AIKS State Convention on 28 Jan. 2016 Gives Call For Massive Struggle in March 2016

Ashok Dhawale

On January 28, 2016, the AIKS Maharashtra Council held a vibrant state-level convention in Nashik that gave a clarion call for an unprecedented state-wide siege (mahapadav) of one lakh peasants from March 29 onwards in Nashik city. It was attended by over 700 leading activists from 21 districts. This struggle call was the culmination of a four-month long AIKS campaign in Maharashtra. The campaign will be further intensified in the next two months.

It was an interesting coincidence that exactly ten years ago to the day on January 28, 2006, Nashik city had witnessed the massive one lakh strong peasant rally of the AIKS 31^st National Conference that was held from January 28-31.

Vibrant State Convention

After the welcome speech by AIKS Nashik District Secretary Irfan Shaikh, the election of AIKS state president Dada Raipure as chairman of the convention and the condolence resolution placed by AIKS State Vice President Udayan Sharma, the convention was inaugurated by Dr R Ramakumar, Professor, Mumbai. In an enlightening address, he succinctly analysed various facets of the agrarian crisis in the country and in the state. The new issue of the AIKS quarterly state journal ‘Kisan Sangharsh’ was released by AIKS former state president J P Gavit, who is seven-time MLA from the Kalwan seat in Nashik district. AIKS State General Secretary Kisan Gujar and State Vice President Yashwant Zade conducted the proceedings.

The main resolution of the convention, along with the demands, preparation and nature of the coming struggle from March 29, was placed by AIKS National Joint Secretary Dr Ashok Dhawale. It was seconded by AIKS state office-bearers from the five major AIKS districts – Arjun Adey (Nanded), Savliram Pawar (Nashik), Barkya Mangat (Thane-Palghar), Uddhav Poul (Parbhani) and Dr Ajit Nawale (Ahmednagar).

The convention was greeted by CITU State General Secretary Dr D L Karad, AIDWA State President Mariam Dhawale, DYFI State President Sunil Dhanwa and SFI State President Mohan Jadhav. All of them pledged full support to the ensuing peasant struggle.

The convention then broke up for district-wise group discussion for an hour. Here the main contours of the district planning for the struggle and of strengthening the organisation were decided upon. Each district filled out its specific replies to a questionnaire on the above points given by the state centre. This was a vital part of the convention. Two lakh persuasive and attractive leaflets for the ensuing campaign had been published by the state centre and they were distributed to all the districts in the convention itself.

After speeches by other AIKS state office-bearers Umesh Deshmukh (Sangli), Sidhappa Kalshetty (Solapur) and Vilas Babar (Parbhani), the rousing concluding speeches were delivered by J P Gavit and Dada Raipure. A press conference was also organised.

Sustained AIKS Campaign

This convention was preceded by a four-month long sustained campaign by the AIKS. It actually began by the Maharashtra AIKS hosting the AIKS national council meeting at Wardha in the Vidarbha region in July 2015. This was accompanied by a spirited rally.

A state-wide AIKS Peasants’ Rights Awareness Campaign was held for a month from October 5 to November 10, 2015, in which meetings of the main AIKS district activists were held in 24 districts of the state. Around 1,500 activists attended these meetings. In all these meetings, attended by AIKS National Joint Secretary Dr Ashok Dhawale, State General Secretary Kisan Gujar, State Joint Secretary Dr Ajit Nawale and other state office-bearers as a collective team, the burning issues of peasant struggle were identified; the nature of the struggle was discussed; and the steps for organisational strengthening were decided.

In December 2015, over 50,000 peasants under the AIKS banner came on to the streets in 29 tehsils of 15 districts in all the five regions of the state on the four burning issues of land rights, loan waiver, remunerative prices and drought relief.

On January 7 and 8, 2016 respectively, the AIKS held two regional-level loan-waiver and drought relief conventions at Selu in Parbhani district for the Marathwada region, and at Malkapur in Buldana district for the Vidarbha region. Both were well-attended by 400 to 500 peasants each from 11 districts of Marathwada and Vidarbha regions.

On January 12, an AIKS convention of peasants cultivating temple lands was held at Satara where the main demand was the vesting of these vast lands in the names of the cultivating peasants. Over 500 peasants from the four districts of Western Maharashtra attended.

On January 19, as part of the joint CITU-AIKS-AIAWU call for a state-wide Jail Bharo stir, 92,272 peasants from over 60 tehsil centres in 25 districts under AIKS leadership marched in rallies and courted arrest around their demands and to condemn the BJP-led governments.

From February 7 to March 1, all AIKS district conferences are being held and they are being preceded by village and tehsil conferences. In March district-level jathas will be organised. The state conference will be held at Talasari in Thane-Palghar district by the end of April.  

The AIKS state council re-started the publication of its quarterly journal Kisan Sangharsh. The AIKS also published 5,000 copies of a booklet on Remunerative Prices to the Peasantry written by AIKS State Joint Secretary Dr Ajit Nawale and this sold briskly all over the state.

As a result of all this activity, AIKS membership in Maharashtra this year has crossed the 2 lakh mark and concerted efforts are on to cross the 3 lakh mark for the first time this year.

The Major Issues of the Coming Struggle

Maharashtra has been a sad witness to 3228 peasant suicides in the year 2015, according to official figures released by the NCRB. Of these, 1179 have been in the Amravati division of Vidarbha; 1130 in the Aurangabad division of Marathwada; 459 in the Nashik division of Northern Maharashtra; 362 in the Nagpur division of Vidarbha; 96 in the Pune division of Western Maharashtra; and 2 in the Konkan division of Coastal Maharashtra.

