By the end of April 2025, the total number of farmer suicides had risen to 869, according to divisional-level reports from the relief and rehabilitation department, report Scroll. Amravati division topped the list with 327 deaths, followed by Marathwada with 269, Nagpur with 135, Nashik with 106, and Pune division with 32.

Marathwada, historically one of India’s most drought-prone and underserved regions, is reeling under an escalating crisis. From just January to March 2025, 269 suicides were reported in its eight districts- Beed (71), Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (50), Nanded (37), Parbhani (33), Dharashiv (31), Latur (18), Hingoli (16), and Jalna (13). This marked a steep rise from 204 suicides during the same period in 2024 (TOI, April 2025).

These are not just numbers, they are lost lives, shattered families, and communities pushed beyond endurance. Yet, Maharashtra’s response has been chillingly procedural: of the 767 suicide cases reported between January and March, just 373 were deemed “eligible” for compensation. The families of only 327 farmers received the state’s standard ex gratia of ₹1 lakh. The remaining 200 cases were rejected. The fate of 194 others remains suspended in bureaucratic inquiry limbo, according to a report in the PTI.

A vicious spiral of loss

Each suicide is a family shattered. Families like that of 43-year-old Kailash Arjun Nagare in Buldhana, once honoured with the Maharashtra government’s Young Farmer Award, who died by suicide on Holi by consuming poison in his field, as reported by PTI in March 2025. His suicide note blamed the acute water crisis and government apathy. Nagare had recently led a five-day hunger strike demanding irrigation water for 14 villages from the Khadakpurna reservoir. His body was not allowed to be moved for hours as protesting farmers demanded accountability. “This is not a suicide; it is state-sanctioned murder,” said farmer leader Ravikant Tupkar, according to the Indian Express report.

Or take the case of Sonia Uikey, a 17-year-old from Wardha, who hanged herself on July 4, 2025 because her family couldn’t afford her Class 12 school fees. “We’ve moved from farmers killing themselves to their children ending their lives too,” said NCP (SP) MP Amar Kale after visiting her home, as reported by PTI.

The math of misery

At the heart of the crisis lies an economic model stacked against the farmer. As veteran farmer activist Vijay Jawandhiya explained to Rediff, the government celebrates low inflation, 3.5% as per the RBI, while ignoring the price farmers have paid for it. “Inflation fell because vegetable and crop prices collapsed, not because life became cheaper for farmers,” he said while speaking with Rediff. While input costs like fertiliser, health, and education remained high, prices for crops plummeted due to imports and policy neglect. Soya bean was sold at ₹4,000 per quintal against an MSP of ₹4,892. Cotton fetched ₹7,000 against an MSP of ₹7,500. Tur dal prices dropped disastrously from ₹12,000 to ₹6,000 per quintal.

“Farmers are losing money on every harvest,” said food policy expert Devinder Sharma, according to a report of The Hindu. “It’s not that agriculture is unproductive, it’s that we have made it unviable.” He cited the NSSO’s most recent Situation Assessment Survey, which found that average monthly income from farming stands at just ₹10,218. This boils down to a daily income of ₹27 from agriculture alone, barely enough to buy a meal, let alone repay debts, as reported by The Hindu.

Government Aid: A leaky pipe

Out of the 767 suicides recorded between January and March 2025, only 373 cases were deemed eligible for compensation; 200 were rejected, and 194 were still under inquiry, according to Indian Express. Of the eligible cases, just 327 families received the ₹1 lakh financial aid promised under government policy.

Worse, large sections of vulnerable farmers are excluded from this count altogether. “Women farmers, Dalits, Adivasis, and tenant cultivators are systematically excluded,” says journalist P. Sainath, as per The Hindu. “If a deceased farmer doesn’t have a 7/12 land deed, their death is simply not counted.” After 2014, changes in suicide data methodology, like classifying tenant farmers as agricultural labourers, further diluted the real scale of the crisis, according to People’s Archive of Rural India.

Seeds of Exploitation: The HTBT cotton crisis

Even Maharashtra’s cotton sector is now undermined by an unregulated seed market. Speaking to The Hindu, Jawandhia warned that nearly 1 crore of the 2 crore cotton seed packets in use this year are unauthorized F2 (second-generation) seeds. These genetically inferior, unofficial hybrids are being sold for ₹2,000/kg despite production costs of just ₹40/kg, creating a grey market that exploits desperate farmers. He urged the government to introduce pureline cotton varieties, allowing farmers to replant without buying from private firms every season.

Uneven burdens across regions

The reasons suicides are higher in Vidarbha and Marathwada, compared to Konkan or western Maharashtra, lie in systemic neglect. Vidarbha’s agriculture is largely rain-fed and high-risk. Landholdings have shrunk drastically, families now farm barely five acres each. In contrast, western Maharashtra enjoys access to horticulture, subsidies, and better irrigation. Konkan’s rural economy is cushioned by remittances from Mumbai (Rediff, July 2025).

The state government continues to announce schemes like the ₹1,500 per month Laadki Bahin Yojana for women and ₹6,000 PM-Kisan aid. But when compared to the ₹45,000 monthly salary a peon is expected to draw under the 8th Pay Commission, these figures seem paltry. “There are two Indias,” Jawandhia says. “A peon in the government earns ₹45,000 per month, while a farmer gets ₹1,500 under Laadki Bahin Yojana. What’s ₹1,500 for a woman managing an entire farm household?”

Forgotten families, drowning in debt

The effects ripple across generations. In Pali, Beed, Meena Dhere works in onion fields for ₹250 a day while her elderly mother-in-law watches over her children. Her husband Ashok died by suicide in January 2025 after accumulating a ₹3 lakh debt. In Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, 45-year-old Sadhana Kalaskar lives under a tin roof, trying to pay off a ₹6 lakh wedding loan after her husband’s suicide in November 2024, as reported by The Hindu.

“Government policies speak of relief, but the ground reality is abandonment,” said social worker Nitnaware. “After a suicide, the family is left with not just grief but also loans, unpaid school fees, and hungry mouths.”

A Political Hotbed, But No Long-Term Solutions

Farmer suicides became a central issue during the 2024–25 election cycle. PM Modi promised MSP of ₹6,000 per quintal for soya bean, while Congress’s Rahul Gandhi vowed ₹7,000. But beyond these headlines, little changed. On July 3, opposition parties staged a walkout in the Maharashtra assembly, accusing the state of ignoring the non-payment crisis for soybean farmers, as reported by PTI.

Rahul Gandhi’s reaction to the suicide figures summed up public frustration: “767 families shattered in three months. Is this just a statistic? Or a stain on our collective conscience?”

सोचिए.. सिर्फ 3 महीनों में महाराष्ट्र में 767 किसानों ने आत्महत्या कर ली।

क्या ये सिर्फ एक आंकड़ा है? नहीं। ये 767 उजड़े हुए घर हैं। 767 परिवार जो कभी नहीं संभल पाएंगे।

और सरकार? चुप है। बेरुख़ी से देख रही है।

किसान हर दिन कर्ज़ में और गहराई तक डूब रहा है – बीज महंगे हैं, खाद… pic.twitter.com/uDzFpYoMrG

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) July 3, 2025

A death every few hours

Farmer rights groups like Kisan Putra Andolan estimate that Maharashtra now loses 7–8 farmers every single day. These are not mere economic failures—they are policy murders, born of wilful neglect, rising input costs, collapsed MSPs, and mounting debt. In over two decades, Maharashtra has recorded 39,825 farmer suicides. Of these, 22,193 were confirmed to be due to agrarian distress. The government has paid ₹220 crore as compensation, an average of just ₹55,000 per suicide.

