South India gears for protest against Modi’s Farm laws

Sep 23, 2020

Bengaluru : Farmers’ bodies in South India are feeling threatened by the new farm legislations pushed through Parliament by the Centre last week.

They feel that the agrarian sector, the chief funding channel of Indian political arena, is up for grab to be controlled in the garb of promoting competitiveness and global outreach and benefiting small farmers.That is exactly the fear of all political entities, including the BJP, and hence an apolitical platform and forum is emerging to challenge the new farm laws.

The passing of the three Bills — The Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance, 2020; The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Ordinance, 2020; and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 has raised a storm across the whole country .

Farmers’ leaders say that the impact of these new farm law would permanently the change the status of proud farmer into a service provider to global buyers and just a link in the overall network ,dependent on global demand and supply economy. .A Karnataka farmers leader Dr Nanjundaswamy describes the new law as the “ vilest act to break the back of Indian farmer” .

All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC), an association of 250 farmers’ organisations, has called for a Bharat Bandh on September 25. Farmer leaders of Karnataka,Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala have decided to join hands for Friday’s protest against the law which they say throws the farmers at the mercy of multinational corporates . ”The bills will achieve demolition of lives in rural India, just as the ravages of Corona did in urban India “ says P Madhu, general secretary of CPM inAndhra Pradesh .

In Tamilnadu, the DMK and left parties-led farmers associations are organising a state wide bandh on September 28.DMK president M Stalin was critical of AIADMK support to the bill as opportunistic and poll oriented politics.” Time to think of farmers and not poll politics,” he said.Tamil Nadu has rich rice bowls fed by Kaveri river and the farming communities are largely unorganised with small holdings .

In Kerala, the scene is different. Both farmers and political leaders are opposed to contract farming .” Kerala is a consumer state and the new legislation will harm us both ways- back and front “ said a Kerala farmer leader Venugopal Pillai from Kannur. Obviously Kerala – God’s own country – needs more imports and has very few to export .

In Karnataka, hundreds of farmers, farm labor ,and members of Dalit organisations staged a demonstration on September 21 at Bengaluru’s Anand Rao Circle .Their protests were both at Modi’s farm policy and also the land legislations proposed on similar lines by the BJP-led Karnataka government.

One such protester and a farm labor from Bidar district Jamamuna Bai Kulkarni said Modi has no sympathy for poor farmers but only for corporate farmers “ .The meeting organised under the banner of ‘Aikya Horata’, meaning United Struggle had attracted celebrity farmer leaders like 102-year-old freedom fighter H S Doreswamy and Kavitha Kuruganti of the Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture abs Karnataka Rajya Raita Sangha State President Kodihalli Chandrashekhar.

At Hyderabad, farmer leader Peddireddy Changel Reddy, chief Adviser to Consortium of Indian Farmers Association(CIFA) said that in the garb of providing global competitiveness to Indian farmers, Modi has removed their various protective shields. Now the farmer in arid Sangareddy district with two acres holding, growing capsicum and potato has to compete with American, Chinese and even Russian capsicum and potato growers

In Telengana, the TRS party has opposed the farmers bills in Parliament.Party leader Keshav Rao says that freedom to sell is useless unless the farmer has the freedom to fix the price. ”It is time to understand the ground conditions and stark realities of the Indian farmer,” he said. In a state farmers are given yearly ₹12,000 by government as input subsidy to raise crops, the Central laws are seen as an intrusion.The TRS government even boasts of ₹50,000 crore welfare budget .The TRS leader also pointed out that agriculture was a state subject and hence the Modi government can not make laws on their own and impose it on states.

The impact of the new farm legislation will have far reaching effect on political structure of south India where unaccounted agricultural incomes abound. Obviously each political party in power doled out subsidies and waivers to the agrarian sections.

According to a Niti Ayog finding, the agricultural and allied agriculture income of entire South Indian states – Andhra Pradesh, Telengana, Karnataka,Tamilnadu, Puducherry and Kerala is over ₹ 42 lakh crore. However, all state governments in their bid to project themselves as being farmer friendly have spent nearly ₹12 lakh crore in various subsidies, loan waivers .” With the new law and corporatisation all these incomes will become visible and have impact on subsidies and waivers “ says an agri economist of Hyderabad.

–INDIA NEWS STREAM