Farmers Prepare for Historic Bandh on Sept 27 – Five Articles
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Ground Down by Hardship, Farmers Ready for Historic Bandh on Sept 27
Subodh Varma
A recently published government survey report has once again shown that farming in India has become highly unprofitable, with monthly income from crop production estimated at an average of only Rs 3221 in the country. Farmers in 16 states earn even less than this average. This has forced most farmers, especially the small and marginal ones, to supplement their incomes by doing wage labour or small non-farm work. Another aspect is the abyss of debt in which farmers have sunk – the report reveals that more than half of India’s farmers are deeply indebted.
In these dire conditions, the Narendra Modi-led government’s obstinacy in pushing through a set of laws that will further reduce incomes and force the farmers into servitude of corporate houses has naturally led to widespread opposition. Farmers have joined with workers and employees to confront the government with what amounts to alternative policies. It is in this series of struggles and strikes that a powerful combination of over 400 farmers’ organisations and ten central trade unions have called for a ‘Bharat Bandh’ or general strike on September 27.
How much does a farmer earn?
In the past year, as the farmers fought repression and braved harsh summer and winter to continue their fight for the withdrawal of the ‘Black Farm Laws’, government or ruling party leaders and apologist intellectuals have tried to show that farmers are apparently not doing as badly as made out, and that its only some vested interests that are propping up their struggle.
A report by the National Statistics Office (NSO) under the central government destroys this myth. In a survey carried out in 2018-19, the profits or earnings of farmers from crop production in various states were found to be abysmal, as shown in the chart below.
Seven smaller North-Eastern states and Union Territories are not included in the chart for the sake of clarity. Only Punjab and, to some extent, Haryana reported farmers’ incomes that would qualify as minimum wage levels. The rest of the states had subsistence-level earnings, with some of the poorest states like Jharkhand, Odisha Bihar, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and others barely reaching Rs 3000 per month.
These are average monthly incomes, computed by subtracting the expenditure on crop production from the total receipts. Expenditure includes paid out spending (like seeds, fertiliser, labour, etc.) as well as imputed spending (like family labour, interest on loans etc.). Since these are annual averages, they cover all crop cycles that farmers undertake.
A notable feature is that the incomes vary sharply depending on how much land the farmer is tilling. Over 83% of farmers are small and marginal, that is, they operate landholdings that are less than two hectares, with over 70% having less than one hectare. Their incomes are much less than those who have larger landholdings. The averages are, as always, hiding a much deeper level of deprivation.
It needs to be emphasised that even in Punjab and Haryana, income levels are very low although they are much higher than in poorer states. Thus, about Rs 15,000 per month in Punjab or Rs 10,000 in Haryana is equivalent to minimum wage levels for unskilled industrial workers or informal sector workers in these states. The government’s own Seventh Pay Commission had recommended back in 2016that its lowest-paid employee should get a minimum of Rs 18,000 per month.
This is why farmers are demanding better remunerative prices for their produce, which means that the government needs to fix a support price that should give them a decent profit after meeting all expenses. Such a formula was recommended by MS Swaminathan led Farmers Commission way back in 2004, but it has not been strictly implemented yet.
So, how are farmers managing then?
The obvious question that arises then is – how are farmers in India managing with these meagre earnings? The NSS report answers this question as well – families are supplementing their farming incomes with other work to make ends meet.
On average, for the country, a household that depends on agriculture is actually deriving only 37% of its income from crop production or cultivation, as shown in the chart below. The bulk of its income – 48% in all – is derived from wage work. This involves working in other people’s fields for wages.
About 5% of income comes from farming animals and 8% from doing some non-farm business like retail shops etc.
What this shows is a system that is tottering on its last legs. Since there is rampant joblessness, there is not much scope for getting substantial income from non-farm work like jobs in industrial or services sectors. This forces more and more people to work in agriculture for less and less income. It’s a downward spiral into poverty and misery.