The numbers are terrifying, but they only tell part of the story. Behind each death is a voice that went unheard, a protest ignored, a loan unpaid, a dream deferred. Maharashtra’s farmer crisis is not seasonal, it is structural. Until that is acknowledged, the state will continue to bury its farmers and their futures, one suicide at a time.

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Among key demands of the general strike are the repeal of four Labour Codes, minimum support price (MSP@C2+50%) for all Crops, minimum wages of Rs.26000 per month, ‘No Privatisation of PSU’s’, the estoppal of ‘casualisation of employment’, ‘freedom from indebtedness’, all issues that are critical to protect Indian agriculture, industry and services.

The General Strike is also against the imposition of free trade agreements on Indian people. US’ dominance on world trade has unleashed all efforts to coerce the Modi Government to impose unfair trade terms and to dump US agricultural products in India.

The four Labour codes legalise contract labour based on hire and fire policy. Once implemented, say trade unions and farmer organisations, these Codes, will shatter not only the rights of the existing workforce but the entire new generations of workers in all sectors of the economy. The youth cannot dream of having access to formal employment with social security and retirement benefits. The right to an eight-hour work day will not sustain and new forms of slavery will be imposed on the working people under the guise of ‘ease of doing business’ to facilitate corporate profiteering.  Workers will lose the right to unionise, right to bargain for remunerative wage and right to strike. The four labour codes are both authoritarian and undemocratic in character, say the unions that will eventually endanger the independence of the working people and sovereignty of the country. Hence it is vital for all the freedom loving citizens to join the fight to bury the labour codes once and for all.

“Current economic policies are resulting in more unemployment, rising price rise of essential commodities, depression in wages, cut in social sector spending in education, health, basic civic amenities, all this leading to more inequalities and miseries for the poor, lower income group and even middle classes. The government has abandoned the welfare state focus of our country and is working in the interest of foreign and Indian corporates and it is so evident from its policies being pursued vigorously,” the trade union leaders said.

In a statement, they said the trade unions had been fighting against the privatisation of public sector enterprises and public services, the policies of outsourcing, contractualisation and casualisation of workforce, against the anti-workers, pro-employer four Labour Codes meant to suppress and cripple the trade union movement, increase in working hours, to snatch their right to collective bargaining, right to strike, decriminalisation of violation of labour laws by employers, while criminalising the activities of trade unions etc. “The government is making false claims on employment and provisions of social security. The existing social security schemes are being weakened and attempts to bring private players into it are pushed,” they said.

They also added that unions in the coal and minerals sectors, steel, banking and insurance sectors, power, petroleum and telecom industries and the transport sector have given notices for the strike. “We are making continued efforts forging unity and solidarity between the two major productive forces of the country, the workers and farmers,” they said.

Amarjeet Kaur, senior trade union leader and All India Trade Union Congress general secretary, has told the media that the strike is very significant to prepare working class and the farming community and agricultural labourers for a long-drawn battle. Questioning the government move to curb trade union rights, she said investors are not coming to India not because of workers, but because of the government policy of promoting one or two companies. She also asserted while speaking to The Hindu that this general strike will be the start of larger movements in India. When there are close to 15 lakh job vacancies in the central public sector units (PSUs) and central government, why has the Modi 3.0 government started recruiting those who are already retired for lesser salaries and without any social security? They have done this in Railways and in the steel sector.  This trend of outsourcing and contractualising many jobs is dangerous as it is causing widespread unemployment, she added.

The notices of the general strike have been served at banks, insurance companies, steel sector, coal sector, minerals and petroleum sector, copper sector and in some airports. Rail workers will also have mobilisations in support of strike, but no strike there. Defence sector is going on strike. The unions have predicted a “bandh-like” of situation in Assam, Tamil Nadu, Goa, Punjab, Bihar, Kerala, West Bengal and in many other States. Opposition parties have been approached by the unions, and they have extended their support. Workers in unions affiliated with the BMS (Bharatiya Mazdoor Saangh, an RSS affiliate) have also reportedly pledged support.

Which sectors are affected due to the Bharat Bandh?

1. Banking services
2. Postal services
3. Coal mining and factories
4. State transport services
5. Public sector units and government departments

What’s open on Bharat Bandh?

1. Schools and colleges
2. Private offices

Other complaints of the striking organisations include the fact that the government has not been conducting the annual labour conference for the last decade s and continues to take decisions in contravention to the interest of labour force, attempting to impose four labour codes to weaken collective bargaining, to cripple unions’ activities and to favour employers in the name of ‘ease of doing business’.

The forum also alleged that the economic policies are resulting in acute unemployment, rising prices of essential commodities, depression in wages, cut in social sector spending in education, health, basic civic amenities, and all these are leading to more inequalities and miseries for poor, people of lower income group as well as the middle class.

In a statement put out on the eve of the general strike, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) has also appealed to people to make the general strike on July 9, 2025 a grand success. Among key demands as stated above are the repeal of four Labour Codes, MSP@C2+50% for all Crops, Minimum Wage of Rs.26000 / month, ‘No Privatisation of PSU’s’, ‘Stop Casualisation of Employment’, ‘Freedom from Indebtedness’, all of which are critical to protect Agriculture, Industry and Services.

Apart from supporting demands of the workers, SKM urges the peasantry to intensify struggle on independent demands including enact law for MSP@C2+50% with guaranteed procurement for all crops, comprehensive loan waiver to free the peasantry from the debt trap and end rampant peasant suicides across India, withdrawal of National Policy Framework on Agriculture Marketing, not to sign the Indo-US Bilateral Trade Agreement hurting agriculture, industry and services, no privatisation of electricity, end indiscriminate acquisition of land violating the LARR Act 2013, ensure 200 days’ work and Rs.600 as daily wages in NREGS, provide minimum wage, social security and Rs. 10000 monthly pensions for agricultural workers, peasants and rural labourers, formalisation of Scheme workers, legal protection to the rights of migrant workers and tenant farmers among others.  The SKM has also called upon the entire working people including farmers, workers and agricultural workers to rally massively to hold tehsil level demonstrations and make the General strike successful.

The General Strike is also against the imposition of free trade agreements on Indian people. US’ dominance on world trade has unleashed all efforts to coerce the Modi Government to impose unfair trade terms and to dump US agricultural products in India. The intention of the free trade agreement is ‘unregulated freedom for US food chains, trading giants and agribusiness corporations to operate in India.’ ‘Tariff free import of huge quantity of highly subsidised milk and milk products, soybean, cotton, mice, wheat, rice, pulses, oilseeds, paddy, GM crops, fruits and vegetables including apple and walnuts, processed and canned foods’ into Indian markets will devastate the income and livelihood of Indian farmers.

The Trump Administration has been compelling the Modi Government to wind up PDS food distribution and withdraw all subsidies for farmers on fuel and fertilisers, says the SKM. It wants India to change its patent laws to suit American companies. These changes will erode the independence of Indian farmers and bring disastrous impact on food security.

The SKM statement also asserts that the Indian people will not accept the ‘enslavement of the workforce’ through four Labour Codes and corporatisation of agriculture. The farmers are on a path of struggle for the last two decades and more to achieve the long pending demands of MSP2 C2+50% with guaranteed procurement and comprehensive loan waiver.

Minimum wage to workers and minimum support price to the farmers are crucial to accomplish higher purchasing power, employment generation and agriculture led growth of the domestic economy. Reversing the anti-worker, anti-farmer policies of the RSS-BJP combine is indispensable to protect the interests of the working people and the country.

