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: 150
 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: 151
 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]
LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Tracing the economic roots of discontent among farmers -Roshan Kishore

Tracing the economic roots of discontent among farmers -Roshan Kishore

Share this article Share this article
published Published on Jan 29, 2018   modified Modified on Jan 29, 2018
-Hindustan Times

Farmers have experienced a growing mismatch between their production efforts and incomes under the Narendra Modi government.

The coming union budget will have to find a balance between two contradictory FDs: farm-distress and fiscal discipline. The choice is not going to be an easy one.

Ignoring farm-distress in the last full-fledged budget before elections could be politically suicidal. Meanwhile, there are at least two things that could make the government slip on the fiscal front. Rising oil prices have increased upside risks to inflation. Tightening of global interest rates means that the government’s borrowing costs are likely to increase too. A higher fiscal deficit would require more government borrowing.

What the government could do to balance these contradictory objectives and how it will actually do this is an answer best left to post-budget analysis. Why did things come to such a pass is a better question to ask at this moment.

Monsoon performance is still a major determinant of agricultural performance in India. The first two years of this government were rainfall deficient years. In this context, is it fair to blame the government for poor agricultural growth?

This government lists demonetisation and Goods and Services Tax (GST) as its biggest reform measures. Both of them have direct bearings on the tax-structure. Why the concern on fiscal front then? What has been the impact of these two measures on the government’s revenue generation ability?

This two-part series will try to answer these two questions.

The rural discontent story has a counter-intuitive element to it: 2014-15 and 2015-16 were rainfall deficient years. Year-on-year growth in agricultural Gross Value Added (GVA) at constant prices was -0.19% and 0.69% in these two years. Farm growth has performed better in the third and fourth years of the government. Annual agricultural GVA growth for 2016-17 and 2017-18 is 4.9% and 2.1%. Ironically, the farm-distress narrative has been stronger in the latter phase. The BJP’s poor showing in rural Gujarat and the mushrooming of farmer-protests in many states supports this view. Initially, the price crash due to post-demonetisation cash squeeze was seen as the reason, but there is no shortage of cash in the economy now. Why are farmers still angry? Is there more to the farm-distress story under the present government than demonetisation? The short answer is yes.

Farmers have experienced a growing mismatch between their production efforts and incomes under the present government.

Please click here to read more.

Hindustan Times, 29 January, 2018, https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/tracing-the-economic-roots-of-discontent-among-farmers/story-MBYU6vbDJQRmPn9pjmsygL.html


Related Articles

 

Write Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

Video Archives

Archives

share on Facebook
Twitter
RSS
Feedback
Read Later

Contact Form

Please enter security code
      Close