Rural Voice, Socratus, Tamil Nadu Farmers Protection Association (TNFPA) and Farmers Merchants Industrialists Federation (FMIF) have successfully concluded the ‘Agenda for Rural India - Coimbatore’, a day long convening focused on the question of ‘how should the development agenda for Rural India be framed’. The convening involved diverse rural stakeholders from 8 districts of Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore, Namakkal, Erode, Selam, Dharmapuri, Tirupur, Dindigul, Nilgiris, and Tirunelveli. They discussed and deliberated on a multitude of issues they face as rural citizens and presented their aspirations for their respective villages and the kinds of policies they would like to see implemented.
Agenda for Rural India, Coimbatore is part of a series of convening of rural people being organised nationwide by Rural Voice, a digital media organisation and Socratus, an NGO working in social and rural sector. Tamil Nadu Farmers Protection Association (TNFPA) and Farmers Merchants Industrialists Federation (FMIF) were the local partners for the Agenda for Rural India convening at Coimbatore. This is the fifth in a series of discussions being held across different states of India.
Earlier convenings were organised at Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh; Bhubaneswar, Odisha; Jodhpur, Rajasthan and Shillong, Meghalaya.
In the opening remarks, Harvir Singh, Editor-in-Chief, Rural Voice said, "Tamil Nadu, like rest of India, faces large disparities between urban and rural areas. Tamil Nadu has a significant agricultural sector that is facing many critical challenges along with developmental issues. The focus of these convenings is to tap into the voices of rural citizens and inform policymakers, bureaucrats, politicians, experts, and media about the needs of people articulated by people themselves. Through this dialogue we want to surface people-oriented solutions for rural development." Participants raised a large number of issues. Human – wild animal conflict which led to large-scale crop destruction, especially in hill districts and tea plantations, was raised as a major concern.
In addition, farmers need individual crop insurance, even in case of animal attacks. This is useful given the increasing occurrence of climate change. Farmers also cited lack of good prices for crops, especially vegetables and asked for price support for milk.
Water for agriculture was another big issue. Water bodies and groundwater is polluted by sewage and industries. Protecting and rejuvenating dying and polluted water bodies along with active river management was the demand from the group. In addition, people asked for active support for people working in tea plantations and enhancing the quality of agricultural education.
In his concluding remark Prachur Goel, Director, Socratus said, "in recent years, we have seen tremendous challenges being faced by rural areas. At the same time, with digitization, the aspirations and societal fabric of rural Indians has also changed. For making policies to remain relevant, it is important to continuously hold dialogues with rural citizens. These conversations are also acting as a tool of empowerment that allow for self-determination.”
Eesan Murugasamy, Founder of Tamil Nadu Farmers’ Protection Association (TNFPA) said “this jointly organized meeting with rural stakeholders including farmers and labourers (agricultural, industry and construction) has generated valuable suggestions to develop villages. These alternative ideas should be submitted to relevant government authorities and continuously engaged.
Senthilkumar, President of Farmers Merchants Industrialists Federation (FMIF) said “such discussions should be held in every district and taluka headquarters of Tamil Nadu so that the rural public’s grievances are heard. This will surface local problems and applicable solutions.”
This event is part of a series of convenings being organised by Rural Voice and Socratus across rural India to address the unique challenges faced by rural communities in the country. These events aim to capture the change in rural India, address the growing urban-rural divide and enable rural stakeholders to voice their opinions. The goal is to develop a comprehensive rural agenda that addresses the needs of rural communities. The compiled insights from these dialogues will be presented and discussed with policymakers and experts in Delhi on 1 st November.