This is the 22nd General Strike since the advent of neo-liberal policies in India in 1991.  The success of July 9, 2025 strike will ignite more massive, mightier struggles larger than the 2020-21 historic farmers struggle at Delhi borders actively supported by the working class, states the SKM. The massive strike will be intensified until all the genuine demands of the workers and the peasantry are realised. SKM appeals to the entire working people to make the July 9, 2025 General strike as one of the largest ever worker-peasant united action since independence.

Meanwhile, the Central Kisan Committee (CKC) meeting of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) held from June 28-30, 2025 at the E K Nayanar Academy, Kannur, Kerala, decided to hold massive protests on July 9, along with the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) at the tehsil level, and work actively to make the General Strike called by the Central Trade Unions (CTUs) a massive success.

The meeting at Kannur discussed the grim agrarian scenario in the country, and the anti-farmer, pro-corporate policies of the BJP-led NDA government. It also noted that the Congress-led State Governments in Karnataka, Telangana etc are also carrying forward the BJP Government’s policies like Labour Codes, 12-hour work day, land acquisition etc.

The meeting warned against the hurried moves of the Modi regime to sign Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with UK (already signed), USA, EU, etc., which surrender the interests of farmers, workers and MSME entrepreneurs, violate federal principles and put Parliament in the dark. These FTAs will drastically reduce or eliminate import duties on key agricultural products, threatening the livelihoods of millions of Indian farmers, stated the AIKS.

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The struggle reached a new inflection point on July 4, 2025, when representatives of the Anti-Land Acquisition Struggle Committee and allied platforms met with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who sought 10 more days to find a “legal pathway” to undo the final land acquisition notification issued in April 2025. 

The next meeting, slated for July 15, is widely viewed as a deadline for the state government to keep its word or brace for a massive escalation of protests across Karnataka.

The land at the heart of the storm

The land in question is not barren. The Deccan Herald report provides that the said land is fertile, multi-cropped, and irrigated, producing grains, vegetables, fruits, flowers, silk, and milk for nearby Bengaluru’s food markets. According to the report of The Hindu, for farmers like Jagadish of Polanahalli, who lost 2 acres in an earlier phase, this land is not just property—it is memory, meaning, and sustenance. Today, he works as a farm labourer on what used to be his own farm. “Now they want to take the remaining 1.5 acres. I would rather die than lose this again,” he said while speaking to The Hindu.

This sentiment is echoed throughout the 13 villages. Over 95% of families have rejected the acquisition, citing not only the emotional and economic cost but also the legal violations involved in their open letter to CM, sent on June 24, 2025). According to the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, consent from 70–80% of landowners is mandatory for such acquisitions. Surveys indicate that more than 80% of affected farmers have not consented, as per Deccan Herald.

According to the report of New Indian Express, farmers also allege that of the 1,282 acres acquired in an earlier phase, much of the land has either remained unused or been diverted to private builders and educational institutions like Brigade Builders (73 acres), Chanakya University (116 acres), and IFFCO Nano Urea (13 acres).

Broken promises and state betrayals

In September 2022, then-Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah stood with these very farmers at Freedom Park, beside a symbolic peepal sapling, and promised to cancel the land acquisition if the Congress came to power. As per the report of Deccan Herald, that plant was brought back to Channarayapatna and rooted in village soil—a living reminder of that assurance.

But in April 2025, the Congress-led government issued the final notification, effectively greenlighting the acquisition. The backlash was swift. On June 25, thousands marched in a ‘Devanahalli Chalo’ rally. The police responded with brutality—beating, detaining, and harassing protesters. Shockingly, the crackdown occurred on the 50th anniversary of the Emergency.

The Indian Express’ report highlighted the plight of 1omen like Yangtamma, who spent ₹8–9 lakh to plant pomegranates on her 5.5-acre farm, now fear their life’s work will be bulldozed. “The government calls this development. I call it destruction,” she said, while speaking to media. 

“This Land is Our Life”: The protesters speak

At the heart of the movement is a moral and existential cry: “This land is our life. Without it, we are nothing.”

Raghu M, who grows sandalwood on 10 acres, says his parents’ samadhi lies on that land. “If it is taken, I will die by suicide next to it,” he told Indian Express. Gopinath A.S., another protester, explained how he was denied a borewell NOC because of the acquisition plan. “If we lose this land, we’ll end up as gatekeepers and gardeners in those factories. We know nothing else,” he added, as per the IE report.

Jagadish, who lost land in 2018, received ₹80 lakh, two years late, after paying 25% in bribes. Now he cannot afford a plot in his own village, the report of The Hindu highlights. 

Despite being offered exclusion from acquisition, farmers from three spared villages continue to protest in solidarity. “Until all 13 villages are dropped, we fight together,” said Lakshmamma from Nallapanahalli told Indian Express.

Legal violations and socio-economic threats

Experts and activists have pointed that the acquisition violates the Karnataka SC/ST Land Transfer Prohibition Act, 1978, since over 160 SC/ST families, many of them land grantees, stand to be rendered landless as per the Deccan Herald. Of 800 affected families, 387 will lose their only landholding.

Food security is also at stake. Farmers warn that Devanahalli supplies vegetables, dairy, and flowers to Bengaluru. Already, milk output in Mattabaralu has halved following earlier land losses, as reported by The Hindu.

Solidarity: A growing people’s alliance

This movement now receives a wide web of solidarity. On July 1, the Karnataka Muslim Muttahida Mahaz (KMMM) marched to Freedom Park. Convenor Masood Abdul Qadir declared the struggle “legitimate and morally binding,” reminding the Congress to uphold its promises to farmers, Dalits, and minorities, as per Clarion India.

Top Muslim clerics and scholars joined hands with farmer leaders from across Karnataka, forming an unprecedented inter-community front for land justice. “This is not just about soil. It’s about dignity,” said Muhammad Yusuf Kani of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind to Clarion India.

Meanwhile, over 30 public intellectuals, including Ramachandra Guha, Madhura Swaminathan, and T.N. Prakash Kammarad, issued an open letter to Bengaluru’s corporate and tech leaders, demanding they speak out, according to The Hindu report. The letter also cited CAG Audit Report No. 8 of 2017, which had flagged irregularities in KIADB land dealings.

Countdown to July 15: Decision or conflagration?

The Struggle Committee, following the July 4 meeting, agreed to wait until July 15 for a final response. But the warning is clear: if the government fails to cancel the notification, the agitation will intensify across the state, possibly with Samyukta Kisan Morcha’s national support, their Joint Statement provided.

On July 9, the farmers’ demand will be included in the nationwide workers’ strike, linking agrarian justice with labour rights.

In the meantime, awareness campaigns, village meetings, and signboards reading “Our Land, Our Right” will be installed across Channarayapatna hobli, according to the said join statement released by them.

Beyond Devanahalli: A national reckoning

The Devanahalli struggle forces us to ask: Who benefits from development? And who pays its price?

“This movement is different,” said activist Mallige, while speaking with Deccan Herald, adding that “It speaks not of land prices but of land preservation, one that holds farming as dignity and future”.

In its endurance, its unity, and its moral clarity, the Devanahalli movement has become a mirror to India’s growth model- one that too often replaces food security with concrete and memory with profit.

The farmers are clear: “We are not giving up. This land is not for sale. This land is life.”

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In their detailed communication, they raise five crucial points:

1. Statements made by the Minister of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change himself which hold the implementation, such as it is, of the Forest Rights Act, 2006 responsible for degradation and loss of prime forest areas.
2. ⁠Continued submission of legally untenable data on encroachment of forest areas to Parliamentary forums as well to the National Green Tribunal.
3. ⁠Orders issued by the National Tiger Conservation Authority in June 2024 for the eviction of almost 65,000 families from tiger reserves across the country.
4. ⁠The mis-attribution by the Forest Survey of India for the loss of forest cover over the last decade to the implementation of the Forest Rights Act, 2006.
5. ⁠The 2023 amendments to the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 that were bulldozed through Parliament and the subsequent Van Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan Rules, 2023 that adversely impact both the quantity and quality of forests.

