The Hindu : New Delhi News : A mission from Kanyakumari to Uttarakhand

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Friday, Mar 14, 2008
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A mission from Kanyakumari to Uttarakhand

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: To open up the debate on various issues afflicting farmers across India, an 11-member team led by Himalayan Environmental Studies and Conservation Organisation founder Anil Prakash Joshi has undertaken a unique “Agri Yatra” on bicycles from Kanyakumari to Uttarakhand.

Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, Mr. Joshi said: “Though there were climatic differences between the Northern and the Southern States while travelling, on closer examination the issues raised by the farmers were almost similar -- namely unregulated prices for their produce and water scarcity.”

Clean agri-policy

“This yatra was thus started to save agriculture and generate awareness among farmers to develop their views and demand for a clean, open-hearted agri-law and agri-policy from the Central Government,” he added.

The yatra began on January 12 and will culminate in Dehra Dun on March 16.

According to Mr. Joshi, the yatra has covered a total of 3,800 km across 65 districts and about 7,000 villages in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi.

The yatra team, comprising social activists, students and farmers ranging in age from 18 to 60, has also met over one lakh farmers during its journey so far.

Declining availability

Mr. Joshi said during the team’s meetings with farmers it was suggested that with declining availability of land and falling productivity, agriculture has become a serious issue which should come under the purview of the Central Government.

Advocating farmers’ issues on their behalf, Mr. Joshi said: “To remove the discord between the farmers and the Government regarding acquisition of farmers’ land for setting up industries, the Government should make the farmers a partner in the industries set up on their land instead of giving them compensation.”

Mr. Joshi also spoke about the idea of a “kisan bank” mooted by the farmers wherein the banks extending loans to the farmers would also be made an equal stakeholder in the farm’s productivity. “Instead of returning interest plus the loan amount to the banks, the farmers suggested that there should be a provision to pay the bank in terms of their agricultural produce which the banks in turn can sell to realise their lent amount,” said Mr. Joshi.

According to the farmers, the huge loan waiver announced by the Government in the Union Budget would only provide temporary relief and stronger pro-farmer reforms are needed to curtail the farm crisis by focusing on pricing and profitability for farmers.

Disturbing fact

“A fact that we found most disturbing was that hardly any farmers’ children wanted to take up farming as a livelihood. To solve this problem, farmers recommended that there should be a provision to provide education on agriculture at the school level between Classes VIII and XII,” said Mr. Joshi.

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