Agrarian Crisis, Distress, Unrest; Peasant Movements & Suicide

 
Agrarian Crisis,
Distress, Unrest;
Peasant Movements
& Suicide
 
Dr. S. Mehdi Abbas Zaidi
Dr. S. Mehdi Abbas Zaidi
Associate Professor
Associate Professor
Department of Sociology
Department of Sociology
Shia P.G. College, Lucknow
Shia P.G. College, Lucknow
E-mail - mehdi.abbas92@gmail.com
E-mail - mehdi.abbas92@gmail.com
Contact No. - +91-9839287412
Contact No. - +91-9839287412
 
Agrarian Crisis
 
Agrarian crises mean the sharpening and explosion of
the specific contradiction of reproduction of capital in
agriculture
In the opinion of 
Prabhat Patnaik, 
this crisis in
Indian agriculture is “unparalleled since independence
and reminiscent only of the agrarian crisis of pre-war
and war days”.
According to 
Sahai
, the most tragic face of India’s
agrarian crisis is seen in the increasing number of
farmer suicides.
 
Continuum
 
Farmers’ suicides are no longer limited to the drought
and poverty stricken areas of the country but because
of their massive indebtedness.
Agrarian crisis would be affecting a majority of the
people in India and the economy as a whole in the
long run.
And therefore, it can be argued that the crisis in
agriculture is a crisis of the country as a whole.
 
Factors
 
Dependence on rainfall and climate
Liberal import of agricultural products
Reduction in agricultural subsidies
Lack of easy credit to agriculture and dependence on
money lenders
Decline in government investment in the agricultural
sector
Conversion of agricultural land for alternative uses
 
Impacts
 
It has adverse effects on:
food supply,
prices of foodgrains,
cost of living,
health and nutrition,
poverty,
employment,
labour market,
land loss from agriculture, and
foreign exchange earnings.
 
Agrarian Distress
 
Agrarian distress is mainly in terms of low agricultural
prices and, consequently, poor farm incomes.
Agrarian distress in contemporary India is not
confined to the pockets of backwardness; even the
regions having a high degree of commercial
agriculture, using relatively better technology and
having a relatively diversified cropping pattern have
reported high indebtedness and distress of various
kinds.
 
Reasons
 
Poor policy and Planning
Absence of direct measure to promote farmers welfare
Declining average size of farm holdings
Dependence on rainfall and climate
Collapsing farm prices
Lack of easy credit
Lack of Mechanisation
Profiteering by middlemen
 
Impacts
 
The factors have resulted in low income for farmers which is
evident from the incidence of poverty among farm
households.
The low and highly fluctuating farm income is causing a
detrimental effect on the interest in farming and farm
investments and is also forcing more and more cultivators,
particularly younger age group, to leave farming.
The country also witnessed a sharp increase in the number of
farmers suicides in the last decades.
This can cause an adverse effect on the future of food security
and the state of agriculture in the country.
 
Agrarian Unrest
 
The trend of agrarian unrest in India can be traced to
the period of British rule when the nationalist mass
movements took place.
During the post-independence period, agrarian unrest
of various types have taken place, ranging from the
legendary Telengana movement and the PEPSU
tenant movement to the Naxalite movement.
Inequality in living standards caused unrest among the
farmers and they tried to solve this problem through
rebellion and movements.
 
Peasant Movements
 
Peasant movement is a social movement involved with
the agricultural policy, which claims peasants rights.
Peasant movements were usually the result of stresses
in the feudal and semi-feudal societies, and resulted in
violent uprisings.
Recent movements are usually much less violent, and
their demands are centered on better prices for
agricultural produce, better wages and working
conditions for the agricultural laborers, and increasing
the agricultural production.
 
