New Indian dilemma - Young ‘grooms’ from farm families unable to find a ‘match’

If a growing percentage of rural youth are getting unhappy, leaving them with some kind of a social stigma, it does reflect on the unfulfilled aspirations of young males. Not only in Karnataka and Maharashtra, a whole lot of younger males on the farm are unable to find a wife for themselves in Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand and for that matter even in Haryana and Punjab

A few weeks back, when I was travelling in the Nashik region of Maharashtra, some farmers wanted to share a growing socio-economic problem that was worrying them.

“Sir, our boys are not getting married,” lamented Jitendra Deore from Karnjad village.

His father explained that over the past few years they have noticed a growing trend that is perturbing them. Most boys in the marriageable age are unable to find a bride. “There have been cases when out of desperation some boys got married to girls from families of agricultural workers but even that hasn’t worked.” Still more unsettling is that even in cases where the boys are doing well, earn reasonably well from farming operations, have a decent house and a car, they still have a problem in finding a wife.”

They pointed to Kakaji Poppat, who was driving me in his own car for the past two days.

“Are you married,” I asked. “No, I haven’t been able to find a girl,” he grinned wryly. He is 36. He explained about unsuccessful efforts being made by his parents and elders to fix a match for him. He also said that many of his friends are still bachelors. This is not a new phenomenon. Over the years, I have time and again said that the deepening agrarian distress is turning into a serious crisis that may eventually tear into the social fabric. Younger boys in agriculture are unable to get married and this is now reaching alarming proportions.

So, when the former Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy admitted that young boys on the farm in Karnataka are unable to find brides, it was good to see at least a senior political leader finally acknowledging the vexed social problem that every political party should actually be concerned about. After all, if a growing percentage of rural youth are getting unhappy, leaving them with some kind of a social stigma, it does reflect on the unfulfilled aspirations of young males. Not only in Karnataka and Maharashtra, a whole lot of younger males on the farm are unable to find a wife for themselves in Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand and for that matter even in Haryana and Punjab.

Although the Janata Dal (Secular) party has made an electoral promise to give Rs two lakh to every girl who decides to get married to a boy on the farm, I see the problem is much bigger and cannot be resolved by a small financial grant. Politically, it may suit the JDS to announce a grant before the ensuing elections, but we will have to dig deeper to find a permanent solution to this emerging social crisis.

In my understanding, the problem is not only restricted to the countryside in India, but is global in dimension. Even with huge subsidies that Europe and North America provide to farmers, there are boys on the farm are finding it increasingly difficult to find a partner.

During my travels to Europe in July 2018, I had asked an elderly Declercq Gilbert, who had farms in Leshonnelles village outside Brussels, whether the younger people on the farm were able to find brides. To put the question in the right perspective, I explained how difficult it was becoming for young males in the agriculturally advanced Haryana to find brides. There were cases when the boy’s family had to pay a handsome package to find girls from far-off Kerala. Maybe gender ratio was one issue, but the fact that no one wants to marry their daughters into farm families is something that cannot be denied.

To my utter surprise, the Belgium farmer told me that it was so far not a problem in his country, but suggested that I ask the same question to fellow-farmers in France. When asked, the French farmers were quite open about it, acknowledging that given the agrarian distress that prevails, women are very reluctant to marry and live in the countryside.

In fact, I was told that seized of the growing socio-economic crisis on the farm, a weekly TV reality show called “Love in the field” makes effort to bring younger boys and girls on to the show to convince them of the need to go and live on the farm, hoping that some would eventually find love and settle down on the farm. How much of this has worked, I am not sure. But the fact that the TV show has been running for several years now reflects its popularity. In Canada too, a popular TV show “Farmer wants a wife” has been on the air for quite some time. The underlying effort is to find love for the farmer.

That makes me wonder why Indian filmmakers have not thought of the idea. Perhaps, the issue has not been talked about in the public, as much as it should have been, that the film makers remain ignorant. Given the widespread problem, a reality TV show in India helping farmers to find love and finally get a wife should hopefully attract a much higher TRP rating.

Given the spate of farm suicides, and frequent reports of farmers throwing their produce on the streets or in rivulets, the general impression is that farming is not remunerative enough. This is true, considering that the latest Situational Assessment Survey for Agricultural Households (based on 2018-19 data) has estimated average household income (including from non-farm activities) to be around Rs 10,000 per month. Knowing where the shoe pinches, even farmers are keen to find a groom for their daughter in the cities.

In Himachal Pradesh, for instance, I was told that despite apple growers being comparatively well-off economically, the younger girls in the villages are keen to find a match in cities. “Even if the groom happens to be a clerk, and living in a small dingy apartment in a city, the girl is okay with it,” a farmer told me.

I don’t think we can find fault with the village girls. They too go by the dominant thinking that encourages rural to urban migration. If we really want to reverse the trend, we will have to do more than simply giving a hand-out to girls. The bigger challenge is to restore pride in farming and rebuild an atmosphere where farming is not looked down upon as simply a means of subsistence. This will need a shift in policy thinking and approach.

While that will take some time to happen, where I see a ray of hope is that many young educated girls (and even boys) are leaving their attractive jobs (and salaries) in the cities to return to the villages. We need to talk about them, the challenges they are faced with, and how they are making it work far from the hustle and bustle of cities. These are the stories that we cannot simply gloss over. These stories can provide hope for the younger generation.

(The author is a noted food policy analyst and an expert on issues related to the agriculture sector. He writes on food, agriculture and hunger)