All India Kisan Sabha 36 Pt. Ravi Shankar Shukla Lane (Canning Lane) New Delhi-1, email- kisansa...@gmail.com
Press note issued in the press conference at New Delhi on 19th February 2021 Repeal Pro-Corporate Farm Acts Ensure Legal Guarantee for MSP Enact Alternative Laws to Protect Farmers’ Interest The success of the 6th February Chakka Jam and 18th February Rail Roko has effectively manifested the pan India character of the ongoing farmers’ struggle and sounds a warning to the Modi-led BJP Government. AIKS demands that the Modi Government should give up its arrogance, repeal the 3 Farm Acts, withdraw the amendments to the Electricity Act, make MSP@C2+50% a legal right with guaranteed procurement for all crops across the country and amend the anti-farmer clauses in the Pollution Ordinance 2020 immediately. All cases foisted on farmers and leaders of farmers organizations, journalists and others must be unconditionally withdrawn to resolve the genuine issues raised by the farmers struggle. The PM while speaking in both the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha had accused the protesting farmers of not being ready for reforms and standing for maintaining the status quo. Nothing could be further from the truth. Farmers are opposing the pro-corporate reforms and stand for pro-farmer reforms. The PM is deliberately trying to misguide the people due to his adamant pro-corporate bias. The Prime Ministers comment that ‘MSP was there, is there and will remain there is part of a deliberate campaign to misguide the people. Narendra Modi and the BJP had promised MSP by ensuring 50% profit above cost of production in the 2014 Lok Sabha election manifesto, as per the recommendation of the National Commission for Farmers that was headed by Dr M S Swaminathan. During the last 7 years in power, the PM did not implement this promise and is hence directly responsible for the ongoing farmers struggle. The existing rate of MSP based on A2+FL calculation is not remunerative and according to reports only 6% of the farm produce based on the estimate of Gross Value Added (GVA) has been procured by the Government by providing this meager MSP. Hence huge majority of the farmers are forced to sell far below the announced rate of MSP, making MSP only notional for the vast majority. For example the rate of MSP for paddy is Rs 1868 per quintal but farmers in Bihar, Jharkhand and many other states get only Rs 800 to Rs 1200 per quintal. It is significant that the LDF Government in Kerala provides Rs 2850 per quintal for paddy with assured procurement with the support of the cooperative sector. The benefit of surplus created out of value addition of farm produce is amassed by the corporate companies. For example, the farmers receive price at the range of Rs 18 to Rs 30 per kilo from the intermediaries for Basmati paddy while the branded Fortune Special Basmati Rice of the Adani group is being sold at the price of Rs.208 per kilo. Some of the brands are sold in the range of Rs 700 to Rs 2200 per kilo. Likewise, in the coffee belt the farmers get Rs 120 to Rs 130 per kilo for coffee beans while the corporate sector sells instant coffee powder at an average of Rs 3000 per kilo. Certain brands of coffee like Nestle Blend 37 and Nescafe Gold Organic were being sold at around 12,000/Kg a few months back and even now are being sold at Rs.8,000/- to about Rs.10,000/Kg. This sort of loot and exploitation by the corporate sector and their intermediaries in the market is one of the main reasons for the widespread indebtedness of the peasant households and the resultant massive peasant suicides. Every hour two farmers are committing suicide in India and 2468 peasants per day are forced to give up agriculture. In the context of the ongoing farmers struggle, AIKS demands that the Union Government consider the following The Union Government after consulting all the State Governments must bring the law for MSP@C2+50% for all crops across the country with guaranteed procurement to ensure MSP as the right of the farmers. The primary responsibility to provide MSP@C2+50% lies on those entities that procure the produce from the farmers. These entities earn income and profit and sustain out of the trading and processing of farm produce and marketing of value added consumer products. The MSP law must make them liable to share certain percentage of the surplus with the primary producers. Hence, the State Governments should enact a law with the clauses that make it essential for the agro processing industries, trade and market enterprises in the private, public and cooperative sectors to share the surplus they acquire through trade and value addition with the respective farmers to ensure MSP@C2+50% . Noncompliance shall be treated as an offence. The state legislation should include clauses to promote non-profitable social cooperative institutions of peasants and workers to promote collective cultivation, procure and trade stock, undertake agro-processing and retail marketing of consumer products and ensure surplus sharing through a transparent IT-enabled system to provide farmers MSP@C2+50%. The farmers especially those who have small holdings have to be supported to develop social cooperatives to promote collective farming that will help to take advantage of the economy of scale to minimise expenditure, maximise profit and avoid exploitation by the intermediaries. The Central Government that had centralised the tax system through GST since June 2017 should bring adequate budgetary provisions/bank guarantee to avail loan for establishing Price Stabilisation Fund- PSF in support of the State Governments to ensure that producers of all crops get MSP@C2+50% with guaranteed procurement. The PSF is to support the farmers when the price is lower than MSP, and when the rate in the public market is higher the surplus thus received must be added to the PSF. Thus this Fund can work independently and stand without even the financial support of the Government in future. (As the examples of Insurance Fund and Pension Fund show.) AIKS greets the entire democratic movement of the country including political parties, trade unions, all the mass and class organizations and progressive groups and individuals for the support and solidarity extended by them so far to the farmers’ struggle. We appeal to all of them to take urgent steps to advance the campaign in the above direction, in the context of the extensive efforts under the leadership of the Prime Minister and the BJP-RSS to defame the struggle through a vilification campaign and to suppress it through its repressive measures. We are annexing the resolution adopted by the AIKC meeting on 6th November 2020 and the Model Bill prepared that explains the above aspects in details. The press conference is attended by AIKS General Secretary Hannan Mollah, President Dr Ashok Dhawale, Joint Secretaries N K Shukla and Vijoo Krishnan, Finance Secretary P Krishnaprasad.