New Delhi: More than half of Indian farmers oppose and 35 percent support the three farm reform laws passed by Parliament in September, according to a survey conducted in 16 states.
Almost 40 percent expressed fear that the new laws will end state-run markets and government procurement at minimum support prices, and almost 60 percent are in favor of a legal guarantee for minimum support prices.
Gaon Connection Insights conducted the survey.
Despite the widespread opposition to these laws, almost 44 percent of respondents said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government was “pro-farmer,” while only 28 percent said it was “anti-farmer.” Asked about whom the Modi government supports, however, about 35 percent of those surveyed thought that it supports farmers, while 30 percent felt that it supports private companies and multinationals, and 15 percent said the government supports middlemen and traders.
Gaon Connection did a face-to-face survey of a sample of more than 5,000 farmers, three-fourths of whom own less than five acres of land, in 53 districts across 16 States between October 3 and 9. It found that state-run mandis (markets) are the most popular medium of produce sale across the country (36%), followed by private traders (26%). Currently, only 2% sell to corporates.
Geographically, the north-western states of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh which have the highest proportion of sales in state-run markets (78 percent), also have the highest rates of opposition to the news reform laws (77 percent).
In the eastern atates of Assam, West Bengal, Odisha and Chhattisgarh, only 39 percent opposed the laws, but even fewer (36 percent) supported them. A quarter of respondents in the east responded “can’t say.” A similar lack of awareness or interest was also evident in the southern region, where 26% of respondents gave the same answer.
The west was, however, the only region where supporters of the new laws (52 percent) narrowly overtook the opposition (48 percent). The north, which includes the poll-bound state of Bihar, along with Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, registered 53:47 ratio against the laws.
Almost 60 percent of those opposed felt that the laws would force them to sell at lower prices in the open market, with 38 percent fearing increased dependence on private companies. About a third said the government wanted to end the MSP system, and 32% said farmers would turn into bonded labourers due to contract farming.
Those who supported the laws said freedom to sell their crops (47 percent) and freedom from middlemen (35 percent) were their major reasons.
Source: thehindu.com
The pro-corporate BJP is ‘least bothered’ about the opposition by farmers and opposition parties. Unless and until we elect a “pro-poor government”, the farmers and the general public will continue to suffer.