P. Sainath

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If there are a few words of English that almost every Indian farmer
would know, those would be ‘Swaminathan Report’ or ‘Swaminathan Commission
Report.’ They also know what for them is its main recommendation: Minimum
Support Price (MSP) = Comprehensive Cost of Production + 50 per cent (also
known as C2+50 per cent).



Professor M.S. Swaminathan will be remembered not merely in the halls
of government and bureaucracy, or even the institutions of science – but mainly
in the hearts of millions of peasants demanding the implementation of the
Report of the National Commission for Farmers (NCF).



Indian farmers, though, simply call it the ‘Swaminathan Report’ –
because of the huge input, impact and indelible imprint he made on the reports
of the NCF, of which he was chairman.



The story of the reports is one of betrayal and suppression by both
the UPA and NDA governments. The first of the reports was submitted in December
2004, the fifth and final one around October 2006. Let alone a special session
of Parliament on the agrarian crisis – which is what we desperately need – not
even an hour’s dedicated discussion has ever been held. And it is now 19 years
since the first report was submitted.



In 2014, the Modi government came to power, to some degree aided by a
promise they made of speedily implementing the Swaminathan Report, especially
its MSP formula recommendation. Instead, the incoming government speedily filed
an affidavit in the Supreme Court saying that would not be feasible as it would
distort market prices.



Perhaps the reasoning of
the UPA and NDA was that the reports were too ‘pro-farmer’, while both
governments were trying to hand over Indian farming to the corporate sector.
The report was the first thing approaching a positive blueprint for agriculture
since Independence. Helmed by a man who sought an entirely different framework:
that we measure growth in agriculture in terms of growth of farmers’ income,
not merely in increased output.

Shraddha Agarwal

Personally, the abiding memory I have of him goes back to 2005, when
he was NCF chairperson, and I appealed to him to visit Vidarbha. Farmer
suicides in the region were then occurring at the rate of 6-8 a day in some
seasons. Things were as miserable as they could be, though you wouldn’t learn
that from most of your media. (In 2006, we counted just six journalists from
outside Vidarbha who were covering what was perhaps the largest wave of
suicides in recorded history in the six worst-hit districts of the region. At
the same time, the Lakme Fashion Week in Mumbai was being covered by 512
accredited journalists and about 100 more on daily passes. The Fashion Week’s
theme ironically, was cotton – elegantly presented on the ramp while men, women
and children who grew that cotton were taking their lives in unprecedented
numbers an hour’s flight away.)



But back to 2005. Prof Swaminathan responded to that appeal from us
journalists covering Vidarbha much faster than any of us had expected and
arrived there very soon after with an NCF team.



The Vilasrao Deshmukh government was alarmed by his visit and tried
their best to give him a guided tour which would keep him in many discussions
with bureaucrats and technocrats, ceremonies at agricultural colleges, and
more. The soul of politeness, he told the Maharashtra government he would visit
the places they wished him to – but that he would also spend time in the field
at the places I asked him to go to along with me and fellow journalists like
Jaideep Hardikar. And he did.



In Wardha, we took him
to the house of Shyamrao Khatale, whose sons, the working farmers in the
household, had taken their own lives. We arrived to find that Shyamrao had
passed away a few hours earlier – of ill health, exacerbated by hunger, and
unable to cope with the loss of his sons. The state government tried to amend
the route saying the man was dead. Swaminathan insisted he would visit to pay
his respects and did.

Jaideep Hardikar

During the next few house visits, he was in tears listening to the
families of those who had ended their own lives. He also attended a memorable
gathering of distressed farmers in Waifad, Wardha, organised by the redoubtable
Vijay Jawandhia – one of our finest intellectuals on matters agrarian. At one
point, an elderly farmer in the crowd stood up and asked him angrily why the
government hated them so much. Should we become terrorists to be heard? The
professor, deeply pained, addressed him and his friends with great patience and
understanding.



Swaminathan was already in his 80s. I marvelled at his stamina, calm
and graciousness. We also observed how sincerely he would engage with people
who were strongly critical of his opinions and work. How patiently he would
listen – and even concede – to some of their criticisms. No one else I knew would
so readily invite his critics to a seminar or workshop he was organising to say
publicly the things they had told him personally.



It was surely one of the most impressive characteristics of the man
that he could look back over decades and address what he now saw as the
failures and shortcomings in his own work. He was shocked, and said so, by the
way and the scale at which the use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides went
so wildly out of control with the Green Revolution, something he had not
envisaged or imagined. Over decades, he grew more and more sensitive to ecology
and environment, to the use and abuse of water resources. In the last few
years, he also grew increasingly critical of the unregulated, reckless spread
of Bt or genetically modified crops.



With the passing of
Mankombu Sambasivan Swaminathan, India has lost not just its foremost
agricultural scientist, but a great mind and a fine human being.This story first appeared in The Wire, dated September 29, 2023.

M.S. Swaminathan lives on in farmers’ hearts

کسانوں کے دل کی دھڑکن ہیں ایم ایس سوامی ناتھن

ఎమ్.ఎస్. స్వామినాథన్ రైతుల హృదయాల్లో ఎప్పటికీ జీవించే ఉంటారు

விவசாயிகளின் மனங்களில் எம்.எஸ்.சுவாமிநாதன் வாழ்கிறார்

ਕਿਸਾਨਾਂ ਦੇ ਦਿਲਾਂ ਵਿੱਚ ਜਿਊਂਦੇ ਰਹਿਣਗੇ ਐੱਮ.ਐੱਸ. ਸਵਾਮੀਨਾਥਨ

ଚାଷୀଙ୍କ ହୃଦୟରେ ରହିଛନ୍ତି ଏମ୍‌.ଏସ୍‌. ସ୍ୱାମୀନାଥନ

शेतकऱ्यांच्या मनातले अजरामर डॉ. स्वामिनाथन

എം.എസ്. സ്വാമിനാഥൻ കർഷകഹൃദയങ്ങളിൽ ജീവിക്കുന്നു

ರೈತರ ಹೃದಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಎಮ್.ಎಸ್.‌ ಸ್ವಾಮಿನಾಥನ್‌ ಅಜರಾಮರ

किसानों के दिलों में हमेशा ज़िंदा रहेंगे एम. एस. स्वामीनाथन

એમ.એસ. સ્વામીનાથન ખેડૂતોના હૃદયમાં સદાય જીવતા રહેશે

किसान के करेजा एम.एस.स्वामीनाथन

एमएस स्वामीनाथन किसानन के दिल में हमेशा धड़किहन

চাষির মনে বেঁচে থাকবেন এম.এস. স্বামীনাথন

খেতিয়কৰ বুকুত ৰৈ যাব এম.এছ. স্বামীনাথনৰ নাম

Mumbai

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M.S. Swaminathan lives on in farmers’ hearts

Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, 1925-2023, was India's foremost agricultural scientist. His contribution extended to agri research, policy and planning where he proposed that we measure growth in agriculture in terms of growth of farmers’ income and not merely increased output

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