About 10 to 15% of gold is used in various applications that use its special properties. Its corrosion-resistant, static-free electrical conductivity process is used in small amounts in about 1.5 billion smartphones sold till date. It is also used in other electronic devices where efficient, high performance is required such as mounting microprocessors and memory chips onto the computer motherboards. Navigation in car and mobile phone depend on the Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites which have gold-plated component to protect them from ultraviolet light and X-ray corrosion.

Silver has the lowest contact resistance and the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of all metals which makes it essential in components of Green Technologies. Silver is needed for solar panels, fast charging, in-road applications and certain types of electrodes. It is used in circuit boards and some batteries where the speed of operation exceeds that which provides copper.

Today 40% platinum, 80% palladium and 80% rhodium are used as catalyst converters for car-bus-truck and other industrial processes. Due to platinum’s high heat resistance, its melting point is 1770°C and wear-resistant properties, it is used for contact points of spark plugs which last twice as long as conventional copper spark plugs. In health care, platinum is used in pacemakers and defibrillators. Platinum compounds are used in chemotherapy to prevent cancer.

Precious metals, their composite products and the products obtained as a result of their use really make our lives more enjoyable, safer, more productive and healthier. They enable us to have a cleaner environment today and their importance is increasing as Europe moves the world towards a low-carbon economy.

Countries With Largest Gold and Silver Reserves

In 2010, central banks around the world went from gold net sellers to gold net buyers. In 2019, public sector activity declined by 1% from the previous year, with central banks adding 650.3 tons. This is slightly less than in 2018, when banks purchased 656.2 tons. 15 Central banks made net purchases of one ton or more in 2019, highlighting the continuous demand for billion globally. Turkey was the number one buyer, adding 159 tons to reserves. Poland made the single largest purchase for the year when it bought 94.9 tons in June.

Below are top 10 countries with the largest gold holdings, starting with the Netherlands, which currently surpasses India:

Netherlands

Tons: 612.5

Percent of foreign reserves 71.4%

India

Tons: 657.7

Percent of foreign reserves: 7.5%

Not surprisingly, the Reserve Bank of India has one of the largest gold reserves in the world. The South Asian country of 1.35 billion people is the second largest consumer of the precious metals and one of the reliable drivers of global demand.

Japan

Tones: 765.2

Percent of foreign reserves: 3.2%

Japan is the third largest economy in the world and yellow is the eighth largest stockholder.

Switzerland

Tons: 1,040.0

Percent of foreign reserves: 6.5%

Seventh is Switzerland, which has the world’s largest gold reserves per capita. During World War II, the neutral country became the center of the gold trade in Europe, trading with allies and Axis powers. Today, most of its gold is traded with Hong Kong and China.

China

Tons: 1,948.3

Percent foreign reserves: 3.4%

In the summer of 2015, the People’s Bank of China began buying gold on a monthly basis for the first time since 2009.

Russia

Tons: 2,299.9

Percent of foreign reserves: 23.0%

The Russian Central Bank has been the largest buyer of gold for the past seven years and the fifth largest reserve in 2018, surpassing China. In 2014, Russia bought 224 tons of bullion in an attempt to diversify from the US dollar, as relations with the west have increased since the annexation of the Crimean peninsula in mid-2014.

Silver has been classified as a technically precious metal, but has many industrial uses. And it is used in a variety of technologies and products that most people in the developed world use on a daily basis. In 2019, silver production rose to 27,000 worldwide.

United States

The United States is the tenth largest producer of silver. In 2019 it produced 980 metric tons of metal from three silver mines and nearly 40 other base and precious metal mining operations around the country.

Argentina

With the production of 1200 metric tons of silver in 2019, Argentina established a relationship with Bolivia for the ninth place in the list. Last year its production increased to 17.6 per cent.

South America

South America is ninth on the list, along with Bolivia, a country bordering Argentina. It produced 1,200 metric tons of silver in 2019, slightly more than the 1,19 metric tons produced in 2018. The country has many silver mines especially the Cerro Rico de Potosi which is estimated to still have large deposits of silver inside.

