Rajender Malik, 65, owns 13 hectares of agricultural land in Rohtak’s Atayal village. He is considered to be a big farmer but he has not been able to return the ₹6.5-lakh loan he took from a bank 14 years ago. The outstanding loan with the interest has now gone up to ₹17 lakh.
Mr. Malik had availed of the loan on Kisan Credit Card for his son’s marriage and to renovate his house. He had hoped to return the money soon, but has not been able to make enough profit from agriculture.
“Our land has become infertile due to increase in groundwater level and salinity. The water level is just over a foot below the ground. So despite having large landholding, my family has been living hand to mouth. The situation has persisted for around two decades now,” said Mr. Malik. His only son dropped out from school after Class IX and now works with him in the fields.
Mr. Malik has already sold a hectare of his land to take care of his expenses. He claimed that he had good relations with the bank manager and therefore had managed to avoid paying the loan so far. “But it will not be like this for long. I will be eventually forced to sell off my land to pay this mounting debt,” he said.
The problem of increased groundwater level and salinity in agricultural land is widespread. Around half-a-dozen surrounding villages grapple with the problem, but there have been no efforts from the administration to resolve it.
The villagers claimed that around two-thirds of their fields have become unfit for agriculture and the matter has been brought to the notice of all authorities — the agriculture department, the district administration and the politicians — but to no avail.
Sukhdev Sharma, a village panch, said that around 400 acres of agricultural land in Atayal had become barren and most of the villagers were forced to mortgage their land to the bank due to mounting debt. “We have submitted several letters to the district administration highlighting the problem. Haryana Agriculture Minister O.P. Dhankar was also told about it when he visited the village in 2017. The agriculture department staff promised to visit the village two months ago, but no one has turned up so far,” said Mr. Sharma. The farmers in the village are now dependent on canal water for irrigation and drinking water is also supplied from outside.
Though the insurance premium is duly deducted from the bank account of Mr. Malik under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, he never got any insurance claim for crop loss. “Only 30-40% crop is purchased by the government at MSP. The rest is sold to commission agents at a much lower price. The input costs have increased manifold with the government imposing Goods and Services Tax on agriculture equipment and fertilizers. The labour cost has also gone through the roof. With the landholdings dwindling and the input costs going up, the farmers are on the brink of despair. Something needs to be done urgently,” said Mr. Malik.
