AIKS To Hold 30th Conference At Jallandhar 

S Ramachandran Pillai 

ALL India Kisan Sabha is holding its 30th conference at Jallandhar in Punjab from March 6 to 9, 2003.  After all-India conferences at Bhaknakalan in April 1943, Moga in September 1954, Amritsar in September 1956 and Rurkakalan in September 1971, Punjab is hosting all-India  conference of Kisan Sabha for the fifth time. 

The 30th conference is being held in the background of struggles of peasants which are gaining strength in different parts of the country against the anti-peasant, anti-agricultural policies of the government. 

The 30^th conference will discharge two important tasks -- one related to policy positions and launching of countrywide struggles and another on organisational matters.   750 delegates representing 23 states will discuss these issues on the basis of the post-29 conference experiences and concretise tasks. 

When the Congress government at the Centre in 1991 had started introducing new agricultural policies, it was the All India Kisan Sabha which came out first, opposing the new policies characterising them as anti-peasant and anti-agriculture.  Many peasant organisations, particularly of those representing richer sections, acclaimed the new policies as capable of bringing progress and prosperity. Now majority of them have also joined us in opposing the agricultural policies of the government.

RETREAT OF STATE

The present policies can be summed up as retreat of the  State from most of the economic affairs and slowly  transferring everything to the capitalist market forces to decide.   The government has reduced public investments in irrigation, power, science and technology, infrastructure, public  education, public health and many other important areas. Under the dictates of IMF, World Bank and WTO, most of the import and export restrictions have  been removed.  This has opened up Indian agriculture to the vicissitudes  of the world capitalist market.  The government is also slowly withdrawing  from  domestic market intervention measures such as minimum support price mechanism and procurement of  crops.  The public distribution system is being dismantled. All these measures are meant to facilitate the free operation of market forces in investments, production, distribution and consumption. According to the advocates of the new policies, capitalist market is the most efficient mechanism to decide on such matters. Yes, that is the efficient way to protect the interests of the big business and richer sections. 

The land reform laws are being amended enabling richer sections, big business and multinational companies to hold vast tracts of land.  Many state governments have  amended ceiling provisions in the land reform laws and giving waste land to private companies, including multinationals.  Recently, the Tamilnadu government has come out with a scheme of handing over  fifty lakh acres of government waste land to multinational companies and private  firms.  According to this scheme, a private firm can take more than one thousand acres of land on lease for thirty years. 

The claims of the government that more amount is allotted as credit facilities in agriculture is not true.  The peasants, particularly the poorer and middle sections, are experiencing shrinkage in institutional credit facilities.The kisan card system introduced by the government is not providing cheap credit to poorer sections.  Only rich peasants are reaping the benefits. The interest rates of agricultural loans are higher than the interest rates of loans given to many other sectors. According to reports, more than 70 per cent of the credit needs of the small and marginal farmers is catered by private sources.  The  instruction that 18 per cent of the total credit should be given to agricultural sector by nationalised banks is not implemented.  The Planning Commission admits this fact in the Mid Term Appraisal of Ninth Five Year Plan. 

"According to RBI report on Trends & Progress in Banking (1998-99), the relative share of agriculture credit in net bank credit stood at 12.8 per cent in March, 1997 and 11.7 per cent in March, 1998 as well as in March, 1999.  As against the target of 40 per cent for priority sector lending by banks, the sub target for agriculture has been fixed at 18 per cent.  The declining share of agriculture in the net bank credit against 18 per cent target under priority lending is a matter of concern. More credit needs to flow to agriculture of providing timely and adequate credit under simplified procedures to farmers for increasing agriculture production and productivity."

DECLINING AGRICULTURAL GROWTH

As claimed by the authors of the new policies, production has not substantially increased.  A comparative study of the rate of growth of production during the pre-reforms period and post-reforms period  reveals that the rate of growth of agricultural production has declined during the post-reforms period.  The Mid Term Appraisal of Ninth Five Year Plan made by the Planning Commission bring out this fact:

"During the nineties, (1989-90 to 1998-99) growth rate of production for both foodgrains and non-foodgrain crops taken together has declined to 2.35 per cent per annum from 3.72 per cent per annum achieved during the  eighties (1979-80 to 1989-90).  The decline in the rate of growth for foodgrains was sharper from 3.54 to 1.80 per cent per annum.  Even for the milk and eggs sector, which had led the growth  pattern in the 1980's, there was decline in the 90s, although not as severe as for foodgrains."

It is now known that the growth rate achieved during Ninth Five Year Plan was only 0.2 per cent. Many experts in agricultural production apprehend that our country is slowly sliding towards foodgrains shortage. 

The removal of import restrictions on tariff reductions have caused steep price falls in the case of most of crops.  The decline in production and the steep price fall of agricultural commodities are causing serious adverse consequences.

The effects of the new policies are disastrous to the interests of peasantry and agriculture.   Starvation deaths and peasants suicides are increasing; poverty is spreading to newer sections and areas;  unemployment is rising;  unevenness in development is growing; the backward areas are becoming more backward;  migration of the poorer sections  is taking place in many parts of the country;  the real wages and workdays of agricultural workers are declining; pauperisation of small  and middle sections of the peasantry is taking place at a faster pace. 

UNEQUAL AGREEMENT

When the 1994 Marrakesh Agreement was signed establishing WTO, the then central government tom-tomed from house tops that  the new set-up would facilitate more exports of agricultural products from  India to  world market and prices of agricultural produces would rise.    They also said that the agreement would  establish a free and fair market-oriented trading system which would ensure trade liberalisation and  equitable trading system  in agriculture. 

