NMy first week at the farm has made me ask several fundamental and policy related questions. One, on the intention of Government towards farmers: is it keep them poor and dependent on subsidies and welfare schemes for another century? Two, on the discipline, pride, and outlook of farm labor and farmers.
What caught my attention in today's newspaper was a picture showing a fertile agricultural land in Amaravati being destroyed to match up to the imaginary fantasy of Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister of Andhra, which seemed appalling and atrocious. Why can't a capital city have banana farms and why should it be modeled after Paris, Dublin, or Rome?
Languishing farmers
Farmers and farm laborers have been reduced to mere vote banks by our politicians having very little representation in the state assemblies and parliaments. Since farmers and farm labor don't pay taxes and don't fall in the tax bracket, there is no incentive for the Government to keep them alive and happy.
Playing political pawns
Around election time parties dangle carrots to secure their votes, and forget them soon after elections. Every time a party comes to power they announce schemes by playing to gallery and many at times schemes remain on paper and end with a press release.
Issues like famine, drought, floods, etc. are politicized and protests are staged by opposition parties to draw political mileage and fuel ire against the ruling Government. Aligning with opposition parties haven't earned them much return. This has been the story for the last 70 years and farming ecosystem continues to languish in the hands of political parties.
Restore pride and be self-reliant
Though unemployment is still high in the nation, rural India is short on farm labor. Some Central Government schemes like NREGA that guarantees 100 days of rural employment/year isn't very effective way to keep the remaining workforce motivated.
Though socialistic schemes such as free rice and subsidized pulses through PDS, free power for farm pumps, guaranteed procurement prices for produce protects them at one level eventually fuels laziness and creates dependency.
Government and policy makers must think of policies that use tax payers money to restore pride of farming community and make them more responsible, self-reliant rather than keeping them on doles and life-support.
Today, in villages I see children going to schools by vans and girls bicycling to nearby schools, thanks to the Government for enabling children with the means children get basic education. But isn't it time that we improve the quality of education? Primary health care remains a distant dream for people in rural.
Over the last week I spoke to some of the farm laborers asking if they are aware of their rights and duties and Government policies that they can leverage upon. Sadly, many of them were not even aware of life insurance scheme launched by Govt. of India that gives their families 2.5 Laks in case of death or accident by merely enrolling in Mudra Bank. Governments at both state and central must continue a sustained awareness and communication campaign to ensure that rural India benefits from the schemes that are launched.
How to create smart villages
1.Focus on setting up agricultural universities in villages that provide education coupons to farmers children.
2. Provide easier access and interest-holiday loans and encourage farmers in setting-up farming allied small-scale industries thereby providing employment and adding value to their produce. This in turn will prevent migration from rural to urban.
3. Provide technology support to mechanize farms and science and technical know-how to improve farming techniques and yields.
4. Eliminate middlemen and connect farmers with buyers directly.
4. Build storage, warehousing, and processing facilities to stock grains thereby preventing wastage and pilferage.
5. Improve working conditions, enforce safety and protective gear, fix pay scales and bring mandatory contribution towards PF, ESI, and gratuity to labourers who work more than 100 days with any farm or employer.
6. Create awareness campaigns and call centers to propagate and educate farmers on the schemes launched to support their well being.
7. Lastly, provide access to quality education, healthcare, counseling services, etc. thereby creating a smart village that is self-contained.
By providing farmers and farm labor with incentives to work harder, improving their standard of living only gets to them to give-up subsidies and graduate them into tax paying bracket. Doesn't this become a win-win for both farmers and Government?
Be smart workers and not just hard workers
Since farming is an unorganized sector and farm labor needs no big skill and qualification, they don't command respect that white and blue collared workers command. Since there are no barriers to entry and exit, they have no bargaining power. As a result, getting labor to work in the fields is the biggest problem today and that is partially the reason for poor employee morale and farmers selling off their holdings.
It has been over a week since it stopped raining, and we are racing against time and struggling to spray herbicides. We hardly been able to get 4 workers to dispense the medicine across 200 acres of land. I know this sounds like a time and manpower problem that we solved in high school algebra, but there is more to solve here if we need to stay here long-term and ensure a mutual win-win.
It is time farmers and farm labourers living under the thumb of politicians and false protection of leftist wake up and emancipate themselves. Farming can be run in a corporate way with adequate protection yielding them benefits to farm labor like employees in other industries. A smart worker reaps more than a hard worker.
A new business and HR model is the need of the hour to make farming an attractive profession, train and retain workforce, give them incentives to work harder, get them up the income ladder and tax bracket and eventually give up subsidies.
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