Punjab’s debt will not shrink and the MSP debate will not be resolved through identity politics or louder television debates, however sincerely the underlying grievances are felt.
Over the last few months, Gurjeet Singh Khalsa has become a sort of a folk hero in his village. His protest has moved from social to the divine realm as stories and whispers get attached to him.
The draft Seeds Bill gets the big ideas right: universal registration, traceability, real penalties. To work for Punjab, it must get federal plumbing and farmer-facing details sorted.
Debt-burdened farmers cling to paddy even as it drains soil, water, and future prospects. ‘Crop diversification is a nice buzz word but nothing’s done at the policy level.’
In village after village in the Malwa region, Dalit women have won the right to farm common land. They are now protesting and courting arrest to demand a new casteless settlement: Begumpura.
Farmers have complained of low yield & procurement issues with the Punjab Agricultural University-developed variety. Oppn says govt promoted it without proper yield testing.
According to Punjab Pollution Control Board, the number of farm fire incidents between 15 September and 4 November this year stood at 4,145, compared to 14,173 in same period last year.
Farmers say they've been camping at mandis for 15-20 days with no buyers. Rice mills blame procurement delays on lack of storage space, as warehouses still hold last year’s stock.
A CSTEP report aims to help Punjab meet its 2024 target of consuming 5.96 mn tonnes of rice straw via methods like converting stubble into energy for industries, power plants & brick kilns.
Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann thanked farmers for accepting the ban and staying away from the water-guzzling paddy variety Pusa-44. But convincing them about the larger public good is a work-in-progress.
India's culture and civilisation are a gift to the world. It reflects the evolution of our own history, the manner in which India seamlessly absorbed other cultures but never lost its own.
This opens up a market worth several thousand crores while allowing defence ministry to diversify and speed up production at a time when armed forces are looking to build missile stock.
At some point Pakistani dictators begin to show paranoia. That’s the strategic reality most relevant to India since the late fifties. Munir’s case is worse, like some sudden acrophobia.
COMMENTS