Continuum
 
Anthony Pereira
, has defined a peasant movement as
a "social movement made up of peasants (small
landholders or farm workers on large farms), usually
inspired by the goal of improving the situation of
peasants in a nation or territory".
Peasant movements are discussed in three categories:
Pre-indepence
Post-independence
Contemporary
 
Pre-independence Peasant
Movements
 
Peasant movement in India arose during the British
colonial period, when economic policies characterized
in the ruin of traditional handicrafts leading to change
of ownership, overcrowding of land, massive debt and
impoverishment of peasantry.
The Kisan Sabha movement started in Bihar under the
leadership of 
Swami Sahajanand Saraswati
, who
formed the Bihar Provincial Kisan Sabha (BPKS) in
1929 to mobilise peasant grievances against the
zamindari attacks on their occupancy rights.
 
Continuum
 
All these radical developments on the peasant front
culminated in the formation of the All India Kisan
Sabha (AIKS) at the Lucknow session of the Indian
National Congress in April 1936.
The movement was increasingly dominated by
Socialists and Communists.
 
Champaran Satyagraha
(1917)
 
Gandhiji lead the Champaran (Bihar) and Kheda
(Gujarat) peasant struggles.
The peasant movement of Champaran was launched
in 1917-1918.
The main aim was to create awakening among the
peasantry against the European planters.
These planters exploited the peasants without
providing them adequate remuneration for their labor.
 
Kheda Peasant Struggle
(1919)
 
The peasantry of Kheda consisted mainly of Patidars
who were known for their skills in agriculture.
The Patidars were well-educated.
Kheda is situated in the central part of Gujarat and was
quite fertile for the cultivation of tobacco and cotton
crops.
The government increased the tax, which was not
acceptable to the peasants.
It was lead by Gandhiji, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, N.M.
Joshi.
 
Bardoli Movement 
(1925)
 
In the year 1925, the taluka of Bardoli suffered from
heavy floods and severe famine which affected the
crops very badly.
This situation led the farmers to face great financial
troubles.
The Government refused to reduce the tax rate.
The farmers were in a very pitiable state whereby they
barely had anything enough to pay the tax, so, the
farmers of Bardoli refused to pay the taxes.
 
Moplah Rebellion 
(1921)
 
The Moplahs worked as small agricul­turists who were the
tenants of the big landlords.
These landlords belonged to the high- caste Hindus.
The Moplahs acquired the status of warriors by adopting the
traditional ways of Nayars. The Moplah Peasant Movement
started in August 1921.
The government officials in alliance with the Hindu landlords
oppressed the Moplah peasants.
Most of their grievances were related to security of tenure,
high rents, renewal fees, and other unfair exactions of the
landlords.
 
Post-Independence Peasant
Movements
 
The Post-independent India saw broadly two kinds of
peasant or farmers’ struggles in the recent past.
Peasant movements led by Marxist and Socialists- such as:
Telangana Movement (1946–51),
Tebagha movement (1946–1949),
Kagodu Satyagraha (1951), and
Naxalbari Movement (1967).
Farmers’ movement led by rich farmers in Uttar Pradesh,
Karnataka, Maharashtra, Punjab and Gujarat.
 
Telangana Movement
(1946-51)
 
This movement was started against the Nizam of
Hyderabad.
The agrarian structure fol­lowed the feudal system at
this time.
The main commercial crops of the Telangana region
were groundnut, tobacco, and castor seed, which were
cultivated by the landowning Brahmins.
the Brahmins, Marwaris, Muslims, and Vaisyas
showed interest in gaining and acquiring the lands.
 
Continuum
 
This resulted in sliding down of the status of the
peasant proprietors to that of tenants at will
sharecroppers and landless laborers.
The cultivators were oppressed and exploited by these
intermediaries who were appointed by the Nizam.
The Nizam provided the irrigation facilities, most of
these facilities were utilized by the big farmers only.
The agricultural economy also underwent many
changes; it was transformed more into a market
economy than a subsistent one.
 
Continuum
 
Such change did not improve the status of the tenants
and sharecroppers.
The Communist Party of India initiated the Telangana
Peasant struggle.
The Communist Party started working in the
Telangana region from 1936.
The prices of food and other commodities increased.
The year 1946 proved to be a crisis time for both the
tenants and the sharecroppers.
 
Continuum
 
This year provided all the opportunities for launching
a peasant struggle.
The Indian army marched into the state of Hyderabad
on 13 September 1948.
The police action taken by the newly framed Central
Government was quick in putting down the peasant
movement.
 