All India Kisan Sabha and many other organisations pointed out that the agreement was an unequal one and would go against the interests of the peasantry  and agriculture.  The post-agreement experiences proved that what was pointed out by All India Kisan Sabha and similar organisations was true.

India has implemented its commitments in the agreement.   Quantitative restrictions on import have been removed and tariff rates  have been slashed down.  But the anticipated increase in export of agricultural products has not been realised.  The expected fair trade regime  and higher prices for agricultural crops also did not materialise.  On the other hand, the prices of most of the agricultural products have declined.  This price crash has ruined the peasantry and agriculture.

The root-cause of distortion of world trade in agriculture  has been the massive domestic subsidies given by industrialised countries to their agricultural  sector over many years.  Total farm subsidies, including domestic support and export subsidies, as notified to the WTO  provided by USA, European community, Japan and India in 1998 were  as follows:

(In US $ million)

Now, the US farm legislation provides for $ 180 billion as farm subsidies for the next ten years and of which, 70 per cent will go for direct support payments to commodity producers.  The other important aspect is that the industrialised countries instead of reducing tariffs, continue to impose high tariffs. The following tariff rates (1999) illustrate this point:

USA                            :            Sugar (244.4 per cent), Peanuts (173.8 per cent),

Milk (82.6 per cent)

European Union :            Beef (213 per cent), wheat (167.7 per cent),

Lambs Meat (144 per cent)

Japan                          :            Wheat Products (388.1 per cent), Wheat (352.7 per

cent), Barley (361 per cent)

Canada                       :            Butter (360 per cent), Cheese (289 per cent),

                                                Eggs (236.3 per cent)

These countries are also using non-tariff barriers such as sanitary and phyto sanitary measures to restrict import from developing countries.

Our experience shows that the agreement on agriculture and various provisions of WTO have worked against the interests of India.  If the agreement is allowed  to continue in its present form, India will be threatened with catastrophic consequences threatening the very survival of Indian agriculture.  Therefore, in the ongoing WTO negotiations, India has to wake up and play a dynamic role  in arresting this trend by bargaining for re-negotiation   on various provisions of the agreement on agriculture.  India has to rally other developing countries for achieving this in WTO.

MARKET FORCES GUIDED DEVELOPMENT

The present policy of agricultural development is based on the operation of capitalist market forces and it cannot find solution to the problems of the peasantry or agriculture.  Even  bourgeois economists accept the fact that agricultural production cannot be  rapidly increased or reduced based on the demand in the market.  Agricultural production is made by millions of small producers facing different conditions and situations.  Natural factors, weather conditions, pests etc can make steep fluctuations in  production and peasants have no control over them.   The poorer sections are forced to sell their produce at the time of the harvesting season itself as they have no sufficient resources to keep it.  A large section of producers  produce not for sale  but for their consumption.  A change in the cropping pattern can also reduce employment opportunities.

India also has certain other specific characteristics that aggravates the problems if free operation of market forces is  allowed.  The exploitation of the colonial  past had made India a backward country.  The wrong policies pursued since independence have increased poverty, unemployment, backwardness and great unevenness in  growth and development.  The productivity level of most crops  in India is lower than world average productivity level.  The poorer sections, who constitute the overwhelming majority among the peasantry, do not have enough resources  to increase their production.  A large part of the country is unirrigated and there is even shortage of even drinking water facilities.  Shortage of power is another serious matter. The shortage of infrastructural facilities such as  roads, railways, warehouses, cold storages etc are crippling the efforts for growth and development. The foodgrains self-sufficiency is facing serious threat.  The overall situation demands State's active intervention in these areas in order to bring growth, development and equity.

REVERSAL OF PRESENT POLICIES REQUIRED

All India Kisan Sabha characterises the present policies of the government as a  distorted form of capitalist development based on the interests of richer sections.  The present government is facilitating the exploitation of multinational companies and imperialist countries. IMF, World Bank and WTO are trying for a new crop division among the countries for exploiting the developing world.  All India Kisan Sabha stands for a complete reversal of  the present policies and the implementation of a new strategy for development based on the interests of the agricultural workers, poor peasants,  middle peasants etc, who constitute the  poorer sections and overwhelming majority among the peasantry. The moves of the IMF, World Bank, WTO and the imperialist countries have to be resisted. The conference will decide on the  course of action in future. 

The communal and casteist forces are trying to divide the peasantry on communal and casteist lines. This is weakening the unity of the peasantry in their fight against class enemies and the policies of the government.  The conference will discuss and decide how campaigns and activities  can be organised against communal and casteist forces. 

CONFERENCE TO CHALK OUT PROGRAMMES

The conference will also chalk out programmes to take up social issues like caste oppression, atrocities against scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, backward classes and oppression and exploitation of women.

Unevenness in growth is a serious impediment in building powerful campaigns and struggles on all-India basis.  Even though the  present membership of the Kisan Sabha is over one crore 57 lakhs, about 90 per cent of the members of Kisan Sabha are from West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura. Unevenness in growth,  uneven level of consciousness, different nature of agricultural situations and needs, diversities of crops and harvesting seasons, different climatical conditions, different nature of impact of new policies etc are certain hurdles restricting our attempts.  All these matters will be considered by the conference and appropriate steps will be taken to remedy the organisational shortcomings and weaknesses.

The conference will decide to launch powerful agitations and struggles in the interests of the peasantry, agriculture and the country.  All India Kisan Sabha will unite with all sections of people, particularly agricultural workers, workers, middle class employees, students, youth, women etc who are fighting against the  disastrous policies of the present government.  The conference also will  chalk out a campaign against the war efforts of US and Great Britain on Iraq.  All India Kisan Sabha will  unite with all forces who are opposed to war against Iraq.