Chile

Chile produced 1300 metric tons in 2019, which was 1370 metric tons in 2018. The size of Chile is comparable to Texas and has an estimated 27,000 metric tons of silver reserves.

Australia

Australia is a country that has a relatively stable silver production level. The country produced 1400 metric tons in 2019, although it has the third largest silver reserves after Peru and Poland.

Poland

Poland produced 1700 metric tons of silver in 2019, up about 15% from 2018. Poland holds a unique place in the silver markets: despite being a small country the size of New Mexico, it has large silver reserves of 100,000 metric tons.

Mexico

The number one silver producing country is the Mexico. In 2019, the country produced 6,300 metric tons of the metal, an increase of 180 metric tons over the past year.

Role of Precious Metal in World Economy

Metal production and metal consumption are concentrated in a few countries but locations often overlap. China is a primary center for both consumption and production, which is reflected in global industrial production. Several individual entities, including several multinational and state-owned corporations, control large market shares to produce and refine the base metal. The issue of production is not just a complete story of the importance of gold; the gold mine represents an important source of employment.

South Africa has the largest employment at 146k, followed by Russia at 138K, China at about 98K, Australia at 32K and Indonesia at 19K.

Canada spent the most capital on gold production at about $2.5 billion, followed by the United States at about $2.5 billion, Australia at about $2.3 billion, South Africa at about $1.8 billion, and Russia at a little less than $1.8 billion.

The relationship between ongoing investment capital commitment and one-time expansionary investment capital is not so strong. For example, Canada saw businesses spend $2.2 billion on one-time expansion projects, compared to $395 million in ongoing capital expenditures. South African businesses have spent $1 billion on capital needs, while investing $759 million in one-time capital expenditures alone.

The importance of gold is fully usable and is reflected in the export industries. Overall jewelry contributes about 43 percent of the total global demand. This is followed by bars and currency demand at 29%, official banking sector at 12%, electronics at 7%, exchange traded funds and similar investment vehicles at 6%, industrial demand at 2%.

After a spectacular year, the precious metals are poised for further gains in 2021, overtaking silver, but analysts are wary of the potential for gold as the effects of the coronavirus fall on the global economy. In addition to supply shortages caused by the pandemic, gold and palladium prices have risen more than 20% this year, while silver has risen 47% and platinum 10%.

Physical gold demand was hit by the virus but reflects the investment demand of the world’s largest gold-backed exchange-trade fund, SPDR Gold Trust, which has recorded its largest annual profit of about 30% since 2009. A safe-haven asset like gold, but also an industrial metal used in products including solar panels, silver climbed from $18 an ounce in January to almost $30 in August before slipping to around $25. Most analysts expect the deficit to continue in 2021 as the global economy recovers and sales rebound.

People look for precious metals, especially in times of crisis. Many people bought both gold and silver in the 1970s due to high inflation. In fact, silver reacted twice as much as gold to those events. It has become a source of protection.

Silver may play second fiddle to gold, more expensive cousin. White metal has played a leading role in shaping the world economy from ancient Egypt to modern America. It was also an element of the military conflict that helped turn Japan into a global power before World War II. Both India and China have a long tradition of preserving silver. Gold is very rare and very expensive so almost everyone in India and China preserves their silver. China has been a huge importer of silver for many centuries, because they kept their net worth silver.

The most amazing thing about silver is the unintended consequences of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s pro silver 1930s. This is because the price of silver has dropped by 24 cents an ounce since the Great Depression. There has been a lot of pressure from Western mining states to raise silver prices again. And Franklin Roosevelt needed a Senate vote to pass his controversial New Deal program.

The problem is America was making its coins with silver. Dimes, quarters and half dollars were made with 90% silver. The United States is the largest user of silver. Soon both JFK and LBJ limited restricted the use of silver in currencies.

Silver was four times more valuable between 2008 and 2011 when the whole world was in big trouble. Silver then worked as an insurer.

Impact of Precious Metals on Indian Economy

In the recent past the gold price rush has been so fast that India can be compared to the recession in Greece. However, Indians’ lust for gold is no secret, but it has reached a point where the country’s economy and its currency are being traded as the precious metal has fallen directly for three years. The exchange of billions of dollars of gold from foreign traders resulted in Indian cash being sent abroad and the balance of funds being disrupted. As a result, imports have become expensive and international loans have become difficult to repay.

