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Demystifying agrarian crisis in Telangana
Highlights
According to National Crime Records Bureau data 2014, India’s agrarian population is 48.9 percent, which means that half of country’s people are farmers and over 600 million Indians are deployed in wide variety of related farm activity.
According to National Crime Records Bureau data 2014, India’s agrarian population is 48.9 percent, which means that half of country’s people are farmers and over 600 million Indians are deployed in wide variety of related farm activity. A total of 5650 farmers committed suicide in India, accounting for 4.3 percent of total suicide victims in the country and two major reasons for farmer suicides are bankruptcy or indebtedness and family problems.
The farmer suicides phenomenon is concentrated more in five states –Maharashtra (2568), Telangana (898), Madhya Pradesh(836), Chattisgarh(443) and Karnataka (321). According to NCRB data for earlier years, a total of 37,912 farmers committed suicides in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in the last 19 years.
The report noted the main reasons for suicides are mounting debts, increasing cost of cultivation, subsides are decreasing and cost of inputs are increasing with reduced access to means of production. Environmentally, the crop patterns are not suited with soil conditions leading to infertility of the soil. Another reason is dependence on water intensive crops is placing high pressure on irrigation systems, causing breakdowns.
The crops in Telangana are mainly depends on rainfall, the region in general has the history of prolonged dry spells, high incidences of rainwater run-offs causing soil erosion. Change in climatic conditions has also severely impact on farming community with shortage of rains greatly reduces yields and profits. Telangana receives rainfall mostly during South-West monsoon period; it needs adequate rainfall in order to be agriculturally sustainable.
Most farmers in the State do not own the land they cultivate and majority of farmers are small with land holding more than 1 hectare and less than 2 hectare and marginal farmers with land holding upto 1 hectare. According to NCRB report, a majority who committed suicides was small and marginal farmers and both put together accounts for 74.2 percent of total farmer suicides, which also includes landless agriculture labourers, tenant farmers, oral leases and shape-croppers.
As per agriculture department statistics, the distribution of land in Telangana is that 44.73 percent families are landless and there are 55.54 lakh operational holdings with an area of 61.97 lakh hectares – Marginal farmers holds (34.41 lakh numbers), Small (13.27 lakh numbers), semi-medium (6.03 lakh numbers), Medium (1.67 lakh numbers) and Large (0.16 lakh numbers).
Generally, farmer suicide/farm suicides are those that occur due to crushing debts that farmers/agricultural labourers incur due to the problems they face for investment in agriculture and that resulted in low yield due to lack of rains and unable to clear the loans. Up until 1990s, the government of India did not recognize farmer suicides are as socio-economic phenomenon that plaguing rural India.
As per NCRB data, a total of 35898 suicides are recorded in the combined State during the period of 1995 to 2012, of which 5683 suicides are recognized as genuine by the AP government and the government has taken some rehabilitation measures. Of which,3284 families were received widow pensions,2358 families not having pucca houses and no sanction is made under INDIRAMMA and 1108 families benefited under INDIRAMMA. In one lakh rupees paid as ex-gratia, 46 percent of expenditure incurred to pay old loans,22 percent for agricultural investments and 17 percent for miscellaneous expenditure. In the 50 thousand as loan resettlement 45 percent was to clear the loans as per the statistics available.
Even, the government of India instituted a debt waiver scheme in 2008 to bring relief to over 36 million farmers in the country. It also introduces Kissan Credit Card to provide need based and timely credit support to the farmers and agricultural labourers for their cultivation and non-farm activities. Though institutional credit available, it is availed by a select few. Private lenders charge heavy interest rates, the agriculture labourers and farmers do not have other options expect to take money as loans at high interest rates.
G.Rajendera Kumar
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