All these issues are of critical significance especially to tribal and other communities residing and earning their livelihoods in forest areas. They are also of fundamental importance to ecological security. The track record of the present Modi Govt –now in its third term–does not inspire the confidence that these issues will even get discussed and debated with those who have been compelled to bring the PM’s attention to them.

Elaborating these, the letter states that the statement of the Union Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav dated June 5.2025, “is part of a consistent series of subversions by the MoEFCC. As a result, FRA implementation has been dragging on stiffly resisted and disrupted by the forest bureaucracy as well as the environment ministry, for the last 16 years.”

On June 5.2025, the Union Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav answering a question on loss of forest and its degradation in a recent media interview reportedly stated, “Although there is a net increase in dense forests in the country, there are areas where the dense prime forests have been affected with degradation. This may be due to encroachment, illicit felling and in northeast region, due to shifting cultivation. And to a lesser degree, due to unregulated grazing, natural causes like storms and landslides, and also titles given under Forest Rights Act (FRA) 2006. This may be addressed by taking up stringent protection measures added with effective community involvement, and also by regulating shifting cultivation in case of north-eastern region.”

The Minster’s response attributing the loss of forest to FRA titles given to Adivasi and forest dwellers has no legal basis and evidence, says the joint communication, and is “highly irresponsible and misleading.” Further the writers state that, tThe statement is contrary to the fact that the MoEFCC in 2009 itself, in its own country report to the FAO stated that FRA ‘assigned rights to protect around 40 million hectares of community forest resources to village level democratic institutions. The fine tuning of other forest-related legislations is needed with respect to the said Act.’ While blaming FRA, the Adivasi and other forest rights holders, the Minister conveniently overlooks the fact that the MoEFCC itself allowed the illegal diversion of more than 3 lakh hectares of forest since 2008 for non-forest activities denuding forests, without complying with FRA. This contradicts both the minister’s statement and the MoEFCC’s approach.

The rest of the communication is extracted here:

2.  MOEFCC continues to submit legally untenable data on encroachment in Parliamentary forums and the NGT

On March 28, 2025, the environment ministry submitted on affidavit to National Green Tribunal (NGT) that 1.3 million hectares (13,05,688.387 ha or 13,056 sq. km) of forest land is ‘under encroachment’ as of March 2024. This affidavit was filed in compliance to the NGT order of April 19, 2024, in OA No.129/2024, and covers data from 20 states and 5 Union Territories (UTs); data from remaining states and UTs was awaited. Of this, at least 50,977.99 ha of “encroachments” have been allegedly removed. The aforementioned case registered suo moto by NGT in reference to a Deccan Herald news item of 05.01.2024, titled Forest land five times Delhi’s geographical area under encroachment govt data shows referred to 0.75 million hectares (7,50,633 ha) forest area under ‘encroachment’.

The MoEFCC has been repeatedly reporting such false data on ‘encroachment’ in both the houses of the Parliament too. In May 2002, the figure stood at 1.4 million hectares (14,95,746.732 ha). A decade later in 2021, the figure was 1.3 million (13,29,450.2 ha).

The Ministry makes no reference to the Forest rights Act or its statutory body the Gram Sabhas. On 03.02.2025, responding to a question on the forest encroachment, the Minister of State of MoEFCC said that, “The Protection and management of forests is primarily the responsibility of the concerned State Government/UT Administration and this Ministry issues advisories to State Governments/UT Administrations to remove encroachments on forest lands as per the provisions of the law.” Again, on 1.08.2022, the Environment Minister responding to the Lok Sabha Question No. 218 on forest encroachment stated that “the Ministry has written to State Governments/UT Administrations to remove encroachment as per the existing Acts/Rules and to ensure that no further encroachment takes place. In order to prevent and control encroachments, the States and UTs also take various measures such as demarcation and digitization of forest boundaries, strengthening infrastructure for forest protection, involving fringe area forest communities through Joint Forest Management Committees, Eco Development Committees etc.” Besides placing legally untenable statistics on encroachments, the Ministry also ordered for the removal of these ‘alleged encroachments’ without any reference to the drastic changes in applicable laws.

As per extant law, the rights of forest dwellers that are recognised and vested by FRA are to be determined, demarcated, recognized and recorded, and only after this can the area and extent of area under actual encroachment can even be determined. Only thereafter can the process of eviction be initiated under the State laws. FRA prohibits eviction under Sec.4(5) without the satisfactory completion of FRA process. Further, the Supreme Court order of 28 Feb 2019, in Wildlife First and Ors. vs. Union of India and Ors_, WP(C) 109/2008, etc. has kept on hold the eviction and requires a review of all rejected claims. Thus, any eviction of “encroachers” after 28 February 2019 is a violation of the Supreme Court order and amounts to contempt of court. This reveals the duplicity of the ruling government, who in 2019 informs the Supreme Court that the process of recognizing and determining rights in forests is incomplete and plagued by illegalities, and then later states to NGT legally untenable figures for “encroachment” and undertakes eviction of forest dwellers.

The MOEFCC should have apprised the Parliamentary forums and courts on all these legalities. Instead of doing so, it is deliberately misleading the NGT, the Court and deceiving the forest dwellers and Adivasis of the country.

3.  NTCA order dated June 19, 2024 directing eviction of 64,801 families from tiger reserves of India.

National Tiger Conservation Authority, a wing of the Environment Ministry, chaired by the Union Environment Minister, on June 19, 2024, ordered the expeditious relocation of 64,801 families from tiger reserves, in complete violation of the Forest Rights Act 2006 and Wildlife Protection Act 1972 and other existing legal frameworks. Several submissions have been made to the NTCA asking for the withdrawal of this legally untenable order. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs and the National Commission of Scheduled Tribes have both apprised the NTCA about the concerns pertaining to non- recognition of forest rights in the tiger reserves, forced evictions, non-compliance of the statutory framework – yet the NTCA has not withdrawn its June 19 2024 order till date. This has aggravated the risk of displacement, forced evictions, curtailment of rights, criminalization of forest dwellers and forced them into a state of economic and social insecurity in different parts of the country. The details of the same can be referred in the rejoinder submitted to NTCA.

4.   India State of Forest Report 2023 blames FRA for forest loss with no evidence.

The India State of Forest Report (ISFR) published by the Forest Survey of India (FSI), a scientific institute under the MOEFCC is a biennial assessment of the state and status of India’s forests. The ISFR 2023 has already been called out by civil servants, conservationists and scientists for its flawed scientific methodology, inconsistent data, fluctuation in statistical reporting, promotion of ecologically damaging schemes such as the Green Credits Programme, and interventions such as replacing of natural ecosystems with plantations. (Access here) The ISFR 2023 report while citing the reasons for negative changes in forest and tree cover attributes ‘titles given to beneficiaries under the Forest Rights Act 2006’ as one of the reasons (Annexure 3).

FSI, a scientific institution, cannot make such claims without substantiating their allegations with evidence or data. The statements in the FSI report are even more concerning since in 2019 it has been impleaded as a party respondent in the Wildlife First vs. Union of India case (supra) before the Supreme Court, raising apprehensions that it will raise these unscientific and absurd submissions before the court using inapplicable scientific tools as satellite imagery. The MoEFCC, its Ministers and affiliated institutions, are promoting false, malicious, legally untenable and politically sabotaging claims against FRA.