Growing indebtedness
Since it is impossible to carry out routine agricultural activities with this kind of income, farmers are forced to rely on loans to survive. The NSS Report also lays bare this part of the story: just over 50% of farmers are currently indebted, and the average debt is a whopping Rs 74,121 per household. As always, these averages hide a much more serious picture. For instance, in the so-called more prosperous agrarian states like Punjab and Haryana, the average outstanding loan taken by each agri household is Rs 2 lakh and Rs 1.8 lakh. Other states with high average debt per farmer household are Tamil Nadu (Rs 1 lakh), Rajasthan (Rs 1.13 lakh), Karnataka (Rs 1.26 lakh) and Kerala (Rs 2.4 lakh).
Similarly, certain states have very high indebtedness prevalence: Andhra Pradesh has 93% farmers indebted, Telangana has nearly 92%, Karnataka has 68% and Tamil Nadu has 65%. This, incidentally, blows the lid off the popular myth that farmers are in crisis only in some states, and the farmers’ movement is only confined to those. In reality, farmers are in distress everywhere in the country.
New farm laws will be a death blow
The Modi government sought to ‘resolve’ this crisis by handing over the whole farming sector to corporate entities, both domestic and foreign. The new laws will pave the way for private business houses to determine what the farmers will sow, where they will sell their produce, at what price it will be bought, how much will be stocked or exported by traders, and even the prices these businesses will charge from consumers. There will be no guarantee of a minimum support price. In fact, there will be no guarantee of government procurement, implying that the ration card system will go out of the window. In sum, it is a catastrophic policy that will push the large mass of common people into poverty and debt.
The farmers have seen through this policy, and hence they have been fighting for its scrapping. In this fight, they have been joined by other powerful forces – the industrial working class and a large number of employees from the service sector. These two sections are facing a similar challenge because the Modi government scrapped earlier labour laws and introduced hire and fire rights for employers, diluted wage fixation procedures and presented difficulties in unionisation, among other things.
The Bharat Bandh of September 27 is thus a historic action meant to protect the country’s working people from impending slavery to corporate houses.
(Courtesy: Newsclick.)
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Mass Mobilisation of Farmers in UP for Bharat Bandh
Abdul Alim Jafri
25 Sep 2021, Lucknow: The Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) in Uttar Pradesh (UP) has started mass mobilisation of farmers for the September 27 Bharat Bandh, announced by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) to demand legal guarantees for minimum support prices and withdrawal of three farm laws.
The BKU, one of the leading farmers union in UP, mainly in western part of the state, said that the nationwide strike will likely impact the sugarcane belt and Awadh region. “The Bharat Bandh will be a new chapter in the history of the farmers movement in the country. The BKU, which has also appealed to workers to make the strike successful, has held several rounds of preparatory meetings in all the districts. BKU will block the main roads from 6 am to 4 pm in every district,” BJU spokesperson Dharmendra Malik told Newsclick.
Rajendra Chaudhary, a farmer who is persuading peasants to join the Bharat Bandh, said that there is widespread resentment among people against the apathetic attitude of the Union government. The SKM has appealed to all sections of society to participate in the strike with full strength.
“In western UP, all roads and markets, except essential services, would be shut. Farmer leaders have had meetings with traders and several of them have extended support to the farmers and would keep their shops closed on September 27,” Malik added.
The farmers union has decided to rope in professional folk theatre groups to organise street plays to create awareness about the farm laws in Ballia and adjacent districts.
Amit Singh, one of the organisers, told Newsclick that “farmers will easily relate their plight to folk songs and street plays”.
