Members of the All India Kisan Sangharsh Samiti and Samyukta Kisan Morcha(SKM) will soon launch an all-India agitation seeking implementation of the Minimum Support Price for farmers’ produce and fighting for land rights of tribals through proper implementation of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation, and Resettlement Act, 2013.
Delivering the inaugural address at the three-day 22nd Andhra Pradesh Rythu Sangham State conference here on Saturday, All India Kisan Sabha general secretary Hannan Mollah said that an action plan will be finalised at the meeting of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha on June 8.
Terming the Narendra Modi government “corporate, communal and fascist”, he said Mr. Modi had promised to double the income of the farmers by 2022, but it had only gone against the interests of the farmers in all possible forms in the last seven years. By the government’s own admission, the average income of a farmer in India was ₹27 per day.
“The average income has remained at ₹10,000 annually, which should have been ₹22,000 now as promised,” he explained.
One lakh farmers’ suicides were the result of the Central government and State governments’ failure to implement the pro-tenant farmer policies and lack of MSP, non-waiver of crop loans, he said.
The lands of the tribals were being taken away by the government without proper compensation, which needs to be stopped, he opined.
While the three farmer laws were withdrawn on November 19 due to the year-long agitation by farmers in Delhi, the Centre has failed to address other issues including the MSP, he pointed out.
He also took exception to the YSRCP government not doing anything for the tenant farmers. “While the Centre has announced MSP for 23 crops, only 10 percent of farmers get it, and the remaining sell at meagre rates,” he said giving the example of paddy, which is given ₹2,800 a quintal in Kerala while farmers in other States are forced to sell between ₹1,200 and 1,500 a quintal against the MSP of ₹1,970.