5.      Amendments in Forest Conservation Act, 1980 and subverting the legitimacy of institutional authorities opposing forest diversion.

The environment ministry in 2023 amended the Forest Conservation Act of 1980 (now Van Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan Adhiniyam, 1980) despite vehement opposition and concerns raised by constitutional bodies such as National Commission for Scheduled Tribes and from conservationists and scientists, forest rights groups and forest dwellers’ communities. This amendment aims to facilitate ‘ease of doing business’ that adversely impacts the forest and ecological security of the country. Among other things, the amendments:

a. Nullify the definition and extent of forest that the Supreme Court established in

b. Provide exemptions to different categories of projects even within this restricted definition of

c. Does away with Central government’s role, through the Forest Advisory Committee and MoEFCC, to ensure FRA compliance as a pre-requisite for forest diversion, regarding both prior forest rights recognition and prior Gram Sabha Instead, this responsibility has been shifted to the State governments after Stage-II clearance.

d. The Van Sanrakshan Evam Samvardhan Rules, 2023 and a series of Guidelines issued by the MoEFCC in purported furtherance of these amendments have further diluted the integral role of the FRA and of forest dwelling communities in the conservation and preservation of forests in India.

In conclusion, the collective letter states that “it evidently clear that the environment ministry is least concerned with forest conservation but more inclined towards facilitating faster and easier forest diversion with scant regard for the Forest Conservation Act, the Wildlife Protection Act, in addition to the Forest Rights Act, all of which require the recognition of forest rights under FRA. FRA was enacted to undo the historical injustice committed upon the forest dwelling communities due to non-recognition of their tenure over their ancestral lands and their habitat in the consolidation of State forests during the colonial period as well as in independent India.”

“The environment ministry is duty bound to uphold the laws enacted by the Parliament, but its continued hostility towards the laws and forest dwellers in their untrammelled quest to serve commercial private interests is widely perceived as open encouragement and support to the explosion in forest degradation by the Government of India itself. The Environment Ministry’s aforementioned actions on behalf of the Government of India are in blatant disregard for all laws (IFA, FCA, WLPA, CAMPA, LARR and FRA) relegating MoTA to not exercising its institutional powers and role with regard to forest rights. This portends increased unrest that threatens forests and all its forest dwellers if not urgently contained.”

The demands articulated in the communication are:

1. Immediate halting of the MoEFCC’s attempts to subvert the Forest Rights
2. Union Environment Minster must issue a public clarification of his media statement, and immediately withdraw his legally untenable claim that Forest Rights Act results in forest degradation.
3. MoEFCC to stop spewing false, malicious, legally untenable claims against Forest Rights Act; to issue clarification on the same and to stop undue interference and overreach in the functions of MoTA and Forest Rights Act.
4. MoEFCC to immediately appraise the Supreme Court of India and NGT about the legalities pertaining to forests, forest “encroachment” and Forest Rights Act, unambiguously clarifying that encroachment and any subsequent action on it cannot be taken up till the process of implementation of FRA is completed. Necessary orders to the state Forest Departments be issued to suspend evictions until after the Gram Sabhas declare the completion of FRA implementation and after obtaining their consent.
5. MoEFCC and FSI to stop misleading government institutions, Parliament, the Judiciary by filing affidavits with legally untenable data and figures on No such data can be deduced till FRA has been implemented completely and lawfully.
6. Immediate withdrawal of the NTCA letter dated June 19, 2024 without any further delay and order complete halt on relocations from tiger reserves till NTCA has provided data on rights recognized under FRA in tiger reserves and to provide all records of due compliance with all the statutory provisions under Section 38 V of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

Among the signatories are the Mahila Kisan Adivasi Manch (MAKAAM), the Adivasi Adhikar Rashtriya Manch, CPI(M), India, Akhil Bhartiya Adivasi Mahasabha (CPI), India, Gondwana Ganatantra Party, (Tuleswar Markaam- National President), Akhil Bharatiya Mazdoor Kisan Sangharsh Samiti Udaipur, Rajasthan, Buffalo Back Consumers Federation, Bangalore, Bundelkhand Majdoor Kisaan Shakti Sangathan, Tendukheda, MP and Campaign for Survival and Dignity, Food Security Forum, Jammu and Kashmir among many others.

The communication to Prime Minister Modi has also been sent to Principal Secretary and Joint Secretary to the Prime Minister, PMO’s office, Shri Jual Oram, Union Minister of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MOTA), Principal Secretary, Joint Secretary and Director- FRA Division of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA),  Antar Singh Arya, Chairman- National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST), Bhupendra Yadav, Union Minister of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) and Dr. Virendra Kumar, Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment.

The entire text may be read here

The post MoEFCC subverting the Forest Rights Act, 2006: 150 Citizens groups appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The opinion of independent experts should be also be taken into consideration by the apex court before it assesses the actual impact of this law on our forest cover, the letter states.

The text of the open letter may be read here:

Open Letter to the Chief Justice of India on the Conflict of Interest of the Central  Empowered Committee

Honourable Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India,

We are a group of former civil servants who have served in various capacities in the central and state governments. We owe no allegiance to any political party; our only loyalty is to the Constitution of India.

We have expressed our anguish several times in the past regarding the steady reduction of India’s forest cover, due to changes in certain laws and policies of the government, as well as their actions. What is causing us great concern now is a matter of conflict of interest, and transgression of the principles of natural justice, which promises to take the diminution of India’s forests even further down the road.

A Central Empowered Committee (CEC) was constituted in the year 2002 by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF) on the directions of the Honourable Supreme Court. It was set up for the purposes of monitoring and ensuring compliance with the orders of the Hon’ble Supreme Court on matters of forests and wildlife and to provide technical advice on the subject to the Supreme Court. It consisted of three former officers of the MOEF, and two non-government persons, the first an expert on forests and wildlife and the other an advocate of the Supreme Court who was also an environmentalist. In short, the Committee had not only expert members from the government, but also independent members who had not served in high positions in the government of India, nor had been involved in decisions of forest policy, thus ensuring impartiality and preventing conflict of interest.

In 2023, since Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) seemingly had complete autonomy in choosing the members of the CEC, it nominated in all the four posts of members, four former government officers, three of whom are retired Indian Forest Service officers and one, a retired scientist, who had also worked for many years until his retirement in the MoEFCC. There are no independent experts on the Committee.

Two of the members of the CEC have held the topmost forest and wildlife posts under the government of India, that of Director General and Special Secretary and have retired recently.

A CEC which is comprised of officers who had held the highest positions in the MoEFCC, and were closely involved in policy making, can hardly be expected to give independent advice to the Supreme Court, advice that is different from what they gave while they were in the government.

In 2023 a writ petition was filed in the Supreme Court by a group of individuals challenging the Forest Conservation Amendment Act (FCAA), 2023, as, according to them, the Act would hasten the decline of forests in India, already greatly reduced since a decade or two earlier. In hearings in this case, so far, the Supreme Court has given four landmark orders, upholding the definition of forests as per the Godavarman order of 1996 and directing that such forests be identified and geo- referenced as per the SC orders of 1996 and 2011 (Lafarge case). The case is pending for a final hearing and decision in the Supreme Court.

However, we fear that the outcome of this case, as well as those of others filed against the FCAA 2023, may possibly be compromised considering the conflict of interest of the CEC, and the likelihood that the Supreme Court may give weight to the advice of the CEC before taking a final decision in the matter.

We would like to point out that the Forest Conservation Amendment Bill 2023 was prepared and defended before the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) by a CEC member then at the helm in the Ministry of Environment Forests and Climate Change. The Forest Conservation Amendment Act (FCAA) 2023 which is being challenged in the Supreme Court, was also notified at that time, as were the rules under the Act and the consolidated guidelines (notified on November 29, 2023 and December 12, 2023.

