Peepli Live Responsible for Falling Number of Farmers
Number of farmers not falling. Agriculture Minister Maintains. Blames Peepli Live. Cites "shortage of Brides" as another Reason.
28 July 2013 New Delhi/Mumbai: Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar today refuted the charge that the agriculture scene was extreme stressed in the country due to which the farmers were quitting farming. He was replying to the questions raised by a JD(U) member who was citing a report published by Times of India during May 2013 saying that the number of farmers had fallen drastically during 2001-2010. The report had claimed that as of now there were 9 million less farmers than they were during 2001, citing the census data. Mr. Pawar said the conclusion of the report was somewhat distorted. “Basically it is because of the movie Peepli Live…After the release of that movie millions of farmers have stopped calling themselves as farmers because many media persons/city folk keep asking them if they too were planning to commit suicide.” According to him, the farmers of the country don’t want to be identified with the pitiful image of Natha Das and Budhia Das - two farmers depicted in the movie. When a BJP member drew his attention to the fact that the farmers were actually committing suicides in large numbers due to distress in the farming profession, Mr. Pawar vehemently countered the allegation. He said even if one took the farmers’ suicides in account, the fall in farmers’ number was over-stated. “According to statistics, only about 17,000 farmers have committed suicide every year during the said period. “Which is drastically less than the said fall of 9 million farmers?” “Besides, the plight of Dhaniya, the wife of Budhiya Das in Peepli Live has made it more difficult for the farmers to get brides for their marriageable sons. Owing to the fact that there is already a shortage of brides in the country, several farmers feel their sons will not get married if they said they belonged to farming community.” “So the blame doesn’t go to the problems in agriculture sector,” concluded Mr. Pawar, “but to Mr. Aamir Khan who has made such a socially-irresponsible movie.” When Funnynomics contacted Aamir Khan to know his reaction, the celebrated actor refuted the charge. He said the movie was not about the farmers; it was a satire on media. “I would accept the blame if any media persons had committed suicide, which is not the case.” Meanwhile Mr. Ajit Pawar agreed with what Mr. Sharad Pawar had stated, and said that there was no distress in the farm sector. “There was some shortage of irrigation water some time back, but with sustained urination that too had been taken care of.” Funnynomics (Disclaimer: This news report is pure fiction, a produce of fertile imagination, and none of the people, organisations, NGO, politicians, office bearers, or government officials mentioned on this page have anything to do with this topic, subject or report. Entire fabrication is meant for simple fun.) Did you like this story? |
Read more about falling number of farmers from different sections of media:
Number of self-reported farmers declines, govt data says Where Have All of India's Farmers Gone? Number of farmers in Gujarat dips by 3.5 lakh in 10 years India Losing 2,000 Farmers Every Single Day: A Tale Of A Rapidly Changing Society Farmers’ suicide rates soar above the rest 45 farmers commit suicide each day in India India - Farmers leave field, rice may soon disappear from your plate Your Clothes Are Making Indian Cotton Farmers Commit Suicide Falling farm incomes, growing inequities Farmers' suicides in India Farm labour’s number coming down |