Thread by @SortedEagle

The Farmers Protest has so far generated a loss of ₹70,000 crores. The GST collection data for FY20 says that Punjab contributed only 15,000 crore rupees to the total GST collection, Bihar – one of the poorest states of the country, contributed more than 12,000 crore rupees.

GST is imposed goods consumed by high-end consumers are sold more in the state. Bihar’s GDP is only ₹6.12 lakh crore, contributed almost similar amount despite having per capita income 3 times less than Punjab. Won’t be surprising if Bihar overtakes Punjab in a few years.

Farmers, the backbone of Punjab’s economy, are mere landowners in the state. The majority of the labourers who work on the fields of Punjab are migrants from Bihar, Jharkhand, & UP.

Punjab has around 46%of the money allocated by the Union govt to curb the crop residue burning.

However, instead of a decline, the state actually witnessed a rise of 17% in stubble burning. The state was allocated around ₹800 crore to resolve the grave issue, but much success couldn’t be achieved.
Ideally, groundwater should be available at a depth of 50-60 feet in Punjab.

But guess how much one needs to dig to install a tube well in the state? 200-300 ft!
Punjab also consumes large amounts of urea, a highly subsidised fertiliser & it was among the last states to adopt neem-coated urea. Moreover, the urea purchased by most farmers in Punjab is....

..actually sold to corporates & also smuggled to neighbouring nations as the rate of urea in India is very low.
Out of ₹3 lakh crore of subsidies allocated by the union govt, more than 20% goes to Punjab farmers though the state accounts for just 2% of the country’s farmers.

In Punjab, groundwater extraction for irrigation alone exceeds 90% more than any other state in India. Barring Rajasthan, the most over-exploited blocks in terms of groundwater are located in Punjab. Of the 138 assessed blocks in Punjab, stated in the Dynamic Groundwater...

..Resources Assessment of India – 2017 report, 109 are over-exploited, 2 as critical, 5 as semi-critical, and only 22 as safe.
The total annual groundwater recharge of the state was assessed as 23.93 bcm (billion cubic mts), annual extractable groundwater resource as 21.59 bcm.

Still, annual groundwater extraction was at 35.78 bcm, putting the extraction at 166%, highest for any state in India. Even for Rajasthan, it’s less than 140%.
Modi wanted to make the farmer 'atmanirbhar' in his choice, to choose between APMC, any govt authorised procurement....

...centre or the private sector. Still, the protesters in Delhi ensured that wherever the farmer goes, the middlemen stay the boss. Delhi will have its smog, the farmers will have their middlemen, at least in Punjab.

Punjab needs the private sector more than the MSP to secure...

..its long-term interests. Even though Punjab can claim to be the wheat & paddy basket of India, given of the 310.6 lakh tonnes of paddy procured in 2019-20, 202.5 lakh tonnes were from Punjab, & of 389.5 lakh tonnes of wheat, around 127 lakh tonnes were from the state itself.

The political economy of Punjab is sinking, the social services are in the dire condition, & industries are leaving. Even the farmers of the state are demanding more subsidies instead of a complete overhaul of the politics & the political economy of the state. In such a scenario,

Punjab is setting the worst example for all farmers of the country. In the last few decades, the economy of Punjab has witnessed very little growth, when compared to states like Gujarat, MP, Tamil Nadu or even Haryana.