 
Tebhaga Movement 
(1946-
49)
 
It was a sharecropper’s movement, which demanded
two-thirds for themselves and one-third for the
landlord.
The crop sharing system at that time was known as
barga, adhi, bhagi, etc., and the sharecroppers were
called as bargadars or adhiars.
There were two reasons why this action led to the
insurrection on the part of the sharecroppers.
First, they demanded that the sharing of the produce
into half was not justified.
 
Continuum
 
Secondly, the tenants were required to store their
grains at the granary of the landlord and had to share
the straw and other by products of the grains on half-
sharing basis.
The Berigal Provincial Krishak Sabha organized the
movement of Tebhaga.
The movement spread across the 19 districts of
Bengal.
The landlords refused to accept the demands of the
tenants and called the police.
 
Continuum
 
The police arrested the tenants and many of them
were put behind the bars.
This action made the tenants more furious and they
started a new slogan to abolish the whole Zamindari
system.
In early 1947, such developments led the government
to introduce a bill in the Legislative Assembly.
The bill proposed to reform the bhagi system of the
country, which caused the agrarian unrest.
 
Continuum
 
The government could not enact the bill into a law.
The Tebhaga movement, to an extent, was successful,
as it has been estimated that about 40 per cent of the
sharecropping peasants were granted the Tebhaga
right by the landowners themselves.
 
Naxalbari Movement
(1967)
 
It is a violent peasant agitation launched in March-
April 1967 in a place called Naxalbari, in Darjeeling
district of West Bengal.
It gave rise to the Naxalite Armed struggle.
The Naxalite leaders like Charu Majumdar, Kanu
Sanyal, Punjab Rao, Kumar Kishan, Jail Singh, Vinod
Mitra and others had played a key role in this
Naxalbari movement.
 
 
Causes
 
Economic dissatisfaction
Demand for reasonable distribution of benami lands.
Nationalisation of forests.
Exploitation by the moneylenders.
Propaganda of the Marxist extremists.
 
Objectives
 
The prime objective of this movement was to change
the whole society, not the conditions of peasants only.
The movement was aimed at the total annihilation of
the big farmers, landlords and Jagirdars.
The Naxalbari movement was a specific struggle
ideologically oriented to Marxisin Socialism. But the
agitation was a big failure because of various factors.
 
Causes of Failure
 
Selfish political interests.
Lack of consensus among the leaders.
Too much faith in violence.
The leaders failed to safeguard the interests of
ordinary peasants and tribals.
Naxalbari struggle (Naxalite struggle) are still going
but today, they rarely remain as agrarian struggles.
 
 
Contemporary Peasant
Movements
 
The Contemporary peasant movements have attracted
media attention on some glaring issues such as
remunerative prices for agricultural goods, reduction
or elimination of government dues such as electricity
charges, canal water charges, interest rate, etc.
Indeed, after the Green Revolution, the farmers’
movements have become political weapons for
securing more power and money.
 
Continuum
 
Most of these ‘new’ peasant movements have narrow
caste-based mobilisation for getting political mileage.
As a result the farmers felt victimised in the cause of
serving urban interests.
 
New Farmer’s Movement
 
A fresh farmers’ movement started in 1980 with road-
rail roko in Nasik (Maharashtra) under the leadership
of the Shetkari Sangathan led by Sharad Joshi.
The immediate demand of the farmers was higher
prices for sugarcane and onions.
Then came Mahinder Singh Tikait, a Jat leader, who
organised lakhs of villagers and compelled the then
chief minister of Uttar Pradesh to accept their
demand for reducing electricity charges to the previous
level.
 
Continuum
 
The movements which have been able to mobilise
rural peasants were:
Vivasayigal Sangam in Tamil Nadu,
the Rajya Ryothu Sangha in Karnataka,
Kisan Sangh and Khedut Samaj in Gujarat, and
the Bharatiya Kisan Union in Uttar Pradesh and
Punjab.
Most of these peasant movements occurred due to the
government policy of paying low agricultural prices
for controlling the price of food and raw- materials.
 