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Bharat Bandh: ‘We are Sitting in Protest for 10 Months and PM is Dining in America’, Say Angry Punjab Farmers
Ravi Kaushal
25 Sep 2021: Clad in an off white kurta, Dharaminder Singh is making incessant calls to his friends to enquire about preparations of Bharat Bandh in different districts of Punjab. Hailing from Mukeria in Pathankot district, Singh said that members of different farmers’ unions are holding rallies in markets to request traders to shut their shops and join the congregation at the toll plazas and other designated places. Singh told NewsClick that the coordinated campaign in rural and urban areas is being run to ensure a complete bandh on September 27.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) — a collective of farmers’ organisations — appealed to people across the country to observe a complete bandh by shutting down offices, colleges, factories, showrooms, shopping malls and other establishments to mark the completion of 10 months of protest at the borders of the national capital against the three Central farm laws.
In its appeal, the SKM said: “From 6 am to 4 pm on September 27, everything would be closed throughout the country: all government and private offices, all educational and other institutions, all shops, industries and commercial establishments, all public events and functions. Public and private transport shall also come to a halt during this period. All emergency establishments and essential services including hospitals, medical stores, relief and rescue work and people attending to personal emergencies will be exempted.” It highlighted that the struggle is to stand with the farmers in their quest to defend principles of democracy and federalism.
On preparations in Punjab, Singh said: “Volunteers tie loudspeakers on top of their cars and announce about the bandh in villages. In some villages, we are holding bike rallies and people are showing their support and solidarity. These convoys are welcomed and young boys and girls express their thoughts on the farm laws.”
When asked if the bandh would be effective in areas where Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) once enjoyed support, particularly in his own district, Singh said: “BJP tried everything last time but failed miserably. If they disrupt or put obstacles this time, their decay would be complete. I fail to understand what message (PM) Narendra Modi wants to deliver. We are sitting for 10 months and he is dining in America. First, we were anguished. Now, we hate him.”
Asked if the ruling Congress and other parties would walk the talk by mobilising their workers on the day, Singh told NewsClick: “People are vigilantly watching who is joining the protest and who is sitting at home. In villages, we know clearly which person belongs to which party and how is he conducting himself in this protest. Can he gather the courage to come to our homes and ask for votes? People would grab his collar and simply ask, where were you in this struggle?”
Rajinder Singh Deep Singh Wala, Vice President, Kirti Kisan Union, told NewsClick that the campaigns and preparations were being conducted by district-level coordination committees of SKM. He emphasised that the bandh has already garnered support from all taxi unions, transporters, employee associations who have assured him about their participation.
”On September 27, we plan to block all national highways, railway tracks and major roads. People will be flocking to toll plazas and other places to attend these big congregations where day-long proceedings would take place and leaders and activists would address the meeting. The bandh would be a testimony that we would not end our agitation until our demands are met,” he said.
Commenting on PM Modi’s US tour when they would be observing the bandh, Singh said: “A person who has compelled the people to sit on roads for almost a year is certainly people’s enemy.”
Major Singh Punnawal, Secretary, Kul Hind Kisan Sabha, said the intensity of the protest could be gauged from the fact that the granthis (preachers) of gurudwaras are announcing twice from their loudspeakers about the bandh and encouraging people to participate in the protest.
”In Punjab, we have formed committees of farmers, agricultural workers and workers who are visiting villages to inform people and seek their participation. In the entire Punjab, I think the congregations would take place at more than 1,000 places where these big meetings of about 5,000 people would take. As far as gurudwaras are concerned, they are not only making announcements, they are also providing us with space to hold meetings,” he told NewsClick.
Punnawal said employees of Punjab Roadways will not be operating their buses, adding that they had they received similar assurances from transport unions who are already hit by raging fuel prices.
Harinder Bindu from Bharatiya Kisan Union Ekta Ugrahan said their organisation had clubbed the bandh with the birthday celebrations of legendary freedom fighter Bhagat Singh as the struggle is both against contentious laws and imperialism.
“Our women teams are going to villages to encourage women to join the struggle on roads as well as the borders. It is a fight for equality where women and men both are flag bearers of this agitation,” he added.
Local media reports suggest that universities and colleges will too have their protest meetings inside the campuses of Guru Nanak Dev University and Punjabi University in Amritsar and Patiala, respectively.
(Courtesy: Newsclick.)
