Table of Contents
REASONS FOR FARMERS DISTRESS
- Two years of drought. Two successive years of drought (2014, 2015) have taken a toll on the farm sector. Drought in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka have also added to farmers’ woes.
- Collapsing farm prices.
- Insurance fails to serve
- Irrigation.
- APMC
- Modern Technology missing
- Low productivity
SUICIDES
- Seven states account for 87.5% of total suicides in the farming sector in the country. The states are Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu .
- Both marginal farmers and small farmers are committing suicide.Maharashtra is the worst affected stateIronically, Punjab, which benefited most from the Green Revolution, also presents a depressing picture of farmer’s suicides in India.
- Between 1995-2015, 4687 farmers’ suicides have been reported from the state of Punjab of which 1334 from one Mansa district alone.
ANDOLAN
- Kisan Rally or Kisan Long March was a large scale protest march by farmers in the Indian state of Maharashtra, organized by the All India Kisan Sabha, the peasants front of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
- Around 40,000 to 50,000 farmers marched a distance of 180km from Nashik to Mumbai to gherao the Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha.
- The peaceful march came to a conclusion on March 12, 2018, after all the demands put forth by the protesters were met by the Maharashtra government
- Thousands of farmers Tuesday marched towards Delhi over demands ranging from farm loan waiver to cut in fuel prices, blocking traffic movement on arterial roads leading to the national capital.
- Farmers who came in from places as far as Gonda, Basti and Gorakhpur in eastern Uttar Pradesh as well as the sugarcane belt of western Uttar Pradesh.
- The Kisan Kranti Yatra, which began from Tikait Ghat in Haridwar on September 23, was joined by farmers from various parts of Uttar Pradesh.
WAY FORWARD
- Increasing incomes
- Generating employment
- Reducing risk in agriculture
- Developing agri infrastructrure
- Improving Quality of rural life