Time to relook at our national priorities: Varun Gandhi, BJP MP

BJP MP Varun Gandhi representing Sultanpur in Uttar Pradesh spoke with WION-DNA on varied  issues faced by the Indian farmers. Excerpts:

Has Indian political discourse neglected agrarian issues post 1991 reforms?

Agrarian issues have always been at the forefront the Indian electorate, as a majority of our rural population is still is largely dependent on agriculture. However, decreasing landholdings (average landholding size is 1.13 hectares, decreased marginally from 1.41 hectares in 2000, a far cry from the global average of 3.7 hectares), rising input prices, unsustainable water usage, inadequate energy access and failure to take any advantage of economies of scale make farming an increasingly difficult proposition with time. Post 1991, agriculture has grown at 1% on average, while industry has grown at 8% - we have built our economy on the backs of distraught peasants. Policy apathy and policy inefficiency have adversely impacted farmer condition over a long term. Perhaps it’s time for a relook at our national priorities.

Is it correct to say that India and Bharat binary continues to exist in the country?

My experiences and travels, when interfaced with hopes and aspirations of people in various parts of country, (primarily rural and urban), reveal that there remain multiple worlds within one single nation. It seems as if India and Bharat exist and flourish together, yet remain bifurcated along delicate socio-economic fault lines. Rural distress cannot be looked at in isolation, as agrarian distress can cause large scale socio-economic unrest. 

What are the major problems in front of the Indian agriculture?

Inadequate marketing reforms are an important reason for dwindling farm incomes. The challenge is that the farmer loses out in both good and bad times. In bad times, crop failures lead to rural debt and in good times, it leads to drop in prices.

Our increased focus on groundwater extraction, essentially a symptom of inadequate irrigation, has led India to top the list of countries with maximum freshwater withdrawals, with water availability declining by 70% since independence.  Free or cheap electricity for running pumps have led to reduced investments in our agricultural mechanization, whilst contributing to the financial burden of State Electricity Boards, which in turn remain ill-equipped financially to undertake transformative initiatives in our energy transmission and distribution.  Our agri-procurement policies have incentivized farming of water-intensive crops in regions with limited groundwater availability and facing risk of aridity.

Do loan waivers work? Many argue that sops do not work in long run?

Farm loan waiver is essentially an emergency measure. It remains a short term, stop-gap arrangement till credit culture improves alongside rising farmer incomes. Let us consider few figures – indebted farm households have increased from 25 percent in 1992 to 52 per cent in 2016. The average debt of an agricultural household stands at Rs 1.04 lakh, whereas the average monthly income stands at Rs 8,900 – thus, average debt is roughly their annual income. Nearly 70% of India’s estimated 90 million agricultural households end up spending more than their earnings, thereby being caught in a spiral of ever-increasing debt. In such times of economic desperation, a farm loan waiver is needed to provide immediate relief.

Is it correct to say that loan waivers are used as populist measures?

It would be unfair to call loan waivers as populist, without understanding the condition of farmers in details. At present, our farmers remain a beleaguered lot – lack of growth in farm incomes have meant that increasing number of agricultural households become indebted -  indebted farm households have increased from 25 percent in 1992 to 52 per cent in 2016, with incidence of debt maximum in the lowest income decile of farmers.   Our fiscal pundits seem to have a rather curious penchant for decrying the offering of any fiscal sops offered to farmers, while discounting those offered to the industry. The current NPA crisis is not because of farmers holding back on repayments. It is puzzling that while putting money in people’s hands through increased salaries or easier loans for growth is termed economic stimulus, providing loan waiver at a time of perpetual indebtness is termed an ‘economic waste’.

Post 1990s, farm politics oriented socialist block disintegrated into caste based social justice politics. Are we witnessing revival of class over caste after 30 years ‘mandalised’ politics?

It would be quite early to say that we are witnessing the revival of class over caste after 30 years of Mandalised politics. We need to keep in mind that farmers over the last few decades have not voted in a block. It is heartening to see that the farmers are uniting and making their voices heard. The Govt. understands their struggles and shall be receptive to their demands with a view of improving their condition while undertaking effective reforms to empower them in the long run.

Do elections results of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan indicate massive rural unrest?

The agrarian distress is primarily caused by certain structural weaknesses in our agricultural edifice. Even a century after Mahatma Gandhi sought freedom from farmer exploitation (Champaran), our farmers remain a beleaguered lot.  

When it comes to agriculture, focus continues to remain on landed communities whereas landless workers get a raw deal. Do we require better intervention in this sector?

Non-farm diversification is typically an important pathway for empowering especially landless labourers and marginal farmers, helping them overcome the land constraint for growth while offering sustainable income that can provide capacity to absorb external farm shocks and provide capital for agricultural investment. Most of rural non-farm income is associated with urban migration, with most village youth working as labourers in nearby towns and cities. Among non-farm income sources, livestock and construction incomes are a broad-based critical component. The recommendations of the Swaminathan Committee pertaining to distribution of ceiling surplus and wasteland shall help our landless and small/marginal farmers.