In the last 20 years since 1995, Maharashtra has had the grim record of over 65,000 peasant suicides, the highest in the country which has seen over 3,50,000 peasant suicides during the same period. Of these 20 years, the state has been ruled by the Congress-NCP regime for 14 years and by the BJP-Shiv Sena regime for 6 years; and the country has been ruled by the Congress alliance for 11 years and by the BJP alliance for 8 years.  

There is a clear class convergence in the neo-liberal agrarian policies pursued by both these governments. It is these very class policies that are at the root of the grave issue of peasant suicides, which is one of the stark symptoms of the deep agrarian crisis in the country.

The NSS Situation Assessment Survey 2013 on the Indebtedness of Agricultural Households in Maharashtra is an eye-opener. Its highlights are collated and given in two charts below:

Profile of Agricultural Households’ Outstanding Debt by Region

Region                     % of Indebted   Number of Indebted   Average Outstanding Debt    Total Outstanding Debt

Marathwada                     74.5                12,51,877                           Rs    94,962                     Rs  1,18,88,07,43,674

West Vidarbha                 66.4                  7,58,638                            Rs    64,734                     Rs      49,10,96,72,292

East Vidarbha                   36.5                  1,84,739                            Rs    49,594                     Rs        9,16,19,45,966  

North Maharashtra         56.4                  5,58,041                            Rs    93,507                     Rs      52,18,07,39,787              

Western Maharashtra    52.4                11,53,958                            Rs 1,02,428                     Rs  1,18,19,76,10,024

Konkan                              27.7                   1,59,972                             Rs 2,55,751                    Rs      40,91,29,98,972

Maharashtra                    57.3                 40,67,225                             Rs   95,508                     Rs  3,88,44,37,10,715

Profile of Agricultural Households’ Outstanding Debt by Landholding and Sector

Landholding                    No. of Indebted     Average Outstanding Debt     % Formal Sector     % Informal Sector           

Landless                                 22,139                          Rs    31,383                                15.3                             84.7

Upto 1 Hectare                 15,09,470                          Rs    65,627                                 55.7                             44.3               

1-2 Hectare                      12,10,858                          Rs    73,946                                64.7                             35.3                     

2-4 Hectare                        8,62,227                          Rs    87,363                                66.8                             33.2                          

4-10 Hectare                      4,37,551                          Rs 2,59,332                                69.6                             30.4        

Above 10 Hectare                24,989                          Rs 4,14,233                                82.3                             17.2   

Maharashtra                   40,67,225                          Rs    95,508                                62.6                             37.4   

Some Major Conclusions from Survey

Space does not permit a detailed analysis of the above charts but some facts are very clear:

1. As many as 57.3 per cent, i. e. 40.67 lakh peasants in the state were indebted in 2013. With the severe drought conditions in large parts of the state in the last two years and the even more retrograde agrarian policies of the Modi-led BJP regime, both these figures are certain to have increased in the last three years. This is reflected in the stark rise of peasant suicides in the state to the tune of 40 per cent in the last one year. The total quantum of agricultural debt in the state which is Rs 38,844 crore, includes crop loans and also loans taken by agricultural households for other purposes.

2. The worst position of the debt-ridden peasantry is in the two backward regions of Marathwada and Western Vidarbha, where the main crop is cotton and where the drought is most severe. The situation in Northern Maharashtra is also worsening. Eastern Vidarbha and Konkan have relatively low debt since here the main crop is paddy, its cost of production being low. The large quantum of debt in Konkan is explained by the huge amounts of notorious so-called ‘agricultural loans’ given by banks to the corporates and to the urban rich in Mumbai. Although the loan quantum in Western Maharashtra is large, the peasantry of the sugarcane belt here is protected by two factors – much better irrigation facilities and a stronger co-operative sector which, however, is fast deteriorating under the twin onslaught of neo-liberal policies and the venality of the landlord-sugar baron lobby.

3. The chart giving the debt of various categories of land-holding shows that 36 lakh of the 40 lakh indebted agricultural households have land-holdings of less than 4 hectares (10 acres) each. Unfortunately, the NSS survey has not given a separate classification of the debts of irrigated and dryland farmers. The sectoral debt figures clearly show that as land-holding increases, the proportion of debt from the formal sector (banks, co-operative societies and government) also increases. The poor farmers face a crunch when it comes to loans from the formal sector. Nevertheless, the overall proportion of agricultural loans from the formal sector in Maharashtra is higher than that of many other states.

Is Peasant Loan-Waiver Feasible?

4. If we multiply by 20 times the total outstanding agricultural debt in Maharashtra – around Rs 40,000 crore – we will probably come close to the figure of the total outstanding agricultural debt in India – around Rs 8 lakh crore. The Congress and BJP central governments have given huge tax concessions to corporates and other richer sections to the tune of Rs 20 lakh crore in their union budgets during the last 5 years. If only these tax concessions to the rich are diverted to waiver of peasant loans, crores of peasants all over India can be made debt-free in just two years! We are not taking into account the massive Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) of banks, i. e. the loans taken and not repaid by corporates and others, which are currently estimated to be to the tune of Rs 5.42 lakh crore! Nor are we considering the massive amounts stashed away by the rich and the powerful in Swiss and other foreign banks, which are officially estimated to be to the tune of 20.92 lakh crore! It was this amount that Narendra Modi promised to bring back to the country and distribute it at the rate of Rs 15 lakh per Indian citizen!

5. It goes without saying that the issue of peasant debt is a direct result of a whole gamut of factors that have been intensely aggravated by the neo-liberal policies of successive central governments. These include the sharply escalating costs of agricultural inputs as a result of the rapacious loot by the multinational and corporate lobby; the consistent refusal since independence to give remunerative prices to the peasantry based on the cost of production, and in particular the short shrift given in the last one decade to the seminal recommendation of the National Commission on Farmers headed by Dr M S Swaminathan to give a remunerative price which includes cost of production plus 50 per cent profit for all crops, along with an efficient state machinery for procurement at these rates; the crunch in formal credit especially to poor and middle peasants and agricultural workers; the lack of an effective and comprehensive crop insurance scheme to deal with natural calamities like drought and floods; and the sharp cuts in public investment in agriculture, irrigation, power, R & D, MNREGA and other social welfare schemes concerning education and health.

