New Delhi, November 9: The Lok Gathbandhan Party (LGP) said today that even after lapse of two years of demonetization of high value currency, rural India has still been facing its disastrous impact. The LGP said ill-conceived decision of demonetization, which had rendered 86% of currency in the system invalid, had badly affected rural agricultural wages and sharp decline in bargaining power of farmers in attracting prices for their produce, which is still continuing.
The spokesman of the party said here on Friday that while the tall claim of NDA government of eliminating black money through demonetization has totally failed, the farmers are groaning under the heels of the problem. Dubbing November 8, 2016 as black day for the poor and middle class people, as they were the worst sufferers of NDA government’s decision, the spokesman said the crisis in rural India had aggravated and there is still no let-up in it. The spokesman said farmers and rural workers are still unhappy and their discontent would play an important role in 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
The spokesman further said even the government’s plan for doubling the income of farmers by raising procurement prices is unlikely to yield positive results because of faulty plan and rampant corruption in the system. The spokesman said in pre-demonetisation years there was an increase in the ratio between agricultural and non-agricultural rural wages, largely because of rural employment guarantee programme, but adverse fall out of currency ban in 2106 hit the people. Moreover drought in 2014 and 2015 had also added woes to the farmers’ problems, the spokesman said, adding demonetization had thus further killed earlier gains in the wages. The spokesman said media report indicated that agriculture had become relatively unattractive for workers in the post-demonetisation phase. The spokesman said food inflation had further impacted the poor people in villages. While The bargaining power of farmers was always low, the demonetisation amplified it, the LGP said.
