Dhananjay Kumar Singh
News about the sale and purchase of plots have appeared in various news papers in the recent past. There was also a reference to there being one Indian capitalists amongst those buying plots. This is just a sample of the pinnacle of economic development achievement by humanity. We have developed the capability to acquire other planets as well. This saga of economic prosperity pertains to that small number of people who inhabit the political and financial capitals of powerful countries of the world. The vast majority of Indian population, comprising more then half, in extremely backward and poor despite tall claims made by government agencies. The plight of peasants and workers and their exploitation at the hands of landlords and money Lenders towards the beginning of twentieth century has been realistically portrayed famous Hindi novelist Munshi Premchand in ‘Rangabhoomi’, ‘Karmabhoomi’ and ‘Godaon’. It was in this backdrop that the Cooperative movement was launched in India in order to emancipate the peasant’s from the clutches of landlords and moneylenders and to free them from the yoke of high interest rates. Consequently each Village and almost every peasant is, one way or the other, related to the Cooperative movement in India. Initially peasant were benefited by this movement but gradually these institutions, right from the primary to the national level, turned into instruments serving the personal interests of Cooperative officers or politicians. This owed itself to a large extent because ideologically and also in practice these institutions have been commercial. Now the proclaimed objective of the movement upliftment of Village, poor and peasant – exists only on paper.
India 2020, a vision, a dream of India’s economic emancipation, of India leading the community of nations. Whether we can fulfill this dream without providing the means to meet the daily requirements of this sixty percent of our population who lives in Villages and is dependent on agriculture? Those peasant and workers, whether in Bihar, U.P., J&K, Gujarat, Kerala, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh or Sikkim, still lead the same life of deprivation. Although banks and Insurance companies are rapidly expanding their network of micro financing in rural areas, yet it still remains a moot question whether all this has really brought any positive charge in the living conditions of that poor marginal peasant owning less than an acre of land holding who has on aged father, a school going child, a marriageable daughter and a prepare and woman in his home.
All these grant financial institutions, devoid of all sentiments and emotions are concerned only about their profit margin. Such institutions can only help a rich person to become richer but no poor can ever become rich with their help.
Cooperative is one powerful medium through which we can achieve all that. It can enrich a poor and transform a water into a peasant what is required is optimum utilisation of primary cooperative agricultural credit societies and CAMPS set up at Village Panchayat level. Implementing the suggestions of Vaidyanathan Committee set up by the BJP led NDA government, 17 states have already initiated action to revise, democratize and economically strengthen these Cooperative societies. Further amendments in state cooperative laws are required which may enable peasants to maximize production by using fertilisers and high yielding seeds. These cooperative societies, should also take up marketing of agricultural products. The objective should be to enable the peasant member to seek loan for medical treatment of his old father, marriage of daughter, employment of son and claim insurance without depositing premium in the event of the death of any family member or for the death of cow, buffalo or goat. This is no flight of imagination. It is already being done in Andhra Pradesh.
In order to achieve the above mentioned objectives and also to stabilize the same, care will have to be taken to ensues that these societies are fully democratic and their functioning transparent. In modern world of advanced telecom and information technology, it should be possible for the secretary, Department of agriculture and Cooperative to himself examine any PAX or LAMPS.
No comments:
Post a Comment