People's Democracy

AIAWU Calls for Agricultural Strike

On Feb 20-21, 2013

Hannan Mollah

THE central executive committee of the All India Agricultural Workers Union met in New Delhi and took stock of the condition of the agricultural workers in the country. The committee noted that the government of India has gone ahead with its policies of pushing forward the interests of the foreign capital and Indian corporates, at the cost of the people. While they are going ahead with schemes to introduce foreign direct investment in retail trade, use EPF funds for private purpose, selling of public sector units to private parties, and taking over agricultural lands for property developers under the garb of public purpose, allowing private and corporate houses loot crores of rupees through several scams, they have failed primarily to check the price rise in food items which form the most important part of the expenditure of agriculture labour. Wages on the other hand, have failed to keep pace with the prices and employment has done no better. If anything can be learnt from schemes like the MNREGA, their implementation leaves much to be desired as we are all still far from providing  hundred days work a year. To add to it, the large scale transfer of agricultural land to non agricultural purposes and the increasing control being exercised by the forest department on the lands that were traditionally farmed by adivasis, has further decreased employment in the agricultural sector.

The failure of the public distribution system, the increase in price of LPG, diesel and petrol, as well as the deregularisation of fertiliser prices and those of other agricultural inputs, has further compounded the problem. As a result, the agricultural labourer has been the major sufferer. It is obvious that we cannot stand by and watch these policies being implemented while the section that we represent is daily subjected to increasing poverty and serious deprivation. Our struggle against neo-liberal policies is based on this understanding.

Now a fresh attack is coming on the people’s rights and livelihood in the form of the cash transfer scheme. According to PMO statement, initially the programme will be implemented in 51 districts on a pilot basis. If this scheme is implemented fully, it will mean the dismantling of public distribution system and an end to the entitlement of cheap food for the people, leading to dispensing with subsidies for common people.

The meeting noted with satisfaction that the decision of the last Kanyakumari general council meeting to fight against all these anti-people policies of the government, were implemented in much better way than past, in most of the states.

The meeting also noted with anxiety that the homelessness of the agricultural labourer and poor people is increasing. So the issue of housesites and housing programme is to be taken up seriously. The announcement is Rs 2 lakh for a house, is a hoax. Actually, the central government is shifting the burden on state governments, zilla parishads and panchayats for three-fourth of the cost, while central government will pay only 25 per cent of it. This scheme will never succeed and nobody will get a house. So, we have to intensify the struggle for housesites. There are reports of land struggle from various states and the AIAWU fought and occupied land for landless in many places. This struggle has to be intensified all over the country.

The meeting also noted with concern that the attacks on dalit are increasing in different parts of the country and atrocities on women, specially the gang rape of dalit women has increased many fold. We have to take up this issue in a big way.

MNREGA work is also not satisfactory. The hundred days work of agricultural workers still remains illusive. There is no work in many states and massive loot of fund from this scheme is going on. Migration of agricultural workers still continues. The struggle by the AIAWU for proper implementation of the scheme has to be intensified.

Considering all these problems, the AIAWU has decided to intensify the campaign against anti-people policies of the government in the coming months. The following issues will be highlighted in our campaign in January and February and the following demands will be raised: oppose the conspiracy to replace universal public distribution system by the so-called cash transfer scheme; strengthen universal public distribution for ensuring food security of the people and enactment of a people oriented legislation on food security; supply of 35 kg food grains at the rate of not more than Rs 2 per kg and abolish APL/BPL division; ensure MNREGA work for 200 days in a year, a wage of Rs 300 and stop corruption in the scheme; provide housesites for homeless agricultural workers and poor people, with increased subsidy of Rs 2 lakhs for Indira Gandhi Awas Yojna/ Rajiv Gandhi scheme; proper implementation of the Forest Rights Act; check price rise of essential commodities; roll back the announcement of the cash transfer scheme; no FDI in retail sector; and pass an effective comprehensive central legislation for agricultural labour and Lokpal Bill.

After effective campaign on these demands, the agricultural workers union will organise a two-day agricultural strike in rural India on February 20-21, 2013. It calls upon all its units to observe the strike on the demands and ensure the rural India stops agricultural operations on those days. We also support the two-day industrial strike on February 20-21 called by the trade unions and work for its success.

The executive committee noted that the membership of the union is increasing steadily. As most of the agricultural workers in Tripura and Kerala are enrolled as our members, we have to increase our membership in other states. The committee decided to enroll sixty lakh members in this current year. After enrollment, all unit, tehsil, district and state conferences should be planned by state committees. The eighth all India conference will be held in Andhra Pradesh in the end of this year.

The union also decided to organise state level conventions of dalit and women by June and take up their issues and organise struggles at state, district and lower level.      

The classes for the activists of our union also were planned. The South India class will be held at Trichur in the month of March and North India class will be held in Chandigarh in the month of April 2013.

The union also decided to collect fund for our central office in Delhi and complete it by May.

The district committees were asked to take up research work on changing conditions and impact on agricultural work, wages and the livelihood of agricultural workers which will be published in the union’s bulletin, which has started its publication.