(Photo by Randeep Maddoke via Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 4.0)
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In 2020, we witnessed one of the largest protests in recorded history. This protest, referred to as the Farmers’ Protest, occurred when farmers marched to Delhi to challenge recently-passed agricultural farm laws that would impact many farmers’ livelihoods and financial security. The Farmers’ Protest took place from August 2020 to December 2021 and had an astonishing 250 million people from all over India protesting for 24 hours, not to mention tremendous international support.
Now, farmers are protesting again that the government should fulfill their original promises. However, unlike the first time, these protests are receiving little media attention, and farmers are increasingly met with violence and deadlocked discussions with the government.
An Indian Farmer’s Struggles
(Photo by Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT via Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0)
Over 20% of farmers live under the poverty line in India, although this number might be greater. To sustain their livelihoods, many farmers take out loans — in India, a whopping 50% of farmers are indebted to money lenders in some way. Farmers are indebted because farming is a costly industry; farmers need equipment, expensive fertilizers, and more to run their farms. Often, farmers take loans out but barely break even when the harvest season is over.
So, why do farmers take out loans from money lenders rather than through official channels like the bank? Caste-based discrimination is one reason. Caste is a prevalent form of “social stratification” that extends into the financial sector. In particular, Dalits are actively discriminated against when applying for loans and are even discouraged from trying.
Banks being cautious is another reason why farmers approach informal sources. According to Anil Gupta, an analyst at ICRA, “There is a reluctance to lend in the agri segment due to poor asset quality, as a result banks are more keen to lend if there is gold as collateral, but otherwise fresh lending in the segment has been tepid.”
Finally, accessibility also drives farmers to money lenders. In numerous rural villages, there are no closely accessible formal institutions, and the process of obtaining loans can be difficult; farmers must have documents proving they have a right over their land, and many rural farmers do not have these papers. For these reasons, many farmers are stuck dealing with informal channels that offer readily available high-interest loans, thus leading to further poverty.
Due to some of these barriers, suicide rates are very high among farmers. Just from 2014 to 2022, an estimated 100,474 farmers took their own lives. Therefore, farmers were struggling long before the protests began in 2020.
Farm Laws: An Executive Order
When the Indian government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, passed three farm laws that farmers believed would further negatively impact their lives, the protests began.
Modi’s executive order approved three farm laws which bypassed proper consultation and debate. Previously, farmers had to sell crops at government-regulated marketplaces with intermediaries, such as storage agents, commission agents, and more, negotiating deals between farmers and the government. However, with the farm laws, farmers could directly negotiate prices with agribusinesses instead.
Although the laws sounded good in theory, farmers worried they could leave them vulnerable to exploitation. Specifically, farmers worried that the laws would eradicate minimum support price (MSP). MSP ensures that farmers receive a minimum guaranteed price for their products at these marketplaces — a safety net that supports farmers even during critical market conditions.
MSP is by no means a perfect system; however, it ensures farmers some stability. Critics argue that MSP would severely limit finances for other social and economic initiatives. While this is true, completely removing a safety net many farmers rely on is dangerous. MSP determines the market price for certain crops, stabilizes prices, and guarantees income for farmers. The consequences of enforcing these farm laws are targeting a sector in India that is already struggling.
The 2020-2021 Farmers Protests
The suffering of farmers has been a long-standing crisis in India that continues to this day. Many farmers argue that the Modi government’s farm laws only seek to make an underprivileged population poorer. Arguably, after decades of frustration, these farm laws were the final straw for many farmers as they marched to Delhi to protest for their rights.
The protests began on a small scale in August, and soon, thousands of farmers started to march to New Delhi, the capital of India. The hope was that by marching to New Delhi, farmers could pressure the central government to repeal the farm laws. Many farmers were met with barricades, barbed wires, tear gas, batons, and water canons.
(Photo by Felton Davis via Flickr/CC BY 2.0)
After protesting in and around Delhi on national highways for almost a year and a half, Modi finally agreed to repeal his executive order in parliament, and farmers returned home. It was a hard-won battle, as many lives were lost along the way. According to Samyukt Kisan Morcha (a coalition of farmers’ unions), nearly 700 farmers and protestors lost their lives to suicide, extreme weather, illness incurred during the pandemic, violence, and more.
Why are Farmers Protesting Again in 2024?
So far, the government has failed to meet the farmers’ demands from the previous protest. Almost none of the talks with the government have yielded tangible results. Therefore, protests recommenced in February 2024 to hold the government accountable. Farmers’ demands this time include the original one, such as guaranteed MSP for all crops, monthly pensions for farmers over sixty, and land in the capital to honour fallen farmers after 2021.
As protestors made their way to New Delhi in February, authorities barricaded highways into the capital, causing many farmers to load onto crowded buses. Upon being barred from entering, farmers protested near the Shambhu border instead. Similar to the first protests, farmers were met with excessive force in the form of tear gas, metal pellets, and more; a young protestor, Shubhkaran Singh, had succumbed to a bullet wound to the head. Furthermore, the government in Haryana had imposed temporary internet restrictions. Most of those restricted included farm leaders, journalists, and anyone supporting the farmers. Despite all this, the farmers said they are here to stay until their demands have been met.
Preparing food at a protest site (Photo by Ravan Khosa via Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 4.0)
Where Do We Stand Today?
India was headed into a major election season when the protests were revived. Many farmers maintained that they would not vote for Modi after his treatment, which makes up a sizable portion of the population. However, Modi is back as Prime Minister as of early June, and farmers remain in a deadlock with discussions. Following the election results, there has been little news about their movements, even though farmers maintained they will continue to protest.
Just like in India, there are also protests erupting worldwide. Farmers around the world are protesting, and one common denominator between them is burdensome policies enacted by their governments. For example, farmers in the European Union are mobilizing to protest “low incomes, cheap food imports and burdensome red tape.” The overarching theme here is also a growing distrust between farmers, who feel excluded from policy processes and the government, which passes policies that directly impact farmers without considering the burden this will place on them.
Likewise, in India, there is a growing distrust between farmers and the government as the former feels betrayed by the farm laws and the deadlocked talks. The violence farmers face from the government and their attempts at censorship further worsen the distrust. While India’s existing agrarian system is imperfect, by implementing farm laws and not considering the farmers’ demands, India is well on its way to further upsetting an already suffering industry.
Looking Forward: What Can India Do For Their Farmers?
One way India can rectify this situation is by listening to and collaborating with farmers on policies that benefit both farmers and consumers. Ideally, these policies would also address the long-standing issues in India so that farmers are not trapped in endless debt and poverty. Some of these policies could include prioritizing farmers over large corporations and stressing the importance of human rights when developing new agrarian policies.
Farmers are integral to many economies worldwide and deserve to be treated respectfully without worrying about financial insecurity. As protests continue in India, it is important to monitor such events to show solidarity and provide hope to farmers as they fight for their rights.
Edited by Melanie Miles
