Agrarian crisis: UP farmers say BJP high on promise, low on deliverance

Sukhai Ram, a farmer in Jarwar in Bahraich, was found dead in his home on Saturday evening. He had consumed pesticide to end his life. The suicide note left by him says: “Kisan ka janam is desh mein paap hai. Bhagwan mujhe agle janam kisan ka beta na banana. (Life of a farmer is a big curse in this country. Bhagwan, please do not make me a farmers’ son in next life).”

The terse message is the reminder of crisis the farmers are facing in Uttar Pradesh. Sukhai, had taken a loan from the co-operative bank but was not found eligible for the loan waiver scheme launched by Yogi Government. He lost a large section of crop in flood when Ghaghra inundated a large swathe of this village last year. The sugarcane he grew this year did not fetch enough money as local mills refused to take cane and was forced to sell the same to jiggery units at throw away prices. His patience gave way to frustration when he lost his Rabi crop in storm.

This is not a story of individual Sukhai but the farmers of a whole in Uttar Pradesh who are given an overdose of promises but denied government benefits. The Rashtriya Kisan Manch claims that suicide by farmers in UP is very normal now. It is happening almost everywhere – be it Bundelkhand, Awadh or Eastern UP – the trend is almost the same.

Farmers staged protest in Bahraich and Lucknow on Sunday. Shekhar Dixit, President, Rashtriya Kisan Manch, has threatened Mandsaur-like situation if farmers’ problems are not addressed.

“This government is high on promises but low on deliverance. The Government had declared ₹36,000 crore loan waiver scheme but actually how many genuine farmers got the benefits. Those farmers who are close to BJP or have recommendations from the ruling party leaders have got the benefits. The others are left in the lurch.” he said.

“From the onset we knew that crop loan waiver scheme was a big lie. BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had promised that the crop loans would be waived off, believing that farmers voted for BJP and now the Yogi government has stabbed farmers on their backs,” said Dixit. “Earlier, BJP had promised a loan waiver but now it has put a cap on it by saying that only loan worth Rs 1 lakh would be waived of. If it is a loan waiver, let it be a loan waiver. Why put conditions to it,” he asks.

The anger of farmers against the state government has started brewing up. The manifestation of this anger is witnessed in the just concluded bye-elections of Kairana and Noorpur, in western Uttar Pradesh considered the ganna (sugar cane) belt, where the ruling party got a drubbing despite BJP making an effort to whip up communal passions. The farmers voted against the BJP because their cane payment was not clear.

The figures suggest that till date only 66 per cent of the cane due is clear and the arrears are rising with every passing day. The message from Kairana has spread to nearby districts where farmers have revolted against BJP Government and have joined the nationwide 10 day strike which started from June 1. Farmers in western UP particularly in Sambhal, Moradabad, Bijnore, Bareilly, Meerut and Saharanpur have disrupted supply of vegetables, milk and other items.

“Farmers will not be selling milk, vegetables and grains in urban areas from June 1 to 10 as milk and tomato were fetching very low rates,” said Sanjiv Tyagi of Bharatiya Kisan Union.  “Farmers are not getting remunerative prices for their produce including food grains, fruits and vegetables. We demand that farmers be given 50 per cent profit on the cost incurred on crops cultivated by them,” he said.

Tyagi warned, “We will take our cattle to every tehsil office in the state and tie them to the gates of these offices. We hope that this way we will be able to catch the attention of the government towards farmers’ issues.’’

The protests were called to mark the first anniversary of Mandsaur demonstration in Madhya Pradesh, in which six farmers were killed in police firing.