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Bharat Bandh: ‘In Odisha, Minimum Support Price is Now Maximum Price, We Won’t Accept This’
Ravi Kaushal
[23 Sep 2021: The Samyukta Kisan Morcha has declared a pan-India Bandh on September 27 against the three farm laws. The bandh is being supported by 19 political parties, 10 central trade unions and several other organisations. NewsClick spoke over the phone to Lingaraj Pradhan, a Pashchim Odisha Krishak Samanvay Samiti leader, to understand the plight of farmers, their opposition to farm laws, and the preparations for the bandh in Odisha. Edited excerpts:]
Ravi Kaushal: Odisha is not only physically distant from Delhi, it is also distant in terms of imagination, as people here have very little information about the condition of farmers in the state. Why are farmers in Odisha opposing the three farm laws?
Lingaraj Pradhan: We have to accept that the benefits of the Green Revolution were reaped by farmers of Punjab and Haryana. States like Bihar and Odisha could not develop their agricultural infrastructure. When we look at irrigation coverage in Punjab and Haryana, we find it is close to 100% where water is easily accessible. There is hardly any area where you will find that irrigation is not possible.
In Odisha, irrigation coverage is only 30%, which means that people are engaged in subsistence farming. They are living in absolute poverty. As per the latest findings of the National Sample Survey Organisation, our farmers are the poorest after those in Jharkhand. Whenever they look for examples of prosperity, they envision Punjab and Haryana, where the procurement system through mandis is quite robust and irrigation facilities are widely available.
The protest against three Central farm laws has completed 10 months at Delhi’s borders. It has generated an unprecedented awakening among farmers of Odisha, too, who feel there should be a robust mandi system here as well. The experience of the past 20 years under globalisation and liberalisation has shown us that the minimum support price (MSP) is now the maximum price, and dependence on the market to cover costs in agriculture is total. In this context, if the government does not take up procurement in its own hands, the farmers would find it difficult to do farming.
The struggle against the three farm laws in the state is to ensure a robust mandi system and for better irrigation facilities. Before 2003, there was no mandi system in Odisha. The collective struggle of the farmers’ organisations compelled the government to bring in the mandi system. However, it is still not in good shape.
So, this is a broad-based struggle to ensure a secure income and bring diversity in farming here. The protests at the gates of Delhi have bolstered farmers’ confidence across the country, and they are fighting for their rights.
RK: You have been organising farmers in one of the most backward districts of the country. Do you find any simmering anger, particularly when farmers are growing only one crop and have no alternative means to support their livelihood?
LP: As I mentioned earlier, the farmers of Odisha have been found to be the poorest after those in Jharkhand. In Western and Southern Odisha, we find a trend of small and marginal farmers migrating to North India. They work in brick kilns or factories at very nominal rates with working conditions akin to bonded labour. They were visibly agitated over their plight and the farmers’ movement has given them a chance to think about their own conditions.
RK: Odisha has a very significant population of sharecroppers who do not own any land. How will the three farm laws affect them?
LP: In Odisha, they (sharecroppers) are known as Bhaag. The government of Odisha’s data suggests that Bhaag constitute 86 % of the total rural population that is dependent on agriculture in the state, and we have no law to protect these sharecroppers, as opposed to what we see in Kerala and West Bengal, where the Left parties once ruled. These farmers will be the worst victims of the farm laws. Even now, if any natural disaster hits the crop, they have no security. They cannot get loans from cooperative banks or societies. Agriculture is already a loss-making venture. In this condition, if contract farming comes into effect, these farmers will simply starve.
RK: Please tell us more about what you call a weak procurement mechanism in the state and its adverse impact on agriculture.
PL: After a relentless struggle, the Odisha government has agreed to a decentralised procurement system, but it is not robust. We have been demanding MSP on pulses and oilseeds. Procurement by the state government has increased. In 2003, it procured 10 lakh tonne of paddy, which jumped to 70 lakh tonne last season. But, the government procures only paddy at MSP. Now, this has led to another crisis, as everyone is growing only paddy, since they get an incentive for it. But, the government says it cannot procure all rice for the public distribution system.
