The Danger Of Silver Bullets

Rural crisis needs nuanced interventions, not tall promises in party manifestos

Lok Sabha elections 2019, BJP manifesto, Congress manifesto, Manifesto on farmer, Mannifesto on rural population, election news — Transferring agriculture input subsidies (fertiliser and power) to farmers in cash is the need of the hour.

Farmers were sold a dream in 2014 that everything was going to change. But now they have compelling reasons to feel they were deceived. Party manifestos indicate what the politicians want us to believe. After elections, winners get either selective amnesia (Rs 15 lakh in each bank account), re-interpret promises (MSP at C2+50 per cent), continue to tout failures as successes (crop insurance) or devise policy fine print to exclude proposed beneficiaries from the promised largesse (farm loan waiver). Actions not even referred to in manifestos wrecked a stable economy (demonetisation and GST) and, consequently, unemployment percentages have risen. Unable to create jobs (let alone the promised 100 million jobs in five years) or kickstart the Make in India initiative, the wisest thing BJP did with the lost causes was that it let them go. I had naively presumed it would similarly bury the “doubling farmer income by 2022” slogan. But it hasn’t.