Time for Revival of 'Jai Jawan Jai Kissan' Slogan

Since the past few days, the news and the visuals beamed by a television channel, relating to suicides by some farmers in Andhra Pradesh, and the plight of some helpless widows in some remote villages of Uttar Pradesh who were struggling to keep their bodies and souls together, all due to the failed monsoons and drought like situation , shook me badly. Perhaps, there are many such tragedies across rural India, which have not caught the attention of the media, but nevertheless do deserve our attention.

Sixty two years after Independence , some of our farmers are still under the mercy of raingods ! A telling indictment of our policy makers and political leadership. Notwithstanding the impressive claims made by our respected Prime Minster and the Union Minister for Agriculture not long ago, regarding their assessment of the situation initially, and steps like NREGA being taken to counter the same, the fact of the matter remains, that some farmers who used to toil day and night to bring food to our tables at affordable prices, were driven to end their lives, leaving their helpless families at the mercy of God Almighty. Some of our rural folk who are dependent upon agriculture for their livelihood are literally on the edge. All due to a failed monsoon this time.

This brought back memories of suicides by more than 500 farmers in Vidarbha in Maharashtra just last year, due to failed cotton crops. After handing over compensation cheques to the bereaved families, and the much hyped loan waiver scheme announced in last year’s budget, the political leadership perhaps thought that their job was over.

While drought proofing of our agriculture may seem to be a tall order for our nation today, but what is amazing is that , is it too much to expect due importance to be accorded to the agriculture sector, especially to the marginal framers whose very existence can be threatened just by one failed crop or one failed monsoon ? Are our District Administrations headed by District Magistrates incapable or unwilling or both , to identify such vulnerable sections of our rural economy ,within the areas under their respective jurisdictions, and keep the higher ups in the state administration updated of the state of affairs alongwith suggested remedial actions from time to time ? Are the state governments incapable of taking timely measures to handle such alarming situations before it gets out of hand , instead of the Chief Ministers rushing to the Prime Minister when the damage is done, with huge demands to bail out their farmers from distress ? And above all, after the Vidarbha suicides not so long ago, was there any initiative thought and implemented to prevent such reoccurrence in the future, by our Prime Minister or the Union Agriculture Minister ?

Surely enough, answers to these questions would require great amount of introspection within the political leadership at all levels, cutting across party affiliations, states and districts, besides of course within our bureaucratic apparatus.

At the very least, we should stop taking the rains for granted , and before the onset of monsoons every year, the entire politico – bureaucratic apparatus right from the Central, State, and district levels, should be geared up to face failed monsoons.

Yes, today our buffer stocks of food grains can meet the shortfall in production this year, and we can even shop abroad to feed our teeming millions should the need so arise. But then, do we not need to feed the farmer who feeds us everyday ? If our indifferent approach to the plight of framers continues, and our political leadership at all levels , besides our bureaucratic apparatus, wakes up only after the damage is done as witnessed this time, and worse still, if they refuse to take lessons from one set of disasters in the preceeding years , as witnessed by the approach after Vidarbha suicides, then the day is not far when foodgrains would rival oil in our import bills.

Time for a revival of “ Jai Jawan Jai Kissan “ slogan with a renewed vigour before it is too late.

As a footnote, let me add that my previous posts below , substantiate the need for the “Jai Jawan” component of the above slogan.

Our Tricolour

" Our Tricolour flies in the sky,
And I hold my head high.

The air around me is full of action,
Keeping our Tricolour is a state of perpertual motion.

I know we are celebrating our Independence Day,
In more than one way.

But I just hold my head high,
Not only to salute our Tricolour up in the sky.

Today we all pledge to ourselves,
That our Tricolour would fly higher than high.

After all, we the people of India ,
Can show to the whole world,
What it means, to aim higher than high."