PM cannot fool farmers – farming is a loss-making business in Modi’s Amrit Kaal: SKM
Deep anger among farmers and workers across the country over the killing of young farmer Shubhakaran Singh at Kannauri border in Punjab by Amit Shah led Union Home Ministry and Haryana Police. Friday, 23 February 2024, was observed as Black Day/Day of Outrage. . Reports of burning of effigies of Union Minister Amit Shah, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and State Home Minister Anil Vij have been received from all states of India and torch processions are also taking place widely in villages and towns. Women and youth also widely participated in the protest actions.
SKM welcomes the decision of the Bhagwant Mann government of Punjab to provide Rs 1 crore and one employment to the family of Shubhakaran Singh. This demand was raised in the general body meeting of SKM held in Chandigarh on 23 February 2024. SKM calls upon the Punjab government to register an FIR under section 302 of the IPC against Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Haryana CM Khattar, State Home Minister Anil Vij and police and revenue officials responsible for the government’s repression and the death of the farmer and appeal to the Supreme Court. Reiterates the demand from the court judge to conduct a judicial inquiry into the firing and damage caused to the tractors.
SKM has taken strong objection to PM Modi’s repetition during his one-day visit to Gujarat on February 23 that his “focus is on improving the lives of small farmers” and the greater prosperity of the rural economy. The Prime Minister, in his typical smug style, said this was “Modi’s guarantee”. SKM is intimately aware of Modi’s guarantee to the corporate sector. For example, during the Modi regime, the tax burden has shifted from corporates to the common people. Studies show that in the last 10 years, “individual income tax collections increased by 117%, while corporate tax collections increased by only 28%”. Modi reduced corporate tax from 30% to 22% in 2019. In the 2021-22 financial year, Ambani’s Reliance Industries paid an effective tax rate of only 16.5%.
The index of terms of trade (TOT) – the ratio of the costs of inputs by farmers and the prices they receive for their output – between farmers and non-farmers is less than 100, meaning farmers are not making money. TOT was negative in 2004–05, but steadily improved over the next 6–7 years and reached 102.95 in 2010–11. Since then, TOT has turned negative and remained stable at 97.07 in 2021-22, meaning farming is a loss-making business in Modi’s “Amrit Kaal”.
Recent data on tractor sales in India, a sign for rural economic health, shows that tractor sales have seen a sharp decline in the first 9 months of this financial year. For example, there has been a decline of 33% in Maharashtra, 36% in Telangana and 21% in Karnataka. The slogan of doubling the income of farmers is increasingly being exposed.
As far as wages of agricultural workers are concerned, recent RBI data has revealed that the lowest wages in the country are paid in Gujarat at Rs 241 per day. If one estimates that 25 days of work will be available, which is not the reality – then the monthly income will be Rs 241×25=Rs 6025, which is inadequate for subsistence for a family of five under the current rate of inflation and price rise. SKM demands that before invoking “Modi’s guarantee” again, he should clarify why Gujarat – the state he claims as a model for development – and where he was the Chief Minister three times and Prime Minister of the country twice – Why unable to pay minimum wages to its rural workers for a dignified life?
