- "23 farmers commit suicide in hailstorm-hit Maharashtra villages"
- " MUMBAI: Gross non-performing assets (NPAs) of 40 listed banks shot up by 35.2% or Rs 63,386 crore for the nine months ending December 2013 to cross the Rs 2.4 lakh crore mark. This jump of 35.2% was much higher than the 27% rise witnessed in the first six months of 2013-14 according to a study done by NPAsource.com, a portal which focuses on resolution of stressed assets.
Ten out of the 40 listed banks accounted for nearly 70% of the total gross NPAs of Rs 2.43 lakh crore according to the NPAsource.com study. The State Bank of India at 28% and Rs 67,799 crore has the largest share in the total gross NPAs of the 40 listed banks as per the table given above. Next is Punjab National Bank with 7% share at Rs 16,596 crore of gross NPAs, followed by Bank of Baroda and Central Bank of India with 5% share each.
As of December 31, 2013, Bank of Maharashtra posted the largest increase in gross NPAs of 209% at Rs 3516 crore from Rs 1138 crore as of March 31, 2013. The United Bank reported a 188% jump in gross NPAs at Rs 8546 crore at end of Q3. Eleven banks posted a 50% plus growth in their gross NPAs for the nine months ending December 31, 2013. "
Dear friends,
In our country every gain or loss is only in lakhs (one hundred thousand) . Whether it is the road accidents or crop failures and the resultant farmers' suicides. You might have glanced at the news headlines given above. Here a failed industry owner flourishes but a failed farmer perishes. What a great nation! Farmers sow seeds but reap debts. Simple reason is that they borrow for cultivating their land holdings. Yes at an exorbitant interest rates. Farmers have to address this urgently.
The thinking of committing suicides for a mere crop failure is ignorance concealed in false pride and self pity. Being a farmer I'm aware of the vagaries of nature. But expecting the nature to be on our side always is unrealistic. Still agriculture is not an industry here. Hence cultivating large chunks of lands after big borrowings must be avoided. Without assured water sources going for large area under crops too is risky. In our country with the way the pricing mechanism works out , a farmer can survive but can't expect growth. Simply he can grow crops but can not grow.
Today's top most CEO's of the industries in India grew in a period of just 20 years. They are worth billions of dollars. It is not possible in agriculture. In states like Punjab and Haryana where assured water sources are there farmers can take risk. But not in Maharashtra where the lands are mostly rain fed.
Need of Change in Attitude.
At least after the arrival of Televisions our farmers must have seen our politicians/ leaders who were accused of corruption and some of them sent to jails too. Have we ever seen a tinge of sadness on their faces even once? NEVER. They keep smiling. In fact each such leader becomes more and more popular and prosperous. All of them were returned as law makers by their electorate with a thumping majority, repeatedly.
When this is the culture of our nation what is the need for our farmers to commit suicides in thousands every year just because they have to repay loans to the banks or money lenders. Apart from this attitudinal change many things such as farmers' co operatives and the right to fix prices to be given to farmers.
Our banks too have got a noble way of punishing the poor farmers by confiscating their movable and immovable assets on failing to repay and publish their photographs with the guarantors photos too for small loans. But if the borrower happens to be a big industrialist and the loss runs into crores means we won't get even the defaulters' names. Let God bless the rich!
For last few years every other day we read the news of farmers committing suicides. The
The thinking of committing suicides for a mere crop failure is ignorance concealed in false pride and self pity. Being a farmer I'm aware of the vagaries of nature. But expecting the nature to be on our side always is unrealistic. Still agriculture is not an industry here. Hence cultivating large chunks of lands after big borrowings must be avoided. Without assured water sources going for large area under crops too is risky. In our country with the way the pricing mechanism works out , a farmer can survive but can't expect growth. Simply he can grow crops but can not grow.
Today's top most CEO's of the industries in India grew in a period of just 20 years. They are worth billions of dollars. It is not possible in agriculture. In states like Punjab and Haryana where assured water sources are there farmers can take risk. But not in Maharashtra where the lands are mostly rain fed.