Odisha farmers also grow cotton, especially in districts like Koraput, Balangir, Kalahandi, but there is no mechanism to procure these. Even the Cotton Corporation of India does not come here. Cotton-related industries in the state have already vanished. So, the government needs to ensure MSP on other crops, too. Without this, there will not be any significant improvement in farmers’ incomes.
RK: The SKM has called for Bharat Bandh on September 27. How are your preparations and what kind of response are you expecting?
PL: Our movement has completed 10 months and its tenacity to withstand any challenge has made farmers enthusiastic about the bandh. They are thoroughly preparing for it as the second wave of coronavirus is over. We are being supported by workers’ unions, transporters unions, teachers, employees etc. We have been organising juloos (marches) in towns to inform people about the bandh.
Yes, it is true that it will be a comprehensive bandh as the political parties too have extended their support. Congress has already declared its support; Left parties are also part of it. The ruling Biju Janata Dal has not supported the bandh openly, but there seems to be a tacit understanding. We have seen the government order to close its offices, schools and colleges and other establishments. This will happen this time too. The state is set to see one of its biggest bandhs.
(Courtesy: Newsclick.)
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Farmers’ Protest Spreads to Avadh and Purvanchal
Abdul Alim Jafri
21 Sep 2021, Sitapur/Lucknow: Sukhveer Singh Virk feels that the decision to expand the canvas of the ongoing farmer’s protests in Uttar Pradesh (UP), keeping an eye on the next year’s Assembly polls, is giving “sleepless nights” to the Yogi Adityanath-led government.
One of the farmers participating in the Kisan Mahapanchayat held in Sitapur, barely 85 km from Lucknow, on Monday, Virk was seen sipping tea along with farmers from adjacent Hardoi and discussing how the Mahapanchayat travelled from western UP to Awadh after a long struggle.
Aiming to strengthen the protests against the farm laws in the Awadh region, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) organised the Kisan Mahapanchayat at RMP Inter College, in Sitapur district, months ahead of the crucial UP polls. The rally attracted an estimated 25,000-30,000 farmers from Sitapur, Shahjahanpur, Bareilly, Hardoi, Lucknow, Barabanki, Bahraich, Lakhimpur Kheri, Ballia and Pilibhit.
Surendra Kumar, a tea vendor, says the discussions at his shop are becoming livelier. “People regularly come to my shop in mornings and evenings to read newspapers. Political discussions are not new but now they are centred on the three agricultural laws and the prospect of political parties,” he says.
Demanding Rs 250 per quintal compensation to stop stubble burning, BKU’s Rakesh Tikait, an influential farmer leader, said, “If the district administration does not buy the stubble, the farmers should throw it outside the houses of SDM, DM, thanedar and patwari. We won’t let the harassment in the name of stubble burning continue anymore.”
Tikait, whose presence has apparently been a crowd-puller, attacked the Narendra Modi government and its economic policies. “The national assets have been put up on sale. Gradually, they are being sold to the private players, leaving no stone unturned to destroy the farmers. The exploitation by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government will only be exposed through Kisan Mahapanchayats,” he said.
Lashing out at Centre, the BKU leader further said, “Modi, not the BJP, is ruling the country. Several BJP leaders are against the Modi government but are afraid to speak at public gatherings. If needed, the BKU will also launch Mukti Abhiyan to rescue the BJP leaders from the clutches of Modi, who is not only anti-farmer but also anti-India.”
An SKM leader said, “Entire Uttar Pradesh has been influenced by the movement as it has impacted not only farmers but also labourers. After the movement gains momentum in Awadh and Purvanchal in next few days, it will be an uphill task for the Yogi government to tackle the challenge.”