Peasant Suicide
 
Peasant suicides in India refers to the national
catastrophe of farmers committing suicide since the
1990s, often by drinking pesticides, due to their
inability to repay loans mostly taken from landlords
and banks.
The National Crime Records Bureau of India reported
that a total 296,438 Indian farmers had committed
suicide since 1995.
The farmers suicide rate in India had ranged between
1.4 and 1.8 per 100,000 total population.
 
Continuum
 
Farmer suicides account for 11.2% of all suicides in India.
Activists and scholars have offered a number of conflicting
reasons for farmer suicides, such as:
anti farmer laws,
high debt burdens,
poor government policies,
corruption in subsidies,
crop failure,
public mental health,
personal issues and
family problems.
 
Continuum
 
According to a report by the National Crime Records
Bureau, the states with the highest incidence of farmer
suicide in 2015 were:
Maharashtra (3,030),
Telangana (1,358),
Karnataka (1,197),
Madhya Pradesh (581),
Andhra Pradesh (516), and
Chhattisgarh (854).
 
Continuum
 
Tamma Carleton
, compared suicide and climate data,
concluding that climate change in India may have "a strong
influence" on suicides during the growing season, triggering
more than 59,000 suicides in 30 years.
A study conducted in 2014, found that there are three
specific characteristics associated with high-risk farmers:
those that grow cash crops such as coffee and cotton;
those with 'marginal' farms of less than one hectare; and
those with debts of 300 Rupees or more.
 
Continuum
 
The study also found that the Indian states in which
these three characteristics are most common had the
highest suicide rates and also accounted for "almost
75% of the variability in state-level suicides."
 
Response to Farmer’s Suicides
 
The government appointed a number of inquiries to
look into the causes of farmers suicide and farm
related distress in general.
Krishak Ayog (National Farmer Commission) visited
all suicide prone farming regions of India.
A special rehabilitation package (2006) was launched
to mitigate the distress of these farmers.
The Government of India also announced an ex-gratia
cash assistance from Prime Ministers National Relief
Fund to the farmers.
 
Continuum
 
The Government of India implemented the
Agricultural debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme in
2008.
 Direct agricultural loan by stressed farmers under so-
called Kisan Credit Card were also to be covered
under this Scheme.
Various state governments in India have launched
their own initiatives to help prevent farmer suicides.
 
Reference
 
Patnaik, P., The Crisis in India’s Countryside
Mishra, D.K., Behind Agrarian Distress
Sinha D.K., Essay on Agrarian Unrest in India
Mondal P., Top six peasant movements in India
 
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Agrarian crisis in India is deepening, leading to distress among farmers and sparking peasant movements. Factors such as climate dependence, land loss, and lack of government support are exacerbating the situation. Farmer suicides are on the rise due to massive indebtedness. The impacts are far-reaching, affecting food supply, poverty, employment, and more. Addressing the root causes, like poor policy planning and dwindling farm sizes, is crucial to alleviate the crisis.

  • Agrarian crisis
  • Farmer suicides
  • Peasant movements
  • India
  • Agricultural distress

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  1. Agrarian Crisis, Distress, Unrest; Peasant Movements & Suicide Dr. S. Mehdi Abbas Zaidi Associate Professor Department of Sociology Shia P.G. College, Lucknow E-mail - mehdi.abbas92@gmail.com Contact No. - +91-9839287412

  2. Agrarian Crisis Agrarian crises mean the sharpening and explosion of the specific contradiction of reproduction of capital in agriculture In the opinion of Prabhat Patnaik, this crisis in Indian agriculture is unparalleled since independence and reminiscent only of the agrarian crisis of pre-war and war days . According to Sahai, the most tragic face of India s agrarian crisis is seen in the increasing number of farmer suicides.

  3. Continuum Farmers suicides are no longer limited to the drought and poverty stricken areas of the country but because of their massive indebtedness. Agrarian crisis would be affecting a majority of the people in India and the economy as a whole in the long run. And therefore, it can be argued that the crisis in agriculture is a crisis of the country as a whole.

