Modi failed to keep the promise of waiving the loans of farmers in the first cabinet meeting and giving the minimum support prices for all the crops as per the recommendations of Swaminathan Commission after getting oonly 28.6 crore men were employed during 2017-18 as against 30.4 crore men employed 5 years ago in 2011-12. Casual farm labour shrank by 40 percent between 2012 and 2018, while the number of rural casual labourers was 10.9 crore in 2011-12, it fell down to 7.7 crore in 2017-18, a fall of 3.2 crore.
- Unemployment has risen substantially due to collapse of agriculture, rural women in the working age population who are not employed increased from 64.3 per cent in 2011-12 to 76.3 per cent in 2017-18, and men from 19.8 per cent to 27.6 per cent. (NSSO Periodic Labour Force Survey 2017-18).
- Percentage of working age women engaged in agricultural activities in rural areas shrunk from 26.7 per cent in 2011-12 to 17.4 per cent in 2017-18, rural men dropped from 47.7 per cent to 39.7 per cent.
- In the Budget Session, the Union Home Ministry told Parliament that it was yet to compile data on farmers’ suicides for 2016. There is no government report on farmer suicides published after that, which means farmer suicides from 2016 and 2017.
- The CSDS report entitled, “State of Indian Farmers”, released in Delhi in March 2018, states that benefits of government schemes and policies are being mostly given to big farmers having landholding of 10 acres (4.05 hectare) and above. Only 10 per cent of poor and small farmers with average land holding of 1-4 acres (0.4 to 1.6 ha) have benefited from government schemes and subsidies, 74 per cent of those interviewed alleged they do not get any farming-related information from officials of the agriculture department.
- 64 per cent were not satisfied with the price government offers. 76 per cent farmers would prefer to do some work other than farming. 61 per cent of these farmers would prefer to be employed in cities cause of better education, health and employment avenues there.
- A high percentage of farmers complained of repeated losses; 70 per cent of respondents said their crops were destroyed because of unseasonal rains, drought, floods and pest attack.
- Agrarian depression became agrarian crisis in some regions where non-food crops are grown, macroeconomic causes and broad picture of sources of depression show region wise-sharp cutback in rural development expenditure by government. Decline in public investment and fixed capital formation in agriculture; collapse of agricultural extension, rise of foreign agribusiness (Monsanto, Syngenta, Dupont, Dow Bayer ChemChina).
- Reliance on open markets, growing imports (imports multiplied between 2014-17 by ten times), free trade agreements, commodity futures (Wada Bazaar), Ambanis and Adanis resulting in a depression of prices of agricultural output across crops. Dependence on corporate input supplies, collapse of government procurement of food grains, storage, research and extension. Sugarcane and cotton farmers cheated by companies, no action by Modi Government.
- Ease of doing business manifests in land use change, acquisition of agricultural land for industrial corridors. Modi government chose not to defend the rights of forest dwellers before the Supreme Court, more than 12 lakh farmers affected across 16 states, experienced the threat of land and livelihood loss due to the callous attitude of Modi Government in forest areas. Cattle economy declined due to the support provided to the so-called campaign for cow protection by “Gau Rakshaks”, the Modi government destroyed the livelihoods of farmers by leaving stray animals free to roam in villages, enabled destruction of cattle trade through ordinance and legislation.
- Increase in inequality in water by allowing the urban rich to build swimming pools and draw water for their cars and gardens; moved from productive investments, government shifted to the wholesale reliance on direct benefit transfer, high claims, poor implementation of cash transfers and deficiency payments