#dnaEdit: Risky occupation

These are dark days for rural Maharashtra. Earlier suffering from a long spell of drought, farmers are now forced to grapple with unseasonal rains that have destroyed their standing rabi crops. The losses due to untimely showers and hailstorms are pegged at at least Rs1,000 crore, with Pune, Nasik, Amravati, Bhandara, Ratnagiri and Raigad bearing the maximum brunt. The livelihoods of lakhs of farmers are at stake as wheat, jowar and chickpea crops, as well as mango orchards, vineyards and pomegranate fields in more than 75,000 hectares of land across the state are adversely affected. Maharashtra is staring at one of the worst agrarian crises in recent times, the consequences of which will soon be felt in rising food prices. The immediate impact, however, is evident in the mounting death toll of farmers, who, unable to shoulder the burden of losses, have taken the extreme step. In the first 45 days of 2015, 145 farmers in the Aurangabad division alone had ended their lives. This chilling statistic portrays the level of desperation in vast swathes of the countryside, which has been witness to 5,698 cases of farmer suicides since 2011. 

Jolted by the scale of the current disaster, the state government has decided to raise the quantum of compensation to Rs5 lakh for the family of a farmer who had committed suicide. The increased amount is likely to come into effect from the first week of April. The same financial package will also be extended to the families of each of the deceased who had been cultivating lands on lease. In another sweeping gesture, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s government will waive off loans to the tune of Rs171 crore that 2.23 lakh farmers have borrowed from private moneylenders. Apart from these, the state is also planning to announce a comprehensive relief package in the ongoing budget session.

But these sops are least likely to address the systemic inadequacies in policies governing the farming sector. For one, the huge disparities between the prosperous western Maharashtra sugar belt and the drought-prone Vidarbha and Marathwada have been a cause of concern. It is a well-known fact that the prime beneficiaries of the state’s irrigation system are the sugarcane growers who also enjoy subsidies in electricity and fertilisers due to political patronage. In contrast, only 8-10% of land in Vidarbha and Marathwada is irrigated, leaving most farmers vulnerable to the vagaries of nature. Moreover, as activists allege, though agriculture is a state subject, the Centre enjoys the prerogative in formulating policies that fail to factor in regional issues. 

Also, the issue of central aid in containing the ongoing crisis has become a source of discontent. Maharashtra, in spite of being the richest state in the country, is not in the pink of financial health. It was hoped that having the same ruling party, BJP, in both Delhi and Maharashtra will help the state overcome the precarious situation. However, the Centre’s apparent reluctance to disburse Rs6,000 crore for drought relief — of which Rs4,800 crore was meant to compensate farmers for crop losses — that Fadnavis had sought three months ago after coming to power has significantly delayed his administration’s relief measures. 

Agriculture is no longer a viable means of sustenance as the wave of migration from the villages to cities continues. Experts believe the land acquisition bill is another critical blow to the economy that’s predominantly agrarian. But, myopic vision and ad-hoc measures seem to characterise the workings of both the state and central governments.