The farmers in the district have been protesting against the township project for over a year.

They are hoping that the government might consider withdrawing its plans to acquire the agricultural land, as it did near Devanahalli. Similar protests are being held by farmers near Doddaballapur against Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board’s (KIADB’s) attempts to acquire agricultural land. Given the expansion of Bengaluru urban district in recent times, the protests to protect agricultural land have become a common sight.

Infrastructural and industrial projects like ring roads, industrial corridors, housing townships and IT hubs now dominate the city’s periphery. Districts like Bengaluru rural, Ramanagar, Tumakuru, Kolar and Chikkaballapur are vital for the state capital’s survival. The metropolitan city depends on them for vegetables, fruits and fresh air.

Historically, these regions thrived in the farm sector, thanks to hundreds of natural lakes around the city and substantial investments in irrigation and infrastructure around Mysuru region. These initial investments explain the growth difference between north and south Karnataka.

Now, these farm lands are systematically converted to serve some non-agriculture purposes. The state justifies it as urban planning, but for farmers it is more like forceful dispossession and displacement. Such forced conversion of agricultural land is making farmers vulnerable.

Urbanisation and the gradual expansion of a city is a natural phenomenon in the growth process. The cities become the engine of the economy as resources and surplus labour flow from the less productive sectors like agriculture into industry and service sectors.

Bengaluru urban district is that power engine for Karnataka. It alone contributes about 40% to the state’s GDP while the share of service sector to GSDP is around 70%. The district has experienced a phenomenal service-led growth in last three decades.

However, its employment elasticity remains low. Even today, a large share of working population in the state depends on the agriculture sector. This transition without an actual structural transformation seems to be a premature de-agrarianisation. Pushing farmers out of agriculture in the process of land dispossession puts them in a zone of precarity. For those who have traditionally been farmers, switching occupation has proved a major hurdle.

The lack of required skill-set and labour influx from other regions of the country limit their employment opportunities in the urban sector. The growing city and the service sector cannot accommodate everyone seeking employment from these households, thereby pushing them into the insecure informal sector.

Many farmers, who receive compensation for selling their land, lack the cognitive capacity and financial awareness to invest it in profitable avenues. A study conducted by Azim Premji University on displaced households reports that the income of these households declined in five years after the sale of their land and many fell into debt trap eventually. Some try to purchase agricultural land somewhere else and relocate, but they lose their social relations built around agriculture and mutual aid.

Women and urbanisation

In the rural economy, women play a crucial role in the agriculture sector. In fact, their part has gained greater importance and identity, at least theoretically, as men migrate to cities for employment. And when that happens, agriculture, the burden of a not-so-profitable enterprise, is left to women.

Now, a question which often remains ignored is how does an expanding city absorb women into the job market? And will they be able to enter and thrive in the existing informal service sector?

The growing platform economy offers limited opportunities for women, given the social constraints and unsafe working environment, alienating them from agriculture leaves them in the cross-roads.

It is against this backdrop that the government should rethink and reimagine the idea of development. The protesting farmers argue that developing other cities into metropolitan areas, particularly in north Karnataka, would be more beneficial than expanding Bengaluru Urban and its neighbouring districts. The expansion of second-tier cities would undoubtedly avoid destroying the agrarian economy surrounding Bengaluru Urban.

While it is true that Bengaluru city is experiencing congestion due to migration, infrastructure bottlenecks and water scarcity, succumbing to the real estate barons and converting agricultural land into non-agricultural land may not be a sustainable long-term solution.

Furthermore, farming households in this region are unwilling to abandon their traditional occupation, as they find it difficult to adapt to rapid urbanisation. Besides, there are limited employment opportunities for them, especially for women, in an urban space.

Murali D.A. teaches Economics at GITAM University, Bengaluru.