The Issues of Drought and Land

The other major question in the state is that of chronic drought. In spite of the mammoth sum of Rs 8000 crore spent by the state government on irrigation schemes since the state was formed 55 years ago in 1960, irrigation is limited to just 18 per cent of the cultivated land in the state. This is because huge amounts have been siphoned off by the nefarious nexus of ministers, bureaucrats and contractors in mind-boggling corruption scams. Along with other important factors, this is the root cause of the chronic drought situation. The principle of equitable distribution of water has been thrown to the winds. Today drinking water, fodder, work and food have become scarce in thousands of villages in Marathwada and Vidarbha regions. The crops of lakhs of peasants have been destroyed by drought and they have hardly been paid any compensation by the government.

Lastly, there is the vital question of land. The most important and burning land issue in Maharashtra today is that of the non-implementation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA). Of the 3,50,908 claims that were made predominantly by Adivasis, as many as 77 per cent i. e.  2,72,675 were rejected. This has naturally led to great anger and discontent. The AIKS has led massive and militant struggles of tens of thousands of Adivasi peasants on this issue in 2011 and 2013. These struggles had forced the state government to the negotiating table. But the assurances given were belied and the progress in implementation is tardy. Along with this is the question of temple lands. There are over 6 lakh acres of temple lands in the state which are owned by various temple trusts, but have been cultivated by peasants for several decades and even generations. However, they are not vested in the names of the cultivating peasants and this makes them ineligible for bank loans and other benefits. The drive by corporates, urban and rural rich and the land mafia to grab land all over the state by hook or by crook is another major issue. The BJP-led state regime has begun moves to amend the law that prohibits non-tribals from acquiring the land of tribals.

It is on these major issues that the March 29 struggle of the AIKS will be launched.

One Lakh Court Arrest on Burning Issues at Joint CITU-AIKS-AIAWU Call, Jan 19, 2016

Ashok Dhawale

On January 19, 2016, over one lakh workers, peasants and agricultural labourers courted arrest at 73 district and tehsil centres in 28 districts of Maharashtra, in response to the joint call given by the CITU, AIKS and AIAWU at a state-level convention at Parbhani on October 31, 2015 (See report in People’s Democracy/Loklahar, November 16-22, 2015).

As per information gathered from all the districts, a total of 1,33,127 working people participated in the state-wide action on January 19. Of these, over one lakh courted arrest. These actions were prominently covered by the media in most of the districts.

The total state-wide participation in the Jail Bharo stir of AIKS was 92,272, CITU was 38,080 and AIAWU was 2,775. Leaders of all three class organisations led the Jail Bharo struggle in the 73 centres. CITU state president Narasayya Adam, state vice president Mahendra Singh, state general secretary Dr D L Karad; AIAWU state president Nathu Salve, state vice president Kumar Shiralkar, state general secretary Baliram Bhumbe; AIKS state president Dada Raipure, former state president J P Gavit, state general secretary Kisan Gujar and AIKS national joint secretary Dr Ashok Dhawale led the actions in various centres. 

The impressive actions of road blockade or picketing government offices were full of resolve and enthusiasm and were replete with thousands of red flags and resounding slogans.

At several centres the participants strongly insisted that all of them be arrested and put in jail. But the administration and police refused to oblige, saying that there was no place for such a large number of people in all the jails in Maharashtra. Here the people insisted that all their names be recorded by the police as having been arrested. This process went on till late evening or even till night in some centres. In many centres the agitators were packed in police vans, taken to the police station and were released in the evening. But here also the police vans fell woefully insufficient to arrest all. In several centres the authorities were forced to accede to the local demands as a result of mass pressure.

The seven districts with the largest total participation were as follows: Nashik (43,900), Thane-Palghar (31,250), Solapur (16,000), Kolhapur (13,125), Parbhani (8,300), Nanded (5,390) and Chandrapur (2,000).

The seven districts with the largest AIKS participation were as follows (AIKS mobilisation figures): Nashik (43,150), Thane-Palghar (30,200), Parbhani (8,300), Nanded (4,570), Ahmednagar (720), Wardha (600) and Nagpur (600).

The seven districts with the largest CITU participation were as follows (CITU mobilisation figures): Solapur (15,600), Kolhapur (12,250), Chandrapur (2,000), Mumbai (1,200), Nagpur (1,060), Thane-Palghar (1,050) and Jalgaon (1,040).  

The seven districts with the largest AIAWU participation were as follows (AIAWU mobilisation figures): Kolhapur (700), Nanded (600), Nandurbar (450), Jalna (350), Wardha (250), Yavatmal (150), and Beed (110).

The participation figures for each district and for each class organisation were an accurate reflection of their strengths and weaknesses and these need an in-depth review.

Parbhani district in Marathwada region on September 3, 2015, had seen militant demonstrations led by the AIKS on the issue of drought during the chief minister’s visit (see the earlier report referred to above). Here the police arrested AIKS state council member Vilas Babar on January 18, a day before the Jail Bharo, and kept him in detention in a bid to avert the action the next day. But over 3,000 peasants nevertheless came to the designated centre in Parbhani tehsil and foiled the police plans. The action was then led by AIKS state joint secretary Uddhav Poul and AIKS leader and Panchayat Samiti member Anjali Babar.

