Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan speaks to The Hindu on the agitation by farmers in his State…
In Madhya Pradesh, farmers’ protests have revolved around fair prices after a good year for crops. Why was there no anticipation of a bumper crop?
In the last five years in Madhya Pradesh, we have seen more than a 20% growth rate in agriculture. There are many factors behind it, like enough water for irrigation, loans at -10% interest rates for seeds and fertilizers, change and variation in crop patterns etc. This year, unexpectedly, due to good monsoon and no natural calamity like hailstorms, we have had a bumper crop. We couldn’t have imagined a 32 lakh metric tonne harvest of onion, potatoes, the growth of pulses by 49%. But this is however not the reason for the agitation. In the whole State, there are 59 districts, out of which 49 districts remained untouched by agitations. In the majority of the districts small groups of 100-150 people came, submitted a list of demands, and had their grievances addressed.
The agitation was on agricultural issues. How can you separate it from what happened in Mandsaur?
What took place in Mandsaur, involved people who were not farmers alone. It may have begun with a genuine grievance of farmers but the kind of elements who infiltrated that agitation I wouldn’t term them farmers. People with vested interests, political interests, got into the act. You must have seen videos of members of a political party asking that police stations be burned down. Mandsaur is a special case since it is also one of the few places where opium is legally grown in India and regulated under the Narcotics Act and Finance Ministry. Lately the trade in poppy stalk/husks, that used to sell for ₹120/kg has also been banned. Thousands of quintals of that is lying around unsold now. Those who were involved in that trade even illegally were left high and dry. Some anti-social elements involved in that trade infiltrated the farmers’ agitation. We are going into the depth of the issue. So the problem with not getting a fair price for their crops among farmers is different from the violent agitation. Otherwise the whole State would have been in flames.
The Bhartiya Kisan Sangh (BKS), the RSS’s farmer outfit, and even leaders of the BJP’s Kisan Morcha had been part of the agitation and considered the demands of farmers genuine enough.
No, I’m not blaming genuine agitators. For the violence that broke out I blame the anti-social elements who infiltrated the agitation, took advantage of it to stoke trouble. I admit that the BKS was part of the protests against falling prices of crops. They were upset that farmers were not being given fair prices. But their manner of protest was not violent. They led representations to the government, and when they were assured that their grievances would be addressed, the BKS also kept away from the agitation.
There was criticism over your move to undertake a fast while violence was raging, rather than dealing with the situation administratively.
It wasn’t as if I was just going to sit on a fast and do nothing else. I cleared files, held meetings and did my other tasks as Chief Minister while undertaking the fast. On the one hand I was aware of where my duty as Chief Minister lay and on the other I was disturbed by the violence in Mandsaur, the lives that had been lost. It will be a pain that I shall carry within me all my life. Mera mann bhara hua thaa (my heart was full of grief), and I could see that there were people who were trying to create trouble. I knew that if I appealed to the people by fasting, they would realise that some people were creating trouble and would unite against them. That is exactly what happened. The whole State decided that there would be no more violence, after which I ended my fast. It was an attempt by me to use moral force to end the violence, and express my own sense of pain. I could have made oral statements asking for peace, but I felt that if I fasted, gave myself some kasht (trouble) people will respond.
Will the victims of the violence during the agitation, including police firing get justice?
We have suspended the Collector and SP of Mandsaur among other changes in the administration there. We have also constituted a judicial commission, considered the most credible of enquiry commissions in our country, to investigate the matter. Whoever is found guilty, strict action will be taken against them.
MP is not the only State grappling with problems related to agriculture. What are the solutions that your government is going ahead with?
Our farmers require good price for their crops, and we are attempting to provide that. For example, onions are being bought at ₹8/kg, whereas in wholesale mandis it would go for ₹2/kg. Till yesterday we have procured 4.5 lakh metric tonnes. We have set up a price stabilisation fund of ₹1,000 crore. We have also set up a committee for agriculture costs and prices that will look at crops like onions too. In every city and small town, a farmers’ market will be set up.
