comparatively recent times. That was one reason for my writing his biography first in Marathi and now this one in English. The second reason for this biography is that so many difficulties Joshi fought against exist even today. For instance, farmers continue to languish in indebtedness and that is often cited as the primary reason for farmers’ suicides. Farming continues to be a loss-making proposition and children of most farmers loathe to continue working on their farm. Or, the stark inequality in our society which he underlined in his now-famous phrase “India versus Bharat” exists even today. Understanding Joshi’s heritage might be helpful as we grapple with these old and yet contemporary issues. Many things strike us about Joshi. Based on his experience and study, he concluded that agriculture in India could never be economically viable. What the farmer got by selling his produce was always far lesser than what he spent by way of input, Joshi realized. He touched a deep chord in the farmers in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Punjab, Haryana and some other States who rallied around him. If today every political party speaks about better prices for farm produce, it is largely because of his efforts. He was the first to bring prices of farm produce on the national agenda. The gathering of women he organized at Chandwad was easily one of the largest women’s gathering in India. Though he began with the one-point programme of remunerative prices for farm produce, his work enlarged to encompass many other issues such as giving farm women dignity and land ownership, developing national and international markets for farm produce, use of frontier technology and free market by the farmers and so on. Unfortunately, he lacked the political wherewithal and hence could never muster adequate electoral support. Nor could he ever practice the art of being politically correct. At one point he 16
Q
Sharad Joshi : Leading Farmers to the Centre Stage