Gold imports directly affect India’s Current Account Deficit (CAD). The larger the CAD in terms of GDP, the greater the risk to the economy as a whole. The country is currently the world’s largest importer of gold, accounting for one-third of the total supply annually. Ex-finance Minister P.Chidambaram also appealed to Indian consumers to resist the temptation to buy gold, as it would have a more positive impact on the nation’s economy. According to the Reserve Bank of India, the current gold cost is fully met through imports as domestic production of gold has come down to a very low level. Although it is considered that CAD is more sustainable for India at 2.5 per cent to 3 per cent, it is much higher than in 2011, and external resilience has been weakened by gold.

The potentially large but dormant source is the gold locked up with the temples across India. The Tirupati Temple in Andhra Pradesh, Sree Padmanabhasway Temple, Guruvayur Temple and Sabarimala Temple in Kerala Pradesh are believed to have large amounts of gold. Sri Padmanabhasway Temple has a gold holding of thousands of billions of dollars.

Action Taken by Government and RBI regarding Precious Metals

With less national gold coming to India through the banking system, the government has tried to consider raising import duties and changing the rules to address the problem. However, the recent fall in gold prices has provided the most effective solution. In August 2013, the finance minister banned countries from selling gold coins to keep the increased current account deficits. Gold imports fell sharply in 2013 to $650 million, according to the government’s domestic shipments of precious metals.

RBI has introduced 80:20 formulas under which 80% of imports will be for domestic demand, while 20% of total imports will have to be re-exported in the form of jewellery.

Conclusion

The financial crisis in late 2008 rocked global markets. The tendency to increase the temptation to allocate to regular investors began. Gold is a frontier against all kinds of uncertainties. Gold comes to recover from the prevailing global and financial uncertainties. But the government needs to crack down on rising gold prices and help investors offset losses due to uncertainties in other markets. Gold is seen as one of the best options for protecting and saving the 1.24 billion people living in India. The rise in imports over the last few years has led to a rise in the price of gold and a weakening of the rupee against the dollar. The combined effect has helped to widen the current account deficit.

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Background of Bhopal Gas Tragedy

Any accident related to development gives lessons to mankind. Thus, the development activities should always be conducted by a responsible and disciplined administration. The horrific accident that took place on December 2 1984, in Bhopal still shakes the consciousness of the whole world.

In the 1960s, the year of green revolution advanced agricultural technology was used mainly to increase crop production with high-quality seeds, chemical, fertilizers and pesticides. In 1966, the production of pesticides in India was only 14,000 metric tons, which is significantly less than the requirement. Due to the sudden increase in demand for chemical pesticides and fertilizers UCC, a US-based company decided to set up a new agricultural division UCIL to capture the Indian market. Adopting the guidelines of the Indian Companies Act of 1956, UCC reduced its share of ownership from 100 % to 60% and registered the company UCIL in 1966. In 1968, the Indian government approved UCIL to build a fertilizer and pesticide plant in Bhopal, the capital of Madhya Pradesh and leased several hectares of land “Kali Parade”. The plant began in 1969 to produce raw fertilizers and concentrated chemical pesticides of American origin to make usable energy.

How Did This Happen?

In 1978, the UCC and UCN decided to produce SEVIN, a carbaryl pesticide used on cotton and other crops.  Resulting in methylamine reacting with phosgene to produce intermediate Methyl Isocyanate, which on reaction with 1-naphthol produces 1-carbaryl.

In 1975, the Government of India permitted UCIL to produce 5000 tons of carbaryl pesticides per year in the Bhopal project.

There were several accidents at UCIL plant before December 2 1984, mainly due to the leakage of gases like phosgene, MIC, hydrochloric acid, chloroform. But most of them caused minor damage to workers. Many animals died by drinking water from a stream just outside the plant polluted by the fluid runoff from the plant. From 7 to 22 October 1984, the available phosgene and methylamine at the Bhopal plant were used for the final batch of MIC production. The 40-ton and 20-ton MICs are kept in two separate tanks. MIC production is subsequently stopped for maintenance. According to the report, on 2nd December 1984, the safety component gas scrubber, flare, refrigeration was in standby or non-operative condition due to the shutdown of MIC production. It is important to note that the vent gas scrubber uses caustic soda to neutralize toxic gas exhaust from MIC plant and storage tanks.

