Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 73
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 74
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
Notice (8): Undefined variable: urlPrefix [APP/Template/Layout/printlayout.ctp, line 8]latest-news-updates/mandsaur-agitation-how-demonetisation-brought-mp-farmers-onto-streets-aman-sethi-and-punya-priya-mitra-4682041.html"/> LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Mandsaur agitation: How demonetisation brought MP farmers onto streets -Aman Sethi and Punya Priya Mitra | Im4change.org
Resource centre on India's rural distress
 
 

Mandsaur agitation: How demonetisation brought MP farmers onto streets -Aman Sethi and Punya Priya Mitra

-Hindustan Times

In Mandsaur, demonetisation has disrupted every aspect of the rural economy – land markets, credit networks, procurement, and crop prices.

Mandsaur (Madhya Pradesh):
Traders rued their burnt shops, farmers mourned the death of their sons to police bullets; but as four days of violence drew to a close, both sides could only speak of one thing: demonetisation.

“Notebandi destroyed the trust between farmer and trader,” said Sunil Ghatiya, a soybean trader in Mandsaur’s Pipliya Mandi, “It finished off our market.”

“The traders exploited us,” said Dinesh Patidar, whose son Abhishek was killed when police opened fire on farmers demanding loan waivers and better prices for their crops, “They knew the farmers were desperate for cash.” The Modi government insists the economy has weathered the shock of demonetisation of 86% of India’s currency on 8 November last year, even as evidence to the contrary piles up and economists say they lack the tools to isolate its effects.

In Mandsaur, where four days of rioting resulted in the deaths of five farmers and the destruction of crops, farms, shops, and trucks, the policy’s effects are visible: demonetisation has disrupted every aspect of the rural economy – land markets, credit networks, procurement, and crop prices. “A farmer sells when he needs cash immediately – for a wedding, a funeral, to pay a loan,” said Madan Lal Viswakarma, “But after notebandi, traders at the government-run markets only pay by cheque.”

The cheques take 20 days to clear, Madan Lal said, and then the banks have no currency to give. “If you want cash, the traders beat down your price, and charge two rupees on every hundred they pay,” he said.

The quest for cash, Lakshmi Narayan Viswakarma said, had pushed farmers deeper into debt.

“At harvest, everyone rushes to sell so they can pay back their loans,” he said, explaining that money lenders lend at 2% per month, or 24% a year, and settle all accounts in cash. Those who can’t pay, like farmer Dinesh Patidar, are forced to sell their land.

“But land prices have halved, from Rs 5 lakh per bigha, to Rs 2.5 lakh per bigha,” said Patidar. “After notebandi, no one has the cash to buy land,” he added.

Please click here to read more.