The New York Times has an article heralding the spike in wealth for India’s farmers. Here’s what they have to say:
The Yadavs are members of a new economic caste in India: nouveau riche farmers. Land acquisition for expanding cities and industry is one of the most bitterly contentious issues in India, rife with corruption and violent protests. Yet in some areas it has created pockets of overnight wealth, especially in the outlying regions of the capital, New Delhi.
By Western standards, few of these farmers are truly rich. But in India, where the annual per capita income is about $1,000 and where roughly 800 million people live on less than $2 a day, some farmers have gotten windfalls of several million rupees by selling land. Over the years, farmers and others have sold more than 50,000 acres of farmland as Noida has evolved into a suburb of 300,000 people with shopping malls and office parks.
It turns out they’re not talking about farmers, but actually real estate speculators. If anything, this is bubble behavior (resplendent with examples of excess wealth being squandered on helicopters).
Real farmers are actually suffering. An estimated 200,000-500,000 have committed suicide in the last decade due to overwhelming debt, and a reliance on economic hit men (huge corporations exploiting globalization’s false promise of cheap genetically modified seeds and affordable chemicals to increase yield).
As the farming network blinks out of existence, either by selling land for bubble development or by suicide, the results will be felt across the board. The fundamentals are, all too often, dying.
These neo-rich farmers are finding their place in politics, especially in Maharashtra. They become rich by entering politics at Villege level, then block, district. They can also have lot of opportunities in Sugar, Milk & Banking co-operatives. Many Educational kingdoms are controlled by them. An average candidate amassed not less than 2 to 3000 carors each. They donot sell the land, but buy in bulk ! As against this picture the land selling Yadaos in UP look like poor things. Dr Girdhar Patil.