Essays

The government has been trying to do a lot and a lot has been accomplished, yet a much needs to be done. We have to make sure that the farmers come out of the clutches of poverty and break free from the chains of debt and illiteracy, so that the , hands that feed millions do not go without food. By providing them with proper incentives, good quality seeds, irrigation facilities, fertilizers, pesticides and  subsidies, we can ensure that farmers of India flourish.

The real India resides in its villages. About 70% of India's population lives in rural areas and earns its livelihood there. The major occupation of these people is agriculture. 90% of this rural population is dependent upon farming for their livelihood. Thus, Indian economy is totally an agrarian one. It is the Indian farmer who reaps his motherland with his sweat and blood to get us a day's meal.

A typical Indian farmer's life is full of trials and tribulations. He leads a very hard life fighting against the ravages of nature and weather. He is an extremely hard working man - begins working from early morning, even before daybreak till late in the evening, sometimes even after the sun has set. He works incessantly all day long without resting except for an hour or so when he takes his humble lunch.

He goes to the fields early in the morning with his cattle when the rest of the world is sleeping comfortably in their warm beds. He rarely cares for the heat, or the rains or the cold. He faces all the climatic hardships without any complaints. He continues to work through the day's heat, sometimes with his entire family helping him. It is only at noon that he thinks of taking a few minutes off to eat his meager lunch and rest for a while under the cool shade of the tree. But soon he gets back to his hard labour and toil.

Sometimes he works late, otherwise he usually returns to his humble hut at dusk to his family where his loving children and wife await his return eagerly. After washing and playing with his children, he finally lies down in his cot to rest for a while till dinner is served. After taking his food with his family he goes to the village chowpaJ to entertain himself and socialize. This is his time for his recreation after the day's hard work, which of course is well-deserved.

After spending an hour or two with his friends talking and gossipping, he comes back home to sleep under the star-studded sky. But in spite of leading such a hard life and working hard all day he spends all his life in utter poverty. It is mainly due to the reason that, agriculture in India is dependent solely upon rains. As soon as the monsoon season starts, the expectant eyes of the farmer keeps slipping to the horizon to spot the first rain clouds darkening the sky. If the rain fails, then the crops fail too. Thus, our hard working farmer and his fate is always at the mercy of the quality and quantity of rains. Sometimes, early rains spoil the crops as much as late and untimely rains damage the crops. He thus gets caught in the vicious cycle of debts and spends his entire life in abject poverty. Sometimes, droughts and famines play havoc in his already tough life and many a times it is the floods that wash away his toils.

This is not all. Diseases, sorrows, sufferings, hunger, and death are his regular visitors. He often falls ill and dies uncared for. If not him, it is sometimes his child, who is already suffering from malnutrition, surrenders to death. City-dwellers cannot even imagine the hardships of n poor farmer.

Thus, it is a matter of grave concern for all of us. The food provider of our nation, the true son of the soil who feeds millions of hungry people by his endless efforts himself goes hungry and dies uncared for. His cries too fall upon deaf ears of the people and government, and go unheeded.

The government should, therefore, stop playing the vote-bank game and work out some substantial measures and reforms to improve the living as well as working conditions of the farmers of our country. We have to work unitedly for the upliftment of our farmers. We need to train our farmers in scientific farming and the modern methods of irrigation. We also need to educate the children of our farmers so that their socio-economic conditions can be improved for better.