Where is the crop insurance we were promised?

Shopian; once lush with hope, now battered with uncertainty. A fresh hailstorm this week has once again devastated the apple orchards of this agriculturally dependent district in South Kashmir. The timing couldn’t be worse. The bloom was at its peak. Farmers were already nursing hopes of a better season after last year’s catastrophe. But nature struck again — and so far, the state hasn’t shown up.

Nearly 70% of the fruit crop stands damaged. This is not just a seasonal mishap. This is the second year in a row where major hailstorms have wiped out the primary source of income for thousands of families in Shopian. Last year, more than 80% of the apple crop was lost. That disaster happened right in the middle of the election campaign season. Leaders flew in, candidates lined up, promises poured like the hail itself and among the most loudly proclaimed was crop insurance.

They called it essential. They called it non-negotiable. They said no apple grower should ever suffer again without compensation. They convinced us that change was coming.

Two MLAs now represent Shopian in the newly elected Legislative Assembly; one aligned with the ruling party and the other an independent voice. Both made loud, passionate pledges on ensuring crop insurance is implemented without delay. But since then, there has been a deafening silence.

Cabinet meetings have happened. Assembly sessions have come and gone. We’ve heard discussions on many issues most notably, on the return of statehood. But beyond that, there has been no mention, no motion, and certainly no implementation of any crop insurance scheme.

And now, as farmers look upon their ruined orchards for the second consecutive year, the pain is accompanied by a bitter realisation: the promises made were perhaps just another layer in the campaign spectacle.

This week, both the MLAs of the district, and even opposition leaders, visited the storm-hit orchards. Pictures were taken, losses were acknowledged, and assurances were repeated. But farmers are no longer convinced by visits and photo-ops. They want action. They need a system that cushions them against such inevitable calamities. Crop insurance was never a luxury - it’s a lifeline. And it’s overdue.

Is the government waiting for a third hailstorm? Is there a hidden clause in democracy that lets leaders move on once elected? Or is it now up to the farmers to install hail nets at their own cost; a solution that only a handful can afford?

For a region like Shopian, where horticulture isn’t just a business but a way of life, repeated loss without relief is more than economic damage, it’s emotional devastation. The government must answer to the people who trusted them, voted for them, and believed in their promises.

The Supreme Court paved the way for democracy to return to Jammu and Kashmir. But if democracy does not deliver where it matters the most in the lives and livelihoods of the people, then its return will feel ornamental.

The question now echoes through every orchard and every household in Shopian: Will crop insurance ever be a reality? Or are farmers on their own yet again?

Raja Ishfaq Lateef is a civil engineer.