  4. Factors Dependence on rainfall and climate Liberal import of agricultural products Reduction in agricultural subsidies Lack of easy credit to agriculture and dependence on money lenders Decline in government investment in the agricultural sector Conversion of agricultural land for alternative uses

  5. Impacts It has adverse effects on: food supply, prices of foodgrains, cost of living, health and nutrition, poverty, employment, labour market, land loss from agriculture, and foreign exchange earnings.

  6. Agrarian Distress Agrarian distress is mainly in terms of low agricultural prices and, consequently, poor farm incomes. Agrarian distress in contemporary India is not confined to the pockets of backwardness; even the regions having a high degree of commercial agriculture, using relatively better technology and having a relatively diversified cropping pattern have reported high indebtedness and distress of various kinds.

  7. Reasons Poor policy and Planning Absence of direct measure to promote farmers welfare Declining average size of farm holdings Dependence on rainfall and climate Collapsing farm prices Lack of easy credit Lack of Mechanisation Profiteering by middlemen

  8. Impacts The factors have resulted in low income for farmers which is evident from the incidence of poverty among farm households. The low and highly fluctuating farm income is causing a detrimental effect on the interest in farming and farm investments and is also forcing more and more cultivators, particularly younger age group, to leave farming. The country also witnessed a sharp increase in the number of farmers suicides in the last decades. This can cause an adverse effect on the future of food security and the state of agriculture in the country.

  9. Agrarian Unrest The trend of agrarian unrest in India can be traced to the period of British rule when the nationalist mass movements took place. During the post-independence period, agrarian unrest of various types have taken place, ranging from the legendary Telengana movement and the PEPSU tenant movement to the Naxalite movement. Inequality in living standards caused unrest among the farmers and they tried to solve this problem through rebellion and movements.

  10. Peasant Movements Peasant movement is a social movement involved with the agricultural policy, which claims peasants rights. Peasant movements were usually the result of stresses in the feudal and semi-feudal societies, and resulted in violent uprisings. Recent movements are usually much less violent, and their demands are centered on better prices for agricultural produce, better wages and working conditions for the agricultural laborers, and increasing the agricultural production.

  11. Continuum Anthony Pereira, has defined a peasant movement as a "social movement made up of peasants (small landholders or farm workers on large farms), usually inspired by the goal of improving the situation of peasants in a nation or territory". Peasant movements are discussed in three categories: Pre-indepence Post-independence Contemporary

  12. Pre-independence Peasant Movements Peasant movement in India arose during the British colonial period, when economic policies characterized in the ruin of traditional handicrafts leading to change of ownership, overcrowding of land, massive debt and impoverishment of peasantry. The Kisan Sabha movement started in Bihar under the leadership of Swami Sahajanand Saraswati, who formed the Bihar Provincial Kisan Sabha (BPKS) in 1929 to mobilise peasant grievances against the zamindari attacks on their occupancy rights.

  13. Continuum All these radical developments on the peasant front culminated in the formation of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) at the Lucknow session of the Indian National Congress in April 1936. The movement was increasingly dominated by Socialists and Communists.

  14. Champaran Satyagraha (1917) Gandhiji lead the Champaran (Bihar) and Kheda (Gujarat) peasant struggles. The peasant movement of Champaran was launched in 1917-1918. The main aim was to create awakening among the peasantry against the European planters. These planters exploited the peasants without providing them adequate remuneration for their labor.

  15. Kheda Peasant Struggle (1919) The peasantry of Kheda consisted mainly of Patidars who were known for their skills in agriculture. The Patidars were well-educated. Kheda is situated in the central part of Gujarat and was quite fertile for the cultivation of tobacco and cotton crops. The government increased the tax, which was not acceptable to the peasants. It was lead by Gandhiji, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, N.M. Joshi.

  16. Bardoli Movement (1925) In the year 1925, the taluka of Bardoli suffered from heavy floods and severe famine which affected the crops very badly. This situation led the farmers to face great financial troubles. The Government refused to reduce the tax rate. The farmers were in a very pitiable state whereby they barely had anything enough to pay the tax, so, the farmers of Bardoli refused to pay the taxes.

