Unprecedented heavy rains lashed Goa over the last three weeks, causing flooding in low-lying areas across the State. Deputy Chief Minister Chandrakant (Babu) Kavlekar, who also holds the agriculture portfolio, said though the government is short of funds they would try to release 50 per cent of the compensation to the farmers before the Ganesh Chaturthi festival.

The minister also said that the government is considering changes to the agriculture loss compensation formula currently in place. He admitted that the State would look at revising the compensation ratio, which according to farmers is currently quite meagre. While farmers have always complained of the low compensation for agricultural losses, successive governments have not paid any heed to their requests.

Not just before Ganesh Chaturthi, the farmers need government support to make two ends meet almost everyday. The State government in a bid to provide relief to farmers, especially in view of mining crisis, requires long term sustainable solutions instead of short term rhetorical promises and reactive concessions. The government needs to do much more than just promises. Currently, farmers in areas that have faced more than 50% crop damage are entitled to a compensation of Rs  4,500 per hectare (ha) for rain-fed crops and Rs 9,000 per ha for irrigated crops. This is kind of well, just peanuts. Moreover, ‘farm distress’ in recent years has been partly on account of this situation, as the loss of income is beyond the ability, particularly of small farmers, to absorb.

The farmer today is in debt and finds it difficult to get credit. Rural banks have been shut down and agriculture credit is high in metropolitan cities where there are few farmers — thanks to the new rules of lending. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that his government will pay 50 per cent more as compensation for crop damage. Besides, farmers in areas with at least 33 per cent crop damage will also be eligible for compensation, up from the current criteria of 50 per cent damage. Modi also said he has ordered insurance companies to play a proactive role to help farmers and asked banks to see what can be done for restructuring crop loans. But all that seems to be just on paper as the funds are far from being released by the government.

In Goa, Dr Pramod Sawant has much more to achieve despite the odds. It is pertinent to note here that mining activities in the mining belt had destroyed fields and the farmers had quit cultivating them. After the Supreme Court order brought mining to a grinding halt there are many youth who have gone back to the fields for their livelihood. With such a situation they could be de-motivated from taking up farming again in the future. Successive governments have not paid farmers deserved attention and that is the reason for farmers being forced to quit agriculture and do distress migration to urban areas for white collar jobs. Some farmers were also lured by high prices paid by the builders for their land for taking up construction activities.

If the Sawant government supports the farming community today it will help in two ways – one it will bring relief to the farmers and two more youth will be attracted to agriculture, which could solve the unemployment issue to a greater extent. This is a disaster. Until and unless the State machinery takes people into confidence, listens to them and plans their rehabilitation and relief, the pain of the farmers won’t be healed. So, to help the rural economy and the people from recovering from this situation, governments, be it State or Central, will have to do some hand-holding.