There were many other expenses which were left out while calculating the production cost. Therefore, it was always much below the actual cost incurred and the farmer was virtually eating into his capital, selling a part of his land or taking loans which he could never repay. This clarified that not giving the farmer the rate which would entirely cover his production cost, was a part of the deliberate policy. This was the direct result of the Soviet Model of development that the country adopted where industry was given precedence over agriculture. Interestingly, that view, often expressed by Joshi, has never been contradicted by any government official or a politician that time or even now. This squarely placed the blame of the farmers’ tragic plight on the politicians. Thousands of farmers would listen to Joshi with rapt attention. What he said was music to their ears. Especially the young farmers were getting mesmerized by his presentation which combined emotional appeal and logic. He explained that with the current absurdly low prices, however hard they worked, they could never repay their debts. They had lived in debt and would die in debt. And this was a result of the deliberate decision of the government which chose a particular model for development. He was telling them what no politician had ever told them. Joshi soon became a messiah for the farmers. On 11 September 1980 there was a huge rally in Pimpalgaon Baswant. It was the biggest farmers’ rally so far. Over 50,000 farmers attended. Even the trio of Joshi, More and Patil was impressed by the resolve farmers showed. It was announced that if the Government did not concede to their demand of Rs. 300 per ton of sugarcane before 10 November, they would resort to rasta roko and also rail roko. In his speech More made an important clarification. “Don’t listen to this Joshi! What that Brahmin knows about farming!” 126
Q
Sharad Joshi : Leading Farmers to the Centre Stage
