It is true that the Farmers do not need a free lunch. The ones committing suicide are the ones who do not have access to proper tools and supplies. The back breaker for the Farmers is the unremunerative price for their produce. If the Government can pay foreign companies one and a half times more than the Indian Farmers for the same product then who is to blame? The Government holds the price of agricultural produce artificially low in the domestic market by paying the Farmer less than the International price. The logic to this is that inflation is held low by keeping food prices down. However the same Government then turns around and says that it is willing to give subsidies to Farmers. Is this not a travesty and a violation of good economic practices? Both PC Chidambaram and Manmohan Singh know that what the Government does makes poor economic sense yet they are helpless in the name of coalition politics and MP's who have a poor understanding of Economics and are constantly worried about their vote banks.
For shake of country and for development of India, pls don't VOTE for Congress.
Achievement of Congress last 60 years !!
1) Division of India by Mohan das karmachand Gandhi. 2) Kashmir issue by Jawaharlal Nehru. 3) defeat of 1962 ( Prime Minister who did not give permission to establish ordinance factory). 4) Indri Gandhi, she is the ladie who has mixed politics and cream together, LTTE is created by her only. 5) Division of Indian people in the name Religion, region, cast.
My friend the present government is more interested in vote bank than anything else because: 1. If they are really concerned abt farmers, deeper study should have gone in this regard - as to how to improve irrigation, water supplies and target small time farmers who take loan from mony lenders and not banks... But instead of this our govt went for loan waiver something like robinhood - rob teh upper class and give the poor - the root cause remains the same. Next we have the same situation and greater waiver is given. 2. Same approach is education - target votebanks - provide reservation in IIMs and IITs - hwave they ever wondered people for whom they are reserving seats are not able to complete priimary education... how the hell are they going to claim seats in IIMs and IITs. Unless you improve education quality in grass root level, prblem will reoccur and then next time you provide 70% reservation...
Isnt this irony that such people are in power adn expect themselves to be reelected????
A generation has passed since independence. Every prime Minister, every Chief minister and every politician in this country claims that he works for the former. Right from Nehru to Shastry to Charan Singh to Deve Gouda to Manmohan Singh and all of them in between have shown great interest (is it genuine? or just lip sympathy? ) in solving their problems. But Indian farmer has remained the same, utterly poor, uneducated, exploited, sick looking, every ready to become a migrant daily wage worker in a metro and totally helpless. A typical Indian farmer is the same Hasari Pal that you read about in the 'City of Joy' even in 2008. Shame on India. Shame on us. We talk about being progressive and 8% growth, but if you really see there is sizable population stagnating in any of the last 20 centuries. That is India for those who want to accept truth.
Can anybody explain to me that if they are not lookign for a free lunch then why do they regularly get loan Waivers ( BTW : They anyway pay only a small proportion of loans they take anyway chk co-op bank NPA's , ) and why dont they pay taxes . They certainly dont refuse the loan waivers and dont volunteer to pay taxes even when they are th richest people in the countryside and own hundreds of acres of land and multiple cars and houses .
And not to mention the scores of politicians and others rich people who are farmers only for tax avoidance purposes -- what do you sugegst we do about them Mr.Joshi ( or are you also a farmer ??? )
RE:Farmers -Free Lunch
by Hemant on Mar 17, 2008 12:30 PM
It is easy to arm chair criticizing. I am a farmer. We have 5 acres of cultivating land, in which we cultivate rice, wheat, grams etc. In India most of the place farming is dependent on monsoon. Due to erratic monsoon, the crop we cultivate gets destroyed either due to drought or untimely rain. Despite that, if we could manage to get the crop reach home yard, we don%u2019t get good support price in the market. For the same rice, which you buy from the market for 15 %u2013 20 Rs. Per kg, we will be paid paltry 6 %u2013 8 Rs. For wheat we get 10 rs per kg, whereas it is sold for more than 20 per kg. More over this govt, is importing wheat at a higher price, than what it is giving to the local farmers.
