People's Democracy

SAVE PEASANTRY, SAVE AGRICULTURE, SAVE THE COUNTRY

Govt Policies Only Deepening Agrarian Crisis

THE All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) is soon to take out four jathas --- from Kanyakumari in the south, from Mumbai in the west, from Kathua (Jammu & Kashmir) in the north and from Sabroom (Tripura) and Berhampur (Orissa) in the east. These will converge in a mammoth peasant rally in New Delhi on November 20. State units of the Kisan Sabha are also going to organise statewide and districtwide jathas to supplement the work of the main jathas. The All India Kisan Sabha wishes to interact with the peasantry in different parts of India in order to discuss with them their problems and to find solutions. This is for the first time that a peasant organisation in the country has undertaken a programme of this magnitude. 

A FIGHTING ORGANISATION

The All India Kisan Sabha is today the oldest peasant organisation in India and was founded in 1936 in the midst of our freedom struggle. It is also the largest peasant organisation with a membership of 2,00,19,667 spread over 23 states. As distinct from some other peasant organisations which try to rally the peasantry on caste or religious lines, the AIKS tries to rally the entire peasantry irrespective of caste and religion. In contradistinction to those who propagate the erroneous non-class theory of urbanites as a whole exploiting the rural areas, the AIKS believes that workers in the rural and urban parts of India are allies of the peasantry in their struggle against exploitation and for a prosperous India. It is trying to build unity of all sections of people who are fighting against exploitation, imperialist domination and communalism. Peasants who embrace the policies, programmes and constitution of the All India Kisan Sabha can join it irrespective of their political affiliations. The AIKS aims at building the broadest unity of the peasantry in our country.

In the past, the All India Kisan Sabha has conducted innumerable struggles against British imperialism, landlords, moneylenders, and against the policies of the bourgeois-landlord governments that came into power in India after independence. The Tebhaga struggle in Bengal, Punnapra-Vayalar struggle in Kerala, Surma Valley struggle in Assam and neighbouring areas, Bakasht struggle in Bihar, anti-betterment levy struggle in Punjab, struggles against landlordism in different parts in Uttar Pradesh, Warli tribal struggle in Maharashtra, the great Telangana struggle in Andhra Pradesh, peasants and agricultural workers’ struggles in Tamilnadu and Kerala, struggle for implementation of land reform measures in different parts of the country after independence, struggles against the liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation policies of the central and state governments are some of such important struggles.

Here, it will not be out of place to mention that next year (in 2007) the entire country is going to celebrate the 150th anniversary of our First War of Independence, in which our peasantry played a glorious role.

One must also note that the strength of the Kisan Sabha, of the agricultural workers movement’ and the existence of the Left led governments in West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura have brought in pro-poor land reform measures in these states within the constraints imposed by the provisions of Indian constitution. These land reform measures have made substantial changes in the economic, social and political life of the common people in these states. 

ALL-ENCOMPASSING AGRARIAN CRISIS

The present situation demands widest unity among the peasantry and of the peasantry with other toiling sections for unleashing sustained actions and struggles. This is required for forcing the government to adopt and implement such alternative policies as can alone protect the interests of the peasantry, agriculture and the country. The aim of the jathas and the proposed New Delhi rally is to draw the people’s attention to the problems of peasantry, agriculture and the country and force the rulers to take appropriate steps.

The basic thing is that India is currently in the grip of an unprecedented and all-encompassing agrarian crisis, which is increasingly accentuating day by day. All sections and all spheres of our collective life are getting affected by this crisis.

Peasants are committing suicides in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamilnadu, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and many other states. Their numbers have gone up to more than 2 lakhs in the recent period. At the same time, people are dying of starvation, particularly in tribal areas and remote villages. Poverty is spreading to newer areas and sections. Children and women are the worst sufferers. Nearly 75 percent of children in the country are underweight due to inadequate nutrition. India has the largest number of underweight and low birth weight children and the prevalence of this problem is about twice that in Sub-Saharan Africa. More than 75 percent of pre-school children and 52 percent of women are suffering from iron deficiency or anaemia. About 57 percent of pre-school children are suffering from Vitamin A deficiency. 

Unemployment is growing fast, with India now facing the worst ever level of unemployment in rural parts of the country. The real wages of and workdays available to agricultural workers are declining. The incidence of migration of cultivators and agricultural workers from the backward to more developed areas is fast increasing, giving rise to serious economic and social problems. 

