Punjab Election 2022: For All Parties, It바카라�s A Harvest Of Farm Suicides

Many representatives from almost all political parties바카라�national as well as regional바카라�have, of late, been vis­iting Veerpal Kaur바카라�s humble home in Pun­jab바카라�s Ralla village in Mansa district, req­uesting support in the assembly elections. A farm suicide widow, Veerpal, 43, had unsuccessfully contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections as an independent candidate from Bathinda, which was retained by Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal.

This election season, she decided to stay away owing to some serious health issues, and, as usual, financial problems바카라�something that first drove her father, and after marriage, her husb­and and even her father-in-law to suicide. All these deaths happened within a span of 10 yea­rs due to Punjab바카라�s biggest burning problem바카라�agrarian distress.

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바카라�In a small state like Punjab, over 20,000 far­­mers and agricultural labourers have taken their lives in the last 21 years because of eco­n­o­mic distress,바카라� Ranjit Singh Ghuman, Econo­mics Professor of Eminence at Guru Nanak Dev University in Amritsar, tells Outlook.

In October 2021, farmers unions had rubbished the National Crime Records Bureau바카라�s data that claimed farm suicides were falling in Punjab. NCRB바카라�s data showed that 257 cases were recorded in 2020 as compared to 302 in 2019 and 323 in 2018. Then, in October last year, a study by the Ludh­i­ana-­based Punjab Agri­c­u­ltural University rev­­ealed that 7,303 labourers had died by suicide during 2000-2018, due to stress fuelled by low earnings and debt.

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Addressing election rallies acr­oss the state, PM Narendra Modi rep­eatedly blamed the Con­g­r­ess for Punjab바카라�s agrarian crisis, questioning why the party hadn바카라�t implemented the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission when in power.

In February 2019, leaders of SAD and BJP, along with around 300 debt-ridden families of farmers who had committed suicide over the past two decades, had marched to the state ass­embly to protest against the Captain Amarin­der Singh-led Congress government for not ful­filling its poll promise to waive all farm loans, as well as provide one government job and Rs 10 lakh as compensation to families of each suicide victim.

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Following this, in April 2019, the then CM app­­ealed to farmers not to commit suicide, ass­uring that his government was working on fulf­illing the poll promise. He even repeated his election slogan: 바카라�Karza-kurki khatam, fas­al di poori rakam (End to indebtedness and auc­tion. Full payment for crops)바카라�. Unfortuna­tely, obse­rvers say most of the promises for families of farmers who committed suicide remained only on paper. Meanwhile, Captain Amarinder Singh jumped ship to become a BJP ally.

Prof Ghuman reacted to BJP바카라�s unfulfilled pro­mises to the farming community, asking, 바카라�Why has the party ruling at the Centre gone silent on its promise of doubling farmers바카라� income by 2022?바카라�

Families of farmers suicide victims blame all par­ties and governments for the plight of Pun­jab바카라�s farmers and agricultural workers. Veerpal Kaur says, 바카라�Everyone is approaching me now, but none of these parties have done anything for the families of the suicide victims. Even AAP doesn바카라�t look very promising on this issue. Neither are they talking about the drug menace that has affl­i­cted distre­s­sed farmers, nor do they seem conce­rned about the future of the widows of suicides.바카라�

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She adds that she wants every family of farmer suicide victims to cast at least one vote for San­yukt Samaj Morcha (SSM), the newly-launched party of a farmers바카라� union.

In Mansa, which is home to over 6,000 people, Veerpal says there are over 45 widows of indeb­t­ed farmers and agricultural labourers who committed suicide in the last 20 years. They used to cultivate rented farms and suffered heavy economic losses due to crop failures, she clarified.

Another farm widow in Mansa, Sukhwinder Kaur, lives with her daughter-in-law, Yashpal Kaur, whose husband, Harjinder Singh, disappe­ared in 2002 when the indebted family was stru­ggling with severe financial distress. Yashpal hasn바카라�t heard of him since. At the time of his disa­ppearance, their only son, Sukhdeep Singh, who is mentally challenged, was just 40 days old. Suk­hwinder바카라�s husband, Darshan Singh, died in 2004.

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Although the aggrieved family owns a large tract of land, since the area is low-lying, food crops often get damaged after heavy rains. When Darshan threw himself under a speeding train, the family was already knee-deep in debt due to repeated crop failures.

바카라�We바카라�re yet to free ourselves from the debt that has been compounding over 25 years. We borrow from one relative to pay off another,바카라� Suk­h­winder says, adding, 바카라�Whatever little help we got was from NGOs. Nothing from the government.바카라�

A few years ago, the family lost their buffaloes to an unknown disease. Now the two women in the family of three have just one cow, whose milk they sell, besides making pickle and cow dung cakes for sustenance.

