Pressing Economic Distress: Underlying Causes Of Unrelenting Farmers' Agitations

‘Are the farmers’ crises genuine?’ Many might have felt this question when they often heard about farmers’ unrelenting protests nationwide, especially in states such as Punjab, Haryana, and the neighbouring areas. Several might wonder why the farmers, despite the government promising some of their demands to be accepted, continue to protest, risking lives, livelihoods, and comfort. 

The reasons for the farmers’ agitation emanate from the troubles and distress they face in their lives, especially due to the lack of adequate social mechanisms and effective governance.  Data from the National Crime Records Bureau has showed that at least 157 farmers in Punjab died by suicide in 2023 across the country, with three farmer unions estimating the number to be higher than the official count. 

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The agrarian crises and the related tensions are the primary sources of depression and suicide in states such as Punjab, where farming is one of the major livelihood sources. The disruption of lives due to the extreme financial setbacks is often overlooked by mainstream society and media when they discuss the one after another agitations being held by farmers. 

In rural Punjab, when the distress causes the sole male breadwinners to die by suicide, their wives are left to struggle to sustain and raise their children. As per a survey by Punjabi University conducted between 2022 and 2024, 60% of the women in rural Punjab are living in debt. Between 2000 and 2015, a total of 16,606 farmers died by suicide in Punjab.

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Journalist Vidyun Sabhaney, in an article in The Scroll, recalls he met a 45-year-old woman from Punjab, Veerpal Kaur. The woman lost three family members due to their agricultural crises, including her father, forcing her to quit school and go out for daily wage labour to sustain and repay the debt. Her father, a cotton farmer with a one-acre plot, had died by suicide as he was unable to repay loans after the crop failed in 1995.

During the 2019 general elections, Veerpal Kaur’s manifesto listed her monthly income as Rs 2,800 and family debt at Rs 8 lakh when she decided to contest the election as an independent candidate, which she lost against mighty political forces.

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Kalwinder Kaur now works as a tailor to repay the loan and support her four children, earning Rs 2,000-Rs 4,000 a month. Several similar women are working hard, earning less than men with limited employment options to sustain their lives and children.

There are multiple reasons cited for the increased agrarian crises in states like Punjab and Haryana. The Green Revolution necessitated expensive mechanization, fertilizers, and pesticides that fundamentally made the cost of farming higher. In Punjab in particular, these costs are reportedly higher than in the rest of the states, such as Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, and Bihar. 

Another key reason is the failure of the government to buy crops from farmers when the market price falls. There have been no stable minimum support prices, which could act as a safety net for the farmers in times of distress. The farmers’ unrelenting protests are also centred around the above-mentioned key issues. The farmer’s key demands include a legal guarantee for purchasing crops at a Minimum Support Price (MSP) and a farm loan waiver. 

The farmers and agricultural labourers are going through extreme financial crises as the incomes they get are not adequate for them to survive amid rising inflation, poor public health facilities, and expensive private healthcare and education. Though the successive governments promised several projects and schemes to address the crises, most remained unfulfilled while the distress kept increasing. 

The rising crises have pushed the youth to foreign countries as immigration has steadily increased in rural Punjab. Selling their properties and homes and even taking loans, they are fleeing the country due to pressing economic situations such as unemployment, corruption, inflation, and low income.