A week before the Jail Bharo call, on January 11 all class and mass fronts in Jalna district – CITU, AIKS, AIAWU, AIDWA, SFI, DYFI – held demonstrations during the visit of the chief minister, gave slogans during his public meeting and showed black flags. They were protesting against the callous inaction of the BJP-Shiv Sena regime in dealing with the grim issue of drought in Marathwada region and its refusal to consider the demands of peasants and workers. Of the 150 activists who took part, 50 were arrested. The action was led by Anna Sawant, Madhukar Mokale, Maroti Khandare, Sarita Sharma, Govind Ardad, Lata Kaldate, Kanta Mitkari, Manjushree Kabade, Anil Misal, Shivaji Togarwar and Anil Gaikwad.

As preparation for this stir the AIKS had organised three regional conventions. For the Marathwada and Vidarbha regions, conventions for peasant loan-waiver, remunerative prices and drought relief were organised at Selu in Parbhani district on January 7, and at Malkapur in Buldana district on January 8. For the Western Maharashtra region, a convention demanding the vesting of temple lands in the names of the cultivating peasants was held at Satara in Satara district on January 12, which also happens to be the 71^st foundation day of the AIKS in Maharashtra. The conventions were addressed by Dr Ashok Dhawale, Kisan Gujar, Dada Raipure, Dr Ajit Nawale, other AIKS state office-bearers and Shetkari Sanghatana leader Vijay Jawandhia.

All three class organisations had jointly published 25,000 copies of a booklet comprising the resolution, charter of demands and report of the Parbhani convention, and 12,000 attractive posters for the Jail Bharo struggle. All districts together had published a few lakh leaflets. Several public meetings were held and a door-to-door campaign was conducted.

The ten main demands around which the Jail Bharo struggle was conducted were: Roll back price rise and implement the National Food Security Act; Provide water, fodder, work and crop compensation in the drought-hit areas; Reverse the anti-worker changes in labour laws and strictly implement the existing labour laws; Waive the loans and electricity bills of the peasantry; Ensure remunerative prices based on cost of production plus 50 per cent to all crops; Start MNREGA works in all villages with a minimum wage of Rs 300 per day; Ensure minimum wage of Rs 15,000 per month to all unorganised and contract workers plus dearness allowance; Vest all forest lands, temple lands and pasture lands in the names of the cultivating peasants and distribute government lands and surplus lands to landless agricultural workers; Give all scheme workers the status of permanent government employees; Start a welfare council for agricultural workers and enact a comprehensive social security act; Give pension of Rs 3,000 per month to all working people above 55 years.

  

AIKS: Memorandum seeking redressal of farmers’ problems

AIKS General Secretary, Hannan Mollah and AIKS Joint Secretary Vijoo Krishnan met the Agriculture Minister on 4th December, 2014 and submitted a Memorandum seeking redressal of Farmers’ problems. A detailed discussion was held and the Minister assured to look into matters raised by the Kisan Sabha as well as have a pre-Budget discussion with AIKS. The detailed Memorandum is attached herewith.

Dated 4th December, 2014

To
Shri.Radha Mohan Singh
The Hon’ble Minister For Agriculture
Government of India,
Krishi Bhavan, New Delhi-110001

Sub: Seeking Redressal of Farmers’ Problems

Sir,

The All India Kisan Sabha wishes to place before you some of our serious concerns regarding the acute agrarian crisis and conditions of the peasantry in the country and seek immediate steps for overcoming the bleak scenario.

The unprecedented crisis has put farmers in acute distress and it has manifested in the unfortunate escalation of farm suicides. According to independent estimates in Telangana alone in the 6 month period preceding 26th November 2014 over 430 farmers committed suicide. Vidarbha and Marathwada in Maharashtra have also been reporting an increase in farmers’ suicides with over 120 farmers committing suicide in November alone. In West Bengal there are reports of even paddy farmers committing suicide which is unprecedented. The agrarian crisis has not spared any State and even States like Punjab are seeing an increase in suicides due to indebtedness. The crash in prices of many major crops and absence of any Price Stabilisation effort or Support mechanism is only likely to further worsen the situation.

The stated objective of the Government’s price policy for agricultural produce is to ensure remunerative prices to the farmers for their produce and thereby to encourage higher investment and production. In reality leave alone getting remunerative prices, the farmers are not even able to realise the costs of cultivation rendering agriculture unviable. The Government policies have led to increased input costs and due to the decontrol of fertiliser sector the prices of fertilisers have risen manifold. Increasing prices of diesel and electricity has made irrigation and other farm activities much more costly. The pricing will fail to meet its objective of providing confidence to the farmers if it does not reflect the prevalent costs of agricultural inputs in the market and provide a reasonable margin of at least 50 percent over and above the Cost of Production as suggested by the Swaminathan Commission. The NDA Government practice of increasing prices of Wheat and Paddy by merely Rs.50/Qtl is no different from the Congress-led UPA policy and is unacceptable. MSP of many crops are even below the Cost of Production for many crops.

The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution has issued a letter to States regarding change in policy of procurement for the Central Pool. This will dismantle even the present weak Public Procurement as well as the Price Support System to India’s Farmers. The letter clearly takes a position against States giving bonus over and above the Minimum Support Price (MSP) on the pretext that it “distorts the market” and “drives private buyers out of the market”. It declares that in case a surplus Decentralised Procurement State (DCP State) declares bonus for wheat or paddy from Kharif Marketing Season 2014-15 and Rabi Marketing Season 2015-16 onwards, the Central Government will limit the procurement to the Central Pool. The letter states that it has been “decided” that if a State announces bonus over and above MSP, the FCI will “not take part” in procurement and MSP operation in the State. This is contrary to the Government’s position at the WTO and is in effect implementation of the demands of USA, EU and other advanced capitalist countries. AIKS demands withdrawal of the ban on procurement from States providing bonus over and above the MSP.

