Farmers Cry for Help: Will Govt Turn Deaf Ears to Agrarian Community’s Woes Once Again?

Farmers in different regions of the country committed suicide, they raised voice but all went unheard. Finally, they reached New Delhi on Monday. All they want is their voices should be heard by those who are at the helm of power.

Ten days after ‘Mahapadav’ (grand sit-in) when lakhs of workers demanded curb on price rise and universalisation of the public distribution system and creation of jobs, New Delhi’s Parliament Street reverberated once again with thunderous roar of thousands of farmers from across the nation who spoke in one voice against twin burden of falling prices in the face of rising costs and mounting debts.

Waving banners and chanting slogans against the “utter betrayal” of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government in the Centre from Ramlila ground to the Parliament Street, the protesters put forward one common demand – complete waiver of their loans.

Over 180 organisations of the agrarian community came to together to hold 'Kisan Sansad' (farmers' parliament) in the national capital under the banner of their umbrella forum called ‘All India Kisan Sangharsh Samiti’ (AIKSS) demanding better prices (1.5 times more than their production cost) for their produce and complete freedom from debt.

One of the victims of the ongoing farmers’ crisis is Kantabai Panduranga Bhialse. Coming from Latur in Marathwada region of Maharashtra, Kantabai lost her young daughter in 2016 after failing to pay dowry, and a loan of Rs 2 lakh added to her misery. Her daughter committed suicide on January 20, 2016, so that her father does not sell a small piece of land that he owned.

Kantabai came all the way to the national capital to appeal to the prime minister. “I was allotted Rs 1 lakh as compensation from the government. But I got only Rs 30,000, which I paid as an instalment for my loan. When I complained and apprised them of my situation, telling them that I am in debt, nobody listened to me. Now, even the banks do not sanction me a loan against the land I own which is worth Rs 5 lakh,” she told Newsclick.

“How will I survive at a time when prices of everything are skyrocketing?” she asks sharing her source of income which is even “not regular”. “I am a daily wage labourer who works at construction sites and gets Rs 100-150 a day. But because of growing unemployment, there are more labourers than needed. So I get work only twice or thrice a week,” she says with visible despair on her face.

Her eldest daughter is married and the second one took the extreme step. She has to take care of her only son who is a minor. Unable to come to terms that his daughter died at such a young age (just 18), her husband suffered cardiac arrest and passed away recently.

Threatening the government to commit suicide, Kantabai says, “If they (those at the helm of power) don’t listen to me, I will be left with no option but to end my life along with my son. I am unable to run my family on this meagre income and repay the borrowed sum.”

Mangal Prabhakar comes from Nanded in Maharashtra. Her husband committed suicide in June 2015 after failing to pay the loan of Rs 80,000. The woman who earns a mere Rs 100 a day, complains that the government never helped her family. She is the sole breadwinner for the family of four.

“Mera qarz to hua...bade bade logon ko qarz hua...hamari koi sunta...100 rupees kya hum...ghar 2 , saas main hun...ghar ka samaan (The loan we took has not so far been waived off...the govt sanctioned loans to rich and waived it off too... but no one listens to us. How can we survive in just Rs 100? I have to look after my two children, mother-in-law and myself. Sometimes, there is no food at home to feed them),” she says.

When asked about whether the bank authorities still ask her to return the money, she replied, “Yes, they do come and give us a tough time.”

A total of 544 women, whose husbands or other family members have committed suicide from across the country, participated in the ‘Kisan Sansad’, which was presided over by Medha Patekar.

Subbama (35), a resident of Taticherla village in Andhra Pradesh’s Anantapur district lost her husband, who committed suicide three years ago. She says she has to pay Rs 4 lakh to the landlord, from whom her husband had leased three acres of land to grow onion. But the crop failed because of unfavourable weather conditions and he had to suffer huge losses.

“After my husband died, the landlord held me captive inside my house. I was locked for three days in a room. He let me out only when he realised that he would not be able to recover the money even if I die,” she said.

She along with her two daughters now work in fields as daily wage labourers. She urged the government to save her and other such women from the clutches of landlords and money lenders. “He keeps pestering me to repay the debts but I don’t have money. I do not even get Rs 1,000 as widow pension,” she added.

CPI leader Annie Raja and Swaraj Abhiyan chief Yogendra Yadav spearheaded the farmers’ march. They alleged the government not only turned deaf years to farmers’ woes but are also in denial.

“There is no need of such government which does not hear the agony of the families of the farmers who committed suicide. Farmers want their voice to be heard. You don’t hear them in different regions of the country and therefore, they have come here so that their voices can be heard. The government will have to listen to them at any cost,” Yadav told Newsclick.

Like Kantabai and Mangal, many other family members of the distressed farmers who committed suicide attended ‘Kisan Mukti Sansad’ (Farmers’ Liberation Parliament), which was organised at Parliament Street on the first day of the two-day protest. They all shared their complaints about how farmers are being “brutalized” by the twin burden of falling prices in the face of rising costs, and mounting debts. And how they are braving bullets and repression in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and several other states.

Two of their key demands are better prices for their produce and debt relief.