Organisations of farmers who were part of the historic 2020-2021 farmers protest – one that was repeated in February 2024 – have demanded that the NDA government and its Finance Minister speak to real representatives of farmers.
In a statement issued today, one of the constituents of the SKM, the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) has stated that it has come to their notice that the Finance Minister will be holding an in-person Pre-Budget consultations with different stakeholders to solicit ideas and suggestions for the Union Budget, 2024-25 and in the process a meeting with Farmer Associations & Agriculture Economists is scheduled on 21 June, 2024.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) has been submitting Memoranda on agrarian issues with proposals for resolving the acute agrarian crisis. The All India Kisan Sabha, the largest organisation of the peasantry has always been called to place our proposals before the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices for determining Minimum Support Prices for Rabi and Kharif season. However, in this instance the BJP-led NDA Government and the Finance Minister has not invited the SKM leadership or AIKS representatives for the meeting.
However, it is clear from this approach that the Government is continuing to deliberately keep out the real representatives of farmers and indulging in a farcical exercise.
Further, the statement says that the AIKS condemns this approach and demands that the Government talk with the Samyukta Kisan Morcha leadership. It is high time they shed their arrogance, learn lessons from the decisive rebuff in 159 constituencies in the recently concluded elections and call for talks with an open mind. In the absence of such a move, the Government must be ready to face a mass mobilisation of farmers across the country very soon.
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