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Kiranjit Kaur Jhunir, the convener of Commi­t­tee for Farmers and Families of Agrarian Suicide Victims, lost her father Gurnam Singh to farm dis­tress in 2016, after the cotton crop failed in Mansa. Her father, she says, hanged himself from a tree as he was finding it difficult to deal with the growing distress.

바카라�A human being gets scared of even a needle prick. One can imagine the kind of trauma a farmer undergoes before he decides to end his life,바카라� she says, adding that male farmers committing suicide are also victims of patriarchy. 바카라�In Punjabi society, men feel they are the sole providers for their families. They see crop failu­res as their personal failures, and find it beneath their dignity to share the trauma with women in the families. This mindset also needs to change.바카라�

When her father committed suicide, she says, 바카라�I was too young to understand the issue of farm distress. After a few years, I gradually started to realise that there are thousands of families in Punjab who share my grief. Then I started politically educating farm widows, besides putting in place a strong solidarity network.바카라�

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With her efforts, many farm widows have bec­ome articulate. 바카라�In the past few years, we have held several conferences wherein we invited all big politicians of Punjab and made them listen to the widows and their woes,바카라� she says, adding that the 2020-21 farmers바카라� agitation has rev­ived her hopes that farmers can get their dema­nds met.

Discussing the political discourse in the recen­t elections, agriculture economist Devinder Sharma tells Outlook, 바카라�Issues of farmers were largely missing from med­ia and political speeches. But interestingly, manifestos of all parties took these up, touching upon every factor contributing to farm distress.바카라�

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But he points out a dichotomy in the BJP바카라�s manifesto, as well as this year바카라�s Union budget, 바카라�The party says one thing at the Centre and ano­t­her thing in Punjab. Here they gave the poll slogan, 바카라�Mehnat ka poora daam (Full payment for labour).바카라� Citing the example of Mini­mum Sup­p­ort Price (MSP), he continued, 바카라�At the state, they are also promising MSP on pulses, vegetables and oilseeds. This is what farmers had been demanding, as wheat and rice already have MSP. They are talking about crop diversification, organic and sustainable farming, besides promising to write-off bank loans of all farmers who have less than five acres of land. What else could the farmers ask for? But the central budget is silent on it.바카라�

바카라�All these issues are linked to farm suicides,바카라� he says. 바카라�Since farmers are not getting the right kind of price for their crops, the agrarian distress is bound to grow.바카라� Referring to the BJP바카라�s Uttara­kh­and manifesto, he says it promises that the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme will be dou­b­led to Rs 12,000 per annum for farmers, besides promising financial assistance for agricultural lab­ourers.

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바카라�This is what we had been demanding in the central budget, besides asking for Rs 6,000 per annum to landless farm labourers,바카라� he says. 바카라�They say one thing in one state and another thing in another state.바카라�

As he draws comparison between the Union budget and the ruling party바카라�s poll promises, he says, 바카라�The Union budget is meant for corp­o­rates, while election manifestos are brought in just to entertain the masses.바카라�

바카라�Election Commission of India should legalise poll manifestos and fix responsibilities to political parties,바카라� he demands. 바카라�That way, the manifestos would become the people바카라�s budget.바카라�

Professor Ghuman, meanwhile, suggests a slew of measures, saying the new government in Pun­jab must implement them to assuage the agrarian distress. 바카라�There is a strong need for crop diversification to save groundwater, so that agriculture doesn바카라�t become unviable in the near future. The government must focus on surplus workforce in the farming sector바카라�whi­ch inclu­des both farmers and landless labo­urers바카라�and ensure that they become emp­­l­oy­able and find employment. Jobs should be created for them in rural non-farm sectors,바카라� he says, emphasising crop processing units and cooperative use of farm machinery. He adds that the rural employment scheme MNREGA has proven to be ineffective in checking farm distress in Punjab.

Claiming that agriculture is not going to remain sustainable in Punjab바카라�which emerged as a mod­el state in the 1980s after the Green Revolu­tion바카라�under the business-as-usual mode, Professor Ghu­man tells Outlook, 바카라�Today, 80 per cent of far­mers in Punjab don바카라�t want their sons to continue with farming. They are selling their farms and sending their children abroad to make sure they have a secure future.바카라�

바카라�If farm  discontent is not redressed, I바카라�m afraid Punjab will witness a situation worse than what it saw during the insurgency,바카라�
he rem­arks.

Veerpal바카라�who is an aanganwadi worker바카라�also doesn바카라�t want her children to take up farming. Her daughter is pursuing law, while her son is in coll­ege and works part time as an accountant to sup­port the family. The family doesn바카라�t even have a proper house of their own. 바카라�No one see­ms genuinely concerned about farming, farmers or their problems,바카라� she says. 바카라�Alth­ough NGOs like Saha­y­ata Club have ensu­red education of the children of farm wid­ows, the new Punjab government must provide them employment.바카라�

(This appeared in the print edition as "Harvest Of Farm Suicides")