Similarly, several memoranda that permitted using degraded, notified forests and unclassed/ revenue forests for compensatory afforestation in exchange for diversion of forest land were issued during the tenure of some of the CEC members while they held top positions in the MoEFCC. Such orders are against the Godavarman judgement of 1996, but they were issued nevertheless. Any advice or report given by the current CEC, given its composition, cannot but be in line with the previous positions held by these officials in the government. The advice of the CEC in any case which challenges the FCAA 2023 (with which they were closely associated while in the government), will in all probability be biased in favour of the Act as passed, and will thus be a clear conflict of interest.

An indication of this is already evident in the recent SC order on ‘zudpi’ forests (scrub forests) of Maharashtra. The Supreme Court’s order of May 5, 2025 relied heavily on the CEC’s advice which recommended the untrammelled use of such forests for ‘compensatory afforestation’ considering ’zudpi’ forests as ecologically inferior forests as they cannot support thick stands of forest trees. Actually, ‘zudpi

forests are scrub forests/grasslands rich in wildlife specifically adapted to such vegetation. ‘Zudpi’ forests support important, endemic and endangered species such as the Indian grey wolf, Great Indian bustard, lesser Florican, Blackbuck, Indian fox etc., besides serving as corridors for tigers, leopards, bears and other wildlife, and helping mitigate human-wildlife conflict in an area severely affected by the same. Diverting of ‘zudpi’ forests for non -forestry purposes is also violative of the Supreme Court’s Godavarman order of 1996 as well as the more recent orders of the Court dated February 3, 2025 and March 3, 2025 in the case against the FCAA 2023, which is still under litigation. It is gratifying to note that the Honourable Supreme Court did not accept the CEC recommendations in toto.

We would like to recommend to the Honourable Court that in order to give fair and unbiased advice, a CEC needs to be composed not just of experts who are retired officials of the government but of renowned experts from outside as well, of which there are many in the country. As the Maharashtra zudpi forest case judgement clearly reveals, a CEC which is composed of only retired government officials merely reiterates the position of the government in its advice to the Supreme Court, a clear conflict of interest.

We request the CJI to ensure that such a CEC is not allowed to advise the Honourable Court in the FCAA 2023 cases before it, or be part of other such important cases in the interest of the country’s forests, wildlife and ecological security.

Signatories:

The post Independent experts, not government servants must be part of the CEC while deciding the challenge to Forest Conservation Act: Former bureaucrats to SC appeared first on SabrangIndia.

In this public statement, the signatories have that, ‘this proscription constitutes a direct and dangerous attack on the right to freedom of association and reflects the State’s increasing tendency to criminalise peaceful democratic organizing by Adivasi communities in Scheduled Areas. As lawyers and law professionals committed to constitutional rights, they appeal to authorities to immediately intervene and revoke the arbitrary and unjust ban on Moolvasi Bachao Manch, release all its imprisoned members, and repeal the draconian Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act, 2005.’

The signatories have also expressed deep alarm over what they have termed as ‘vindictive state actions’ in Bastar. The criminalisation of an independent Adivasi platform like Moolvasi Bachao Manch signals a deepening hostility of the state towards even peaceful and lawful assertion of constitutional and statutory rights and grassroots dissent. The attempt to target every visible member of MBM’s decentralised leadership appears aimed at dissuading an entire generation of young Adivasis from exercising their democratic and constitutional rights. 

The President and Governor are required as per the Constitution to ensure peace and good government in all the scheduled areas. NAJAR members urge the President of India, Governor of Chhattisgarh and Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh to:

Revoke the ban: Immediately withdraw Notification No. F-4-101/Home-c/2024 dated 30th October, 2024, declaring Moolvasi Bachao Manch (MBM) as unlawful. The ban lacks a factual basis, violates constitutional and procedural safeguards, and criminalizes peaceful political organizing.

Release all MBM members: Ensure the unconditional release of all MBM members detained under false or politically motivated charges—including those arrested under UAPA, CSPSA, IPC, Arms Act, and Explosives Act provisions. Charges based solely on association or protest activity must be withdrawn.

Repeal the CSPSA: Initiate legislative steps to repeal the draconian Chhattisgarh Special Public Security Act, 2005, which permits arbitrary proscription and violates the principles of legality and proportionality.

End the criminalisation of Adivasi protests: Stop suppression of Adivasi mobilizations in assertion of their constitutional rights. Recognise peaceful protest as protected democratic activity, not a threat.

Halt further arrests and harassment: Immediately stop the arrest, surveillance, and harassment of individuals previously associated with Moolvasi Bachao Manch. Ensure that no person is criminalized solely for exercising constitutionally protected rights.

NAJAR has further urged the authorities to act without delay to restore the rule of law, uphold constitutional values, and respect the rights of Adivasi communities in Bastar and across scheduled areas of India.

The letter may be read here:

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The post Chhattisgarh: Hundred lawyers and legal professionals condemn ban on Moolvasi Bachao Manch, urge revocation appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The farmers have also been demanding the implementation of M S Swaminathan Commission recommendation to ensure a minimum support price (MSP) to protect the farmers from increasing input costs.

The Tamil Nadu Sugarcane Farmers Association (TNSFA) accused the policies of the Union government for the reduction in sugarcane cultivation and sugar production.

The other major demands included revamping of cooperative sugar mills and disbursal of Rs 1,217 crore due to farmers from 24 private sugar mills for sugarcane procurement during 2014-17.

INCREASE FRP AND SCRAP RSF

The farmers organisations have been demanding an MSP of C2+50% of C2 for all agricultural products. The Union government has recently announced an FRP of Rs 355 per quintal (Rs 3,550 per tonne), for 10.25% sugar recovery rate, which the sugarcane farmers association has termed insufficient.

The TNSFA, affiliated to the All-India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), has been demanding a minimum of Rs 5,500 per tonne, even though the Union government has claimed to have increased by FRP by 4.41%.

Speaking with Newsclick, D Raveendran, general secretary, TNSFA, said, “We are demanding an FRP of Rs 5,500 per tonne for a 9.5% sugar recovery rate. The state government should scrap the RSF and reintroduce the SAP and ensure Rs 4,000 per tonne as promised”.

The ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) had promised to announce Rs 4,000 as SAP during the 2021 Assembly election campaign.

DISBURSE SAP DUES

The sugarcane farmers face the task of being tricked by mills which procure sugarcane from them, by inordinately delaying the payment.

In a detailed memorandum submitted to the Director of Sugar, government of Tamil Nadu, during the protest, the association has demanded the distribution of Rs 1,217 crore for sugar procurement by private sugar mills for four seasons of 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17.

The association has won a legal battle for a share in profit from the procurers as per Section 5A of the Sugar Control Order, 1966. The association has urged the director to expedite the implementation of the order.

REOPEN CLOSED MILLS

Several cooperative and public sector sugar mills are closed due to mismanagement and wrong policies of the successive state governments, besides several private mills are closed citing losses. The association accused some mills of betraying the farmers despite their financial stability.

“The state government must reopen several cooperative mills across the state to ensure the farmers receive a fair deal for procurement and increase the sugarcane cultivation. This will ensure employment in the government sector and the welfare of the farmers”, Raveendran said.

Courtesy: Newsclick

The post TN: Sugarcane Farmers Protest, Demand Better FRP, Reintroduction of SAP appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Tracing the background for the crisis in the agricultural sector, the analysis states that the National Commission of Farmers headed by Dr. M.S. Swaminathan had clearly stated in its 2006 Report that in order to rescue farmers from the agrarian crisis, they must be paid a remunerative price at least 50% above the comprehensive cost of cultivation C2. However, even after 19 years, these remain hollow promises. Even the MSP announced remains mostly on paper since there is no assured procurement.  There exists a substantial gap between the announced MSP and price realised by farmers.