The neo-liberal policies and trade liberalisation has exposed the Indian Farmers to volatile world market prices and they have been the root of the unprecedented crisis. Price crash is witnessed in major crops like tea, rubber, pepper, coconut, cotton, tur, gram/chana, onion etc due to the faulty trade policies. Cotton pricesthat Farmers are getting are even far below the already unremunerative MSP. The rubber crisis as well as crisis of pepper growers and small tea growers is also taking serious proportions.  Onion farmers in Karnataka and Maharashtra were forced to throw away their produce due to the price crash and absence of scientific storage facilities. The Indian peasantry can be protected from vagaries of the volatile world market prices only if the Government puts in place an effective procurement policy complemented by remunerative support prices. It also entails a complete ban on Futures Trading. It is required that certain measures like revamping the Marketing Boards or making certain allocations for building a Price Stabilization Fund as suggested by the National Commission of Farmers has to be implemented. In the absence of any protection for our Farmers the rush for Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with EU, USA and the RCEP with ASEAN and other countries will lead to dumping of cheap goods and put Farmers’ livelihood in danger. AIKS demands that a review of Neo-Liberal policies be made and India withdraw from such unequal FTAs.

Sugarcane farmers in India are facing acute distress and thousands of crores of arrears are due from Sugar mills to the poor farmers. The Government has doled out further benefits to the Sugar lobby without any concrete action by them to clear the arrears due to the Cane Farmers which by the Government’s own admission is 110 billion rupees ($1.84 billion). This is in continuation of the policies of the Congress-led UPA Government which in December had approved Rs.6,600 crore interest free loans for the sugar industry exclusively for clearing sugarcane arrears. The present Government has extended this to allow Corporate Sugar Mills to avail additional interest-free loans of up to Rs.4,400 crore from banks which will add up to Rs.11,000 crores altogether. In addition the Government has given Export subsidy of Rs.3600/Tonne for sugar even as there is no effort to give a fair price to Farmers. The Government prices fixed are neither fair nor remunerative and AIKS feels that unless at least a price of Rs.350/Qtl is ensured and all arrears are paid, farmers will be forced to gradually stop cultivation as it has become a loss making venture. AIKS wants the withdrawal of decision to decontrol sugar industry, stopping of the huge subsidies to corporate sugar companies and calls upon the Government to use Sugarcane Development Fund for the benefit of Farmers.

Jute farmers in India are also in dire straits as the Government policy of allowing plastic bags has sharply curtailed the demand for jute bags and also the MSP is very low. AIKS demands Mandatory 100 percent usage of Jute bags for transport and packaging of Food Grains and Sugar and for a Ban on use of Synthetic Bags with strong deterrent action against violators. Jute Corporation of India should be instructed to open adequate purchasing centres and assure procurement at a MSP of Cost of Production plus 50 percent  (C2+50%).

Thousands of cattle were dying in the States of Karnataka, Tamilnadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra due to a suspected outbreak of the dreaded “Foot-and-Mouth” disease. The suspected viral infection had taken epidemic proportion and the fatalities crossed over 30,000 putting the poor and marginal farmers into great misery. However, now it has come to light that the vaccines provided were sub-standard and probably even hazardous as AIKS had pointed out to the then Agriculture Minister. A Report prepared by Dr.Bhoj Singh, CCS NIAH, Baghpat for the Government of India has found that Companies are providing substandard vaccines for treatment of FMD and one of the Companies Intervet India Pvt Ltd used an anti-biotic Enerofloxacin whichshould not be used in dairy or food animals as preservative in the vaccine. Brilliant BioPharma and Indian Immunologicals Ltd also provided sub-standard vaccines. AIKS demands a thorough investigation and calls for Blacklisting of these companies and cancellation of their licenses as well as punishment of the guilty.

There must be timely fixation of MSP and it must be mandatory upon the Government to announce the MSP well before the crop sowing season. In addition to timely fixation of MSP there is need for timely procurement and the Food Corporation of India as well as other Governmental agencies involved with procurement should stay and involve with procurement for a longer period. An effective procurement mechanism complemented by a Universal Public Distribution System is indispensable if the farmers have to be led out of the present crisis. Procurement by the Government bodies has to be enhanced. Public procurement operations must be expanded and Farmers’ Cooperatives and Self Help Groups must be also drafted into this activity. The restrictions imposed on procurement through Panchayats and State Corporations has to be revoked and such efforts should be encouraged by having incentives to encourage better performers.

The middlemen and big traders control the dynamics of the local Mandis making it impossible for farmers to get a fair deal. There has to be stringent regulation of activities of such elements. The dilution of APMC Act to favour big organised retailers must be reversed and Farmers’ Cooperatives, SHGs as well as Panchayats must be engaged for Marketing.  Storage and agro-processing facilities must be modernised and augmented. Timely procurement should be complemented by an adequate storage mechanism to ward off problems arising out of erratic climatic conditions and ensure sufficient quantity can be procured at remunerative MSP. Agro-processing and value addition is indispensable for making agriculture more viable. Special attention to address the problem of perishables is required. There is hence a need for augmentation of storage facilities including cold storages and also facilities for agro-processing under the Cooperative sector giving encouragement to Farmers’ Cooperatives and Self-Help-Groups.

There has to be urgent efforts to widen the crop basket under the purview of the CACP and procurement of the same should be ensured. At present MSP excludes important crops like basmati and premium rice varieties, chilly, areca-nut, spices, castor, other oilseeds, aromatics, cash crops, traditional staples etc, thereby leaving the producers at the mercy of private traders. Minor Forest Produce must be procured at remunerative prices from Tribal people as it is their main source of livelihood and avenues for value addition must be ensured.