  17. Moplah Rebellion (1921) The Moplahs worked as small agriculturists who were the tenants of the big landlords. These landlords belonged to the high- caste Hindus. The Moplahs acquired the status of warriors by adopting the traditional ways of Nayars. The Moplah Peasant Movement started in August 1921. The government officials in alliance with the Hindu landlords oppressed the Moplah peasants. Most of their grievances were related to security of tenure, high rents, renewal fees, and other unfair exactions of the landlords.

  18. Post-Independence Peasant Movements The Post-independent India saw broadly two kinds of peasant or farmers struggles in the recent past. Peasant movements led by Marxist and Socialists- such as: Telangana Movement (1946 51), Tebagha movement (1946 1949), Kagodu Satyagraha (1951), and Naxalbari Movement (1967). Farmers movement led by rich farmers in Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Punjab and Gujarat.

  19. Telangana Movement (1946-51) This movement was started against the Nizam of Hyderabad. The agrarian structure followed the feudal system at this time. The main commercial crops of the Telangana region were groundnut, tobacco, and castor seed, which were cultivated by the landowning Brahmins. the Brahmins, Marwaris, Muslims, and Vaisyas showed interest in gaining and acquiring the lands.

  20. Continuum This resulted in sliding down of the status of the peasant proprietors to that of tenants at will sharecroppers and landless laborers. The cultivators were oppressed and exploited by these intermediaries who were appointed by the Nizam. The Nizam provided the irrigation facilities, most of these facilities were utilized by the big farmers only. The agricultural economy also underwent many changes; it was transformed more into a market economy than a subsistent one.

  21. Continuum Such change did not improve the status of the tenants and sharecroppers. The Communist Party of India initiated the Telangana Peasant struggle. The Communist Party started working in the Telangana region from 1936. The prices of food and other commodities increased. The year 1946 proved to be a crisis time for both the tenants and the sharecroppers.

  22. Continuum This year provided all the opportunities for launching a peasant struggle. The Indian army marched into the state of Hyderabad on 13 September 1948. The police action taken by the newly framed Central Government was quick in putting down the peasant movement.

  23. Tebhaga Movement (1946- 49) It was a sharecropper s movement, which demanded two-thirds for themselves and one-third for the landlord. The crop sharing system at that time was known as barga, adhi, bhagi, etc., and the sharecroppers were called as bargadars or adhiars. There were two reasons why this action led to the insurrection on the part of the sharecroppers. First, they demanded that the sharing of the produce into half was not justified.

  24. Continuum Secondly, the tenants were required to store their grains at the granary of the landlord and had to share the straw and other by products of the grains on half- sharing basis. The Berigal Provincial Krishak Sabha organized the movement of Tebhaga. The movement spread across the 19 districts of Bengal. The landlords refused to accept the demands of the tenants and called the police.

  25. Continuum The police arrested the tenants and many of them were put behind the bars. This action made the tenants more furious and they started a new slogan to abolish the whole Zamindari system. In early 1947, such developments led the government to introduce a bill in the Legislative Assembly. The bill proposed to reform the bhagi system of the country, which caused the agrarian unrest.

  26. Continuum The government could not enact the bill into a law. The Tebhaga movement, to an extent, was successful, as it has been estimated that about 40 per cent of the sharecropping peasants were granted the Tebhaga right by the landowners themselves.

  27. Naxalbari Movement (1967) It is a violent peasant agitation launched in March- April 1967 in a place called Naxalbari, in Darjeeling district of West Bengal. It gave rise to the Naxalite Armed struggle. The Naxalite leaders like Charu Majumdar, Kanu Sanyal, Punjab Rao, Kumar Kishan, Jail Singh, Vinod Mitra and others had played a key role in this Naxalbari movement.

  28. Causes Economic dissatisfaction Demand for reasonable distribution of benami lands. Nationalisation of forests. Exploitation by the moneylenders. Propaganda of the Marxist extremists.

  29. Objectives The prime objective of this movement was to change the whole society, not the conditions of peasants only. The movement was aimed at the total annihilation of the big farmers, landlords and Jagirdars. The Naxalbari movement was a specific struggle ideologically oriented to Marxisin Socialism. But the agitation was a big failure because of various factors.