The rate of growth of agricultural production is declining since the second half of the 1990s; it was 1.8 percent during the period 1995-2003 compared to 3.4 percent during 1985-95. The largest decline has been in the green revolution belt. The growth of foodgrains production has now declined to 0.14 per cent --- a rate that is much lower than the population growth rate of 1.8 per cent in 2001. India is experiencing a shortage of foodgrains and the situation may further deteriorate in the coming years. The per capita net availability of foodgrains which was 510.1 gm per day in 1991 declined to 436.3 gm per day in 2003. The present availability of foodgrains is lower than what it was during the years of the Second World War which saw the terrible Bengal famine and famine deaths. The slow disbandment of the procurement system and the permission given to traders to hoard large quantities of foodgrains has further worsened the situation. The central government has started importing wheat in large quantities in order to meet the present shortage of wheat. This has pushed up the price of wheat in the international market. Thus is India again getting dependent on foreign countries for foodgrains availability. For more than a decade, the AIKS has been continuously urging the government to accord priority to foodgrains production or else we may face a serious situation like the one we are facing at present. The apprehension expressed by the All India Kisan Sabha has proved true now.

GROWING BURDEN ON PEASANTRY

The government has reduced subsidies for agricultural inputs like fertilisers, pesticides, agricultural implements, power, water, diesel, kerosene etc. This has increased the burden on the peasantry. 

The removal of quantitative restrictions on import of agricultural commodities, the withdrawal of the state from the market intervention measures such as minimum support price mechanism of procurement, reduction of customs duty on agricultural commodities etc have led to price falls and price fluctuations in case of most of the agricultural commodities. Such price falls and price fluctuations are taking place in the background of steep increases in the prices of agricultural inputs. The peasantry, particularly the poorer sections, are incurring heavy losses due to such price falls and price fluctuations. The policies of the government, the price falls and price fluctuations are effecting a change in the cropping pattern that will have serious repercussions for our food security and stability in agricultural growth. 

There is severe shrinkage of institutional credit facilities, with only 27 percent of the cultivator households getting institutional credit. Some 73 percent of the cultivators are dependent on non-institutional sources such as moneylenders, traders, contractors and other middlemen for their credit requirements. These sections charge exorbitant rates of interest on the loans they give to the peasantry and fleece the peasants in numerous other ways. Many peasants have committed suicides due to the growing indebtedness and the harassment by moneylenders. 

On the other hand, there is no reliable system of insurance worth its name to protect the interests of the peasantry. The schemes that are in operation have miserably failed to protect the life of the peasant. In the context of price falls, price fluctuations, pests and weather variations, peasants are afraid of making bold investments in agriculture, which is necessary for increasing production and productivity. 

Big changes are also happening in the ecology. Vast tracts of land have become uncultivable. Natural calamities such as floods, droughts, cyclones, pests etc are destroying crops and the fertility of the soil. Unscientific use of fertilisers and pesticides as well as over-utilisation of ground water is also contributing to this problem. The adverse impact of natural calamities is increasing season by season as the government is not taking any redemption measures in regard to the damages caused by natural calamities. 

While agriculture is both a way of life and principal means of livelihood for 65 percent of the population in India, 40 percent of the farmers have expressed a desire to quit farming if they have an option to do so. This is the finding of a recent survey by the National Sample Survey Organisation, and shows the gravity of the growing crisis and insecurity.

ANTI-PEASANT POLICIES

The present and growing crisis in agriculture is the result of wrong agrarian and economic policies pursued by the successive governments at the centre during the post-independence period. After independence, instead of abolishing landlordism and implementing radical land reforms, the Congress government adopted such policies as led to the development of a skewed form of capitalism in agriculture without destroying the feudal base. Its aim was to transform the semi-feudal landlords into capitalist landlords and develop a section of rich peasants. Legislative measures to abolish statutory landlordism permitted the payment of huge compensations to landlords and yet allowed them to retain vast tracts of land. There were glaring loopholes in the ceiling laws to help landlords keep their large holdings intact. It was estimated in the late 1950s that 63 million acres of land in the country could be made available for redistribution. Not even a small fraction of this land was ever taken over or distributed among the poor peasants and agricultural workers. 

The result is that, except in the Left-led states, land concentration and domination of the landlords and rich peasants has remained more or less intact in rural areas. Government policies also helped the landlords and rich peasants corner the benefits of irrigation and power facilities, subsidies on agricultural inputs, institutional credit facilities, tube-wells, pump-sets, transport and other infrastructure facilities. The government’s policies have also failed to put an end to caste oppression, gender oppression and other types of economic exploitation and social injustice. 

After 1991, the country witnessed more reactionary changes in the government’s policies under imperialist pressure. The state is retreating from welfare measures and succumbing to the capitalist market. Two major factors led to the liberalisation phase of capitalist development. One, the big business, landlords and other richer sections who have been benefiting and gaining strength since independence, helped foist the liberalisation-privatisation-globalisation regime as they thus expected to reap more benefits. Besides, the erstwhile policies and the skewed nature of capitalist development led to a crisis by the late eighties, which these sections used as an excuse for the new LPG policies. Secondly, imperialist countries are making attempts to dominate the world and to exploit their natural and human resources. These imperialist countries are using the international institutions such as the IMF, World Bank and, after 1994, the WTO to pressurise and dominate the developing countries.

