Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Farm tragedy

The editorial “The unending farm tragedy” (Feb. 2) was a timely reminder of the grave crisis facing our nation. We have a polity and a governance mechanism that have chosen not to act decisively to tackle the crisis. It is a matter of irony that the same political class which witnessed the onset of the crisis still calls the shots. Why don’t our politicians launch a national movement to address the woes of the farmers? Has a single hour of Parliament been disrupted for the hapless farmer? Has a politician ever sat on a hunger strike for him? It is a disgrace that the Maharashtra Chief Minister sought to draw media attention to Davos and Germany than to the crisis being faced by the farmers of Vidharbha.

Discontent among farmers is a sure recipe for social unrest. If we do not take corrective action now, it will perhaps be a case of too little, too late.

Sekhar Rayaprolu,

San Jose, California

That our farmers are resorting to suicide is not at all surprising. What can they do with a Chief Minister, who is inclined to “believe only local journalists,” at the helm? We are ready to sympathise with our entrepreneurs who will take home a few lakhs less every month because of the rupee appreciation. But we couldn’t care less about what happens to the man who is responsible for cultivating food for us. We need to realise that our national security will be in danger if we lack food security.

S. Srinivas,

Visakhapatnam

The agrarian crisis is a national tragedy. Evidently, the relief packages announced by Central and State governments have failed to mitigate the crisis.

A multi-pronged approach including speedy relief to affected farmers, low-cost operations with emphasis on food crops, and a radical change of mindset is the need of the hour.

S. Janakiraman,

Coimbatore

Vidharbha yatra and Wardha yatra will not stop farm suicides. Remunerative price, protection from vagaries like floods, famines and pest attacks, and credit facilities are the basic requirements. Food providers are ending their lives. But a grateful nation is more worried about the fate of a Punjabi cricketer than the Punjabi families devastated by farm suicides. Mahatma Gandhi said: “Our salvation can only come through the farmer. Neither the lawyers, nor the doctors, nor the rich landlords are going to secure it.” Modern India feels differently.

P. Sankaranarayanan,

Bhubaneswar

Farm suicides will continue unabated as long as farmers themselves do not wake up to the harsh realities of the agricultural markets. Subsistence farmers will never be able to make it because of the sheer economy of scale of small land holdings.

A new farming business model needs to be developed to make small farms economically viable. Continuing to grow low-value food crops in small quantities with periodic loan waivers will never solve the real problem.

Shanthu Shantharam,

Ellicott City, Maryland

Farming is an economic venture and farmers take a calculated risk when they borrow, that too from private moneylenders at exorbitant rates of interest. If they suffer losses, they should have the capacity to absorb them. Farmers do reap benefits when the harvest is good. So the demand for a waiver of loans on the plea that they have suffered crop losses is not tenable. Waiving of the entire loan is not fair to the person or institution that lends farmers money. Also loan waivers to the families of farmers who commit suicide will only help to increase suicide rates. They are also unfair to those who faced the crisis courageously. What is needed is proper counselling to farmers on how to manage their finances and avoid falling into a debt trap.

B.C. Unnikrishnan Nair,

Ottappalam

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