Why is Land Acquisition Bill Good For Farmers?

Ever since the issue of Land Bill has came into picture a lot of hullabaloo has happened. Every politician seem to be too much concerned by “poor” farmers. Unfortunately in our country, “poor” is an adjective which is almost invariable used in our Krishi Pradhan Desh. It is a matter of shame that even after decades of independence, basic needs of agriculture sector, which claims the most jobs than any other sector, has not been addresses.

And the worst part is that the annadaata is made to rely on Govt. schemes which work only during elections. According to many surveys/reports, the youngsters in villages prefer to work on cities or other sectors and the reason is simple – lack of Government motivation to make the sector more productive. It is also interesting to note that which such a large pool of farmers and agriculture sector workers, we are not doing excellent in terms of technology.

Now, with most major cities in India already saturated with the jobs, it is utmost important that the growth story of India should start penetrate in to smaller cities and even villages.  The need of the hour is to make environment industry friendly which the Government is trying. In addition we need land for roads, railways, schools, hospitals etc.

But with the Opposition parties, NGOs, Arvind Kejriwals, Anna Hazares, Mamta Bannerjis, Farmer unions trying to tighten the grip against the Government, some of the things require serious attention. A lot of issues and statistics are been presented and argued upon making things tough for the Modi sarkar. But a closer examination of the same will change the perception on the issue. Let us consider few main points and arguments used:-

 Anti-farmers

It is being said time and again that it is against poor farmers many of whom are on the verge of committing suicide. What? Really? Considering a farmer who is already sitting on huge burden of debt. Since the weather is unpredictable and how his next farming will work is also in limbo, won’t  it be a good idea for him to sell his hand at 4-8 times the market value and have some cash so that he can repay his loans, feed himself and his kids?

And if someone thinks that this is not a good solution, then I would like to ask them what is the solution at hand for such a farmer who is already debt ridden now and is unsure about future of his farming? As you finish reading this article, a couple of farmers would have committed suicide (sad but true going by the statistics).

Again tagging farmers as victims and industrialists as the cruel breed is an absurd argument. Stories of farmers in Gurgaon, Gujarat and Noida are well known. Farmers became crorepatis overnight and are leading a life better than most of the farmers in India. If you still doubt read this article which came in Times Of India This Gujarat village has 117 women crorepatis. This is a story about women, there will me more men and families involved! Compare the life of these “poor and victim” farmers with those of the farmers in Singur. Pro poor didi Mamta Bannerji didn’t allowed Tata to set up a manufacturing unit there and the farmers are still living the same life in poverty.

Government is Pro Industrialists

If I have to answer this in 1 sentence, it would be- what is wrong with that? The previous UPA Government has failed tremendously in generating jobs. Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government created 58 million jobs during 1999-2004 where as UPA did not even managed to create 20 million jobs during its decade long rule. , according to data from the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO). Read this DNA story on this here.

First of all it is the Government’s responsibility to create jobs and industries should also join the bandwagon if we want a real sabka sath sabka vikas. It would be almost impossible to get an all round growth without the PPPP model. Industrialists invest money, create jobs and off course make profit out of it. They pay tax to the Government and invest the profit in other places. Creating obstacles for industry will do no good to the people as well as nation.

Land already available. Why focus on new land?

This is the most absurd and ridicules of the arguments. They claim (with statistics) that already a lot of barren land is available so why is Government trying to loot the land of poor farmers. Consider a typical example of making road from a city in Karnataka to a city in Orrisa which is of an utmost need. Let us assume  that there is no barren land between these two cities. Should be drop the plan of making road in such a case? In another case, there should not be any college in a place where the soil is fertile.

 

There are many such absurd logics presented in front of us making us feel that this is a bad step for the farmers but LAB is the need of the hour for the Indian economy and us and the farmers in the long run. It is high time that the politicians and NGOs go beyond just their Government bashing strategy and focus on real issues of the poor and the farmer.