The price of Meitei Cheng local rice has gone up to Rs 60 and above in the last few weeks. Never has one seen such hike in recent times. Yet nobody seems to be bothered. The state government is mum and even the monthly distribution of superfine rice at subsidised rates through the public distribution system (PDS) has almost become a thing of the past in most localities except in some constituencies represented by enterprising MLAs. Meanwhile, public focus continued to be caught in the whirlpool of communal hatred and ethnic tension with some forces working overtime to remain so.
The powers that be, simply do not want the public mind straying to ills and other problems like price hike of food and essential commodities, excessive extortion by various armed outfits, highway blockades, loss of jobs and livelihood opportunities, and most importantly failure of the state in bringing back peace and normalcy in the lives of the general population. Coming back to issue of price hike in food items, the state needs to seriously apply its mind to it. If we remember correctly, there was a time when the price of Meitei Cheng had gone down drastically during the Covid-19 pandemic.
During those days, the policy of free distribution of imported rice initiated by the central government which was supplemented by MLAs and candidate aspirants in the constituencies led to imported rice flooding the state. Even the saying that Meitei stomachs could never be supplemented by imported rice like superfine or Parmal variety seems to have been proven wrong in Covid times. The price of Meitei Cheng or local rice had plummeted from Rs 50 a kilogram to Rs 30 at wholesale price and grocery shops were no longer stocking Meitei Cheng as there is simply no demand because of free rice distribution by the government. The situation had become so dire in the pandemic days those farmers began looking for other avenues. Individual farmers who have surplus stock of paddy were utterly discouraged as there were few takers inspite of the heavy investment they had to incur during cultivation given the conditions of lack of farm labour and hike in wages of agricultural workers in view of the MGNREGA incentives.
In Manipur, farmers are mostly poverty stricken and indebted. So, they have to depend on investments from the urban people in the form of ‘Phoudamshel’ and the landowners. They still have to give the pledged number of Phoubots (80 Kgs) to the investors or the landowners, while they struggle with whatever is left of the harvest. Their entire sustenance depends on whatever is left of the harvest. And they suffer when the price of paddy plummets. The spill-over effect of free rice distribution had threatened the means of livelihood for the poor farmer.
Farmers of the state were facing price fluctuations and uncertainty of their produce. Availability of imported rice at cheaper price resulted in discouraging our farmers to grow rice. As they began to consider rice farming a losing pursuit on account of high cost of production and no remunerative price, their livelihood issues took a downward spiral. And then, ethnic clashes began in May 2023. Most of the agricultural fields in the periphery of the valley area were wasted in the last Kharif season as a result of the ongoing ethnic clashes and frequent attacks on agricultural workers and labour from the surrounding hills.
And this season also, farmers are still wary of going to the field in the periphery. Even with security measures being taken up by the government, in most places the fear of injury and death is there. Again, security was given in only a few places while the hype of security was more in the social media. Reports from the ground say, most of the field close to the hills have been left uncultivated. Yet, the state government remained oblivious to the impending catastrophe. As such, the price of Meitei Cheng may further increase and also affect availability in the market.
The state government must remember that the Second Nupilal occurred in 1939 and again the first students uprising in 1965 due to state induced food scarcity. Lest they pay heed to the impending signs, the state may face another uprising of sorts in this regard.
