Did Ambedkar Have Answers to Agricultural Distress in India?

April 14 is Ambedkar Jayanti, the birth anniversary of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.

B.R. Ambedkar is frequently linked to the social justice movement, identity politics, reservation policies, and the drafting of the Indian constitution. However, he was also an accomplished economist who greatly deepened the understanding of India's economic landscape, particularly in relation to agricultural and industrial development.

Ambedkar's seminal works, including Small Land Holdings in India and their Remedies (1918) and State and Minorities (1947), continue to provide essential insights for addressing emerging agricultural issues in India. Both texts discuss the economy, focusing on the agrarian crisis in India and the situation of marginalised farmers and agricultural labourers, many of whom belong to marginalised caste groups. Ambedkar's initial struggle focused on the economic issues of the caste system, which limits access to essential resources like land and capital for marginalised communities in India. 

Ambedkar on the agricultural landscape in India

Ambedkar offered several observations concerning the agricultural landscape in India, particularly with respect to marginalised populations. His insights remain pertinent today, albeit with some minor modifications. 

Fragmentation of land

Ambedkar observed that landholdings in India have increasingly become fragmented due to inheritance laws and a growing population. This fragmentation leads to inefficient farming practices, reduced productivity, and challenges in mechanising agricultural operations. He noted that a significant proportion of landholdings are less than 5 ares (approximately 0.5 hectares), with nearly 70-80% of landholders classified as small or marginal (defined as owning less than 1 acre). Furthermore, the average size of landholdings has decreased markedly, with many regions reporting sizes of less than 2 acres.

Low agricultural productivity

He highlighted that the prevalence of small landholdings contributes to the insufficient adoption of modern technologies that could enhance agricultural productivity. Due to a lack of capital, small landholders often struggle to invest in modern agricultural practices, which would otherwise improve their efficiency and income. 

Socioeconomic impact

Small landholding farmers, facing minimal agricultural productivity, frequently require capital to sustain their operations and cover living expenses. In the absence of adequate institutional credit facilities, these farmers often find themselves trapped in a cycle of debt with local moneylenders. 

Ambedkar's remedies

In light of the challenges small landholding farmers face, Ambedkar proposed several remedies. 

First and foremost, he emphasised the need for the nationalisation of agricultural land to eliminate landlordism and to achieve an equitable distribution of land among farmers, including landless agricultural labourers, while ensuring that no caste bias is maintained among the farming community. 

Second, he advocated for granting agriculture the status of an industry to extend the benefits of state policies aimed at enhancing agricultural productivity. According to Clause 4 of the State and Minorities, there is a pathway to convert agriculture into an industry. In this context, Ambedkar suggested that the state should acquire land and redistribute it equitably among villages as tenants rather than owners. 

Third, he recommended the establishment of cooperative societies that would consolidate small parcels of land into larger units, making it feasible to adopt modern techniques and improve agricultural productivity. The state should support these cooperatives by providing grants, subsidies, and other economic incentives to strengthen the sense of cooperation among farmers. It is clear that the state needs to vigorously advocate for these reforms, considering the historically individualistic and caste-based nature of landholding in India. 

Current agricultural scenario in India

It is disappointing that many concerns regarding agriculture continue to be neglected, leaving most farmers – especially small landholding farmers – in situations of disparity and helplessness. While some suggestions, such as land reforms and the promotion of cooperative societies, have been accepted and advocated by the Indian government, they have failed to transform the lives of marginalised farmers. The failure of these reforms can largely be attributed to the state's bias toward large landholding farmers, bureaucratic reluctance to implement the reforms, and the appropriation of cooperative societies by affluent castes and classes among farmers. This has turned these societies into instruments for extending their power, thus neglecting the needs of the marginalised sections of society. 

These socio-political conditions continue to impact small landholding farmers and agricultural labourers in India. The alarming number of farmer suicides underscores the seriousness of this issue for the Indian state. Between 1995 and 2018, nearly 400,000 farmers died by suicide in India, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) in 2019. This averages to approximately 48 farmer suicides every day. The NCRB's last report, released in December 2022, indicated that 11,290 farmers and farm labourers had died by suicide that year. Disturbingly, Maharashtra, which is considered to be a flourishing economy and follows the progressive ideologies of Phule and Ambedkar, continues to top the list for farmer suicides. 

It is important to recognise that many farmer suicides go unreported or uncounted, often due to the stigma associated with suicide in any political regime. This suggests that the situation might be more grave than it appears on the surface, indicating a severe agricultural distress across the country that affects a large segment of our population. 

We must thus turn to Ambedkar not only for debates about reservation policies but also to achieve the wellbeing of a significant section of the population that is engaged in and dependent on the agricultural sector. 

Suhas R. Bhasme is assistant professor, School of Habitat Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.

The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.