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Socialist Unrealism

An agitation launched by the farm labourers’ wing of the CPI (M) has not only led to tension in the rice belt of Kerala but has sown the seeds of dissent within the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF). Now, the CPI (M) is finding it hard to wriggle out of the situation as the movement is running out of steam.

The Kerala State Karshaka Thozhilali Union (KSKTU) has been protesting against the large-scale reclamation of paddy fields in Kuttanadu in Alappuzha district. They have planted red flags in the converted paddy fields and have destroyed crops, which replaced paddy. Meanwhile, the Kisan Sabha, affiliated to the CPI, which holds the portfolios of revenue and agriculture in the State, has been organizing counter-agitations.

It is a fact that the total agricultural land has declined from 8 lakh hectare to 5   lakh hectare in three decades. Between 1985 and 1995 the fall in rice production is estimated at 4 lakh tonnes. The trend has been to abandon farming and level the paddy field. Statistics reveal that the per capita land holding has declined from 1. 26 acres in 1970-’71 to 0.82 acres in 1990-’91.

In fact, land has ceased to be a source of permanent income instead it has become an asset. Farmers are willing to sell paddy fields to real estate brokers as they fetch them much higher profit. Some farmers have switched to more lucrative crops such as coconut and banana. And in many places, paddy fields are used for fish farming under a government scheme.

The CPI (M) union thinks it is the responsibility of the farmers to feed the society and they have to be “socially committed”. “What will the government do if one fine morning all the wheat farmers of the country decide to stop cultivating the crop?” says G. Sudhakaran, CPI (M) MLA and a leader of the agitation. Those opposed to the agitation feel the union is encroaching upon the freedom of the individual.

Either way, it is obvious that the CPI (M) is extending its textbook realism a bit too far. After the land reforms, the tribe of ‘feudal farmer is virtually extinct in the State. Today’s average farmer is a wager earner either in the public sector or in the private sector.

And he is forced by the circumstances to abandon paddy farming and to switch to other crops. Gopala Pillai, a retired school teacher-cum-farmer of Nedumudy, Alappuzha, says that returns from paddy farming are steadily on the decline. Chronic shortage of labour is another hurdle. He points out that the new generation of workers opts for construction work, which provide them higher income.

One of the few remaining traditional fulltime farmers K. A. Parameswara Iyer, cousin of noted agricultural scientist M. S. Swaminathan, presents another side of the story. A graduate in agriculture, Iyer resigned his job in 1960 to concentrate on farming.

Iyer blames the agriculture department officials and the fertilizer firms alike for misguiding the farmers. He has not converted any farmland and says levelling of fields is costly and only the new-rich can afford it.

While the farmers blame the levelling of fields on the shortage of labour, workers say the conversion of paddy fields has rendered them jobless. But the Kuttanadu area secretary of the CPI (M) V. G. Kuttappan admits that the number of farm workers has dwindled.

The Kerala Land Utilization Act permits conversion of paddy fields only up to 30 cents with the prior permission of the Revenue Divisional Officer. But for the past two decades, the conversion process has been going on unchecked.

Ironically, with the agitation gaining momentum, critics have come out with long lists of CPI (M) leaders who reclaimed paddy fields. Also, many CPI (M) offices were built on the levelled paddy fields. The CPM cadres are a confused lot as they say the party was not just a mute witness to the illegal field conversion, but was a collaborator in many cases.

A cursory look at the targets of the present agitation will reinforce the criticism of selective attacks.  All the agitation centres belong to either known opponents of the CPI (M) or non-sympathizers of the party.

Consensus eludes the experts on reclamation.  Former Agricultural Production Commissioner M. S. Joseph says that paddy fields are natural water reservoirs. Their depletion would be disastrous for the water tables and consequently, the possibility of sea-water seeping into the interior cannot be ruled out, he says.

Food expert and State Planning Board member K. N. Shyamasundaran Nair contests this. According to him, conversion to cultivate coconut or any other dry land crop can help better seepage of water.

The State Government supports alternating between paddy and pulses or paddy and fish. And the State Planning Board Vice-Chairman I. S. Gulati is of the view that if the farmer finds a particular crop more profitable, he should allowed to cultivate it.

The anti-reclamation movement is banking on Kerala’s high food deficit. Being a traditionally food-deficit State – 75 per cent, at present – the argument for self-sufficiency is easily convincing.

In a joint paper, however, M. S. Swaminathan and Nair point out that the famine during the Second World War might have forced Keralites into the ghetto of anxiety over food sufficiency. They argue that since the State is deficient in vegetables and fruits also, self-sufficiency should not be limited to rice alone. If banana and vegetables were cultivated in paddy fields, it would have provided far greater number of job opportunities and higher income, they say.

Having plunged neck-deep into the agitation, the CPI (M) does not really seem to know how to take it forward. With the party expressing regret for the ‘isolated events’ of destruction of crops, many feel the movement is losing steam. Despite being the largest labour force in the State, the KSKTU has failed miserably to make the LDF Government sit up and take notice of the agitation.

The agitation, which was kicked off to mobilize workers could well boomerang on the CPI (M).

After the 1970 agitation against farmers in Palakkad, the party managed to isolate the farmer community in the district from the Communist movement. Also, it created deep distrust and enmity between the CPI and the CPI (M). Now it seems, history is repeating itself – as a farce.

The Indian Express

22 August 1997