OUR FARMER FRIENDS

Our rural friends account for more than half of India's population but are a decisive factor in India's politics. As most of us city slickers do not understand the rural mind we find ourselves constantly confused by rural thinking that is so much a part of Indian politics.

The new government has focussed on rural India as a high priority area. The former deputy prime minister. Mr. Devi Lal, was quite correct in stating that India's urban elite do not understand rural India and its problems. Policy makers, bureaucrats, journalists intellectuals and others may have responded by trying to address themselves to this subject, but many of them have hazy or romantic ideas about the real aspirations of our rural masses.

Most city folk imagine the farmer to be some kind of noble savage. Under his grubby exterior… a heart of gold. He is popularly visualised as simple, humble, downtrodden, exploited, stupid, illiterate, though a hard-working fellow, who valiantly struggles against the awesome odds of erratic rains, infertile soils, exploitation by tyrannical landlords and heartless authorities.

Those who have interacted with the farmer, however, know that he can both be noble and savage. He may courageously offer his life for his landlord but also unhesitatingly steal half his crop. He will genuinely rejoice at his landlord's daughter's wedding or weep at his funeral but, will with equal sincerity steal whatever he feels the landlord does not actually need.

His attitude to the government is an extension of his attitude to his landlord. Historically, the government has always been a super landlord. Greek, Mughal, British or Hindu, rulers have all been equally distant foreign entities who ultimately owned their lands through many layers of officials who were regarded both as sources as well as objects of exploitation.

When banks first went into rural credit, the farmers found them easy game and recoveries were disastrous. It was only later when the bank agents established personal bonds and pleaded that their own jobs were at risk that the same poor farmers demonstrated their sense of honour and real financial strength. Farmers have taken full advantage of the recent populist rural policies and rural credit is in a shambles today.

The second characteristic of farmers is that they are the world's greatest complainers. Talk to any farmer, standing beside a bumper crop and you will have to listen to a long tale of sorrow. The problems with labour, insects, fungus, hail and rain or the lack of it and everything under the sun. Farming is a risky business especially in India's climate with its unpredictable floods and droughts. Therefore the farmer cannot be blamed for fearing the evil eye if he speaks too soon.

Self-confidence and pride beneath the humility is common in farmers. The same landless labourer who speaks of his sorrows, if encouraged, will show an almost arrogant disregard for his land lord, the local authorities or even for the opportunities of more income from more work. Humility diminishes inversely with rising caste hierarchy. They are humble whenever in a disadvantageous position, but arrogant when in a position of strength.

Despite their illiteracy, farmers are remarkably educated about the factors that affect their lives. It suits them to pretend to be ignorant fools till they have lulled visiting researchers, officials of other city slickers to reveal whether they have anything to offer or exploit. Then their crafty commonsense backed with a surprising fund of knowledge appears.

They have learned complex and difficult subjects like their caste system, religious mythology, politics and agriculture mostly through a non-formal system of learning. Yet they can quickly understand knowledge about tractors, trucks, pumps, videos and television sets. Their sense for finance is sharp and they understand the principles of diminishing marginal returns and opportunity costs better than their urban cousins. Though illiterate they are not uneducated. By contrast, it is in our cities that we find literates who are uneducated.

There are, however, limited horizons to a farmer's vision. India's cane lobby agitated for and gained a near doubling of cane prices this year. However, only 3% of cultivators grow cane so 97% farmers had to pay more for their gur and sugar. The generous prices for wheat and rice benefited those in the irrigated areas but hurt 70% farmers in the poorer hill and dryland areas. Farmers are not, therefore the best judges of all farmer’s interests in matters of legislation, planning or policy.

Rural poverty has become India's greatest national asset. Politicians and administrators encourage cultivators and promote their tales of woe. A chain of begging bowls stretches from the villages to the blocks, to the districts, to the state capitals, to the centre and then to the World Bank or other foreign benefactors. The sorrows are exaggerated at each stage, just as the benefits are siphoned off at each stage. No one actually wants to break this chain of bounty by abolishing poverty.

Ninety-two million cultivators and their households account for just over half the rural population but their surplus supports 55 million agricultural workers and almost as many millions in local crafts, trades and services. This wealth accounts for nearly half of India's national product, and the farmer's purchasing power is the main engine for industrial growth. The productivity of land is however low. Seventy eight per cent of India's cultivators are small with less than two hectares but they only control 28% of the land. In fact, their actual hold is much less. India may be a land of small farmers but it is not a land of small farms. Huge holdings in big farms survive despite land ceiling laws.

The powerful lobby of big farmers dominates politics at the centre and in the states and control the local administration in the districts. In the name of the poor farmers, they have succeeded in getting huge grants and subsidies which are paid for by the overtaxed urban sectors. Whoever said farmers were simple?

Murad Ali Baig

The Times of India 1991