Are the contemporary farmers' movements in India changing their course? Discuss. (UPSC CSE Mains 2020 - Sociology, Paper 2)
In 1988, agriculture’s share in India’s gross domestic product (GDP) was about 30%. About three decades later, the farm sector’s share in GDP has plunged to around 15%, but the share of workforce dependent on agriculture has not seen any significant fall. About 55% of India’s workers are either farmers or farm hands; in the 1980s, this number used to be 60%. The farm movement in India can be divided into three major phases: the pre-independence struggle, post-independence land reform movements, and neoliberalism and free market economy phase.
- During the pre-independence phase, the farmers’ movement was largely influenced by the British Raj’s excesses, like imposing high taxes, forcing farmers to grow certain kinds of crop that suited and enhanced the commercial interests of colonial traders and masters, and passing unjust laws seizing control over peasant land
- During the Post-independence phase the focus of farmers’ movements shifted to land reforms. Most of these movements in the post-independence phase were Left-leaning. In Punjab, there was one such struggle by the the Patiala and East Punjab States Union (PEPSU) known as Muzara Lehar. PEPSU was a state of India, uniting eight princely states between 1948 and 1956, before it merged with Punjab. Several pro-farmer policies were put in place. The concept of assured returns or minimum support price (MSP) too originated then. But since the implementation of the MSP system was not effective and there was no fair assessment of the government procurement price, the next level of farm movements were fought under the banner of the Bharatiya Kisan Unions.
Present phase and its impact
- In the recent study by economist Lakhwinder Singh and sociologist Balbir Shergill, it was revealed that the present three farm laws passed by the government at the Centre should not be seen in isolation but are in continuity of liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation processes initiated by the Union government in 1991.
- The non-farm sector could not generate enough employment for farmers and farm labourers. This is why farmers were apprehensive that the new reforms would further push them deep into the crisis, snatching their livelihood as well as dignity.
- There is an emphasis on the need to move from corporatisation of agriculture to cooperative agriculture, where farmers must have a say in decision making as practiced in countries like Japan. Agriculture is the best tool for the country’s sustainable development and taking people out of the poverty. Therefore, all future reforms in the country as far as agriculture is concerned must be done with due process of all stakeholders.
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