People's Democracy

ALL INDIA KISAN COUNCIL CALL

Countrywide Agitation On December 4 - 5

Noorul Huda

THE All India Kisan Council has directed all its units throughout the country to hold meetings, demonstrations, dharnas, rasta rokos and other forms of mass activities on December 4 and 5, 2007 before the district collectorate offices to highlight the demands of the peasantry and agricultural labour.

The All India Kisan Council (AIKC) of the All India Kisan Sabha met at Villupuram, Tamilnadu on September 22-23, 2007 under the chairmanship of AIKS president S Ramachandran Pillai. In their reports to the All India Kisan Council, the president and the general secretary of AIKS stressed about the unprecedented and all encompassing agrarian crisis affecting all sectors of agriculture, hitting all sections of peasantry, particularly the small and marginal farmers and the agricultural workers very hard.

It may be recalled that the Left parties provided outside support to the UPA government on the basis of the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) which assured that ceiling surplus lands, government lands and waste lands would be distributed to the landless; adequate public investment would be made in agriculture; there would be no reversal of land ceiling legislation; there would be an increase in rural credit; minimum wages and protective legislation for agricultural labour would be ensured; protection to farmers against foreign imports; remunerative price for farmers; comprehensive crop insurance schemes against natural calamities etc.

But most unfortunately, except for a little increase in credit flow, legislation on NREGA and rights of tribals on forest lands (which has still to be actualised), no other assurance in the CMP was implemented by the UPA government during its three and a half year tenure.

On the contrary, the UPA government and many state governments -- barring the three Left-led states -- have been adopting the same old neo-liberal economic policies, which their predecessor governments had followed during the last 16 years, They have also ignored the recommendations of the National Commission on Farmers chaired by Dr M S Swaminathan, which in the first place had been appointed by the UPA government itself.

The president and the general secretary in their submissions stated that the UPA government instead of implementing land reforms has gone for corporate agriculture and contract farming. This has been made the cornerstone of their New Agricultural Policy. Only the three Left-led states of West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura have implemented genuine land reforms in favour of the peasantry, which have benefited the small and marginal farmers and the agricultural labour in a big way.

The Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Act and its implementation have enabled big capital to grab agricultural lands on a huge scale. The entry of foreign and domestic corporates into agriculture, the Indo-US knowledge Initiative Agreement, the entry of corporate sector into the retail trade etc are all intended to weaken the role of public sector agricultural research and development infrastructure. These will severely infringe on the rights of the farmers and make our agriculture dependent on the agri- business MNCs like Monsanto, Wal-Mart etc. Moreover these will surely lead to monopolistic situation greatly affecting small agricultural producers and retail traders.

The AIKS leaders attacked the UPA government for totally bungling the wheat procurement process. In spite of adequate production of rabi wheat crop (74.5 million tonnes) this year, the UPA government is going for wheat imports paying foreign MNCs almost double the price it paid to Indian farmers, in the process severely depriving the domestic farmers. The policy of privatisation of procurement, reducing import tariffs on edible oil, the enactment of scheduled tribes and other traditional Forest Dwellers Act 2006 without framing the necessary rules, have all gone against our farmers, threatening food security in the country, helping the dismantling of Public Distribution System and paving way for eviction of genuine forest dwellers.

As a result of all the above mentioned neo-liberal economic policies being followed by the UPA government, the peasantry is further impoverished today. Suicides by farmers due to indebtedness continue and are on the rise. Acute distress in the countryside has increased. Recently, the National Sample Survey on unorganised labour has recorded that 84 crore people in India, most of whom are in rural areas, are earning less than Rs 20 per day. This is the situation after 60 years of independence!

The UPA government's decision hasty willingness on concluding the Indo-US nuclear co-operaton agreement with the USA is a severe blow for the future of India and the lives of the people. The government's adamant attitude to proceed with the nuclear deal in the face of majority in parliament opposing it was severely criticised. The deal would seriously affect the sovereignty of the country and erode our independent foreign and economic policies.

Among the important problems plaguing the peasantry today are absence of remunerative prices; rising cost of cultivation; repeated crop failures; inaccessibility of institutional credit; and stagnation in productivity. A resolution highlighting the demands of the peasantry and agricultural workers was unanimously adopted in the All India Kisan Council meeting.

The state Kisan Committees will select some of the demands, concentrate on popularising them and conduct agitations/struggles on December 4 and 5, 2007 all over the country. The CITU units too will be conducting countrywide struggles on their demands on the same dates.

As decided by the joint national convention of CITU, AIKS and AIAWU held in Delhi on August 31, 2007, the AIKS state units would take initiative in organising joint conventions in states and districts (where they have not been held so far) and prepare grounds for strong joint movement along with CITU and AIAWU.

For the last four months or so, intensive land struggle is going on in Andhra Pradesh on distribution of land to the landless and house sites for the poor. Despite heavy repression unleashed by the Congress government in the state, the kisans in the state have made immense sacrifices and are firmly continuing the land struggles. The state and district units of All India Kisan Sabha have been urged by the AIKC to take appropriate lessons from the Andhra Pradesh experience and wherever possible, we should emulate their glorious example and conduct struggle on land for the landless and house sites for the homeless.

It was also decided that campaign against the Indo-US nuclear deal must be organised both independently and jointly.

The All India Kisan Council condoled the deaths of those leaders and activists of All India Kisan Sabha, who have passed away after the last AIKC meeting held in January 2007 in Kolkata and also the demise of outstanding trade union leader and CITU general secretary, Chittbrata Majumdar.

RESOLUTION

In view of the continuing and deepening agrarian crisis all over the country, pursuant to neo-liberal policies by successive central governments and most of the state governments – barring the Left-led states of West Bengal, Kerala and Tripura – resulting in ever increasing landlessness, grave unemployment, rural indebtedness, farmers suicides and all pervading rural distress hitting particularly the small and marginal farmers.

This All India Kisan Council meeting at Villupuram in Tamilnadu resolves to observe December 4 and 5, 2007, to fight against and for reversal of the neo-liberal policies of the central and state governments on the following demands:

1. Implement land reform measures and distribute surplus lands among agricultural labour and poor peasants and land for house-sites.

2. Expand power and irrigation facilities.

3. Adequate public investment on agriculture.

4. Cheaper and adequate credit to farmers and agricultural labour.

5. Subsidies to small and marginal farmers.

6. Remunerative price for farmers produce and check price rise of essential commodities.

7. Central legislation for agricultural workers and unorganised labour.

8. Expand Public Distribution System.

9. Comprehensive Crop-Insurance Scheme.

10. No MNCs and big business into agro-based industries.

11. Expansion and genuine implementation to NREGA.

12. Restore drastic cut in customs duties which affect agriculture and traditional industries.

13. Oppose land grabs by corporate sector on SEZ and undue tax concessions.

14. Properly implement Tribal Act and frame rules to protect tribals from eviction and undue harassment.

15. No to MNCs in retail trade and impose restriction on corporate houses.

16. Permanent solution to floods and droughts.