  30. Causes of Failure Selfish political interests. Lack of consensus among the leaders. Too much faith in violence. The leaders failed to safeguard the interests of ordinary peasants and tribals. Naxalbari struggle (Naxalite struggle) are still going but today, they rarely remain as agrarian struggles.

  31. Contemporary Peasant Movements The Contemporary peasant movements have attracted media attention on some glaring issues such as remunerative prices for agricultural goods, reduction or elimination of government dues such as electricity charges, canal water charges, interest rate, etc. Indeed, after the Green Revolution, the farmers movements have become political weapons for securing more power and money.

  32. Continuum Most of these new peasant movements have narrow caste-based mobilisation for getting political mileage. As a result the farmers felt victimised in the cause of serving urban interests.

  33. New Farmers Movement A fresh farmers movement started in 1980 with road- rail roko in Nasik (Maharashtra) under the leadership of the Shetkari Sangathan led by Sharad Joshi. The immediate demand of the farmers was higher prices for sugarcane and onions. Then came Mahinder Singh Tikait, a Jat leader, who organised lakhs of villagers and compelled the then chief minister of Uttar Pradesh to accept their demand for reducing electricity charges to the previous level.

  34. Continuum The movements which have been able to mobilise rural peasants were: Vivasayigal Sangam in Tamil Nadu, the Rajya Ryothu Sangha in Karnataka, Kisan Sangh and Khedut Samaj in Gujarat, and the Bharatiya Kisan Union in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. Most of these peasant movements occurred due to the government policy of paying low agricultural prices for controlling the price of food and raw- materials.

  35. Peasant Suicide Peasant suicides in India refers to the national catastrophe of farmers committing suicide since the 1990s, often by drinking pesticides, due to their inability to repay loans mostly taken from landlords and banks. The National Crime Records Bureau of India reported that a total 296,438 Indian farmers had committed suicide since 1995. The farmers suicide rate in India had ranged between 1.4 and 1.8 per 100,000 total population.

  36. Continuum Farmer suicides account for 11.2% of all suicides in India. Activists and scholars have offered a number of conflicting reasons for farmer suicides, such as: anti farmer laws, high debt burdens, poor government policies, corruption in subsidies, crop failure, public mental health, personal issues and family problems.

  37. Continuum According to a report by the National Crime Records Bureau, the states with the highest incidence of farmer suicide in 2015 were: Maharashtra (3,030), Telangana (1,358), Karnataka (1,197), Madhya Pradesh (581), Andhra Pradesh (516), and Chhattisgarh (854).

  38. Continuum Tamma Carleton, compared suicide and climate data, concluding that climate change in India may have "a strong influence" on suicides during the growing season, triggering more than 59,000 suicides in 30 years. A study conducted in 2014, found that there are three specific characteristics associated with high-risk farmers: those that grow cash crops such as coffee and cotton; those with 'marginal' farms of less than one hectare; and those with debts of 300 Rupees or more.

  39. Continuum The study also found that the Indian states in which these three characteristics are most common had the highest suicide rates and also accounted for "almost 75% of the variability in state-level suicides."

  40. Response to Farmers Suicides The government appointed a number of inquiries to look into the causes of farmers suicide and farm related distress in general. Krishak Ayog (National Farmer Commission) visited all suicide prone farming regions of India. A special rehabilitation package (2006) was launched to mitigate the distress of these farmers. The Government of India also announced an ex-gratia cash assistance from Prime Ministers National Relief Fund to the farmers.

  41. Continuum The Government of India implemented the Agricultural debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme in 2008. Direct agricultural loan by stressed farmers under so- called Kisan Credit Card were also to be covered under this Scheme. Various state governments in India have launched their own initiatives to help prevent farmer suicides.

  42. Reference Patnaik, P., The Crisis in India s Countryside Mishra, D.K., Behind Agrarian Distress Sinha D.K., Essay on Agrarian Unrest in India Mondal P., Top six peasant movements in India

  43. Thank You

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