- "Nandan Nilekani in 1978 was with just Rs 200 in his pocket. Mr Nilekani and his family today have assets worth nearly Rs 8,000 crore. "
- Ambani started by working with a firm in Yemen in the 1950s and today they are worth 60 billion U.S dollars"
Need of Change in Attitude.
At least after the arrival of Televisions our farmers must have seen our politicians/ leaders who were accused of corruption and some of them sent to jails too. Have we ever seen a tinge of sadness on their faces even once? NEVER. They keep smiling. In fact each such leader becomes more and more popular and prosperous. All of them were returned as law makers by their electorate with a thumping majority, repeatedly.
When this is the culture of our nation what is the need for our farmers to commit suicides in thousands every year just because they have to repay loans to the banks or money lenders. Apart from this attitudinal change many things such as farmers' co operatives and the right to fix prices to be given to farmers.
Our banks too have got a noble way of punishing the poor farmers by confiscating their movable and immovable assets on failing to repay and publish their photographs with the guarantors photos too for small loans. But if the borrower happens to be a big industrialist and the loss runs into crores means we won't get even the defaulters' names. Let God bless the rich!
For last few years every other day we read the news of farmers committing suicides. The
context the actual problems being faced are to be understood and analysed. Innovative
remedies have to be thought of which are to be implemented with sincerity by the
Government and the implementing agencies, along with putting in place ways to rehabilitate
the affected farmers.
- Design and delivery system of credit should be strengthened.
- Rescheduling of loans and waiving of interest up to two years where farmers are affected by natural calamities in rain fed areas.
- Creation of `Moneylenders Debt Redemption Fund’.
- Timely and hassle free delivery of credit by reducing transaction costs.
- Increase in deployment of Rural Infrastructure Development Fund. (RIDF)
- Government should make efforts to facilitate the Formation of Federation of SHGs of small and marginal farmers.
- Allocation for expenditure on health of distress farmers and their family members.
- Health Insurance Scheme `for the benefit of farmer’s livelihood.
- Better monitoring and implementation of the existing package of relief.
- Cycles of debt and destitution led to suicide of the head of the family. The survivors were reduced to landlessness due to debt. Among those committed included medium and large landowners who were also affected by a high level of un-payable debt.
- Farmers did not have access to extension machinery of the government in giving sound information on how to deal with pests and declining productivity of land. Farmers are dependent on agents of fertiliser and pesticide companies for advice on seeds and crop care. The information base of the farmers is, thus, limited to the data provided by the agents and their products. A false perception of prosperity is being created in the minds of the cultivators that prompt them to take serious risks in terms of fertiliser-based cropping pattern.
- Minimum Support Price has not been available to all farmers, particularly the small and marginal farmers.
- Causes common across categories were:
- Repeated crop failure,
- Inability to meet the rising cost of production (farmers have been spending more on fertilisers even while crop performance has been showing a declining trend), and
- Indebtedness due to a host of reasons ranging from a daughter's marriage to digging a well which eventually bore no water,
- These causes arose out of a larger picture of globalisation & the resultant
- neglect of agricultural community in India
- Short-term suggestions/ Recommendations for immediate relief and rehabilitations:
- ƒImmediate (adequate) compensation given on a priority basis to families of victims;
- ƒEx-gratia payment of Rs.2.5 lakh for families to meet loan repayments and live with some level of dignity;
- ƒComprehensive insurance safety net;
- ƒRevamping of extension services in lines with e-choupals; and ,
- ƒDissemination of information such as agricultural prices and methods of low-cost
- organic farming.
- Long-term recommendations :
- ƒFundamental policy changes to factor in the fluctuating production cost in the
- Minimum Support Price mechanism;
- ƒTo integrate surface and groundwater irrigation schemes and integrate the line departments in order that the schemes are implemented efficiently;
- Policy changes to focus on farmers rather than seed and fertilizer corporations; and
- ƒSet up of a commission with statutory powers that takes decisions on issues such as genetic modification technology and its impact on Indian agriculture, agriculture
- Pricing policy and cropping pattern.
Source:Nabard
No comments:
Post a Comment