Catch them young, says farmers’ commission

Vijay C Roy

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 19

In order to involve the future generation in the finalisation of the state’s agriculture policy, the Punjab State Farmers’ and Farm Workers’ Commission has decided to rope in schools, colleges and university students.

The Commission, which has sought comments and suggestions on its recently unveiled draft “Punjab State Farmers’ Policy” from farmers and experts, wants to create awareness about several critical issues such as over-exploitation of groundwater and over-dependence on wheat and paddy.

“We plan to write to schools, colleges and universities for students’ participation in the planning process. The students will also be rewarded for their suggestions. An announcement to this effect will be made soon,” Punjab State Farmers’ and Farm Workers’ Commission Chairman Ajay Vir Jakhar told The Tribune.

Jhakhar said, the Commission is open to all kinds of suggestions from every section of society and often students come out with some brilliant ideas. “We don’t want to restrict ourselves. We want involvement of the existing farmers as well as their next generation,” he said.

Any student can submit his/her suggestions online, he said. “All they have to do is to upload their identity cards,” he added.

The Commission will also use social media to tap views and ideas of younger generation, he said. “This is a must for the first-ever policy for a state that has been in the forefront of agriculture for several decades,” he said. Besides students, the commission is also reaching out to farmer organisations, bureaucrats, agriculture experts, academicians and elected representatives (MLA and MPs).

“The fact that there was no such policy earlier in the state has made our task more challenging. This will also give us an opportunity to create state-wide awareness about problems and prospects of the farming sector,” he said.

Jakhar said the wider consultation on the draft policy has been started and the exercise is expected to be completed soon. “We will modify draft policy as per suggestions of all stakeholders and then finalise it by July,” he said.

“This is an attempt to make a pragmatic policy with a long-term perspective. It will not be a rigid document. It can be modified as per the future requirements,” he said.

The suggested policy interventions in the draft policy document are not exhaustive, he said. The purpose of the policy is to make Punjab’s agriculture sustainable, he added.

Jakhar explained that the objective of the policy is to improve prosperity and quality of life of farmers, particularly the small, marginal and landless farmers. The draft policy has identified four key objectives — achieving acceptable level of standard of living for all; conserving natural resources; combating disguised unemployment and improving governance and delivery of services to farmers.