The successive governments after 1991 took a series of steps as components of the new agrarian and economic policies. Steps were and are being taken to reverse the land reform measures, and vast tracts of agricultural land are being handed over to Indian big business and foreign multinationals without caring for the interests of the peasants or for food security. Public investments in agriculture, irrigation, power, rural development, science and technology, infrastructure facilities etc have suffered drastic reductions. Quantitative restrictions on agricultural imports were removed and the customs duties slashed. The government is withdrawing from market intervention measures such as minimum support price mechanism and procurement of agricultural commodities. There is a severe crunch of institutional credit to peasants and agricultural workers. Vital sectors like electricity and irrigation are being privatised. Multinational corporations are coming and establishing their domination in various spheres related to agriculture. 

PROMISES BEING OVERLOOKED

When the UPA government came into power in 2004, it made many promises to our peasantry. These included the promises of increasing public investment in agriculture, doubling of institutional rural credit in three years, introduction of crop and livestock insurance schemes, enactment of a comprehensive protective legislation for agricultural workers, fair and remunerative prices for agricultural commodities, clearing of all arrears due to farmers, conferring of ownership rights in respect of minor forest produce, implementation of land distribution and land ceiling laws, stop to eviction of tribal communities and other forest dwelling communities, enactment of a National Rural Employment Guarantee Act etc.

However, except the enactment of the Rural Employment Guarantee Act and introduction of the Scheduled Tribes (Recognition of Forest Rights) Bill in parliament, the UPA government has not implemented any of the promises it made. It is pursuing the wrong and anti-peasant, anti-agriculture policies of the previous NDA government. Some of the new steps taken by the government will have serious adverse repercussions on the life of the peasantry, agriculture and the overall interests of the country. 

The government of India has made with the United States of America an agreement called the “US-India Knowledge Initiative on Agricultural Education Research Service and Commercial Linkages.” On the basis of this agreement, a Knowledge Initiative Board, including representatives of multinational companies like Monsanto and WalMart, has come into existence. This agreement is sure to facilitate the domination of multinational companies over Indian agriculture and exploitation of our resources. Courtesy the present patent regime, all inventions and discoveries in agriculture will become the private property of US companies. The United States of America has forced other developing countries too to enter into similar agreements, so as to get hold of all scientific and technological developments in agriculture in the developing world and completely control their agriculture. 

The Seed Bill 2004, introduced by the UPA government, will take away the birth right of the peasant to produce, save and exchange seeds. The bill is meant to help the Indian and multinational seed companies establish monopoly rights over seeds. 

On the other hand, though the UPA government appointed a National Commission on Farmers under the chairmanship of Dr M S Swaminathan, and the commission had submitted many recommendations to the government, the latter has not taken any step to implement its recommendations that could have helped it find solutions to many problems of the peasantry and agriculture. 

DEMANDS OF THE PRESENT SITUATION

The All India Kisan Sabha has demanded that the government take the following steps on an urgent basis to find solutions to the problems of the peasantry and overcome the adverse effects of the growing agrarian crisis:

1. Take steps to increase productivity and production in agriculture by making more public investment in agriculture, power, science and technology, infrastructure etc. Priority should be given to foodgrain self-sufficiency.

2. Ensure remunerative prices for agricultural commodities through appropriate market intervention measures and institute a price stabilisation fund as suggested by the National Commission on Farmers. The procurement mechanism and the public distribution system should be strengthened. 

3. Expand institutional credit facility to cover all needy sections and reduce the rate of interest to 4 percent.

4. Expand the crop insurance scheme to cover the entire country and all crops.

5. Pass a comprehensive law for agricultural workers to ensure for them employment guarantee, minimum wages and social security measures.

6. In WTO, rally other developing countries for the reintroduction of quantitative restrictions on imports. Fix customs duties on agricultural commodities in tune with our national interests.

7. Scrap the Knowledge Initiative Agreement with America.

8. Properly amend the Seed Bill to protect the traditional rights of the peasantry. No permission for any GM crop without a scientific testing of its impacts on health and environment.

9. Stop reversal of land reform measures and complete the land reform process by distributing the ceiling surplus and fallow lands to agricultural labourers and poor peasants. Stop giving unlimited extent of land to Indian big business and MNCs. Provide adequate compensation along with rehabilitation measures whenever agricultural land is taken for industries, infrastructure or special economic zones. 

10. Pass the Scheduled Tribe (Recognition of Forest Rights) Bill with amendments in order to protect the interests of tribals and other forest dwellers.

11. Conduct a census of suicides to have a proper understanding of the reasons and the required relief measures. Also undertake an all-India debt survey to assess the magnitude of indebtedness and the required relief measures.

12. Form state level farmers commissions for ensuring immediate government responses to farmers’ problems.