An alteration in the situation of persistent agrarian crisis can be possible only if the farmers are assured of truly fair and remunerative prices. Immediate steps to rein in costs of inputs and provide them at subsidised rates are also necessary. Input prices must be regulated and Fertiliser prices must be frozen at pre-Nutrient Based Subsidy rates. A comprehensive social security scheme for Agricultural Workers and strengthening of the MGNREGA is also required. Indiscriminate land acquisition must be stopped. Measures must be undertaken on a war-footing to address specific problems of areas hit by cyclones and drought. Unequal Free Trade Agreements and Trade Liberalisation measures must not be implemented. Dumping of cheap agricultural produce from other countries must be disallowed. All Trade negotiations should be transparent and the Parliament as well as States must be taken into confidence.

We hope you will look into the issues raised above and take immediate steps in the best interests of the peasantry.

Thanking you,

Hannan Mollah
General Secretary

AIKS: Oppose Authoritarian Anti-People Land Acquisition Ordinance

The All India Kisan Sabha condemns the BJP Government’s undemocratic move to amend the Land Acquisition legislation through an Ordinance by subverting the Parliament. The move smacks of authoritarianism and is clearly aimed to promote profiteering and real estate speculation by the corporates and land mafia. It further dilutes the existing Act which itself was flawed and loaded heavily against interests of the peasantry, land owners and dependents on land. The Ordinance ignores genuine concerns of farmers and millions of persons dependent on land. AIKS rejects this anti-farmer and anti-poor Ordinance. It shall build broad united movements at all sites of indiscriminate, unjust land acquisition and fight to protect the rights of the peasantry, tenants, agricultural workers and all affected persons. 

The Ordinance removes even the existing weak norms requiring consent of the land owners and Social Impact Assessment which are central to dealing with the problem of indiscriminate and forcible land acquisition. It also dilutes the existing definition of public purpose and will bring Private companies and their activities of unbridled profiteering into public purpose and promote further unregulated takeover of land by corporates. Even the weak provisions seeking to address food security concerns have been revoked making it possible to easily acquire multi-cropped fertile land as well as productive rain-fed and semi-arid land for industrial corridors, infrastructure projects including the PPP projects. Along with multi-cropped, irrigated lands protection for rain-fed, dry-land, semi-arid land as well as paddy lands, common property resources are indispensable to ensure food and livelihood security. Food security of the nation will be under threat as there are no effective safeguards against take-over of agricultural land, paddy lands, water bodies and protection for productive rain-fed, dry and semi-arid land although majority of cultivation in India is under such regions. The Government claim of bringing 13 Acts under the purview of the Land Acquisition Act would be rendered hollow by the new changes as well as the diluted nature of the provisions.

Rather than resorting to the Ordinance route what was required was to arrive at a democratic legislation by correcting the anomalies present in the Act relating to definition of public purpose, affected persons, ensuring stringent adherence to the principle of prior-informed consent and Social Impact Assessment, addressing food security concerns, effective compensation, rehabilitation and resettlement. Promotion of food security and livelihood security through the adherence to an equitable and sustainable National as well as State Land Use Plans monitored by Land Use Commissions at respective levels should have been emphasised. The Ordinance ignores all such issues and merely is an instrument for speedy expropriation and facilitation of land acquisition in a quick, cheap and easy way with little concern for consent, adequate compensation and rehabilitation of landowners and other dependents on land. It has only shifted from a “colonial” to a “neo-liberal” legal framework which is as draconian if not more.

AIKS will resist any moves to hand-over land for corporate profiteering and without ensuring prior informed consent. The BJP Government’s anti-people move will be defeated by the peasantry and the toiling masses through intense united struggles.

30th December, 2014

Reject Surrender at WTO Bali Ministerial

All India Kisan Sabha rejects the abject surrender at the WTO Ministerial by the Commerce Minister and demands that the Government refrain from accepting the provisions of the unequal Ministerial Decision on Public Stockholding for Food Security Purposes without discussion with and approval of the States and Parliament. We stand opposed to this WTO Ministerial Decision, which constrains and infringes upon our sovereign right to provide price support to farmers as well as ensure food security for the hungry millions. India has only given a new lease of life to the failed WTO, which was becoming irrelevant after the Doha Round.

The only possible gain that the Government can claim is that the Peace Clause will be in place in the interim until a permanent solution is found. The Commerce Minister’s public posturing and the text agreed to are at variance. On reading the Ministerial Decision carefully, one can understand how it will seriously compromise India’s food security and farmers’ livelihoods. India has failed to secure permanent protection to safeguard the food security and price support for farmers and assert it as a non-negotiable sovereign right. It has meekly agreed to the insistence of the developed world to accept guilt, by accepting the interim clause that mandates reporting of violations of de minimis Aggregate Measure of Support (AMS) levels. The agreement will threaten expansion of present programmes of food security and price support to farmers as well as future programmes with such objectives. The USA, EU and other developed countries have brokered a deal with the Commerce Minister Anand Sharma to protect the interests of the rich nations and their agribusinesses.

Standstill Provision: The Ministerial Decision has a standstill provision incorporated in the text which clearly states that the Peace Clause or Due Restraint Provisions shall only be used to protect the public stockholding programmes “existing as of the date of this Decision”. The Footnote Number 3 is deceptive and even as it states that this Decision does not preclude developing countries from introducing programmes of public stockholding for food security purposes, in the name of Safeguards against Circumvention, Para 4 clearly states that they should not distort trade and Para 5 prohibits an increase of the support subject to the Member’s Bound Total Aggregate Measure of Support (AMS) or the de minimis limits. This will freeze all scope of expansion of food security or price support to farmers in India and other G 33 countries, which have no such programmes in place at present, will also be deprived.

The crop basket under purview of Minimum Support Prices cannot be increased. Pulses, cooking oil and crops other than those described as “traditional staples” by the WTO cannot be included in the food security programme. Even the quantity of food grains procured cannot be increased beyond the procurement as of date which could have serious implications for the Food Security Programme. It may also mean entitlements under Food Security Programmes as also the MSP of different crops will have to be frozen. Further, the Support Price valuation will not be based on current prices as India was demanding and will remain to be based on 1987-88 prices.

