March 9, 2016
Sukhendu Sekhar Roy speaks on the Short Duration Discussion on prevailing agrarian crisis in the country
Sir, with your kind permission, I would like to speak in Bengali. Before that, I will speak a few lines in English. Some figures have been given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture in the other House on 1st March, 2016 in reply to Unstarred Question No.913 and it appears from the reply that the total farmers suicide cases reported during 2015 all over the country are only 1,690, and out of which 725 farmers committed suicide in Maharashtra alone. But one report published in The Hindu on 14th January, 2016, inter alia, states that, and I quote one line with your permission, “The data obtained from the Government shows Vidarbha was the worst hit last year, with around 1,541 farmers from Amravati and Nagpur division committing suicides.”
Yeh Government data ka ullekh karke bol rahe hai, yeh Sarkar ki taraf se kuchh alag hai, jisme asman-zamin ka fark hai.
Now, Sir, I would like to switch over to Bengali in view of the fact that * Sir, the condition of the farmers engaged in jute cultivation in our State has become precarious owing to the wrong policies adopted by the Central government. Sir, I want to tell that just before the new government was formed, BJP declared on page 28 of its election manifesto, “BJP will take steps to enhance the profitability in agriculture by ensuring a minimum 50 per cent profit over the cost of production.” Many Hon’ble Members said that the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for jute has no scientific basis for evaluation. No scientific system is being followed to fix Minimum Support Price, Sir; it is rather being done in a haphazard way. MSP is being fixed on the data provided by different organizations and agencies. Even there is no scientific assessment on the quantum of jute farming and production in West Bengal – Jute Corporation of India provides some data, Jute Baler’s Association gives another data and IJMA provides yet another differing account. So I appeal to the government through you, Sir, to assess the reasons why jute production is alarmingly decreasing in our State. It is not a matter that concerns West Bengal only; there are 7 States in India where cultivation of jute has been going on for centuries together. Jute is being cultivated across 8 lakh hectares of land in our State and as you know well, Sir, jute is an essential commodity. There are 77 jute mills spread across the country. Iam happy to state that the oldest jute mill of the country and also the largest number of jute mills can be found in West Bengal. Unfortunately, Sir, the government has not been providing adequate Minimum Support Price for jute and so, thousands of jute industry workers and jute farmers along with their families are languishing in a terrible pool of distress. But the government did not pay heed to their distress. I would request the government through you, Sir, to fix the Minimum Support Price for jute at a level higher than the ‘mandi’ or market price so that the farmers feel encouraged to cultivate and produce more jute. During the last 2 years, the Minimum Support Price for jute was at such a low level and added to that the price of jute dipped in such a way that the jute growers had no other option than to agree to distress sells. So our Hon’ble Chief Minister Ms. Mamata Banerjee provided an additional compensation of Rs.500 per quintal to the jute cultivators. We had repeatedly appealed to the Central government at that time but it fell on deaf ears.
So once again I take this opportunity to request the government through you Sir, to fix the Minimum Support Price of jute above the ‘mandi’ price or market price. It should not be applicable to our State only; it should rather be applicable to all 7 jute-producing States of the country. I want to stress the fact that the Minimum Support Price announced for this season too is not all adequate. The condition has turned more unbearable because a group of jute mill owners have hiked the price of raw jute in an artificial way; they have artificially created a crisis of jute availability and have been deceiving the jute farmers. We cannot tolerate the unfair means by which these jute mill owners are making profit. We appeal to the government through you, Sir that the Minimum Support Price of jute must be increased to a level above the market price; otherwise the growers will not take interest in cultivation of raw jute.
Sir, in conclusion let me say that BJP had declared in its manifesto – I am quoting from the manifesto of the BJP – “Genetically modified food will not be allowed without full scientific evaluation.” Yet we do not know what kind of evaluation is being done on GM crop. Public in general has been kept in the dark on this aspect. All the information regarding evaluation should be published in the website of the Ministry of Agriculture so that public can become aware of the evaluation and they can voice their opinion about GM crop and take decisive steps in choosing the right one. The farmer community of the country should be consulted before taking any decision on GM crop; otherwise we will face similar kind of crisis that saw widespread destruction due to cultivation of Bt cotton in Vidarbha region in Maharashtra. The farmers of the country will have no choice other than committing suicide like the farmers in Vidarbha – we can never tolerate this kind of wretched condition. So I appeal through you to the government to make public all the information regarding scientific evaluation of GM crop.
Thank you, Sir.