Earlier people of several houses used to get together and do the farming work on rotation basis. There are hardly 2 -3 people are staying in one house now a days and most of them want white collar jobs. If you have to hire laborers, in my place we need to pay 175 Rs for 8 %u2013 5 job, along with free food for a person. Apart from that, we will have lot of other expenditures. Can you calculate, how much you would need if I have to hire 5 ppl for a month and in return even if we get 5 ton of rice (it is a exaggerated figure) against all adversities, at the rate of 8 rs per kg, what would be our profit. For us this profit has to come for a whole year. We don%u2019t expect loan waivers, we only expect the govt. to provide us with a reasonable support price for our farm produ
RE:Farmers -Free Lunch
by menda vijaya on Mar 17, 2008 11:55 AM
to understand the happiness of being a loan waived, you should turn yourself into an actual farmer(not bollywood type) just for a day and see it for yourself.Then only you can understand. Without a happy farmer, my ydear, you cantnot eat a morsel of food in a day.
RE:RE:Farmers -Free Lunch
by Hemant on Mar 17, 2008 12:33 PM
Sanjeev Kumar, you said it right. Better do something else, if farming is not fetching anything. But what you will eat??. Let us think that all the farmers in India stopped farming, can you atleast imagine, what astronomical price you may have to pay for food grains.
Left, a good supporter of UPA government is befooled by Congress for last 4 years. Left has given constructive support for Presidential elections even. But Congress forgets they are befooling Indian poor.
RE:Left, a good supporter of UPA government is befooled by Congress for last 4 years. Left has given constructive support for Presidential elections even. But Congress forgets they are befooling Indian poor.
by vg on Mar 17, 2008 01:30 PM
the Left has befooled the INDIAN people....on everything...even on CHINA...they have made WEST BENGAL into a WASTE BENGAL. Communism grew out of killing people...whether in Nandigram or in Kannur
The idea of loan waiver, that too when it is known that the term of the govt. is coming to an end in the next one year is very easy to guess. if the congress thinks that they can fool the people then they are fooling themselves. UPA has promised the heaven to everyone, but failed on every count. Look at the pathetic state of infrastructure,power,financial sector reforms,downsizing bureaucracy, labour reforms etc. schemes are announced, nothing is implemented. money for the scheme seems to have already changed hands. What the farmers need is good irrigatition system assuring water during cropping season, uninterrupted power @ reasonable rate during day time, access to finance @ reasonable rate, access to market without middlemen. if a farmer does not get these then what is the use of loan waivers. he is not asking for alms. farmer is as dignified person as any other. farmers did not ask for loan waiver, its the congress party which wanted it as they see their chancs of coming back bleak and want to loot the country at any cost. look at the way rahul gandhi going to orissa and other places where he never bothered to go when problems were present during the early part of this govt. i hope good sense prevails over the rural farmer so that they can boot out the corrupt congress regime along with the corrupt antinational commies.
RE:congress & commies need money for election
by Raam on Mar 17, 2008 11:33 AM
You sound like a Opposition party spokesman. Why you bring politics in this. Do you expect the Government to give all facilities to farmers like continuous power, water, finance, market etc etc. Then let the Government also plough the land and cultivate. Let the farmer sit at home and count his bank balance. All the facilities referred by you are available to the farmers. 85% of the Country's power is used by them but do they pay electricity bills promptly like domestic users?. In states like Karnataka officials of electricity department are scared to demand bill payment from rich farmers who never bother to pay power bills because of the support they receive from policians cutting across party lines. Don't call a single party as corrupt. Politicians have no relegion or caste. They all are same and equally corrupt. What action has been dome by NPA or Gujral, DeveGowda Governments when in power to help farmers?
RE:congress & commies need money for election
by Deepesh Shah on Mar 17, 2008 11:43 AM
I think it is mathod of cheap Publicity,if u really want to grow of farmers you must have long tearm plan like proper market price,proper power supply, proper seeds etc. this is not way to grow him in true manner. weaver is like that you are given money insted of proper food to men for live
RE:RE:congress & commies need money for election
by menda vijaya on Mar 17, 2008 12:00 PM
could you please explain what is proper market price,proper power supply, proper seeds etc ? So far no one is improper. Things go beyond proper control of proper parties involved.Hence there are proper problems and proper confused letters like yours.Thanks.
farmers are the original entrepreneurs, they work physically in the field, they take loans from the worst lot the money lender with exorbitant interest rates, pit themselves against an unpredictable rains, buy grains from unscrupulous entities like Monsanto, and yet manage to make a living.
- the government does not give them subsidy, as in western countries - keeps them poor for votes and promises - no irrigation facility, dont build lakes, tanks and bunds deliberately - electricity subsidies are for rich farmers who dont pay bills, and the blame is on small farmers .. too many ills
