A Humble Appeal on behalf of MP

Dear Friends,

We were gifted with life by our parents. And it is with food and love that they
nurture us to our fullest potential.

Creation is a gift. Our parents provide us love and affection, no matter what the
situation. In the same way, come summer, rain, winter, famine or flood, our
farmers expend their blood and sweat into toiling for producing our food. Like our
parents, our farmers are strong, both mentally and physically. They labor day in
and day out, braving the vagaries of monsoons, water scarcity, lack of electricity,
unrecoverable losses that are beyond their control, and a market that is riddled
with inefficiencies. This is not without its consequences for them: debt, and
unprofitable livelihood that gets worse every year.

Sadly therefore, our farmer brothers are a step away from bankruptcy, delinquency
and even death (by suicide, hunger and the social consequences of playing
perpetual catch up).

Friends, no single matter can be more serious to the wellbeing of our country. In
Madhya Pradesh, by the time we get to bed today, five farmers have been forced
into taking the ultimate risk of ending their own life. These strong willed brothers of
ours commit such an extreme act for no other reason than the fact that they do not
get a price that breaks even with the cost of their inputs and toil, with mounting
debts from past crop failures. Our farmer, the creator of our food chain, is losing his
livelihood and his right to living. No one is addressing this problem. This, in itself, is
a blot on a democratic society like ours.

But even more tragic is the fact that when farmers assert their right to
remunerative livelihood, they are faced with government suppression. As an
example, on June 6, 2017, five farmers who raised their voice against the injustice,
the BJP government shot them to death, and one additional farmer was beaten to
death. No action has been taken in this regard till date against this excess of police
force. On January 12, 1998, the Congress government opened fire on farmers
who asserted their right to compensation for their crops in Multai city of Betul
district. In this incident, 19 farmers died.

Friends, every time the farmer has asserted his plight, he has been denied life and
livelihood.

What is the solution?

The pernicious debt spiral of the farmer has to stop. The farmer has to be released
from multi-generational debt and also made debt-free for the future. There are
many steps that need to be taken here.

First, his debt cannot be repaid as he is losing money every season. We have to
provide debt waiver to help him clear his current debts. Next, the price of his crop
should fetch him more that his input costs, so that he can run his family well and
not be caught in debt again. This was clearly stated in the report of the famous
agricultural scientist MS Swaminathan in 2006. But for the eight years between
2006 to 2014, the Congress government did not implement it. In the Lok Sabha
Election campaign 2014, Modiji repeatedly promised that he would implement the
recommendations of this report. But after coming to power, the Modi government
filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court saying that they cannot implement this
report.

Some people say that forgiveness of debt will affect our economy. This is inhuman,
and baseless. Farmers of Madhya Pradesh have a debt of over 50,000 Crore
Rupees. The budget of Madhya Pradesh crosses 2 Lakh Crore Rupees. If you believe
that even a minimum 30% of this money goes to corruption in implementation,
then MP can recover over 60,000 Crore Rupees by ridding corruption. If the
government's corruption stops for a year, the debt of any farmer can be waived,
without any loss to the exchequer.
If you believe that all of us have a debt to the one who creates our food, then the
only way to annul our debt is by relieving the farmer's debt.

The direct plea of our farmers have gone unheard. To get the farmers out of the
maze of death and deliver them debt relief and a profitable livelihood, there is only
one way in a civil society - the path shown by Gandhiji: Satyagraha.

Starting May 26, 2018, I will go on an indefinite fast with some of our farmer
brothers. I will start this fast at Shahjahan Memorial Park, Bhopal. My fast will not
end until the Chief Minister forgives the debt of farmers.

I appeal to you to join me in force and voice in great numbers, so that the holders
of power can listen to the voice of the common man. I will be waiting for you. We
will not rest until we explore all avenues to bring relief to our farmer brothers.

With full belief in your support,

Alok Agrawal

(+91- 82239-99111)

Note: I have written a detailed letter along the same lines, to the Chief Minister of
Madhya Pradesh, Shri Shivraj Singh Chauhan.