All India Agrilcultural Workers Union national Conference begins in Tiruchi

7th All India Conference of the All India Agricultural Workers Union started in Tiruch with the flag hoisting on Friday in Thiruchirappalli district, Tamil Nadu. Delegates session started on Saturday. The 3 day national conference will conclude on Monday with a huge farmers rally. Flags to be hoisted in the Delegates nagar and Public Meeting Nagar has been brought from Mudigonda in Andhra Pradesh and Chenganoor in Kerala respectively. The Andhra jatha was lead by AIAWU Andhra State Secretary Comrade Venkid and the Kerala Jatha was lead by KSKTU state secretary M V Govindan. Flag posts were brought from Keezhvenmani Martyrs column and Raymundanpatti Martyrs coloumn in Tanjavoor. The conference proceedings started with the hoisting of flag in public meeting ground (Jyothi Basu Nagar) by AIAWU All India Secretary Com. A Vijayaraghavan. The Delegate session was inaugurated by CPIM polit beureu member and AIKS President Com. S Ramachandran Pillai. The Delegates session is held in a nagar named after the revolutionary hero Comrade Harkishan Singh Surjeet. Com P Ramayya, AIAWU President presided over the Function. Later in the day Com Vijayaraghavan placed the organizational report and discussion has been started. 

The public meeting on Monday will be inaugurated by Tripura Chief Minister Com. Manik Sarkar. 750 delegates representing 48 Lakh members participate in the conference. 

Agrarian crisis looms over nation

The country was facing an unprecedented agrarian crisis owing to the neo-liberal economic policies adopted by the Centre and the capitalist path of development trodden by the ruling class since independence, said S. Ramachandran Pillai, president, All India Kisan Sabha here on Saturday.

Agriculture was becoming an unviable and a loss-making venture in view of the rising prices of agriculture inputs, implements and fertilisers on the one side and the declining prices of agricultural commodities the other , said Mr. Pillai while inaugurating the delegate session

Rising unemployment

Unemployment among agricultural workers was on the rise and peasants were selling their cattle and lands to meet their daily expenses. As a result, landlessness was growing at a faster pace. A chunk of agricultural workers were saddled with debt, he said adding that the neo-liberal economic policies had sounded death-knell for the traditional industries.

Pointing out that agricultural workers were the worst sufferers owing to the neo liberal economic policies, Mr. Pillai said agricultural labourers did not have any security in food , nutritional , health , employment and income sectors .

The government should pump in more money into the agriculture sector, expand irrigation facilities through public investments besides enhancing investments in science and technology. It should produce high yielding seeds and supply it to farmers.

‘Eyewash'

Terming the social security measures an eyewash , he alleged that the agricultural policies were formulated by the Indo–US Knowledge Initiative.

The AIAWU had been urging the Centre to pass a comprehensive legislation that would declare minimum wages for agricultural workers and provide social security measures for them. But, the Centre's response has been a deafening silence, , he claimed. The government's move to allow foreign direct investment in the retail, banking, insurance and defence sectors would only intensify the process of neo liberal economic policies putting the common man in dire straits, he said. A powerful and a united movement is the need of the hour to bring about a change in the government's policies, he added.

AIAWU president P. Ramaiah said liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation policies were putting heavy burdens on the living conditions of agricultural workers.

Member of Parliament and chairman of reception committee T.K. Rangarajan, senior CPI(M) leaders - R. Umanath and Papa Umanath  and Subhashini Ali, president, All India Democratic Women's Association took part in the opening of the three-day conference