It is not yet clear what actually happened on December 2, 1984. Various studies have shown that MIC was stored in two-layered steel tanks having code numbers E610, E611, and E619. During the shift change from 10:45 PM to 11 PM an employee noticed that the pressure in the E610 tank had increased to 10psi, which was fivefold higher than the pressure previously recorded. Around 11:30 a.m. some of the workers noticed burning sensation and tears in their eyes, some of them noticed liquid droplets along with yellowish white gas coming out of the MIC tank, the pressure of E610 was indicating its maximum reading of 55 psi. There was even no sign of caustic soda floor and a cloud of gas was seen from the scrubbers stack. Toxic gas is emitted around 12:40 AM. The fire water sprayers were used but in the water could not reach the gas cloud, which was formed on the top of the scrubber stack. Due to the refrigeration system being off, attempts to cool the tank E6410 also failed. As a result emission of MIC gas could not be stopped and this continued for 2 hours.

Around 1 AM the residence of the surrounding area suffered from suffocation and odour due to gas leakage. At around 3 AM the retired army brigadier requested a team of army engineers to evacuate the workers and people near UCIL plant because the incident occurred in the late-night hours and there were no professional disaster management team to deal with the accident which happened in a peaceful town. There were corpses of people and animals on the ground the victims were shifted to the city’s government hospital Hamidia Hospital and its adjoining Gandhi Medical College. But thousands of people lay on the ground of inside and outside of the hospital people could be seen shouting, crying and praying.

 There are other possible reasons behind this man made catastrophe-

• On the evening of 2nd December, the supervisor on duty transferred from different unit to MIC plant with which he was not acquainted. The supervisor instructed a group of untrained workers to connect the hose to the pipeline system and keep it running for several hours but forgot to instruct them to add slip binds. At midnight, a group of workers noticed MIC presence in the air and they thought this leakage is common, so no necessary action is required.
• Researchers from Chauhan Delhi Science Forum, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and Disaster Management Institute said that, MICs design deficiencies that played a significant role in Bhopal plant accident. At the Bhopal plant, a dangerous but cost-effective method of manufacturing of SEVIN was chosen. Instead of storing MIC in many small barrels, like the UCC plant in Virginia, it was stored long-term in two large tanks.

Nevertheless, UCC admitted in their own investigation report that most of the systems were not functioning on the night of the accident-

• Tank temperature was not logged.
• The vent gas scrubber was not in use.
• The cooling system was not in use.
• The concentration of chloroform in the production tank was too high.
• The tanks high-temperature alarm was not working.

Both the plant design and safety management were of lower quality than the UCC operated other plants in the US and Europe.

Consequences of the Bhopal Disaster

Short Term Effects:

Residents of the surroundings were suffering from coughing, vomiting and burning sensation in the respiratory organs and a feeling of suffocation those who arrived at the hospital had shortness of breath with water in their lungs and were suffering from convulsions. Women and neo-natal mortality rates increased by 200%. While the unofficial death figure in 1991 was stated as 3928, more probable that at least 8000 died within the first days.

Long Term Effects:

According to survivor’s organization and activists, thousands of people have become permanently disabled due to the toxic gas. In 1986 R. Krishnamurthy, chairman of the commission of inquiry into accident said that between 30,000- 40,000 people were found to be permanently disabled.

Socio-Economic Effects

The economic situation of the hardest affected part of the Bhopal population in 1994 can be categorized as dependence on physical and casual work for cattle for income and male offspring for support in old age. From a survey conducted in late December 1984 found that 75% of the workforce was incapable of work mainly due to breathlessness. Many families had lost their stock of cattle. 25000 families suffered from total or substantial loss of income.

Government’s Reactions Towards Bhopal Gas Tragedy

The survivors of the Bhopal gas tragedy are still fighting for compensation. This worst industrial disaster demonstrates what can happen when safety measures are overlooked. The government of India enacted the Bhopal gas leak act in March 1985 which enabled the government to act as legal representative to the victims.

