Skip to main content

August 9 to be observed as Corporates Quit India day: Top farmers' group

By A Representative
A recent general body meeting of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), the top farmers' organisation, stated hat "there is no need for any illusion of change in the pro-corporate policies of the BJP-NDA government" following the recent elections in which BJP failed to achieve even simple majority. It insisted,  Prime Minister Narendra Modi "is hell bent" to continue 'business as usual' policies.
Deciding to restart the agitation demanding the implementation of the agreement dated 9th December 2021 between the Union Government and SKM, it said, "Intensifying direct struggles of farmers and farmworkers and also joint struggles with the organised and unorganised workers is the need of the hour in order  to bring relief to the people who are facing severe miseries and widespread indebtedness, unemployment and price rise."
Those attending the meeting included Dr Ashok Dhawale, Dr Darshan Pal, Yudhvir Singh, Balbeer Singh Rajewal, Revula Venkaiah,  Medha Patkar, Satyawan, Ruldu Singh Mansa, Dr Sunilam, Avik Saha, Dr Ashish Mittal, Tajinder Singh Virk, Kanwarjit Singhand Hannan Mollah.  143 delegates from 17 states took part.
It was held against the backdrop of victory of farmer leaders Amraram from Sikar, Rajasthan; Rajaram Singh from Karakat, Bihar; Sudama Prasad from Arrah, Bihar and R Sachithanantham from Dindigul, Tamil Nadu, in the Lok Sabha polls.
"As part of restarting the struggle, the SKM will submit the updated demand charter to all Members of Parliament (Lok Sabha as well as Rajya Sabha). A delegation of the respective SKM state leadership will directly meet them on 16, 17, 18 July 2024 and request them to put pressure on the NDA Govt to immediately take action on the demands. SKM leadership will seek an appointment with the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition and submit the memorandum of demands to them", it declared.
The 9th December 2021 agreement covers the demands of ensuring legally guaranteed MSP@ C2+50% with procurement for all crops, no to privatisation of the power sector and prepaid smart meters, compensation to all the families of martyrs who died during the historic farmers struggle, withdrawal of all the cases related to the farmers agitation, and freeing farmers from criminal liability by amending the act on pollution control due to stubble burning. 
"The general body meeting strongly condemned the anti-farmer Govt of NDA for violating the agreement made after the supreme sacrifice of 736 martyrs and sufferings of lakhs of farmers who participated for 384 days -- 26th November 2020 to 11th December 2021 -- of consistent and militant struggle at the Delhi borders", the statement said.
Revealing its agitation plan, SKM said, "On 9th August 2024, SKM shall observe Quit India Day as Corporates Quit India Day by holding protest demonstrations across the country in support of the demand charter. The demand that India must come out of WTO and No MNCs in agricultural production and trade will be popularised among the farmers."  
Then, "On 17th August 2024 the SKM Punjab unit will observe '3 hours protest at the homes of all ministers including the Chief Minister of Punjab' regarding the demands of Punjab, including the severe water crisis, burden of debt, opening India-Pakistan trade through road corridors and federal demands of Punjab against the policy of centralisation of power and resources by the Modi-led NDA government."
"On the same day SKM will organise large seminars in all the states on the issue of water crisis and climate change affecting agriculture and against the commodification of natural resources including water, land, forest and minerals", SKM added.
As part of restarting the struggle, the SKM will submit the updated demand charter to all Members of Parliament
It further said, in view of the upcoming Assembly elections, the State coordination committees of Haryana, Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir will convene their meetings and ensure an independent and massive campaign among the farmers based on the SKM’s demands to expose, oppose and punish BJP in the forthcoming assembly elections.
"The State units also will explore coordination with trade unions and other mass and class organisations, and hold Vehicle Jathas, Padayatras and Mahapanchayats", it added.
SKM's demands include:
1. Legally guaranteed MSP@C2+50% with guaranteed procurement for all crops.
2. Comprehensive loan waiver to free farmers and agricultural workers from indebtedness and end farm suicides.
3. No privatisation of power sector, no prepaid smart meters.
4. Comprehensive insurance coverage to all crops and animal husbandry under the Public Sector, scrapping of the anti-farmer and pro-corporate PMFBY Scheme.
5. Pension of Rs.10,000 (ten thousand) per month to all farmers and agricultural workers.
6. Implementing Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act 2013, revised circle rate of land every alternative year across India, providing due compensation to all those who lost land due to illegal acquisition for projects by the public as well as private sector and stopping acquisition without rehabilitation and resettlement; ending Bulldozer Raj of demolition of slums and settlements without prior rehabilitation.
7. No corporatisation of agriculture, No MNC’s in agricultural production and trade, bringing India out of WTO agreement on agriculture.
8. No GST on agricultural inputs such as fertilisers, seeds, pesticides, electricity, irrigation, petroleum products, machineries and tractors.
9. Amending the GST Act to ensure the State Governments' right to taxation as per the federal principles enshrined in the Constitution of India with the principle of strong States and strong Union of India.
10. Introducing separate Union Budget for Agriculture with adequate share of GDP.
11. Abolition of the Department of Cooperation in the Union Government, and keeping Cooperation as a State Subject as enshrined in the Constitution of India. The Union Government has to support the States instead of promoting centralisation of power for the interest of the corporate class at the cost of the producing classes -- farmers and workers.
12. Ensuring permanent solution for wildlife menace; provide Rs 1 crore compensation for loss of life and adequate compensation for loss of crops and cattle.
13. Providing compensation for all the families of martyrs of the historic farmers’ struggle including the martyrs of Lakhimpur Kheri.  
14. Withdrawing all the cases related with the farmers’ struggle and building a suitable Martyrs Memorial at Singhu/Tikri Border to commemorate the 736 farmer martyrs.

