Falling onion prices, severe drought and an uncertain trade environment were among the many issues raised by onion farmers in Manmad, another major onion market in Nashik district after Lasalgaon.

However, when I started chatting with them off-camera, a chorus voiced one of their biggest concerns - access to easy credit. Despite multiple government schemes to increase credit disbursal, it has not been too helpful. Farmers said the biggest blow had been the slowly dying co-operative societies, that once used to be the financial lifeline for farmers.

Nearly 40 percent of all crop loans disbursed in Maharashtra every year is extended by the co-operative banks. A majority of their beneficiaries are small and medium farmers, who find it difficult to obtain credit from regular commercial banks.

In the wake of demonetisation, co-operative banks and credit societies had faced heightened liquidity crunch and the situation did not normalise for long. The fact that most co-operative banks and credit societies are owned by politicians and are regulated by NABARD and state governments had put them under tough scrutiny post note bank and were banned from exchanging old currency.

One farmer said despite the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana accounts being opened, the process of securing credit from the formal banks was a tedious process, “The banks ask for such detailed list of documentation that it dissuades many. Government is actually harming us by taking away our only dependable financial system."

"Koi bhi bada bank hum kisaano ko khada bhi nahi karta. Bahut chakkar lagane ke baad koi sunvayi hoti hai. Shaheri logon ki tarah humare khate mein jyada paise nahi hote hai na.” (No big, commercial banks even allow farmers to stand, it takes us multiple visits to the banks to get some help. The treatment meted to us is different from people in cities as we do not have large sums in savings,” said a disgruntled farmer.

When I said that during demonetisation, the perception was that co-operative credit societies were politically driven and could be used for money laundering, the farmers shouted out in a chorus, “That is not our problem, it is the problem of the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The government has the authority to audit any bank and check the credentials, why trouble the farmers and the poor."

“The government claims to give farm loans at four percent, but the documentation required takes a lot of expenditure. If I want to borrow Rs 1 lakh, I needed to first spend nearly Rs 7,000 in getting my land rights record or (7/12 as it is locally called) and other documents. So essentially for me, the rate of borrowing is seven percent."

The farmers seemed too disillusioned by the fact that despite multiple farmer protests and subsequent promises by the government, as elections approach the narrative is changed to nationalism and national security, “Now, no one is talking about farmers, our issues are lost in the cacophony of Pulwama and Balakot. No one cares as to where will we secure money to sow our next crop, even as water scarcity is breaking our backs.”

First Published:Apr 9, 2019 9:00 PM IST