Deliberate Ambiguity: While the Ministerial Decision in Para 2 states that it will be valid “in the interim, until a permanent solution is found” it also states in Para 1 that such a solution is for adoption at the 11th Ministerial Conference, which is 4 years hence. Para 2 also states that the Members shall refrain from challenging through the WTO Dispute Settlement Mechanism “provided that the conditions set out” in the Decision are met. The WTO Secretariat described this as a “constructive ambiguity” and it actually deliberately dilutes the G-33 demand that this should be applicable till a permanent settlement is found under the Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) and the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (ASCM). The present Decision at the behest of the USA and EU is applicable only to AoA implying that Members may drag India to the WTO Dispute Settlement Mechanism under ASCM.

Conditions and Monitoring: Mandatory compliance to onerous data and transparency requirements and conditions that there should be no distortion of trade or adverse effects on food security of other members. This is an infringement on a Nation’s sovereign decision-making process and could have serious implications. The Agriculture Ministry and Food and Consumer Affairs Ministry will be forced to comply with these unilaterally decided conditions on an annual basis. Failure to supply the data can be tantamount to suspension of Peace Clause since it has been made conditional to meet the transparency requirement.  Countries are also to provide information on their administered or release prices and the volume of stocks purchased as well as how they arrived at these figures. This could unnecessarily expose domestic policies and priorities to being questioned in the WTO’s Committee on Agriculture. Such detailed notification and transparency requirements have not been demanded of the developed countries who would enjoy Special and Differential Treatment regarding transparency and notification.

Silence on Subsidies of Rich Countries: The rich countries led by the USA and the EU have retained their unrestricted right to channelise billions of dollars to their farmers and food aid programmes and the WTO has failed to deal with issues like the export subsidies of rich nations and US cotton subsidies, which the WTO Hong Kong Ministerial had promised to address in 2005. India has failed in the WTO Ministerial to give leadership to the Third World countries and ensure removal of such subsidies.

Work Programme and Trade Facilitation: The Bali Ministerial also came up with an imbalanced package which will mean expensive customs agreement for developing countries in the name of Trade Facilitation. This is tailor-made to promote the interests of predatory agribusinesses who monopolise trade. The commitment to a Work Programme could lead to the damaging trade liberalisation agenda of Doha Round being brought in and developing countries will have to cough up much more in addition to paying with trade facilitation now for arriving at a permanent solution.

Solidarity of Third World Countries Broken: India was seen as the leader of the G-33 countries and the Third World looked up to its role. However, the Commerce Minister broke the solidarity built meticulously over the years and capitulated to the hard bargain from USA and developed countries. India failed to create a coalition of developing countries to collectively oppose the completely distorted Bali package. As a result, India could not contribute at all towards the correction of the fundamental problems of the present international trade regime. On the whole, the WTO agreement will continue to be a major threat to the working people in less-developed countries. India also did not insist on ending the inhuman 60-year US blockade on Cuba. The Latin American, African and Asian countries have been let down by India’s decision.

AIKS calls upon all sections to rise up and resist such decisions against the people and the sovereignty of the country.

Sd/-                                                                                                              
Amra Ram
President

Hannan Mollah
General Secretary

Reject Peace Clause on G-33 Proposal in WTO Bali Ministerial; Protect Farmers’ Livelihoods and People’s Right to Access Food

The All India Kisan Sabha has released this press statement:

In the context of the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) 9th Ministerial Conference slated to be held in Bali in December 2013, the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) calls upon the UPA Government to intervene to protect the livelihoods of millions of our farmers and remain committed to our sovereign right to decide upon our price support policy as well as food security programme. The WTO induced policies of trade liberalisation has led to adverse implications for the Indian peasantry especially the poor and marginal farmers. AIKS has strongly opposed the WTO and especially the Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) which calls for cutting down agricultural subsidies in the developing countries on the pretext that they were “trade distorting”. AIKS calls for rejecting the Interim Solution suggested by the WTO Director General Roberto Azvedo to the G-33 Proposal. The proposed Interim Solution is detrimental to the interests of the developing countries and millions of farmers. 

The WTO Director General put forward a Peace Clause or Due Restraint Clause as a fait accompli to the G-33 countries with an arrogant “take it or leave it” stance. This will have adverse implications for the Procurement Policy and the Food Security Programme of the country. The WTO agenda remains to prise open the markets of the Third World Countries to the agribusinesses and to provide them an unregulated access.

The so-called Peace Clause restricts India and other developing countries’ right to provide subsidies or support to crops. It suggests that only “traditional staple food crops” may be extended subsidies for a stipulated period of 4 years extending till the 11th Ministerial Conference of WTO with an understanding that no member shall challenge it through WTO’s Dispute Settlement Mechanism till then. Already the AoA only allows de minimis subsidy of 10 percent of production cost for most developing countries. This itself defies logic and is calculated based on a fixed reference price of 1986-88 when prices were much lower. It thereby shows inflated subsidies while remaining totally oblivious to the present day global agricultural prices. It also calculates subsidy on the basis of total production receiving subsidy rather than the actual procurement.

In addition the developed capitalist countries which are seeking to impose such restrictions have flexibility to retain high levels of subsidies in the form of direct transfers, food stamps and other measures. The USA and the European Union are going ahead with their domestic subsidies as well as export subsidies by conveniently shifting subsidies to the Green Box and has refused to comply with the stipulated 20 percent reduction in their Aggregate Measurement of Support. The USA has more than doubled its subsidy from US $ 61 Billion to US $ 130 Billion between 1995 and 2010 while the EU subsidies hover around € 90 to 79 Billion between 2006-09.  In 2012 USA spent US $ 100 Billion for its food aid programmes while India’s food subsidy bill is expected to be less than US $20 Billion only.

