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Farmers have not been
able to recover even
the input costs
he demonstrations by farmers in different on September 5 by the three organisations- Centre nation-wide campaign to spread public conscious- come on roads to protest at the cost of his work.” He
parts of India and in the national capital in for Indian Trade Unions, All India Kisan Sabha and ness about the two bills. added that their movement is not a demand driven
the recent past are indicative of an upris- All India Agriculture Workers’ Union, and Mumbai The organisation has decided to organise an- movement but a resolution driven movement and
T ing. A series of protests by the communi- March by thousands of farmers of Maharashtra. other march-cum-rally on November 30 in New organised protests in a democracy are a rightful
ties under threat are a caveat by the food produc- All India Kisan Coordination Sangharsh Commit- Delhi as their demand of a special session on pri- means to seek change in perceptions of people in
ers who face oppression in everyday life. Indian tee, an umbrella organisation of over 200 farmers’ vate member bills in the Parliament on farmers’ the power corridors. The successive governments
farmer with small landholding is in jeopardy. Hav- union organised Kisan Mukti Sansad in Novem- issues has not been taken up by the Union Cabinet. have failed to take up the cause of the farmers.
ing nothing to lose, he is now geared up to hit the ber last year in the Parliament Street. The central Avik Saha, national convenor of Jai Kisan Andolan, The promises have been made to ameliorate the
streets more often and resort to massive agitations issues were the denial of remunerative prices to told Tehelka, “We are trying to resolve the issue situation of farmers but the problems of farmers
led by farmers’ organisations. farmers and piling farm debts pushing them into through dialogue and discussion but government have been multiplying. Since the year 2006, farm-
Thousands of farmers thronged the border of the suicides. Two Bills — Farmers’ Freedom from In- is interested in monologue and advertisement. ers have come to believe that there is no solution
country’s capital, New Delhi, on October 2 under debtedness Bill and Farmers’ right to guaranteed The crisis in the agriculture sector is a national to their hardships. The UPA government led by Dr
the banner of Bhartiya Kisan Union to raise their remunerative minimum support price for agri- crisis and why should the Parliament not discuss Manmohan Singh constituted the National Com-
demands. This massive protest was one of the latest culture produce — were presented in the Kisan this? We need to break the myth that our farmers mission for Farmers, ostensibly to bring about a
after a similar protest staged at Parliament Street Mukti Sansad. This ended by declaring a plan for a are a happy lot because a happy farmer does not comprehensive change in the deteriorating con-
TEHELKA / 31 OCTOBER 2018 14 WWW.TEHELKA.COM TEHELKA / 31 OCTOBER 2018 15 WWW.TEHELKA.COM
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