Not much change in farmers' lives over 10 years, says MS Swaminathan

Chennai: Though the central government claimed that the Budget, presented recently was farmer friendly, questions about its actual implementation were raised at an event on Saturday to commemorate 10 years since the National Commission for Farmers was submitted.

Speaking at the event organised by the Foundation of Agrarian Studies, the chairperson of the National Commission for Farmers, M.S. Swaminathan, said several recommendations that he had made 10 years ago continue to hold true for the country today.

“Of the 150 million rural homes, 90 million are farmer households and little is being done to sustain these homes,” he said. Hannan Mollah, general secretary of the All India Kisan Sabha, also shared his thoughts on the commission claiming that for years the government has promised to implement Swaminathan’s recommendation and failed to do so. “Before coming to power Modi proclaimed at a public meeting that he would agree to the suggestions but things took a U-turn when he became PM,” he alleged.

In his latest recommendations, Swaminathan has suggested that a national and state land use advisory board be formed for the farmers, technical advice to prevent losses, priority attention to certain crops, strengthen biosecurity infrastructure plus increasing the number of grain reserves. “Even though we many small grain reserves we need to set up bigger ones, so that they are better protected and get last longer,” he continued. The Indian father of the green revolution also threw light on another important and ignored aspect of farming – contribution of women farmers.

“Many times when farmer commits suicide, his wife is the one who takes up the responsibilities after him. Even otherwise women are equal contributors to the world of farming and yet the government fails to recognise their role.” Swaminathan stressed on the need for a women’s welfare scheme to tackle these issues.

Apart from the discussion on the commission, the Foundation of Agrarian Studies also launched its website, www.fas.org.in, in an effort to provide agriculture-related repository of studies, research materials and publications to the general public and prospective scholars and students.