The sugarcane farmers gathered around a tree-shaded charpoy at Bhainswala village, a few kilometres from Shamli town in western Uttar Pradesh, share a common litany of woes — late payments, high input costs, the stray cattle menace — for which most blame the policies of the BJP government.
But when the discussion veers around to the Lok Sabha election, pandemonium breaks out among the villagers who will vote in the first phase on April 11. Some argue that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the only national leader who can protect the country. Another group yells that the Pulwama attack on a CRPF convoy last month was only being used by Mr. Modi to fuel his election rhetoric. “Show us evidence. Where is the proof?” screams a farmer, shaking his fist.
“Many people voted for the RLD (Rashtriya Lok Dal) candidate in the bypoll last year because of anger over farming issues,” admits Satinder Pal. “But this is a national election now, and we will vote on national issues, not on ganna [sugarcane].”
Not everyone agrees.
Grizzled landowner Kushal Pal says he will vote for the RLD candidate in hopes of a better deal for farmers. “We have not been paid since December, and that too only after we staged a hartal at the Shamli mill. The law says they must pay interest after 14 days’ delay, but this government is not enforcing that,” he says.
Pending payments in the village range from ₹50,000 to ₹15 lakh. “I have not seen one paisa this season,” agrees Harpal, a small Dalit farmer with just 1.5 acres of land. However, he is guarded about his voting choice, only saying he will go by the village consensus.
₹12,000 crore arrears
The State’s 117 sugar mills owe more than ₹12,000 crore to approximately 35 lakh registered sugarcane farming families. That vote bank was seen as a major reason for the BJP’s defeat in last June’s bypoll in the Kairana Lok Sabha constituency which includes Shamli district, at a time when pending arrears in the State had crossed ₹10,000 crore.
In the year since, both the Centre and State have approved multiple bailout packages to the sugar sector. But a glut in production and crashing prices have ensured the arrears are even higher this year.
At the Bhainswala chaupal, the farmers complain that labour, diesel, fertilizer and pesticide costs have all risen over the last few years, much faster than the government-determined price of cane.
“We spend at least ₹300 a quintal, and sell for only ₹325. Small farmers like me cannot always wait eight-nine months for payment from the mill, so we sell to the kholu [small jaggery makers] who will pay only ₹180 a quintal, but will give immediate cash,” says Parvinder, who has just five bighas of land, less than an acre.
Over the last few years, awara pashu or stray cattle have become the latest threat to farmers’ incomes.
For Ali Jaan, a Muslim cattle trader, the new government policies clubbed with vigilante gau rakshaks have deprived him of his entire livelihood. For his farmer neighbours — both Hindu and Muslim — the unproductive cattle left to roam free over fields have caused havoc to crops, with losses ranging from 30 to 80%.
“There was supposed to be a gaushala (cow shelter) here, but there are issues over the land. And who will pay for the cows in these shelters?” asks Satinder Pal, a die-hard BJP voter. “If gaushalas cannot be set up properly, farmers would prefer to go back to the old system. This government policy only causes losses for farmers.”
Note ban and after
At the nearby Sir Shadi Lal mill in Shamli, a long queue of tractor trolleys piled high with harvested cane winds its way towards the sale point.
Kahu Ram, who has 100 receipts and more than ₹5 lakh in pending arrears, has become disillusioned with the government’s policies.
“Under the earlier government, we used to get paid in 15-20 days. Now, it takes months. Those who have illness or a marriage in the family cannot wait for months,” he says. “What development are they talking about? Look at the potholes on the road to this place,” he adds. “After notebandi [or demonetisation], the price of land in villages has crashed. They are mad people. I voted for Modi five years ago, but now I have had enough.”
On the other hand, Sukhbir Singh who has ₹1.6 lakh in pending arrears, and has not received any benefit from a promised loan waiver, intends to vote for the BJP anyway. “Unlike other parties, the BJP is not for one caste, but the whole country. Modi has given India a strong international reputation,” says the Gadariya farmer, perched on top of his trolley.
He pauses and asks a bearded bystander if he is a Muslim. On being assured that the man is a Hindu, he adds: “Earlier, the Hindus were scared of Muslims who dominated this area. But Modi has made our Hindu community strong.”
Mr. Singh is, however, in favour of finding loopholes in the cattle trading rules that have led to stray cattle ravaging his crops. “Quietly, slaughter is happening in Muslim areas now. It is better to let it happen,” he says.
Published - April 07, 2019 01:04 am IST
