Skip to main content

Gujarat potato farmers tell PepsiCo: Withdraw court cases unconditionally, compensate

By A Representative
Gujarat potato farmers sued by PepsiCo have rejected the top multinational corporation’s (MNC’s) announcement that it would withdraw cases against them under certain terms and conditions, asserting that Indian farmers’ seed freedoms are non-negotiable.
Talking with media in Ahmedabad, one of the four potato farmers, Bipin Patel, flanked by half-a-dozen farmer leaders, said, “We learn from media that they will withdraw cases against us, but this should be unconditional.”
Chhabilbhai Patel and Vinodbhai Patel, also present on the occasion, added that they should be paid compensation for the harassment they were subjected to even though the law is very clear on the subject, regretting, while the Gujarat government is learnt to be negotiating with PepsiCo, it has still not talked to them.
According to them, the court proceedings came as a shock to them, including the amount of damages that the company was claiming – Rs 1.5 crore each. It was clearly trying to intimidate and harass us. Its real intention might have been to wipe out competitors from the market, but it chose to harass farmers, they added.
Farmers’ rights leader Kapil Shah of Jatan Trust, coordinator of the new body formed to fight against PepsiCo, Beej Samprabhuta Forum, insisted, “There cannot be any tampering with the legal rights contained for farmers in the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights (PPV&FR) Act, 2001, which surpass the breeders’ right, in the name of 'long term and amicable resolution of all issues around seed protection’.”
Shah said, PepsiCo seemed to take a step backwards only after the news of the MNC suing the farmers “gripped national attention”, with “Indian and global citizens taking to social media with loud boycott calls against PepsiCo” after around 200 activists and social workers “wrote to concerned government authorities to intervene and protect farmers’ rights” on April 24.
Claimed Shah, “PepsiCo is already on the backfoot, opting for an out-of-court settlement.” On April 27, Gujarat’s Deputy Chief Minister stated that the government would implead in the case. On May 1, there was news of government trying to get an out of court settlement going. On May 2, PepsiCo spokesperson put out a statement saying that the company will withdraw the cases.

Comments

Post a Comment

TRENDING

Can free‑living Indian street dogs teach us about how to care for pet dogs?

By Daniel Ramp, Kapil Vishwas Patwardhan, Rosalie Chapple  We give our pet dogs shelter, veterinary care, affection, training and play. We decide when they eat, where they sleep, when they go outside, who they meet, and how they move through the world.
Post a Comment
»

Grid bottlenecks threatening India’s renewable energy growth, Centre warned

By A Representative   Senior p ower and climate policy analyst Shankar Sharma has urged the Ministry of Power and other senior policymakers to undertake an urgent review of India’s power-sector priorities, citing rising renewable-energy curtailment, transmission bottlenecks, delays in battery storage projects and the growing financial and ecological costs of conventional power infrastructure.
Post a Comment
»

Rights groups condemn arrests and security buildup amid Siang mega-dam protests in Arunachal

By A Representative    A  coalition of  several civil rights, labour, student and social justice groups,  Campaign Against State Repression (CASR), has condemned the arrest of three anti-dam activists in Arunachal Pradesh following recent violence in Pasighat, demanding their immediate release and the withdrawal of security forces from protest areas opposing the proposed 11,200-MW Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP).
Post a Comment
»