The company in the government set aside $470 m in 1989 after the Bhopal court issued an arrest warrant against the chairman and chief executive of Union Carbide, Warren Anderson. The government of India has left a very small portion of the settlement amount to victims. Even today, the government has embezzled $370 million and the victims and their family are constantly campaigning for compensation.

Instead of helping the people of Bhopal, the Indian government has stepped up its efforts to look at the disaster lightly and insignificantly. Top officials in the state government asked truck drivers to carry a large number of dead buddies and dump them in the river and inside the forest.

The government had set up a number of hospitals but failed to take adequate measures such as lack of proper doctors, medicines, equipment to provide safe and appropriate treatment. Today in 2011, people are thoughtlessly given antibiotics, steroids, psychotropic and other potentially harmful medicines.

The government was ordered by the Supreme Court to provide safe water to areas adjacent to the Union Carbide factory but still some people there are being forced to drink contaminated water from hand pumps. The main reason that the ruling government, irrespective of political parties has been negligent towards the people of Bhopal that most of the victims are poor people who have no way to avail government benefits.

Warren Anderson, company’s chairman was arrested in the capital of Madhya Pradesh for four days after the disaster. But after few hours of house arrest, Anderson was released on bail and left the country. Several reports have suggested that PM Rajiv Gandhi’s government was pressured by the US to release Anderson. Human Rights activists have blamed successive governments for failing to secure the extradition of the man who was held responsible for the death of around 15,000 people.

36 Years of Bhopal Gas Tragedy: A Continuing Disaster

Immediately after the disaster, UCC began to try to absolve itself of the responsibility for the accident. Its principal tactic was to convict UCL, which was created and operated by an Indian subsidiary. On 7th December the toxic plume had barely cleared at the time of the filing of the multimillion-dollar lawsuit by the American attorney in the US court and its effect on Bhopal’s people was largely ignored.

In March 1985, the Government of India made provision for compensation under the Bhopal Gas Leak Disaster Act, but the UCC suppressed the number of victims. According to the Gas Strategy Relief and Rehabilitation Department, at the end of the October 2003, 554895 injured and 15,310 killed were compensated.

A local charity, Sambhavna Trust had released a report in 2015 after three years of research which indicated that many children still suffer from congenital defects whose parents were exposed to toxic gases and subsequently exposed to prolonged exposure to contaminated drinking water. It basically surveyed 100 thousand people from 20,000 households living in Blue Moon Colony, Shriram Nagar and Annu Nagar adjacent to the Union Carbide Factory. But the government has refused to accept the NGO’s claim that birth defects and other medical problems in children are caused by contaminated soil and water. The affected children also did not get any help from the state for their treatment and rehabilitation.

Like Mohammad Zaid, who is 17, but looks like a small child. His body and mind have not developed with his age. his father was one of the victim of Bhopal gas tragedy , who inhaled the deadly Methyl Isocyanate gas in 1984. The Chingari Trust provides psychological support to all these children so that they can lead a normal life.

According to the international environmental organization Green Peace, more than 20,000 people still live around the plant and are exposed to deadly chemicals through groundwater and soil contamination.

Conclusion

The two most important reasons for the Bhopal gas tragedy are the company’s policy regarding plant design and cost consolidation. Negligence of agency and government authorities after the accident had a detrimental effect on public life. The incident shows that the ethical analysis of industrial accidents does not focus on the individual but on the responsibilities of the company, including the national and local authorities. Continuously and increasingly when a society breaks the rules of ethics, it can be considered as an unethical society and the company follows these as correct. 36 years after the catastrophic Bhopal gas tragedy, the government still fails to do justice to the victims, according to organizations fighting for the rights of the victims. Several rights organizations have been, for decades, demanding harsh and exemplary punishment to those responsible for the tragedy, adequate compensation to the victims, a proper rehabilitation plan and adequate medical facilities for survivors and removal of toxic chemicals lying on the plant premises among other things. The government should provide adequate employment and medical care to the survivors of this catastrophe. In addition, the current administration needs to do justice to Anderson’s escape from the country without having to face justice in the past.

