from the impacted parties. It was a stupid thing to do. If you are coming up with something that will impact a particular set of groups, it should be done with their awareness and they should be made aware about it. But it didn’t happen.
The three laws were passed and then the farmers started protesting. The government neglected their protests and wasn’t serious about it. The opposition saw the opportunity and grabbed seats in protests. More and more people unaware of how the laws would influence them started joining in and it went out of hand. Eventually, the laws were repealed.
But that opened the route to get your wishes accepted by creating a ruckus. It has been the modulus operandi for multiple groups. Almost all political parties have supported it for some time. Some groups would block roads, stop trains, damage public property, and then force the government to take action. If the action is in their favor, these groups would start gaining political mileage and if the government takes some strict actions, these groups would call it fascist and start crying.
Farmer protest 1.0 was also similar. When the protest started, the government blocked entry towards the national capital and caused discomfort to a larger set of public. All this was done in the name of stopping the protestors from entering Delhi and causing damage in Delhi. Did it solve any purpose, “No”. Eventually, the government decided to take back the laws and the farmers dispersed.
Two years since then, they have again started on the same tactics. Now the demands are unrealistic. They are asking for minimum wage, loan waivers, MSP laws, subsidies on agri products, suspension of agricultural ties in WTO, heavy import duties on grains and other stuff, and things like that. It is impossible to grant these things in an open market. If the government agrees to one or more of such demands, it would distort the economics at a larger scale and thwart the growth activities.
And these groups are not fools. They are backed by the opposition and only try to damage the perception of the ruling party to create some advantage for the opposition. Everyone knows that the ruling party would be coming again and that’s why all these protests are at peak. It is not about stopping the ruling party, it is about ensuring the opposition survives.
Do these groups care about the economy? “No”, they are already blocking borders, damaging public property, and creating a ruckus for the general public.
One cannot go around asking for whatever they wish. The beauty of democracy lies in forming governments that take actions for your benefits. The opposition isn’t doing enough in terms of grabbing the nerve of the public. There are so many issues that the opposition can work on but they are either stupid or don’t give a shit about the issues. So, they come up with non-reasonable demands, instigate groups to stage protests, and back people who make non-reasonable demands.
Let us look into Farmer 2.0 demands.
For instance, there is a demand for legal provision of MSP.
If you make a law for the minimum price of grains, what would happen to the open market? The market works based on demand and supply. If your product is needed, you don’t need a law to gain profit. Similarly, if you produce something that isn’t needed, a law is only going to harm you.
With a law, the buyer would be forced to buy produce at a minimum price (without being a demand). If they would get better prices in international markets, then you are already asking for heavy import duty and suspension of WTO ties in agri. Isn’t it forcing the buyer to buy your products at prices you want?
All this is when there are surplus grains in India and a lot of it is rotting and of inferior quality due to the large use of pesticides.
Moreover, the government is the biggest buyer. They buy the grains and then distribute them to the poor people with heavy subsidies. The moment MSP comes, the private players would route to international markets for the best prices and the government would be mandated to buy the produce at elevated prices.
Issue of damaging crop variety
The issue of heavy use of pesticides is another problem. With the provision of MSP, the farmer would keep on growing the grains for MSP and wouldn’t switch to other grains that the market needs.
It is easier to grow and sell produce to FCI and government bodies at MSP than to participate in a competitive market.
There are already multiple studies on how the northern regions in India are damaging agricultural land with the same crops and heavy pesticide use.
Pensions for Farmers & MANREGA
There is another demand for a pension for farmers and minimum wage guarantees in the MANREGA scheme.
While the Pension has gone away for all jobs, why should there be a pension for farmers? Why can’t there be more effort to establish world-class healthcare?
There can be new demands of asking the government to control inflation, work on educating the larger public, create more jobs, open up new schools, make new infrastructure, and so many other things. Those would automatically open up new jobs and create financial securities for generations but the groups are busy asking for pensions which won’t add that benefit.
All this is when agriculture is not even taxed. So the industries and people from another profession would pay tax. That tax would go into the pensions of these farmers. Then these groups will also ask for high prices for their produce and the poor will demand low prices for their food.
Eventually who will foot the bill? Taxpayers
Heavy Import Duties & Agri Ties Suspension in WTO
Heavy duties on grain import and suspension of WTO ties in agriculture are also one way to end competition. If something is available for 100 Rs in international markets, why should you be buying it at 120 or so? These things are required for protecting a sector and are always done for certain periods to make the sector safe against international business. But having a permanent law would decapitate the sector. It would also kill the natural competition and take away the improvement scope.
One such example is the reservation system in India. It was started with the thought of uplifting the social status of certain groups and was only meant for some time but it has been there and now increasing day by day. Funny isn’t it? You start giving reservations to peoples, and tribes to uplift them and end up increasing it to others because now everyone feels they are downtrodden and need it.
Issues
There is another issue. That is the way the protests are held. The blocking of borders, stopping traffic, and damaging roads, tolls, statues, and other public property are not the right ways of conveying your dissatisfaction. Why don’t you start a legal course, elect your representatives, and get your demands fulfilled? It is becoming frustrating day by day to see groups engage in cheap politics to damage some votes of the ruling government.
What’s the way forward?
- Public sensitization is the only way forward. More and more people need to be educated on their rights and duties toward the state. When the youth is educated and have moral senses, they are less likely to disrupt the lives of their fellow citizens.
- The agricultural landscape in India needs reforms. They need support from the government and it is not false that the farmers are facing heat from global competition. Thus, there is a need for support from the government. The support is needed to help them with new tools, better quality agricultural techniques, setting up agricultural research institutes, and making the farmers aware of new technologies and methods of farming, bringing them at level with global competition. All this cannot happen overnight and definitely cannot be resolved with MSP and pension. They can help a certain region or sect but won’t resolve the big problem
- It is still difficult for a farmer in India to get a loan from a Bank and a lot of people are still unaware, uneducated, and living like they used to do in the 1940s. There is a big need to spread awareness and bring them into the mainstream. With easy access to education, new technologies, better quality seeds, and low-interest loans, there would not be a need for MSP, pension and these protests
- Also, the government should be more open and spread awareness of their actions. They should also be proactively reaching out to all groups and making them aware of how they plan to increase the quality of their lives. What they are planning on doing and how it would enrich the lives of these individuals.
- There should also be action report cards by governments with regular feedback from the public. It should include what the government did, why, and what results the action achieved.
- The collaboration of ruling and opposition parties is a distant dream but it is what India should look for. The nation grows only when you engage in actions because you both want the nation to grow.