The cost of cultivation surveys shows that the average price received by paddy farmers was 36% lower than the MSP@ A2+FL in 2021-22 (the latest data available). The average price received by Tur/Arhar (lentil) farmers in Telengana was 11% lower than the MSP in 2021-22. This implies that the benefit of MSP is not reaching to most of the farmers. The long-term data on MSP released by the Ministry of Agriculture shows a deceleration in the growth of real MSP for almost all crops, particularly paddy. For example, the real MSP for paddy grew at an annual rate of 1.17% per annum between 2004–05 and 2013–14, which declined to 0.53% per annum during the period from 2014–15 to 2025–26. Out of the 16 crops studied, 9 crops showed a sharp slowdown in real MSP growth between years 2014–15 to 2025–26. For crops such as Paddy (rice), Maize, Tur/Arhar, Urad (lentils), and Groundnut, the growth rate in the last decade was less than 1% per annum.

The official press release of the Union Government has remained almost silent about paddy, the most important Kharif crop as the inconvenient truth is that its MSP has been increased by a mere ₹69 per quintal. According to the national average cost projected by CACP, the C2+50% price for paddy comes to ₹3,135 per quintal, but the declared MSP is only ₹2,369, which means a loss of ₹766 per quintal. If we look at the cost projected by the states for paddy, it is ₹2787 in Punjab, ₹3673 in Telangana and Rs.4159 in Maharashtra per quintal. These states had recommended MSPs of ₹4,281, ₹5,510, and ₹4,783 per quintal respectively. This clearly shows that in many states, even according to government figures, farmers will struggle to recover their cost of production from paddy crop sales. According to the CACP, across India merely 17.3 per cent of paddy farmers have benefited from procurement at MSP in 2023-24. The paddy procurement at MSP was very meagre in BJP-NDA ruled States like Uttar Pradesh (5.8%), Bihar (4.1%), and Assam (below 5%). Even Congress ruled Karnataka and JMM ruled Jharkhand procured less than 5 per cent of produce from paddy farmers. Most States have also flagged that costs are higher than the CACP cost estimates. Drawing on data from Agricultural Statistics at a Glance for 2023–24 agricultural year, clearly there is a lack of alignment between procurement levels and the increase in MSP. Pertinently, only 0.23 per cent of Tur/Arhar production, 0.72 percent of Groundnut production, and 9.3 per cent of Cotton production has been procured.

The government has made exaggerated claims that the MSP has been increased by ₹820 for Nigerseed, ₹596 for Ragi, ₹589 for Cotton, and ₹579 for Sesamum per quintal. But even these increased prices fall far short of the C2+50% benchmark, and farmers will have to bear heavy losses. The MSP for Nigerseed has been fixed at ₹9,537 per quintal, while the C2+50% price should be ₹12,037 — this means a loss of ₹2,500 per quintal for the farmer.

Similarly, in the case of Ragi, the government has fixed the MSP at ₹4,886 per quintal, but the C2+50% price, as per CACP’s projections, should be ₹5,964 — which means the farmer will get ₹1,078 less per quintal than the C2+50%  price.

Looking at the figures for cotton, the C2+50% price is ₹10,075 per quintal, whereas the government has announced an MSP of only ₹7,710 — compelling the farmer to sell the crop at a loss of ₹2,365 per quintal.

It is notable that the Telangana Government had in 2024-25 demanded ₹16,000 per quintal. In Sesamum, the C2+50% price should be ₹12,948, but the government has declared an MSP of ₹9,537 — resulting in a loss of ₹3,102 per quintal for the farmer.

In Jowar (sorghum), the government-declared MSP is ₹3,699 per quintal, but the C2+50% cost, as per CACP, is ₹4,809 — which means the farmer will receive ₹1,110 less per quintal. Not only this, the CACP-projected cost for Karnataka is ₹3,802, and the state’s projected cost is ₹5,232 per quintal, while Maharashtra’s projected cost is ₹4,163 — meaning that in these states, the income from crop sales will not even cover the cost of cultivation.

The same situation prevails in the case of Bajra (pearl millet) and Maize. The MSP for Bajra has been set at ₹2,775 and for Maize at ₹2,400 per quintal, whereas the C2+50% cost based on CACP’s projections is ₹3,313 and ₹2,928 respectively. Even in Gujarat — Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state — the state government has projected the cost of production for Maize at ₹2,991 and suggested an MSP of ₹4,550. This means that if a Gujarati farmer sells Maize at the Centre’s MSP rates, he will receive ₹591 less than his cost of production.

These losses calculated above are based on government-projected costs. The truth, which everyone knows, is that the actual cost of production is much higher than the cost projected by the CACP. The continuously rising input costs are increasing the farmers’ expenses, but they are not receiving a fair price for their produce. This is the reason behind the prevailing agrarian crisis and the ongoing farmers’ suicides in the country.

The All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) has therefore warned the BJP-led Union government to desist from data manipulation and refrain from misleading the public. AIKS calls upon all its units to expose the farcical claims. The AIKS has re-committed itself to unite with farmers’ organisations to launch a fierce movement demanding fair price for crops.

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The post NDA’s 11 years of betrayal: MSP of Kharif crop way below promised C2+50% appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Her family once owned 50 bighas of land (over 31 acres; 1 bigha = 0.6 acre), but today, those fields lie across the river.

In the past 60 years, the Ganga’s constant erosion and shifting course have forced her to move several times. Once a landowner, she now survives as a daily wage labourer, living in a roadside hut at the edge of the village with her husband and four children.

Devi’s story echoes across Bhojpur, where thousands of farmers have been repeatedly displaced by the river’s unpredictable flow. “One by one, our lands are being swallowed by the Ganga while many areas teeter on the brink,” she said.

For families across the affected villages, losing their land has meant a life of instability. They are forced into makeshift huts along the Buxar–Koilwar embankment while they survive day to day with little to no help from the state, says Sohan Gond, a farmer.

The River Redraws Lives

To understand the story of Bhojpur, one has to look at the geography of the region. Bhojpur shares a border with Uttar Pradesh, and the altered course of the Ganga along the two states has deepened long-standing tensions between farmers on both sides.

According to Dayashankar Singh, a resident of Sohra Tribhuani who has spent years petitioning both the courts and governments of Bihar and UP, much of the land once owned by Bhojpur farmers now not only lies across the river but also across the state line.

This situation has sparked confusion and disputes over who legally owns the land, Singh says. “When a farmer from Bihar steps onto his old land, strongmen from UP threaten and drive him away,” he added.

In 1970, the Ganga dramatically altered its course, shifting from Ballia in UP towards the Bhojpur border in Bihar, causing widespread erosion. Over the past 46 years, the river has moved nearly 10 kilometres south into Bhojpur, turning thousands of acres of once-fertile farmland into barren stretches of sand and silt.

“And the remaining fertile land is now embroiled in a border dispute between Ballia and Bhojpur,” added Singh.

A Conflict Older Than Independence

Historical records show that the shifting Ganga has changed the geography of at least 192 villages across Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Singh explained that the border dispute began under British rule and remains unresolved to this day.

From the colonial era through the late 20th century, contested ownership in the Diara region has often turned violent, with communities clashing over land rights. The Diara refers to tracts of land formed in the middle of the Ganga over decades due to the gradual deposition of sand.

