Farmers

The article is based on a primary survey carried out to ascertain the magnitude and determinants of deaths of farmers by suicide in six districts of Punjab. It recommends the provision of financial compensation to victim families, waiving of debt, and strengthening of public healthcare and education system as the main policy measures for addressing this tragic phenomenon.

The present study explores the scalability and feasibility of some of the major central government programmes, such as the Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay SanraksHan Abhiyan, the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi, and other possible methods of direct payments, by analysing their fiscal costs and physical storage requirements. Different models of price and income support have been discussed and a comparative picture has been drawn. The PM-AASHA and PM-KISAN are fiscally the most and the least expensive programmes. A judicious mix of policies is needed depending on the importance of the commodity in the public distribution system, adequacy of market demand, and whether the production is localised or limited.

Tracing the trajectory of the farmers’ movement against the farm laws, this article commends the victory of the farmers with the repeal of the black laws while also reflecting on the struggles that lie ahead.

The present paper relies on the census survey of the suicide-affected farmers’ households from the two most vulnerable districts of Maharashtra from 2014 to 2017 when the largest number of farmers’ suicide cases was reported after the 2008 farm debt waivers. A complex mix of social, economic, and psychological factors
play their role in translating into farmers’ suicide. The study covers the districts of Usmanabad from Marathwada and Yavatmal from the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, respectively. 

The incident in Lakhimpur Kheri marks a violent disregard for dissent and endangers democracy.