In a face-to-face interview, Dr. Balram Jakhar,a former Krishi Pandit, a living participant in India’s Green Revolution and a lead-    ing representative of the farmers in Indian politics who commanded great respect and competence in some of the top elective positions, including that of the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, expressed his anguish and agony at the cruel drought being faced by the Indian farmer. He expressed his dismay at the callous and cold-hearted attitude of the political and bureaucratic bosses at the plight of the farmer in India. But he also expressed his firm faith and determination that the Indian farmers will continue their struggle for a better tomorrow and a prosperous India, as they had done in the past in the face of man-made hurdles and natural catastrophes.

Dr. Balram Jakhar pointed a finger at all concerned and said: "For the last seven years, nothing has been done for the farmers and no steps taken to ensure that the country is ready to face drought and famine when it comes. They (the Government) have even delayed their decision to identify and declare the drought stricken divisions in the country."

He posed a question to all national leaders and the so-called agricultural policy experts and planners. "Why were we not thinking far ahead? Why have we suddenly woken up and started thinking and talking of drought now? We should have already thought out and decided what steps we can take in a contingency."

With pain in his voice, Dr. Jakhar said: "The soybean crop has been damaged, the bajra crop has been ruined and paddy has been destroyed in Punjab and Haryana. Within the next five or 10 days, the worst is going to happen. The monsoon will come or not come. The forecasts will remain confusing. So that is what it is all about. We cannot always depend upon such prophesies about rain and food."

When asked to comment on whether the subsidies promised and often provided to the farmer by the Government were of any help in motivating the farmer and solving his problems and hardship to some extent, Dr. Jakhar replied in anger: "It is not the Government which is subsidising the farmer. The reality is that it is the farmer who is subsidising the Government and the nation."

The DayAfter wanted to know whether the Government, which claimed to have an Agriculture Policy, really had a holistic Farmers Policy? In his usually spirited way, he recalled: "We had a policy. I started it. I gave the policy. It was discussed in Parliament. In fact, it was first discussed with the chief ministers before it was brought to Parliament for discussion. It has been trimmed, distorted and rehashed. I do not know why they are doing this."

In response to Sunil Dang’s clincher: "Since 1942, when the great Bengal famine had hit the country, why did we not think of planning and implementing a well-thought out and effective ‘Drought Policy’, he asserted: "I did start it. The Watershed Programme was the first step towards it; we worked out a water policy, a water conservation policy, a plantation policy, a granary policy. We wanted to tell all concerned about the danger of the subsoil water receding if our water resources were not well identified, well conserved and well maintained. The water table has gone more than 50 feet deeper this year. If we go on callously like we are today, there may be no water at all. That is if we insist on not taking up the Watershed Programme."

Sunil Dang reminded him that to face such drought conditions and emergencies, the late Rajiv Gandhi had mooted a National Water Mission, which had involved eminent scientists, leading national science laboratories and a cross-section of water and agriculture experts. What happened to their recommendations? He said in visible dismay: "Nothing has been done. Nothing has been done in the last seven years". A ticklish issue came up. Why was there no consensus among political parties and no co-ordination between the Centre and the States and farmers organisations on agriculture which was the prime need, lifeline and mainstay of the Indian nation?

He said: "Seventy five per cent of Indians live in the villages and one way or another, they are all connected with agriculture. That is where the real India lives, Gandhi ji said. To which Nehru added, everything else can wait but not agriculture. Rajiv Gandhi gave an agriculture strategy and said that implementing it was the most important thing to do. That is what I also think is the most important thing. Even as a Speaker, though I was not supposed to take part in discussions, I always did take part when there was a discussion on agriculture. And that must be the top priority, whether it is this government or that government. Whether there is one government in a State and another in the Centre. This top priority and national policy must cut across all party lines. We have to bear the brunt of what is going to happen, all together..."

Jakhar pointed to some farm realities which should make anyone sit up in shame and dismay. He said: "Do you know that Rs. 50,000 crore worth of agricultural products perish because the farmers have no facility of processing them and protecting them? In developed countries abroad, almost 40 to 45 per cent of this perishable agricultural product is processed, packaged and sold. But here it is different. We manage to process and package only 1.8 per cent of our perishable agricultural products. In the Eighth Plan, there was a provision of just Rs. 24 crore for horticulture. But I fought and got an allocation of Rs. 1,000 crore for it. How could I get so much allocation? Because I understood its implication and importance and was able to convince my colleagues in the Government and the Planning Commission. We have to diversify agriculture. We have to not merely change the pattern of paddy and cash crop cultivation but we have to compete with the world agriculture market forces too. We must place agro-based industries in our villages where the farmers can be employed and their product put to optimum and competitive marketing in the national and international markets.

"The Government must realise that agriculture is the most important thing in our lives. Roti hi sab se bari baat hai...Have you read Kabir? He said Na kuch dekha naam dharam men, naa kuch dekha pothi men, Kahat Kabir, suno bhai sadho, jokuch dekha roti men....

When The Dayafter asked Jakhar that considering the drought emergency that India faced, considering the cruel challenge faced by the Indian farmer, and he himself being one of the affected farmers, whether he had an Emergency Plan to meet the looming catastrophe, he said: "We will not let the country starve. There is always planning. We know how things can be done. We have a food plan, we have a storage plan and we know what to do when there is a contingency. That is what we are here for. And that is why God had given us a mind and a plough. If we cannot meet the challenges and if we cannot see beyond our nose then what the hell are we here for?... He said the Indian farmer had the will and the guts to stand up for himself. We need the Government, but if the Government does not care, we can take up with this Government too. Policy should be in the hands of those who are conducive to the agricultural sector. We should not be neglected...." Of course, he was voicing the sentiment of the majority of Indian farmers.