NEW DELHI: Farmer organisations from across the country will on November 26 launch a two-month long nationwide campaign from Bardoli in Gujarat to ensure that no crop is sold below the minimum support price (MSP).
The campaign, which will conclude on January 26 next year, is also meant to enlist the support of more farmers to the twin demands of 'freedom from debt' and 'guaranteed fair and remunerative prices for all farm produce'.
The dates for launch and conclusion of the campaign were selected by farmer groups keeping historical significance in mind. The Constitution of India was adopted on November 26 in 1949 whereas it had come into force two months later on January 26, 1950.
"We will also make the farmers aware of the nature and contents of two bills (which MPs sympathetic to the cause of farmers intend to introduce as private member's bills in the Parliament) during the nationwide campaign", Swaraj India president Yogendra Yadav told TOI after conclusion of the two-day farmers' protests against agrarian crisis here on Tuesday.
A large number of farmers, gathered in the Capital, held a 'Kisan Mukti Sansad' (farmers' liberation parliament) at Parliament Street during their two day protest. They were presented with two 'bills' by Swabhimani Paksha leader and sitting MP Raju Shetty and former MP Hannan Mollah on behalf of All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC). The 'bills' are about legislations on loan waiver and remunerative prices of farm produce (at least 1.5 times of input cost as per recommendation of the MS Swaminathan Committee report)
These bills will be introduced in Parliament during the forthcoming winter session as private member's bills by Lok Sabha member Shetty and CPM leader and Rajya Sabha member KK Ragesh. Shetty had joined the committee after leaving ruling alliance of the Maharashtra government.
The participants during their 'Sansad' spoke about farmers of Mandsaur where six of them were killed in police firings and also about farmers of Yavatmal who died due to pesticide poisoning. "We had never faced such a bad situation, first due to demonetisation and then due to poor procurement. We were forced to sell pulses and oilseeds below MSP as adequate procurement did not happen in my state", said Vijay More, a farmer from Maharashtra.
Most of the farmers TOI spoke to at the protest site at Parliament Street on Tuesday, had similar stories to tell about poor procurement in their states including Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Telangana. Many of them also narrated how droughts and floods in their respective states affected them and they could not even get insurance claims despite opting for the new scheme.
Referring to the reported remark of Bihar BJP president Nityanand Rai, who on Monday threatened that the fingers of anyone who pointed fingers at Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be chopped off, Yogendra Yadav said everyone here at the 'Kisan Mukti Sansad' was pointing fingers at the Prime Minister.
"I am pointing my finger at Modi, the whole Kisan Mukti Sansad is pointing fingers at Modi because he cheated and looted the farmers of this country. Let's see how many fingers they can chop and how many hands they can cut off," said Yadav while addressing the farmers.
Responding to his appeal, almost all farmers at the protest site raised their fingers in unison as a symbolic protest against government policies.
The AIKSCC had put up a makeshift wall, showing pictures of farmers who committed suicide in the past couple of years, at the site on Parliament Street.
A large number of women farmers, including widows and daughters of the farmers who committed suicide in different states due to farm distress, also held a separate all-women Parliament at the site. They extended their support to the AIKSCC which is an umbrella group of over 150 farm organisations from 25 states.
Kavitha Kurungati, convener of Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture (ASHA), put forward issues of women farmers in detail and emphasised the need of passing the 'bills' for loan waiver and remunerative prices for farm produce.
The campaign, which will conclude on January 26 next year, is also meant to enlist the support of more farmers to the twin demands of 'freedom from debt' and 'guaranteed fair and remunerative prices for all farm produce'.
The dates for launch and conclusion of the campaign were selected by farmer groups keeping historical significance in mind. The Constitution of India was adopted on November 26 in 1949 whereas it had come into force two months later on January 26, 1950.
"We will also make the farmers aware of the nature and contents of two bills (which MPs sympathetic to the cause of farmers intend to introduce as private member's bills in the Parliament) during the nationwide campaign", Swaraj India president Yogendra Yadav told TOI after conclusion of the two-day farmers' protests against agrarian crisis here on Tuesday.
A large number of farmers, gathered in the Capital, held a 'Kisan Mukti Sansad' (farmers' liberation parliament) at Parliament Street during their two day protest. They were presented with two 'bills' by Swabhimani Paksha leader and sitting MP Raju Shetty and former MP Hannan Mollah on behalf of All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC). The 'bills' are about legislations on loan waiver and remunerative prices of farm produce (at least 1.5 times of input cost as per recommendation of the MS Swaminathan Committee report)
These bills will be introduced in Parliament during the forthcoming winter session as private member's bills by Lok Sabha member Shetty and CPM leader and Rajya Sabha member KK Ragesh. Shetty had joined the committee after leaving ruling alliance of the Maharashtra government.
The participants during their 'Sansad' spoke about farmers of Mandsaur where six of them were killed in police firings and also about farmers of Yavatmal who died due to pesticide poisoning. "We had never faced such a bad situation, first due to demonetisation and then due to poor procurement. We were forced to sell pulses and oilseeds below MSP as adequate procurement did not happen in my state", said Vijay More, a farmer from Maharashtra.
Most of the farmers TOI spoke to at the protest site at Parliament Street on Tuesday, had similar stories to tell about poor procurement in their states including Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Telangana. Many of them also narrated how droughts and floods in their respective states affected them and they could not even get insurance claims despite opting for the new scheme.
Referring to the reported remark of Bihar BJP president Nityanand Rai, who on Monday threatened that the fingers of anyone who pointed fingers at Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be chopped off, Yogendra Yadav said everyone here at the 'Kisan Mukti Sansad' was pointing fingers at the Prime Minister.
"I am pointing my finger at Modi, the whole Kisan Mukti Sansad is pointing fingers at Modi because he cheated and looted the farmers of this country. Let's see how many fingers they can chop and how many hands they can cut off," said Yadav while addressing the farmers.
Responding to his appeal, almost all farmers at the protest site raised their fingers in unison as a symbolic protest against government policies.
The AIKSCC had put up a makeshift wall, showing pictures of farmers who committed suicide in the past couple of years, at the site on Parliament Street.
A large number of women farmers, including widows and daughters of the farmers who committed suicide in different states due to farm distress, also held a separate all-women Parliament at the site. They extended their support to the AIKSCC which is an umbrella group of over 150 farm organisations from 25 states.
Kavitha Kurungati, convener of Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture (ASHA), put forward issues of women farmers in detail and emphasised the need of passing the 'bills' for loan waiver and remunerative prices for farm produce.
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