Featured Image: AP Photo/Prakash Hatvalne

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Agricultural labourers are difficult to explain. It is not possible for labourers to emerge as a separate class depending on full wages until capitalism develops in agriculture. Agricultural labour enquiry committee 1950-55 defined agricultural labourer as “those people who are engaged in raising crops on payment of wages“. According to the second committee, if 50% or more of wages is received from the agricultural sector, it can be classed to agricultural labour household. The number of agricultural labour has increased to 27.5 million in 1951. In 1981 the total number of agricultural workers has increased to 55.4 million and again in 1991, the total number of agricultural workers has increased to 74.6 million.

From the beginning, the landlords in this country have enslaved and oppressed these labourers for their own benefit and this system has been going generation after generation. After 50 years of independence, the situation has improved but they remain largely unorganized and thus economic exploitation continues.

Conditions and Problems of Agricultural Labour

As we know that 53% of the population in agricultural India is engaged in agriculture. But all these farmers still have to depend on the monsoon for crop production. Agriculture in India falls under the unorganized sector, so their income is not fixed.

• Marginalization of Agricultural Labourers – In 1951 the workforce in agriculture was 97.2 million and in 1991, it increased to 185.2 million. Agricultural labourers increased from 28% in 1951 to 40% in 1991. These facts indicate the first pace of casualization of the workforce in agriculture in India.
• Low wages and income – The daily wage and family income of agricultural labourers in India is very low. Although wage rates have risen since the green revolution, they have fallen far short of rising prices. At present agricultural workers in the rural area are getting around Rs. 150 per day under the MNREGA in rural areas.
• Gender issues in the agricultural sector – Women in agriculture are affected by issues of recognition and in the absence of land rights, female agricultural labourers, farm widows and tenant farmers are left bereft of recognition as farmers and consequent entitlements. They are excluded from their rights. On November 20, 2018, over 40,000 farmers had gathered in Delhi from across India. Chandravati from Ghazipur and 40 others women participated in Kishan Mukti March for their demand of compensation for the paddy crop that got spoilt in 2018, so as to sustain a livelihood. Female agricultural workers are generally forced to work harder and paid less than their male counterparts.
• Employment – Agricultural labourers are unemployed for most of the year and even have no alternative job opportunities.
• Indebtedness – Due to lack of banking system in rural areas, they are forced to take loans from moneylenders at very high rates. As a result, they often become involved in a vicious cycle.

Policy Implementation of Government of India

Indian agricultural policy has long been distinguished by its border and domestic intervention to protect farmers from international price concerns. To achieve this goal the Government of India has implemented a number of policies at various times –

• Land reforms – Government of India undertakes land reform measures for successful abolition of land intermediaries and transfer of land to actual farmers.
• Institutional credit -After the nationalization of banks in 1969, nationalized bank paid extra attention to the needs of the agricultural sector. Regional rural banks are established mainly for agricultural credit requirements. National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) was also set up. The importance of moneylenders for the needs of institutional credit to the farmers declined and as a result, their exploitation on the farmers also decreases.
• Procurement and support prices– Another policy measure of significant importance is the announcement of procurement and support prices to ensure fair returns to the farmers that even in a year of surplus, the prices do not tumble down and farmers do not suffer losses.
• Input subsidies to agriculture– The purpose of input subsidization is to use modern input to increase agricultural production. Under this government policy, various inputs are supplied to the farmers below the fixed open market price.
• Passing Minimum Wage Act
• Abolition of bonded labourers
• Providing land to landless labourers
• Provision of housing cities to houseless

Special schemes for providing employment:

• Crash scheme for rural employment (CSRE)
• Pilot intensive Rural Employment Project (PIREP)
• National Rural Employment Programme
• Rural Landless Employment Programme(RLEP)
• Jawahar Rojgar Yojana
• National Scheme of Training of Rural Youth for Self Employment (TRYSM)
• Integrated Rural Development Programme (IRDP)

Another important government schemes in the agricultural sector-

• Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana was launched by the NDA government in 2015 to promote organic farming across India. According to the scheme for farmers will be encouraged to groups or clusters and each cluster or group have 50 farmers willing to take up organic farming under PKVY and they will be provided INR 20,000 per acre by the government over three years’ time.
• Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) is the Government sponsored crop insurance scheme that provides insurance coverage and financial support to the farmers in the event of failure of any of the notified crop as a result of natural calamities, pests and diseases.
• Livestock Insurance Scheme aims to provide a protection mechanism to the farmers and cattle against any eventual loss of their animals due to death.

