Agriculture Sector and Farmers ruined by Modi Government in India

Rahul Kumar, Senior Journalist and Media Columnist  

India`s agriculture sector is under deep threat. Farmers are observed protesting almost in every state of the country struggling for their genuine demands of Minimum Support Price (MSP).  The farmers are being compelled to sell almost all their produce at prices much below MSP and the Governments are mute spectators. The poor farmers are committing suicide. On the other hand, the rich, affluent, big farmers are getting richer day by day since they enjoy good rapport with the corrupt politicians of the country who support them to get Bank loans which later on siphoned off by them.

Under the NITI AAYOG, the policies so far formulated by the bootlicker economists and policymakers are anti-farmers. The people who are in the Advisory Board of the NITI AAYOG are simply carrier-oriented and mostly work for their own socio-economic upliftment. Modi, of course, is playing in their hands and is unable to understand who is doing what and why. Writing a letter to Ex-RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan who was insulted and humiliated by Bhartiya Janata Party MP Subramanian Swamy by alleging that ‘he is mentally not fully Indian’ and has “willfully” wrecked the economy’.  It is the same Subramanian Swamy who shot a letter to Prime Minister Modi to sack Rajan.  Shame on the BJP government!

Agri-Food Production Data – Production in Stages in Million Tones/L. Bales

Name of Crop HD Deve Gowda

1996-97

AB Vajpayee

2003-04

Dr. Manmohan Singh

2013-14

Narendra Modi

2015-16

Food-Grains 199.34 213.19 265.04 252.22
Rice 81.73 88.53 106.65 104.32
Wheat 69.35 72.16 95.85 93.50
C. Cereals 34.11 37.60 43.29 37.94
Pulses 14.15 14.91 19.25 16.47
Nine Oilseeds 24.38 25.19 32.75 25.30
Cotton 14.23 13.73 35.90 30.15
Sugarcane 277.56 233.86 352.14 352.16
Milk 69.1 88.1 137.7 155.5
Egg 27.5b 40.4b 74.8b 82.9b
Fish 5.348 6.399 9.572 10.796
Net Irrigation 55.11 mhac 57.06 mhac 68.10 mhac NA
Gross Irrigation 76.03 mhac 78.04 mhac 95.77 mhac NA
FERTILIZER 14.308 16.799 28.122* 26.752
ELECTRICITY 84.019 BU 87.089 BU 152.744 BU 168.913
TRACTORS NA 248,000** 697,000 571,000
TILLERS NA 17,000 56,000 49,000

*in FY2011 **2004-05 Figure

Source: Agriculture Statistics at a Glance 2016, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India, available at https://eands.dacnet.nic.in/PDF/Glance-2016.pdf.

The report released by the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India reflects a true picture of agriculture sectors of the country. In today` time, Modi government seems rudderless, directionless, and meaningless. Modi government cannot befool the farmers of India for a long time. Modi government after seeing this data released by his own government cannot say that opposition is misguiding the people. This venal narrative on the part of the Modi government will not work in 2019 elections. The people of India are fed with the empty rhetorics.

India under Modi stands nowhere in the global economy. China under seventh president Xi Jinping has already currency reserves surging toward an unprecedented $ 4 trillion. Many financial forecasts now project that China will surpass the U.S. as the world`s number one economy by 2030. Responding to media, Xi Jinping assert that China has lifted 60 million of its own people out of poverty in just a few years and is committed to its complete eradication by 2020.

On the international front, the Modi Government could not generate India`s goodwill to bring as much Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) as expected to India.  As a matter of fact, Modi has weaved a web of personal ties with autocratic leaders like Donald Trump, Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman of Saudi Arabia whose vision that “put first my country”. Modi and RSS are in the grip of pseudo-nationalism. The mindset of the BJP/RSS is to divide the country on religion, caste line. The people of India must dislodge Modi/RSS government in 2019.

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