Implement land reforms: AIKS

GUNTUR: Voicing concern over the agrarian crisis, leaders of All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) have made a strong pitch for the immediate implementation of land reforms in the country as the curtains came down on the All India Kisan Sabha convention which ended here on Sunday.

Addressing a public meeting held at B.R Stadium, S. R. Pillai, president of AIKS, demanded that the Centre should immediately act on recommendations made by a report by the Rural Development Ministry on land reforms and has called for a united peasant struggle. A mass movement will be held in New Delhi in March, he said.

Hitting out against the UPA government, he said that neo-liberal and capitalistic policies being implemented by the Centre led to an all encompassing agrarian crisis.

Stating that agricultural activity has become an unenviable proposition, he said that peasants have been forced to part with their cattle and lands and were being forced into debt as they take money from private money lenders.

A report of the National Sample Survey has revealed that more than 50 per cent of peasantry is willing to give up farming, if provided an alternative.

The Government should increase credit facilities, remunerative prices, provide water, power and increase in subsidies, he said.

White paper

He also demanded that the Government should bring out a white paper on the experiences of the last 15 years that the country has faced after signing the WTO agreement in the year 1995. Even now the government is willing to sign new agreements with Asian countries, which would have disastrous effects on the farmers, he said.

Another peasant leader V. Srinivasa Rao lashed out at Chief Minister K. Rosaiah and said he is keen on following the pro-capitalistic policies of former Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy.

CPM central committee member and AIKS vice-president Benoy Konar, P.M. Kutty, Kerala Home Minister, AIKS general secretary K. Varadha Rajan, vice-president S. Malla Reddy and Madan Ghosh spoke.

Organising secretary of AIKS D. Narasimha Rao and district CPM committee general secretary D. Rama Devi came in for special appreciation from the delegates for organizing the event without a glitch.

Office Bearers

S.R. Ramachandran Pillai and K. Varadharajan were unanimously re-elected as president and general secretary respectively as the 32nd All India Conference of All Indian Kisan Sabha (AIKS) came to an end on Sunday.

The other newly elected office-bearers included, Benoy Konar, P.M. Kutty, Madan Ghosh, S. Malla Reddy and Amra Ram (vice-presidents), N.K. Shukla, Suryakant Mishra, L.S. Taggar, Babu Ban Riyan and Vijoo Krishan (joint secretaries) and Noorul Hooda (finance secretary).

A Central Kisan Committee consisting of 138 representatives from all States in the country have also been elected.

725 delegates attend

The conference was attended by 725 delegates all over the country and included seven Cabinet Ministers representing West Bengal and Kerala. Brinda Karat, Communist Party of India (Marxist) Polit Bureau member and vice-president of the All India Democratic Women Association, was present.

Giving details of the various themes and resolutions passed at the conference, vice-president of AIKS S. Malla Reddy said deliberations centred on injustice being meted out to peasants, drastic rise in food prices, concerns over BT seeds and erratic crop insurance policy being followed by the governments.

Draft resolution

The conference has passed a draft resolution to launch a nation-wide struggle to save peasants from the menace of wild animals.

It said that enactments of acts such as Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, The Wild Life Protection Act 1972 and Biodiversity Act-2002 have resulted in small and marginal farmers living on edge of forests to become “ecological refugees,” and they were being forced to migrate from their villages.

The conference also resolved to take up the cause of gender equality and supported 33 per cent reservation for women in legislatures.

It demanded that Centre the improve the working of National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme by enhancing the daily wages to Rs.100 and ensuring every family got work for 100 days, increase in farm subsidy and came out strongly against the proposed Indo-Indonesian agreement which, it said, would prove detrimental to the interests of the farmers cultivating commercial crops.

Action plan

The conference has also chalked out an action plan for the coming months which would include a massive peasant rally at Delhi in March.