At the protest site, fiery speeches, fluttering flags of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) and other farmer bodies and a langar added to the charged atmosphere. Cries of ‘Kisan Ekta Zindabad’, ‘Har Har Mahadev’ and ‘Allahhu Akbar’ could be heard throughout the day with the coloured turbans of the protesting farmers adding to the vibrancy.
The spread of the protest to Awadh and Purvanchal is of special significance because there is no strong farmer organisation like in western UP. The farmers clapped when leader Jagtar Singh Bajwa said, “Aawara sarkar ko hata do, aawara pashu apne aap andar ho jayega. (Remove the government from power, the problem of stray cattle will be automatically end).”
The organisers are confident that the Sitapur Mahapanchayat would expand and strengthen the farmers’ movement in Awadh region. “In Awadh region, the majority of farmers have small or marginal lands. Despite slogging in the field, they cannot save their crops from stray cattle. If we hit the cattle, a case will be registered against us. The cowsheds are in pathetic condition. Our condition has become worse under the Yogi regime,” a farmer who came from Mishrik told Newsclick, adding that “instead of doubling the income of farmers, as promised in the election manifesto, the government has increased the prices of fertilisers”.
Arvind Lal, a small farmer, said that more than the three farm laws, it is the rising diesel prices and the problem of stray cattle that have made their lives miserable. “Stray cattle have become a menace. Besides, harassment in the name of stubble burning by the district administration is unbearable,” he says, adding these reasons have forced them to raise their voices for farmer issues.
“I am from a nearby village in Lakhimpur Kheri. Had the rally organisers campaigned properly, like they did in Muzaffarnagar, the number of participants here would have been one lakh.
Many people in our villages are not even aware that a Kisan Mahapanchayat is being held in Sitapur,” a farmer told Newsclick. The condition of farmers in Awadh or Purvanchal region is worse than their counterparts in western UP, he said, adding, “Neither we do have mandis like in western UP nor do we get proper prices for our crops. Such mahapanchayats won’t let the government sit in peace.”
Iron Barricades, ‘House Arrest’ Anger Farmers
A scuffle broke out between the protesters and the police when a large number of farmers in their vehicles from Hardoi district tried to enter Sitapur. A huge police force near the barricaded Bargadia check post, located on the Sitapur-Hardoi border, stopped the farmers from proceeding towards the venue. The scuffle, which started around 10 am, ended after 15 minutes when more farmers assembled at the check post and threatened to start a sit-in protest and were subsequently allowed to enter Sitapur.
More than half-a-dozen prominent local farmer leaders were put under “house arrest” a day before the event. However, the Sitapur police denied the allegations. BKU member Parkat Singh told Newsclick that police personnel were deployed outside his house at 7.30 pm on Sunday with the intention of preventing him from attending the rally.
“I gauged that their intention was to keep me confined to my house. Several other BKU members told me that police personnel were deployed outside their houses as well. After a heated argument, a few of the leaders were allowed to join the Mahapanchayat,” Singh said.
Mahinder Singh Chadhha, a farm labourer from Rudrapur in Uttarakhand, hitchhiked all the way to Sitapur to attend the rally. “I took lift from, at least, a dozen people, a truck, a tractor, a bike and even walked to reach here,” he told Newsclick.
Richa Singh, a key organiser and representative of Sangtin Kisan Mazdoor Sangthan, said, “Ninety tractors with fifty farmers each reached Sitapur. The venue was occupied with farmers, labourers and women irrespective of their religion. It was surprising to see the huge turnout by women participants,” she told Newsclick.
Narmada Bachao Andolan activist Medha Patkar and social activist Sandeep Pandey too addressed the gathering and assured support for the farmers’ protest.
A group of MGNREGA workers carrying banners and placards demanded increase in wages, 120 days of guaranteed work and regularisation of employees were also spotted in middle of the ground. “The farmers’ movement has not only given a voice to the farmers but also labourers, including those enrolled with MGNREGA. We have to take a stand now because our survival is at stake,” MGNREGA worker Saroj told Newsclick.
(Courtesy: Newsclick.)
