Farmers reject sops, dither on support to parties

Bathinda

Sitting on a cot at the grain market, Jagsir Singh, a farmer owning three acres of land, seems to be staring at an uncertain future. “Successive governments at the state and the Centre have left the farming community disillusioned,” he says, wondering who to vote for these coming elections, as are thousands of farmers in Punjab.

With procurement on full swing, poll contestants are approaching them at mandis. But the farmers show little interest in hearing them out. The Swaminathan Commission report almost discarded, they believe no policy has been rolled out to help them diversify into more remunerative crops.

Jagsir Singh, who hails from Jassi Pauwali village in Bathinda, has three children, all of them matriculate and doing odd jobs. “I never had enough money to educate them further and send them to good colleges and universities,” he says. “Rising input costs and vagaries of weather over the last decade has made farming all the more unviable. The Centre has done nothing substantive to address farm distress. The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Scheme is a mere eyewash,” he adds.

Balwinder Singh of Gulabgarh village too calls the central scheme “a cruel joke” on the farmers, pointing out that even daily wagers earn more than Rs 6,000 a year. “The cotton yield was good this year, but cultivators didn’t get the desired price even as government agencies refrained from making purchases. Many of us resorted to distress sale,” he says.

Harpal Singh of Naruana village seems to be inclined towards the Amarinder Singh government. “The government could not ensure total debt waiver, but it made a beginning with a debt relief of up to Rs 2 lakh. No government can write off the entire debt in one go,” he tells The Tribune. At the same time he is all too aware that a waiver can’t be a permanent solution.

“The government must fix crop prices as per the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission. No farmer would ask for a waiver, if he gets remunerative prices for the produce,” he says.