Rajasthan Polls | Must Soften the Blow Farmers Face: Sachin Pilot

Speaking exclusively to BloombergQuint’s Tamanna Imamdar, Rajasthan Congress President Sachin Pilot took a dig at the ruling BJP government in the state for turning a blind eye to the distress of farmers in Rajasthan.

We have seen, especially for garlic farmers, a huge issue taking place. You are pointing out what this government has not implemented well enough. But what would you do instead? Is there a blueprint in place?

There are two things. When you spend four years in government and almost 200 farmers commit suicide, then on your way out you start clutching at straws. You start making policy announcements.

Here is the funny thing. Half an hour ago before the election code of conduct actually kicked in in Rajasthan, Vasundhara ji made some announcements about electricity waivers for farmers. She knows, I know, that the whole state knows that it is never going to be implemented because, A) they won’t come back to power, and B) it is something that is done half an hour before the code of conduct is actually in place.

What was she has been doing for 4 years, 11 months and 29 days? If you want to improve the agricultural set up in the state, the ecosystem needs to be re-engineered. Access to markets, seeds, electricity, credit facilities, all of this work in tangent. You can’t make knee-jerk reactions. And farm loan waivers also cannot be the only thing the farmers want. They want a fresh start no doubt, but to my mind agriculture should be the priority for the first day of office of the new government as opposed to the last thing they do while in office.

Is there a blueprint in mind?

Yes. We have everything very clearly lined out. We think it will take a few years to get translated into real policies on the ground, but the blueprint is ready. The first thing we need to do is (to) soften the blow that the farmers of Rajasthan face.

So that’s the farm loan waiver bit?

We will organise that as soon as we get a chance to be in power. Second is that farmers of Rajasthan are very hardworking, but even the announcement of MSP are just announcements. On the ground, when the agencies are told to procure crops and grains, it doesn’t happen. They are made to wait 3-4 days and they get sucked into hoarders and black marketeers. So, implementation is also important if not more than the policy itself. Announcing MSP sounds very good but how much of the crop is being lifted at that price.

Higher MSP and farm loan waivers have been the combination for several state governments and central governments including previous UPA governments. Implementation has been patchy in all cases. So, you are basically saying that you are going to try the same things and try and do them better?

I am going to try and see that whatever is said is actually done. There is a difference between what the governments try, governments announce but what is happening in mandis, ground and markets is a totally different story. That’s part one.

There has to be some systematic change also. The crop pattern, the choice of crop, the technology use and sometimes the farmer gets a pittance for its produce and the end consumer ends up paying 20 times the price. That is not the fault of the farmer or consumer. It is the gap in the middle that needs to be sorted out.

Who will do that? It is up to the government to do it. Sadly, there are some vested interests which keep the government from doing such things. They need dramatic actions. Every state has the power to take action against these people who enhance the price, hoard commodities and sell at a windfall. It is not the fault of farmers. Consumer feels that it is inflation. Farmers itself gets Rs 3-4 for a kg of tomatoes. But what we pay in the market is Rs 30-50. So there is a problem there. It is not about not knowing what it is, it’s about how much will you have,  how much time and effort you are willing to spend to resolve this particular issue.