India is a great agricultural power, a great agricultural economy!
How many of the policy makers, occupying key positions in the power structure of Delhi care to respond sympathetically? To people living within the Lutyen Delhi to borrow a latest phrase the many ‘Ladder Climbers’ perched in the cozy chambers of highly designated variously?
Yes, when do these securely positioned high and mighty think of farmers and rural people? Who has the time to think of the lost causes? Agriculture certainly seems to have become one such? Yes, it looks like!
Agriculture, when it has a high priority?
When we open our newspapers and see occasionally the headlines proclaiming the record harvest of food grains, specially the wheat and rice output in so many hundred tonnes. Ironically, today too, we read this season’s food production targets reached!
So, this season too the government needn’t worry too much about the agri sector’s support for the government for doing what it is doing.
Agriculture at the time of Corona Virus and farmers’ protests prolonging!
What an unfortunate coincidence!
Right now, the deadly Corona Virus has entered the rural hinterland and there is an unreported fear and anxiety among the otherwise largely carefree general public. But unfortunately the current goings have drawn in the very vulnerable and poor into the net and the immediate future looks very grim indeed.
Unfortunately, the Corona Virus has desired any left-over optimism about the future of the country and the economy. The silence prevailing with the PM undertaking a daily ritual of online international hasn’t lifted our spirits with what the government’s perceived setback in the W.Bengal Assembly elections.
The over-zealous pursuit of the Assembly elections in Bengal, with the PM undertaking a record 11 trips for campaigning had created a new kind of sensation and the pursuit of other projects like building a new Parliament and a palatial house for the Prime Minister’s residence hasn’t gone down well with the public and the media has been less enthusiastic. The media, especially the foreign media has been very critical.
The Indian counterparts have been what is called “cautious”, the Indian media is known for its own choice of words and expressions when it comes to express their own timidity in the place of media freedom. Our media reforms must address the typically lopsided structure of the media industry.
Our legacy of the British media which we imitate in letter and spirit has taught us how to live with the establishment and thus we don’t really take courage and call the true villains and cowards by what manner they deserve.
The international media, more so such organizations like the “reporters without borders” have exposed how we behave in times of national crisis.
Thus, this time when mistakes were committed we continued to hide ourselves behind a fig leaf!
Structured so that more genuine freedom of the media is ensured so that even the problems of the farmers and the larger public are truly ensured and the existing gaps in the media nurturing are bridged. Please attend to what was once prominently called development journalism, now in many variations we are committed for far too long over a quarter of century!
There must be equity and justice in promoting the media in the development segments. The Pandemic has created an uncertain future for the country and no one knows what the coming days and months would bring into our lives.
Adding further anxiety and tension is the State of the farmers’ protests and the farmers after struggling with their own problems now demand the government to initiate a new dialogue. The Prime Minister for his part has become lately into a silent mode as far as many other issues as well. There doesn’t seem to be any breakthrough in the government-farmers confrontation. Yes, when it comes to farmers’ issues there doesn’t seem to be any warm feelings between the government and the farmers who too after prolonging their demands, the critical demands being the total withdrawal of the three laws that were introduced without wide debates and passed in an arbitrary manner and they have struck in the minds of farmers as a betrayal of their faith in the government’s attitude towards the farming community.
Agriculture is an universal issue, agriculture comes into any nation’s economic policy making except for a few countries with small geographies food production is a basic economic activity and either you produce the food yourself or important food and this becomes a major trade policy issue.
A vast land mass and varied seasonal activity and thus every major region has an agricultural space and the changing seasons, rains and the related natural cycles make India a great agricultural power.