Among other things, the farmers are asking for loan waivers and better prices for their produce.
Business
Standard : On the night of November 29, 2018, as many as
100,000 farmers from all over India arrived, via trains and tractors,
in New Delhi, the country's capital. The next day, tens of thousands
more marched to the parliament to draw the Central Government's
attention to the deepening agrarian crisis and resulting farmer
suicides.
Among
other things, the farmers are asking for loan waivers and better
prices for their produce.
The
two-day long protest, called the Kishan Mukti March (Farmer's Freedom
March), was led by the All
India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC), a joint
platform of about 150 farm organizations, formed in June 2017. A
press release published on the website Dilli Chalo (Let's go to
Delhi) explained that successive governments have failed to address
the demands of millions of farmers. The group accused the authorities
of ignoring the farmers’ plights, saying their apathy has turned
into increasingly brutal antipathy.
The
farmers’ charter of demands includes the passing of two bills in
parliament, which have the potential to relieve their predicament —
the Farmers’ Freedom from Indebtedness Bill, 2018, and the Farmers’
Right to Guaranteed Remunerative Minimum Support Prices for
Agricultural Commodities Bill, 2018.
They
also want the Minimum Support Price (MSP) — a form of market
intervention by the government to insure agricultural producers
against any sharp fall in farm prices — to be fixed at the market
rate. The current MSP, as determined under the 2018-19 Union Budget,
is 40 per cent less than the recommended price.
In
a protest in March, 35,000 farmers walked 182 km — barefoot —
from Nashik to Mumbai, to demand land rights and fair prices for
their goods.
Over
the past two decades, several hundred thousands of farmers have
committed suicide in India. Suspected push factors include poverty,
climate change, increased health costs (in the absence of insurance),
and debt following failed harvests.
In
solidarity, photographers started an innovative support campaign;
hashtagging it #PhotographersForFarmers, they encouraged people to
share images of the protests to raise awareness of the farmers’
challenges.
Apathy
towards the agriculture sector
Nearly
half of India's 1.3 billion people, especially in rural areas, work
in the agriculture sector, though it contributes only about 17 per
cent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). Since 2014,
during the tenure of the present government, India has witnessed a
period of low food inflation, thanks to proactively managed food
supplies and prices. However, the move also decreased rural incomes
and burdened farmers with larger debts... Read
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