In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, All India Kisan Sabha and All India Agricultural Workers’ Union have demanded declaration of harvesting of crops as an essential service, facilitating farmers with free harvesting equipment and allowing agricultural labours to travel.
The Kerala government has already taken these measures.
The two unions affiliated to the Left parties pointed out that crops of wheat, rice, chilly and cotton were waiting to be harvested but because of the lockdown there were not any agricultural labourers to do so.
“Even if some farmers manage to harvest, they are not in a position to sell it due to restrictions on transportation and unavailability of workforce to commute goods,” the two organisations wrote.
Since the government is unable to extend MNREGA scheme due to the lockdown, the organisation asked Mr Modi to invoke the ‘unemployment’ clause under the scheme.
The lockdown was leading to severe losses, which should be assessed properly and farmers must be compensated duly under the Crop Insurance Scheme.
The government should immediately announce a moratorium on recovery of crop loans for at least a year, the organisations said.
