The All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) on February 19, 2021 appealed to all Indian citizens to advance the farmers’ struggle and demand the legalisation of Minimum Support Price (MSP) while decrying government efforts to defame the struggle through a vilification campaign and to suppress it through its repressive measures.
“The union government after consulting all state governments must bring the law for MSP at the rate of C2+50 percent for all crops across the country with guaranteed procurement to ensure MSP as the right of farmers,” said the AIKS.
It argued that the entities procuring farmers produce have a primary responsibility to provide C2+50 percent MSP. These entities earn, profit and sustain out of trading and processing farm produce and marketing of value-added consumer products.
Farmer leaders argued that the state governments should enact a law that compel agro-processing industries, trade and market enterprises in private, public and cooperative sectors to share the acquired surplus through trade and value addition with respective farmers. Further, they said that non-compliance with such a law shall be treated as an offence.
“Farmers, especially those who have small holdings, have to be supported to develop social cooperatives to promote collective farming that will help to take advantage of the economy of scale to minimise expenditure, maximise profit and avoid exploitation by intermediaries,” said AIKS General Secretary Hannan Mollah.
Leaders said that the central government should bring adequate budgetary provisions/bank guarantee to avail loan for establishing Price Stabilisation Fund- PSF for state governments using the centralised tax system through GST since June 2017.
The PSF will support farmers when the price is lower than MSP. Similarly, surplus can be added to the PSF when the rate in the public market is higher. Giving the example of insurance and pension funds, the farmers organisation said the fund can work independently without the financial support of the government.
Additionally, the AIKS hailed the success of February 6 Chakka Jam and February 18 Rail Roko demanded that the Modi-regime repeal the three farm Acts, withdraw the amendments to the Electricity Amendment Bill 2020, amend the anti-farmer clauses in the Pollution Ordinance 2020 and withdraw all cases against farmers, peasant leaders, journalists and others supporting the on-going struggle.
Regarding Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech at both the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha that farmers are not ready to discuss reforms, farmer leaders said Modi is deliberately trying to misguide the people due to his adamant pro-corporate bias.
“The Prime Minister’s comment that ‘MSP was there, is there and will remain there’ is part of a deliberate campaign to misguide the people. He and the BJP had promised MSP by ensuring 50 percent profit above cost of production in the 2014 Lok Sabha election manifesto, as per the recommendation of the National Commission for Farmers that was headed by Dr M S Swaminathan. During the last 7 years in power, the PM did not implement this promise and is hence directly responsible for the ongoing farmers struggle,” said the AIKS.
It said the current rate of MSP based on A2+FL calculation is not remunerative and only 6 percent of the farm produce based on the estimate of Gross Value Added (GVA) has been procured by the government.
The benefit of surplus created out of value addition of farm produce is amassed by corporate companies. Farmers receive price at the range of Rs 18 to Rs 30 per kg for Basmati paddy while branded Fortune Special Basmati Rice of the Adani group is sold at Rs.208 per kg. Some brands sell between Rs. 700 to Rs. 2200 per kg.
Likewise, in the coffee belt, farmers earn Rs. 120 to Rs 130 per kg while the corporate sector sells instant coffee powder at an average of Rs. 3000 per kg. Certain brands such as Nestle Blend 37 and Nescafe Gold Organic sold the product at around 12,000 per kg months ago and continue to sell at Rs.8,000 to Rs.10,000 per kg.
Meanwhile, a huge majority of farmers are forced to sell far below the announced rate of MSP, making MSP only notional. This sort of loot and exploitation by the corporate sector and their intermediaries in the market is one of the main reasons for the widespread indebtedness of the peasant households and the resultant massive peasant suicides, said the AIKS. The organisations pointed out that every hour two farmers are die by suicide in India and 2,468 peasants per day are forced to give up agriculture.
Accordingly, it asserted that farmers’ would continue to oppose the three pro-corporate laws of the central government along with its other anti-people laws.
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