Government’s Scheme: Myth or Reality?

How the policies adopted by the government has a positive impact on farmers or completely fail to protect the interest of farmers, as an example, farmers from Vimchur, a remote rural area in India’s Maharashtra province planted large quantities of grapes in March and exported them to various parts of India. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the lockdown from midnight of 24th March, he gave India’s 1.3 billion citizens barely for hour notice. It was a cruel joke that had a huge effect on millions of farmers. By that time, a farmer form Vimchur had dispatched 100 quintals of grapes to Bangladesh, but 350 quintals were still on vines in the fields. The Modi government had arranged special jets to bring back all reach people who are stranded abroad. But the train service was completely stopped and the farmers failed to sell their grapes. Even if they arranged a truck, but the permits were not granted despite pleas to the government.

The Indian parliament has passed two primary farm bills in this pandemic year. The upper house passed the Farmer’s Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill 2020 and the Price Guarantee and Farm Services Bill Agreement for Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) 2020 that are collectively referred as ‘Farm Bills’. This will assist small and marginal farmers as the law will move from the farmer to the sponsor the risk of market unpredictability. On the other hand, in ‘Mandis’ the laws likely to affect powerful commission agents (known as ‘arhatiyas‘ in Punjab and Haryana), who don’t want to lose their hold on the farmers (Sahoo, 2020). Due to the loss of Mandi tax, the strong source of revenue, the state government of Punjab and Haryana will be affected most, however, it is expected that the loss would be recovered under GST collection. The opposition claims the government wants to ‘enslaved farmers’ to capitalism. In response, the government says that monopoly of APMC Mandis will end but they will not be shut down and will continue to function as normal and that the Minimum Support Price (MSP) will not be scrapped. Thus the complex question remains whether farmers will benefit from the surplus at all if the crop is sold through a mediating private agent?

Farmers from Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh demand repeal of the controversial farm bill by their ‘Dilli Chalo’ campaign on Constitution Day, 26 November 2020. Police fired water cannons and tear gas at the protesting farmers. A large number of the farmer were oppressed by the government with the assistance of the police to disperse them. However, later the government invited them to have a discussion with them on the bill.

According to the World Bank, about 40% of Indians depend on agriculture for their livelihood but this sector has been under pressure for many years due to crop failure and price drop. A 2015 study found that about 40% of farmers committed suicide due to economic pressure for crop failure. Although the Modi government has introduced Minimum Support Prices for crops, few farmers are benefiting. The government is also in the thick of a controversy over the Prime Minister’s Cropping Insurance Scheme. In the other words, all the policies that the government is adopting in the name of security without planning are in fact nothing more than a myth. In fact, the government’s formulation of all these policies is the only way for farmers to be dependent on the private sector.

Conclusion

For the progress of the agrarian country, first of all, the necessary steps should be taken to improve the condition of the farmers because the improvement of their condition can be conducive to the benefit of the whole society. The government needs to focus on better implementation of legislative measures, improvement the bargaining position, resettlement of agricultural workers, creating alternative sources of employment, regulation of hours work, credit at cheaper rates of interest on easy terms of payment for undertaking subsidiary occupation, proper training for improving the skill of farm labourers. Therefore, in the interest of electoral politics, the ruling class must refrain from oppression in the name of protecting the labourers by using them as tools. In this way, a developed society will be built.

Reference(s)

Padhi, K. (2007).Agricultural Labour in India – A Close Look. Orissa Review

Sahoo, S. (2020). Impact of India’s New Farm Act 2020 on Farmers and Markets. Biotica Research Today, 2(10), 986.

Chand, S.”8 important policy measures introduced in the agricultural sector in India”, Your Article Library, (Dec 1, 2020)

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