In Sohra Tribhuani alone, nearly 5,600 bighas (3,500 acres) of land from the village and its surrounding areas were gradually submerged by the river and now lie across in UP. Despite repeated efforts to resolve the issue, including a demarcation attempt by the Trivedi Commission appointed by the government in 1960, no lasting solution has been achieved, said Singh.

Legal Red-Tape

Singh, who is also fighting for the restoration of his old land rights, explained that after the formation of the Trivedi Commission a significant portion of land in two maujas (a traditional revenue or administrative unit used in rural India) of the Barhara region—Mandrauli Kans (also known as Tribhuani) and Mohanpur—was transferred from Bihar to Uttar Pradesh, among other recommendations. These recommendations were accepted by the late Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri and conveyed to the two state governments.

Later, the farmers of Bihar tried to apply for ryoti rights—legal tenancy rights that allow a person (called a rayat) to cultivate government-allocated land and claim ownership over it.

Although these rights are applicable across India, the farmers now had to approach Uttar Pradesh authorities since their land had shifted across the border.

However, they were denied the land rights

Singh said, “When we didn’t get ryoti rights from the Uttar Pradesh government, we were forced to approach the court. So, we filed a petition in the Allahabad High Court.” (Petition number 11720/86)

In 1997, the Allahabad High Court ruled in favour of the farmers, directing the Revenue Secretaries of both Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, along with the Surveyor General of India and district magistrates of Ballia and Bhojpur, to ensure that ryoti rights were granted to farmers of Mandrauli Kans and Mohanpur maujas within six months.

When no action was taken, the farmers filed a contempt petition (72610/98) against the officials. Following this, the Revenue Department of Uttar Pradesh issued a notification on March 25, 2000, officially including the two maujas in Uttar Pradesh.

Then, in 2007, the Ballia District Magistrate’s office published a notice in newspapers asking for verification of land records. “Farmers from Bihar promptly submitted their documents, but no action was taken. Later, in 2014, Rameshwar Singh from Sohra village filed a fresh petition in the Allahabad High Court, which resulted in a verdict in 2017—still, the Ballia administration remained inactive,” Singh said.

Frustrated by the ongoing delays, another Pawan Kumar Singh (60) filed another petition (10111/2017) in the same court. On October 4, 2017, the Ballia District Magistrate was ordered to collect documents from Uttar Pradesh farmers, but they failed to submit any. Seizing the opportunity, the Bihar farmers again submitted their land records, which the Ballia DM forwarded to the Bhojpur DM for verification.

However, the Bhojpur DM claimed that all land documents had been transferred to Ballia back in 1972, and no verification was possible. Since then, the Bihar farmers have been stuck between two district offices, still denied their raiyat (tenancy) rights.

“This is exactly why tensions keep flaring between farmers of Sohra and Padminiyabecause of errors made long ago by the survey officials…this is why we are still waiting for justice,” said Singh.

Landless Landowners

Due to ongoing conflicts, rightful landowners from Bihar are unable to farm their land, which remains under illegal occupation by strongmen from Uttar Pradesh, covering around 6,041 bighas.

Sohan Gond, a daily wage labourer from Sohra, said, “I’m landless today.” Forced to migrate for work, he struggles to find employment as he’s asked for caste and residence certificates—documents that the Bhojpur administration won’t issue since he has no legal claim to land. “My family of my wife, four children and I often survive without proper food, relying solely on daily wages of 300 to 350 rupees,” Gond says.

According to Singh, the situation remains unchanged due to the indifference of the Bihar and Uttar Pradesh governments. “This despite the fact that there are court orders over the issue. Farmers are still unable to reclaim their land. And across the Ganga, the strongmen from Uttar Pradesh have been farming on their land for years,” Singh added.

Singh explains that, according to the Trivedi Commission, the boundary between Bihar and Uttar Pradesh was established in 1882 based on the course of the Ganga and Saryu rivers, with the stream between them serving as the official border.

“Under that understanding, the farmers’ ryoti rights were meant to be protected and should remain intact,” he said.

Fight Forward

Singh saif that for years, farmers have pooled donations to fight for their land rights in court, but no one has received justice so far. The government’s efforts so far have also been insufficient, he adds.

The social worker is now trying to take the issue to the Prime Minister through the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh. He said, “The government must choose one of two options: either pass a proposal in the Lok Sabha to transfer the disputed land to Bihar, or grant the farmers ryoti rights based on their submitted documents.”

On this matter, the current District Magistrate of Bhojpur district, Tanai Sultania, expressed ignorance and said that further action would be taken after receiving the necessary information.

Himanshu Praveen is a freelance journalist and a member of 101Reporters, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.

Courtesy: Newsclick

The post Living on Edge: Farmers in This Bihar District Battle River and Red Tape appeared first on SabrangIndia.

In a press statement, the farmers’ organisation said “large-scale deaths due to thunderstorms and heavy rainfall have been reported from Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Haryana and other states. At least 54 and 24 people died in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra respectively, with some deaths reported from Hisar in Haryana and Delhi-NCR as well.”

It said the deaths have been due to lightning strikes, accidental flooding, and collapse of trees, streetlights and even buildings.

“Around 55 animals, many of them livestock, were reported to have been killed by lightning in different districts of Maharashtra. Mango orchards in the Lucknow-Unnao belt are also reported to be severely damaged. Maharashtra has been rocked by completely unseasonal rains since the second week of May, and horticultural and late Rabi crops have suffered extensive damage across ten districts.”

Appealing to the Centre and state government to take stock of the damages and compensated the farmers and the affected families, the AIKS flagged of more possible damages as weather forecasts were predicting continued heavy rainfall and thunderstorms over the weekend across the country.

Read the full statement below:

Press Statement

More than 80 People Killed in Unseasonal Heavy Rainfall

Massive Damage to Crops and Orchards

AIKS Demands Adequate Ex-Gratia and Compensation to Victims

AIKS views the extreme weather situation developing around the country with grave concern. Large-scale deaths due to thunderstorms and heavy rainfall have been reported from Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Haryana and other states. At least 54 and 24 people died in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra respectively, with some deaths reported from Hisar in Haryana and Delhi-NCR as well.

Deaths have been reported from lightning strikes, accidental flooding, and collapse of trees, streetlights and even buildings. Around 55 animals, many of them livestock, were reported to have been killed by lightning in different districts of Maharashtra. Mango orchards in the Lucknow-Unnao belt are also reported to be severely damaged. Maharashtra has been rocked by completely unseasonal rains since the second week of May, and horticultural and late Rabi crops have suffered extensive damage across ten districts.

Weather forecasts were predicting continued heavy rainfall and thunderstorms over the weekend across the country.

Extreme-weather events have become more common in India over the last few years. A 2023 report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) had warned that the frequency of such short-duration disturbances, like thunderstorms, will increase in South Asia, leading to heavier rainfall. In urban areas, given that over the last century most of the natural water bodies like ponds and lakes have been lost, and replaced by unplanned construction, flooding has become a recurrent theme in the run up to the monsoon season. Despite these freak-incidents every year, governments are not acting sufficiently to develop flood-resistant infrastructure that protects the urban poor.

AIKS demands an adequate ex-gratia to the families of the deceased be released by the governments in the affected states. Adequate compensation must also be given to the farmers who have lost their standing crops, fruit orchards and livestock. These weather disturbances are a forewarning of further loss of life and property in the coming days if the governments, both at the level of state and Centre, do not act.

Sd/-

Ashok Dhawale, President

Vijoo Krishnan, General Secretary

Courtesy: Newsclick

The post Unseasonal Rains: Over 80 Dead, Huge Damage to Crops, Orchards; AIKS Demands Ex-Gratia appeared first on SabrangIndia.