People's Democracy

 FLOOD & DROUGHT IN BIHAR  

 Left Kisan Convention Plans Stir

HELD recently at Darbhanga in Bihar, a joint convention of the Left led kisan organisations resolved to organise a stir on the issue of the floods and droughts which occur almost every year in the state.

The convention was presided over by Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi of the CPI(M), Jalaluddin Ansari (CPI), Tarakant Prakash (RSP), Nripen Krishna Mahto ( Forward Bloc) and Shivshankar (SUCI). It was inaugurated by kisan leader Atul Kumar Anjan who stressed on the need of a united kisan movement to protect the peasantry, their villages and their agriculture. He also urged for organising a joint fight on the issues of flood and drought.

N K Shukla, joint secretary of the All India Kisan Sabha, explained how the government is reducing the investment in agriculture year by year particularly after the beginning of policy of liberalisation. Even the work of water management is being handed over to private companies. Instead of taking concrete steps for controlling the floods and fighting the menace of drought, hollow slogans of interlinking rivers, etc, are being raised in order to sidetrack both the basic and immediate problems. Not only has the government given up the tasks of completing land reforms, it is even withdrawing from providing relief to the drought and flood affected people. So, there is no other way but to fight unitedly.

Chaturanan Mishra, former central agriculture minister, appreciated the attempts for initiating a united movement and appealed to the concerned organisations to make it broader in order to fight for immediate as well as permanent solutions.

Former member of parliament Bhogendra Jha, member of parliament Abani Roy (RSP), Nripen Krishna Mahato (FB), Arun Kumar (SUCI) and kisan leader Tribeni Sharma Sudhakar also addressed the conference.

Bihar state Kisan Sabha secretary Bijay Kant Thakur moved a resolution that dwelt in detail on the perennial nature of floods in north and central Bihar and of the drought in south Bihar. The resolution noted the damages to the peasantry, agricultural labour, and agriculture as a whole. It narrated how the projects to control the rivers have remained uncompleted over the last 50 years. Bunds are not repaired. Desilting of rivers and canals is not being done. New dams are not being constructed and old ones are not repaired. Some 85 per cent of the tubewells for irrigation in the state are not working. No initiative has been taken to take up the issue of construction of dams, etc, with Nepal, Bhutan and China. There is rampant corruption in the distribution of relief or repairing of bunds, etc. Consequently, thousands of human lives, tens of thousands of livestock, and crops worth thousands of crores of rupees are destroyed every year. Lakhs of agricultural labourers and poor peasants are forced to migrate to other states in search of work and food. Corruption and high level of unemployment are giving a push criminal activities.

There was intense discussion on the resolution that was finally adopted with the call of an action programme. It included a ghera dalo dera dalo (gherao) action at subdivision level on September 24-2, with other programmes to follow thereafter.

The convention concluded with an inspiring speech by veteran kisan leader Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi who stressed on the need of united and broadbased struggles.