An Indian Farmer

India is a country of villages. Majority of the people live in villages. Their main occupation is agriculture. They work on the fields to feed the people. An Indian farmer is very hard-working. He goes to the field even before the sunrise. He works there the whole day and cares little for heat and cold. He ploughs, sows and reaps in all kinds of weather. His wife or children bring for him mid-day meal. Having taken his humble food, he again gets busy in his day’s work. While working, he often croons to break the dullness of his work.

He returns home only after it gets dark. He is greeted by his wife and children at the door. This is the happiest moment of the day for him. He takes tea and after some rest goes to the village chopal. There he chats with fellow farmers and makes jokes for recreation. After having spent an hour or two there, he comes back home.

The life of an Indian farmer is not smooth. It is full of difficulties. In spite of hard work, he is over head and ear in debt. His crops are at the mercy of natural forces. Sometimes these are droughts while at other times there are floods. In an Indian village there are no hospitals worth the name. There is a shortage of medical facilities. Often he dies without getting any medical treatment. There is a total lack of schools for the education of his children. The few schools found in villages are not up to the mark.

There is still much to be done to improve the poor lot of an Indian farmer. An Indian farmer needs to be taught scientific methods of agriculture. He should be supplied seeds of better quality. He should get electricity according to his need. He should be freed from the clutches of money-lenders. For that purpose, the government should give him loan on nominal rates of interest. There should be provision for schools and hospitals for the educational and health of his children.

It is heartening to note that the government is taking interest in the welfare of village people. The ‘Jawahar Rozgar Yojna’ was launched to improve the condition of the farming community. “Panchayati Raj” seeks to give more power to the people. The Central Government has promised to waive off the loan of a farmer up to the tune of Rs. 10000/ -. It is a good thing. But this is not enough. Much more is required to be done for him.