By: Maya Kumar and Ananya Jain
In the current political climate, it is simply unacceptable that Indian farmers are compelled to rally to acquire basic policies that protect their livelihoods. The recent controversial farm laws have posed a threat to the safety and employment of many rural farmers throughout India; whose protection has been stripped in the form of India’s new agricultural laws. Thereby leading to the plummeting of the Indian agricultural sector, political and social unrest as well as severe mental health crises. What is beneficial, is the fact that three of these laws were repealed in November 2021.
However, in light of upcoming state elections in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, farm bills were withdrawn ahead of where farmers constitute a significant voting bloc. The Indian government essentially agreed to repeal these laws, after much protest by their farmer population.
60% of India’s GDP is constituted by the agricultural sector, with it being the top milk producer, second largest in vegetable production and third in fish. More than 800 million people in India make a living directly or indirectly from agriculture. The Indian government’s job is to ensure that the market prices remain stable for farmers, as well as protect them from exploitation. However, the recent agricultural bills did not necessarily fulfil this social contract.
What exactly do these bills entail?
The laws were intended to reduce the role of middlemen but were passed without sufficient consultation, leading to a lot of apprehension amongst farmers. Many farmers understood that they may lose bargaining power against the big corporations expected to replace the middlemen. The thinking behind this bill is that by providing a direct line between consumer and producer, Indian farmers would be able to benefit as the middlemen would not be able to take any of the profit. However, since big corporations can exploit farmers, there is little to no government regulation. In the past, Indian farmers would typically sell their produce at government-controlled wholesale prices and markets or at Mandis, where there are assured price floors. This essentially meant that there was a minimum price for them to sell their produce at, enabling them to make a profit. But the bill would have allowed private companies to hoard the produce for future sales, which previously only government agents could do, and increase the price significantly and then take in a majority of the profit. The issue with these corporations is that they are rarely held accountable for their actions to the same degree as the government, as they don’t necessarily maintain a social contract with the general public.
The large corporations essentially exploit these rural workers with low bargaining power, taking a majority of their profit, despite crop prices already being low. This doesn’t even take into account the already high rates of unemployment in the farming industry. Farming requires intense manual labour, as well as the possibility of seasonal unemployment due to the possibility of heavy rains, natural disasters and other natural consequences. As well as this, farmers may choose to invest in capital over labour, which isn’t necessarily readily available for all farmers. This has significantly decreased the morale amongst Indian farmers leading to severe mental health crises and fear, as the problem is exacerbated during ‘off-seasons.
The amalgamation of these factors has led to a rise in farmer suicides in recent years, with farmers already having a suicide rate 50% higher than the general population.
This led to more than a year of protests in which farmers demanded that the law be repealed, as they were extremely critical of their lack of involvement in the decision made by the Modi administration. Such forms of protests included blocked roads leading up to Delhi. Most of these protesting farmers came from the states neighbouring Delhi, including but not limited to, Punjab and Haryana. As well as this, many farmers went on strike to ensure that the cabinet paid attention to them and their demands.
All of this led to India’s cabinet ratifying the repeal of the agricultural laws in November of 2021.
So what does this mean for Indian farmers?
This example of the power of the people being exerted proves a victory for non-violent resistance. As India has recently been accused of experiencing a decline in its democratic properties, these protests exemplify the power exerted through grassroots movements, thereby creating hope for other such movements to gain popularity.
Now, what happens?
Some farmers have discussed how they wish to go back to their jobs, now that they have increased job security. They simply wish to continue with their occupation. Others have understood how effective bottom-up change can be, and are planning more protests and strikes to address other issues that are present in India in the agricultural sector. For non-farmers, and people all around the world, this proves a ray of hope in an otherwise bleak situation; showing how India has the potential to progress significantly, and how every voice, no matter socioeconomic status, has the power to be heard.
Sources:
https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/pm-narendra-modi-withdrawal-of-farm-bills-7636403/
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