'Protests have yielded them little'

PATIALA: Although the rail track blockade by a joint front of 8 farmers' outfits remained partially successful in Punjab, there is still a question mark on what has the peasant movement achieved beyond availing stop-gap measures like relief for crop damage, compensations for farm suicide victims and fast lifting of crops in grain markets during each procurement season.
Punjab is the only state where farmers have been struggling for their rights for the past over 30 years in an organized way. The struggle had even remained active during the decade-long wave of terrorism in Punjab. Most of the farmer unions in Punjab are working under 'veiled' leadership of Left and ultra-Left groups, which boast of breaking status quo.
However, experts say these organizations have unconsciously worked for sustenance of status quo as far as the farm crisis is concerned. Experts also assert that instead of introducing any alternative model of farming in the state, the peasant movement, which is led by rich farmers in Punjab, is merely trapped in the cycle of gaining larger economic benefits from the state.
"In a democratic society, it is a positive sign that a large section is struggling for its rights. However, if you trace the history of farm movement in the last 30 years, you will find it similar to what we call knee-jerk reactions of farmer unions on economic demands. Such unions are agitating on issues like hike in minimum support price (MSP) or compensation for damage to crops, but they have not been able to devise any alternatives for farmers of the state," said Jatinder Singh, assistant professor of political science at Punjabi University, Patiala. He added, "As the movement is led by rich peasants, it is obvious that the leadership of these unions will raise only those demands that would gain temporary economic benefits. Such a leadership never believes in finding long-term solution to farm crisis."
Noted economist Sucha Singh Gill, senior professor at the Centre for Research Rural and Industrial Development (CRRID), Chandigarh, said devising innovations were not at all on agenda of peasant leadership of Punjab. "Some peasant organizations are led by arhatiyas (commission agents) and big landlords. They are not interested in such alternatives. Others, who are being led by genuine leaders, feel that they would innovate alternative models only after revolution," said Gill, who was earlier director-general of CRRID.
He said the alternative agriculture model followed by Dalits in over 18 villages of Sangrur district, who organized themselves in collectives and begun cooperative farming, could be worth noting for the peasants at large. "Peasant organizations of Punjab need to learn from Dalits of Sangrur. Farmer outfits hail co-operative farming, but they have not introduced this model in any village so far. On the other hand, Dalits have shown remarkable results in co-operative farming," said Prof Gill.
Peasant leaders, however, maintain that given the gravity of economic crisis that Punjab's peasantry was battling with, demands to avail economic benefits couldn't be bypassed at any cost. "Agriculture sector boom due to Green Revolution got saturated in the early 1980s. Since then, crisis of peasantry in Punjab is mounting with each passing year. Such agitations are meant for farmers' survival. Only such agitations can give birth to further movements that would bring qualitative systemic changes vis-à-vis farm policies. Agitations on economic demands are basic, but unavoidable," said Jagmohan Singh, general secretary, Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta Dakaunda).