Comments

Post a Comment

TRENDING

Urgent need to study cause of large number of natural deaths in Gulf countries

By Venkatesh Nayak* According to data tabled in Parliament in April 2018, there are 87.76 lakh (8.77 million) Indians in six Gulf countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While replying to an Unstarred Question (#6091) raised in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs said, during the first half of this financial year alone (between April-September 2018), blue-collared Indian workers in these countries had remitted USD 33.47 Billion back home. Not much is known about the human cost of such earnings which swell up the country’s forex reserves quietly. My recent RTI intervention and research of proceedings in Parliament has revealed that between 2012 and mid-2018 more than 24,570 Indian Workers died in these Gulf countries. This works out to an average of more than 10 deaths per day. For every US$ 1 Billion they remitted to India during the same period there were at least 117 deaths of Indian Workers in Gulf ...
Post a Comment
»

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor*  This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.
Post a Comment
»

History, culture and literature of Fatehpur, UP, from where Maulana Hasrat Mohani hailed

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*  Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a member of the Constituent Assembly and an extremely important leader of our freedom movement. Born in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Hasrat Mohani's relationship with nearby district of Fatehpur is interesting and not explored much by biographers and historians. Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri has written a book on Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Fatehpur. The book is in Urdu.  He has just come out with another important book, 'Hindi kee Pratham Rachna: Chandayan' authored by Mulla Daud Dalmai.' During my recent visit to Fatehpur town, I had an opportunity to meet Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri and recorded a conversation with him on issues of history, culture and literature of Fatehpur. Sharing this conversation here with you. Kindly click this link. --- *Human rights defender. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat , X @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat
1 comment
»

India's health workers have no legal right for their protection, regrets NGO network

Counterview Desk In a letter to Union labour and employment minister Santosh Gangwar, the civil rights group Occupational and Environmental Health Network of India (OEHNI), writing against the backdrop of strike by Bhabha hospital heath care workers, has insisted that they should be given “clear legal right for their protection”.
Post a Comment
»

Uttarakhand tunnel disaster: 'Question mark' on rescue plan, appraisal, construction

By Bhim Singh Rawat*  As many as 40 workers were trapped inside Barkot-Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi after a portion of the 4.5 km long, supposedly completed portion of the tunnel, collapsed early morning on Sunday, Nov 12, 2023. The incident has once again raised several questions over negligence in planning, appraisal and construction, absence of emergency rescue plan, violations of labour laws and environmental norms resulting in this avoidable accident.
Post a Comment
»

Women's rights leaders told to negotiate with Muslimness, as India's donor agencies shun the word Muslim

By A Representative Former vice-president Hamid Ansari has sharply criticized donor agencies engaged in nongovernmental development work, saying that they seek to "help out" marginalizes communities with their funds, but shy away from naming Muslims as the target group, something, he insisted, needs to change. Speaking at a book release function in Delhi, he said, since large sections of Muslims are poor, they need political as also social outreach.
1 comment
»

Job opportunities decreasing, wages remain low: Delhi construction workers' plight

By Bharat Dogra*   It was about 32 years back that a hut colony in posh Prashant Vihar area of Delhi was demolished. It was after a great struggle that the people evicted from here could get alternative plots that were not too far away from their earlier colony. Nirmana, an organization of construction workers, played an important role in helping the evicted people to get this alternative land. At that time it was a big relief to get this alternative land, even though the plots given to them were very small ones of 10X8 feet size. The people worked hard to construct new houses, often constructing two floors so that the family could be accommodated in the small plots. However a recent visit revealed that people are rather disheartened now by a number of adverse factors. They have not been given the proper allotment papers yet. There is still no sewer system here. They have to use public toilets constructed some distance away which can sometimes be quite messy. There is still no...
Post a Comment
»

Bihar’s land at ₹1 per acre for Adani sparks outrage, NAPM calls it crony capitalism

By A Representative   The National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) has strongly condemned the Bihar government’s decision to lease 1,050 acres of land in Pirpainti, Bhagalpur district, to Adani Power for a 2,400 MW coal-based thermal power project. 
Post a Comment
»

Sardar Patel was on Nathuram Godse's hit list: Noted Marathi writer Sadanand More

Sadanand More (right) By  A  Representative In a surprise revelation, well-known Gujarati journalist Hari Desai has claimed that Nathuram Godse did not just kill Mahatma Gandhi, but also intended to kill Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Citing a voluminous book authored by Sadanand More, “Lokmanya to Mahatma”, Volume II, translated from Marathi into English last year, Desai says, nowadays, there is a lot of talk about conspiracy to kill Gandhi, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, but little is known about how the Sardar was also targeted.
Post a Comment
»