The statistics tumble out of the papers every morning: 42% of children—two of every five, that is—are malnourished; 56% of our population is in need of food subsidy. Etcetera. And every now and then, tears are shed at food grains rotting in warehouses while millions go hungry.
But what about this?
The grisly sight of farmers dumping their produce on the streets to protest a fall in prices or whatever their demand is. Sure, it is a way of catching the attention of the people; a photo-op for the morning papers. But surely, whevere they are, they could be registering their anger better?
The produce here: tomato. The venue: the deputy commissioner’s office in Raichur. The day: Wednesday.
Photograph: Karnataka Photo News
Also read: Church, temple, gurudwara, mosque and hunger
churumuri 
What do you mean ” whatever their demand is’ ?
It ( the price ) doesnt even cover their expenditures which includes hauling the produce from Farm to Marukatte , Chai , Pani .
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i agree with dheerendragopal. and if they had protested as usual or raised slogans outside that same govt office, will it get even 50 words coverage? in this munna-anna era, other than perhaps making ketchup and serving it to those officials in the presence of the media, this was probably the most effective way of protest..
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Why should the government guarantee a price?
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If only Indian bureaucracy had the work ethic of Indian farmers and worked with them instead of against them.
http://www.thestatesman.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=396505&catid=35
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Let alone Tomato! Our PM Manamohan Ji has at last discovered that 42% of our children are malnourished. He has woken up at last. Thousands of bags of food grain rot in Government go-down every year and no step is taken to prevent this. When the court asked for the food to be distributed to the poor there was hue and cry from the government. The children are the future of the country. Not the 58% well fed who will go and settle in USA and Australia but the 42% who are poor. Cut all subsidy in all Government office canteens, Public sector canteens, Parliament and Assembly canteens. They are well paid and they can afford to pay the regular price, and divert this to the poor and malnourished. If 40% are malnourished, how many of them go to school? This is the next question?
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As long as middlemen continue to play in every field, this kind of situation will continue.
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Isn’t it ironic that the voices of those won whom our food security depends the most are heard the least?
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As an aside, this photo resembles the last few shots in the apple story in Darna Manaa Hai by RGV featuring Shilpa Shetty, where everyone in the town turns into apples. What horrid films we have seen.
Anyway, continue.
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makes a good case for futures trading in tomatoes, since the market seems to sufficiently huge. But alas the gov’t will stick to its usual method of MSP, if the noise is sufficiently loud.
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Destructive frustration, but what to do?
Agree with Jayashree, They could have left those go downs open , Poor would have taken them by their own transport.
No one is believing what the Govt/statistics say. Only positive results are expected. anyone?
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On a lighter note – the CM intrevened and did not let a La Tomatina event take place in Bangalore, while he probably hasn’t taken cognisance of this one. So, the best way to gain attention is to organise a La Tomatina in Raichur ?
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@Bengloorappa,
bang on target.. may be the farmers with a lil more initiative could have organized a la tomatina festival and make some monkey of it.. instead of letting the opportunity go waste.
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“Why should the government guarantee a price?”
because the farmers have to brave antiquated systems and mind-boggling supply chain inefficiencies to sell their produce. if india had the systems and systemic efficiencies (cold storages, reliable electricity, good roads/rail network to transport produce, ‘Business Intelligence’, increasing yields, etc etc etc….) in place for farmers to better protect and market their produce to the highest bidders, there would probably be no need for the government to guarantee a price. however, since corrupt indian govts., have put none of those systems or efficiencies in place, the tax-payers have to foot the bill one way or another.
this is the 10-second version. google away. something like this could be a good start — http://business-standard.com/india/news/dealing-directlyfarmers-is-still-barred/460461/
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