Farmers Protest:
Hundreds of kilometers away from the capital New Delhi, farmers from Punjab and Haryana are demonstrating. As they try to reach Delhi, the police and security forces have made thorough preparations to stop them.
For the moment, farmers have postponed their 'March to Delhi' for two days following the death of a young man at the Khanouri border.
The protesting farmers have numerous demands, the most significant being a legal guarantee on MSP. MSP, or Minimum Support Price, is a government set price representing the minimum value for a crop. The government purchases crops from farmers at MSP.
Farmers' organizations allege that the government had promised to bring about a law guaranteeing MSP, which has not happened so far.
The current protests are led by two farmer organizations - the apolitical United Farmers' Front and the Kisan Mazdoor March - from Punjab and Haryana. Rakesh Tikait's organization, the Bharatiya Kisan Union, could also support the movement. This organization represents farmers from western Uttar Pradesh.
The previous movement against the three agricultural laws primarily saw participation from farmers of Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh. The central government had claimed in the Supreme Court that the farmers of South India were in favor of the agriculture laws, insisting that they were not participating in the protests. However, at that time, reports emerged, confirming that farmers from Southern India had also taken part in the protests.
Are the farmers of the South not involved?
Not long ago, over a hundred farmers were arrested at the Thanjavur railway station in Tamil Nadu. They were protesting against police action in Delhi. They had tried to stop a train at the Thanjavur railway station.
Prior to this, many farmers from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu had also set out for Delhi but were stopped en route. The United Farmers' Front claimed that around a hundred farmers from Karnataka were stopped at Bhopal station. These farmers were on their way to join the 'March to Delhi' on February 13.
If we disregard these cases, currently no major farmer organization from South India is actively participating in this protest.
Source: aajtak
... Why is this so?
One reason farmers from South India are not fervently participating in the demand for MSP is that the highest procurement of wheat and paddy happens in the northern states like Punjab and Haryana.
According to statistics, the government had purchased a total of 846.45 lakh metric tons of paddy in the Kharif season of 2022-23 at the MSP. The government spent 1.74 lakh crore rupees on this. The highest amount of paddy was purchased from the farmers of Punjab.
More than 9 lakh farmers from Punjab sold 182.11 lakh metric tons of paddy in 2022-23, for which the government paid 37,514 crore rupees. Similarly, 2.82 lakh farmers from Haryana sold 59.36 lakh metric tons and 9.40 lakh farmers from Uttar Pradesh sold 65.50 lakh metric tons of paddy.
Moreover, during the Rabi season of 2022-23, the government purchased 262 lakh metric tons of wheat at MSP, more than 70% of which was from the farmers of Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh.
The government bought 121.17 lakh metric tons of wheat from nearly 8 lakh farmers of Punjab, for which they spent 25,748 crore rupees. In comparison, 3.25 lakh farmers from Haryana sold 63.17 lakh metric tons of wheat and the government paid 13,424 crore rupees, while from Uttar Pradesh, over 81 thousand farmers sold 2.20 lakh metric tons of wheat, costing the government 468 crore rupees.
In contrast, farmers from the five southern states – Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu – sold 214.34 lakh metric tons of paddy. This amount is 25% of the total paddy purchases. Furthermore, the government does not purchase wheat at MSP from any state in the South.
Source: aajtak
And there's another reason!
The difference in crop patterns between the North and the South is another reason. Southern Indian states grow crops like sugarcane, paddy, coffee, betelnut, pulses, black pepper, and cardamom. Except for paddy, MSP doesn't affect the other crops.
Additionally, most farmers in the southern states sell their produce in government markets where they receive a higher price than MSP. Coffee boards and state governments also buy crops from farmers at rates higher than MSP.
Furthermore, if drought or flood conditions arise and crops are damaged, state governments provide compensation for farmers and even waive their debts. Recently, the Karnataka government introduced the 'Raitha Samriddhi' scheme in its 2024-25 budget, where interest on loans for 57,000 farmers will be waived.
Four rounds of talks remain unproductive
The current farmer movement has been ongoing for nearly two weeks. Besides the demand for MSP, farmers have other requests as well.
So far, four rounds of discussions have taken place between farmer leaders and the government without any resolution. The fourth round of talks, held on February 18, saw the government present a new proposal, which the farmers rejected.
Currently, after the death of a young man at Khanouri border, farmers have postponed their march towards Delhi for two days. Farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher has announced that a meeting will be held on Friday evening to determine future strategies.