Subsidies that seek to bring in a semblance of livelihood security and food security in impoverished countries cannot be treated as “trade distorting”. Acquisition of food stocks to ensure food security needs and support for resource-poor, small and marginal farmers to provide minimum livelihood security cannot be given up. Procurement on grounds of food security or support for poor and marginal farmers must be exempt from all restrictions. AIKS reiterates that this falls strictly within the realm of our sovereign State policy and the Government should speed up efforts to extricate India and other Third World countries from such unequal and unfair restrictions. The huge disparities in permissible agricultural support levels between developed and developing countries needs to be eliminated. In the interim period the reference price needs to be updated by accounting for inflation and increased costs and levels of price support should be computed on the basis of actual quantity procured rather than the actual quantity produced. India should effectively intervene to safeguard these rights. AIKS demands that the developed countries’ domestic and export subsidies in the Green Box should be challenged and eliminated. India should take the lead to unite all the developing and Third World countries to restructure and overturn the unequal WTO regime.

Amra Ram                                 
President

Hannan Mollah
General Secretary

Press Statement of the All India Kisan Sabha on the order on the Kasturirangan report

Save People’s Livelihoods and Western Ghats; Withdraw the Order on HLWG (Kasturirangan Committee) Report

The All India Kisan Sabha strongly condemns the office memorandum dated 16th November 2013 issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forest, accepting ‘in principle’ the High Level Working Group (HLWG) popularly known as the ‘Kasturirangan Committee’ Report and restricting agricultural and basic developmental activities in 4156 villages in the Western Ghat region. We demand immediate withdrawal of the same. The authoritarian manner, in which the order was issued, without considering the objections and suggestions made by the peasants and various other sections of the people, is highly objectionable. The HLWG under the leadership of Dr.Kasturirangan, formed to “submit an Action Plan to implement the WGEEP (Western Ghat Ecological Expert Panel popularly known as the Madhav Gadgil Committee) Report in the most effective and holistic manner”, and also to examine the Report keeping in view the “needs and aspirations of the local and indigenous people” has failed to address the grievances raised by the peasants and other toiling sections living in Western Ghat region.

In the context of the two Reports having contradictory recommendations, unilaterally choosing one over the other has only led to pitting precarious human livelihoods in the region against the ecological sensitive nature of the region as though people who have lived for generations in the region are wilful destroyers of the fragile ecosystem. Both the Reports ignore the fact that the people in these regions have been the most effective conservators and have coexisted with as well as actively protected the wildlife and biodiversity of the region. The Reports are at best a bureaucratic exercise without any democratic approach and is also not grounded on scientific assessment of the human-environment relationship in the region. AIKS demands that a scientific assessment by a broad-based Committee of social scientists, environmental experts, organisations of the peasantry and with adequate representation of the varied political opinions from the affected States be set up to look into the matter. Broad based consultations and public hearings with the people and all stake-holders must be held before arriving at a Comprehensive Plan for Protection of Fragile Ecosystems and Livelihoods. 

Unmindful of widespread protests the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has now hastily initiated steps to operationalise Kasturirangan Committee’s recommendations declaring 4156 villages in six States (99 in Goa, 64 in Gujarat, 1576 in Karnataka, 123 in Kerala, 2159 in Maharashtra and 135 in Tamil Nadu) as Ecologically Sensitive Zones (ESZ) and thereby restricting agricultural and basic developmental activities in the region. The declaration of the ESZs, basing revenue villages as the demarcation, is also unscientific.

The recommendations of the WGEEP on land use prohibiting use of land, for any purpose except for extension of village settlements for increasing populations, in the ESZ which have been endorsed by HLWG, is now by this order accepted by the Government of India. This will restrict even facilitation of basic amenities like hospitals and schools to the people of this most backward region. This is not at all acceptable. Restriction of agricultural activities by banning monoculture plantation which may include coffee, prohibiting chemical fertilisers, mandatory organic farming etc. are unacceptable. All these recommendations are now accepted by the Ministry by its order on 16th November. Hence, the claim by Union Minister Smt. Jayanthi Natarajan that there is nothing in the order that adversely affects the farmers is baseless.

While reiterating its deep commitment to the protection of environment, the AIKS rejects the approach of considering the environmental question demarcating it from humanity and civilization. Environmentally sound development cannot prohibit livelihood and economic options for the people of the region. In its recommendations, the WGEEP Report failed to address the socio-economic aspects of the issue. Both the Reports did not study the impact of the degradation of environment in the life of various social sections. They failed to suggest fruitful solutions to protect life and crops of peasants by solving the man-animal conflicts in forest border areas, to conserve flora and fauna in protected area, and preserve paddy fields and water bodies in the entire Western Ghats.

AIKS rejects the approach of categorising the peasantry at par with the mining and forest mafia as the destroyers of the environment. AIKS believes that peasants are always in the forefront in protecting the environment. The Government of India should understand that the support and conscious intervention of the local peasantry and local people are crucial for the protection of Western Ghats.

The decision of the MoEF to accept the HLWG report in principle has led to widespread protest in these States. AIKS supports the agitations by the people against the anti-peasant, anti-people recommendations of both the Reports and calls upon all its units to join the protest actions.

AIKS demands that the MoEF discuss with the peasant organisations and all others concerned, drop the anti-peasant, anti-people recommendations in both WGEEP and HLWG Reports and take a holistic approach and plan of action to protect the Western Ghats. The doubts and insecurities in the minds of people of the region have been created by the State and Central Governments and effective steps have to be taken to reassure the millions of people that their livelihood security will be ensured and genuine developmental activities in their habitats will be promoted.

Amra Ram
President

Hannan Mollah
General Secretary

Dated 20th November 2013