Something very sinister is happening here in India, something as despicable as happened in the Soviet Union about 70 years ago and something that happened in the US over the last 100 years: utter decimation of the independent farmer.
It’s not all conspiracy theory - Arun Shrivastava presents a lot of factual evidence to support his explanation of why farmers are commiting suicide in India.
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Kuffir,
Look at the section ‘The Truth’ in the article. Though most of the article sees fine, this bit looks like a conspiracy theory. At least, I hope that it is not true.
swarup garu,
why i liked the article was despite its somewhat strident tone..it attempts to take a holistic look at the causes behind today’s agrarian crisis.
look at the valid point he makes about ‘warehousing’ receipts - there are many activists/economists advocating provision, through public/private investment, of warehousing facilities so that the farmers 1)have more control over the marketing of their produce and 2) so that they may access credit in lieu of their stocks. but, his interpretation of the reasons behind dismantling the structure of ‘warehousing’ in 1971 is narrow - he says it was because of pressure from fertiliser/pesticide companies - the larger truth is the govt probably believed in the idea that the nationalisation of banks would open the floodgates of credit to farmers.. it also attempted to regulate a large portion of credit towards agriculture and rural india. but that didn’t happen..credit increased from around 10% of total lending by banks to around 20% or so in the initial two-three years or so after nationalisation..but has remained at the same level for that last thirty five years. also, the beneficiaries were mostly large, medium and some small farmers and not the vast majority of..marginal and sub-marginal farmers in india.
yes, i agree with you that the section ‘truth’ does seem farfetched but..i’ve noticed most indian commentators take rigid ideological positions on agriculture.
but look at the causes he alludes to, apart from irrigation and ‘marketization’: rural electrification, illiteracy, malnourishment, drinking water, healthcare. these are the issues that are driving these suicides, in my view, more than anything else.
Thanks for the comments. I too liked the article and without some of those farfetched comments, it would have been more appealing. I referred to it once in my blog and will do so again with your comments.
Dear Friends
I appreciate the comments. The “conspiracy theory” in the truth part of the article was meant to precisely raise the issue of global domination by a small group of plutocrats. It is not conspiracy theory; the theory has been dismissed by the rulers, because it questions the very basis of their rule, which I could not explain in those pages on suicide.
I, as trained Management Consultant, eschew from making value judgement, nor do I believe in “theories”, conspiracy or otherwise. But I’d like to present, to you all, hard evidences. Because I have evidences.
When I say depleted uranium contamination of entire western India, it is a documented fact. When I pillory Rockefellers and Rothschilds these are documented facts. Every sentence in my article is based on documented fact, including my “deductive logic” of Warehousing Corporations” failure. These were documented by me when I was asked to restructure one State Warehousing Corporation in 1992.
I apprciate criticism. Please give me an opportunity to lay bare the facts. Then you decide whether my writing is speculative, or strident, or based on conspiracy theories.
Regards
Arun Shrivastava
arun1951@gmail.com
Shri Shrivatsava,
Many thanks for the trouble you have taken to note our comments and responding to them. I will read the article again and write to you if I have further questions. I must add that I am not an expert on these matters and am just trying to get arough overall picture. Thanks again for your kind response.
Swarup