The Elephant in the Field

If you earn ₹12 lakh a year running a company, you pay tax.
If you earn ₹12 lakh trading stocks, you pay tax.
But if you earn ₹12 lakh—or ₹1 crore—through farming, you pay nothing.

Welcome to india, where the profession decides your morality, not your income.

The moment someone suggests taxing high-income farmers, every political ideology, every “reformist” party, and every loud policymaker suddenly goes silent. Why? Because touching the farm lobby in india is political suicide.

The Myth of the Poor Farmer

Let’s get one thing straight: most farmers in india are poor. But that’s not who we’re talking about.

We’re talking about the top 2–3% of agricultural elites — landowners who earn lakhs, even crores, through agriculture and still enjoy complete tax exemption under the guise of being “farmers.”

The exemption was created to protect small and marginal farmers, but it has become a backdoor for massive tax evasion.

Politicians, bureaucrats, and businessmen routinely route non-agricultural income through “agriculture” to dodge taxes.

The result? The honest middle-class pays for everything, while the wealthy landowner smiles his way to the bank — tax-free.

A System Designed to Collapse Reform

Every time someone tries to reform agriculture, chaos is engineered.

Remember the Farm Laws of 2020? They were imperfect, but they aimed to dismantle the cartel that controls procurement, pricing, and distribution.

Yet, what happened?
A majority government — one that bulldozed article 370 and built the ram temple — was forced to backtrack in the face of organized farm protests.

That’s how powerful the lobby is.

It’s not just farmers on the street — it’s the political, bureaucratic, and business class that feeds off the system.

Agriculture isn’t just a profession anymore.

It’s a shield — a bulletproof vest worn by the rich to stay untaxed, unregulated, and untouchable.

The Great indian Hypocrisy

We say “India is an agricultural nation.”

But look closer — agriculture contributes less than 18% to GDP and employs over 40% of the population.
That’s not pride. That’s a policy failure dressed as nostalgia.

The truth is: we’ve built a moral firewall around farming.

We can criticize industries, corporates, and even the army — but dare to question agricultural privilege, and you’re branded “anti-farmer.”

It’s emotional blackmail disguised as social justice.

When Income Should Matter — Not Profession

Taxation isn’t punishment; it’s participation.
If a farmer’s annual income exceeds ₹12 lakh, he or she should contribute to the nation just like every other citizen.

We’re not talking about taxing the poor man tilling one acre in Vidarbha.
We’re talking about the rich farmer driving SUVs, owning dozens of acres, and declaring zero taxable income.

Income tax should be based on income, not occupation.

You can’t call yourself equal before the law if your income comes with a caste system attached.

The Political Suicide Button

Here’s why it will never happen:
Every major party — BJP, Congress, AAP, and regional powerhouses — relies on agrarian vote banks.

They will never risk alienating rural voters, even if those voters include the richest, most subsidized citizens in the country.

The bureaucracy won’t push it either.

Many retired officers and politicians own farmlands — convenient tax shelters to park “whitewashed” money.

So, every time the topic comes up, it’s buried under emotional slogans like “Jai Jawan, jai Kisan” — because sentiment is cheaper than accountability.

The Middle-Class Punching Bag

While the salaried class is squeezed dry with GST, TDS, cess, and surcharges, the politically sacred farmer elite enjoys free subsidies, free electricity, and free tax immunity.

This is not socialism.

This is selective socialism — socialism for the privileged and capitalism for everyone else.

The middle-class indian pays for the nation’s infrastructure, education, healthcare, and subsidies — while being mocked for “complaining too much.”

A New Deal for Honest Reform

Reform doesn’t mean taxing the poor farmer. It means redefining fairness.
Tax the rich, regardless of what they grow or where they work.

Protect the small farmer, but stop protecting the rich land baron.

Introduce a graduated agricultural income tax — one that exempts small farmers completely, but begins taxing income beyond ₹12 lakh at moderate rates.

Use that revenue to improve irrigation, crop insurance, and rural education.

True empowerment comes from accountability, not emotion.

Final Word: The Untouchables of Modern India

India’s biggest untouchable class today isn’t defined by caste — it’s defined by occupation.

We’ve created a system where the rich hide behind the poor, and the poor never rise because the rich keep the rules rigged.

Until we tax privilege — wherever it exists — we’ll keep pretending that we’re a nation of farmers while behaving like a nation of freeloaders.

Tax the rich farmer.
Not to punish.

But to prove that everyone is equal under the law.