IT  is a multifaceted  challenge undertaken against the hegemony of  middlemen, mill owners, anti-farmer  state and central government policies and ruling party’s  apathetic attitude, distress sale and  farmer suicides. In a first of its sorts after its recent formation a year back, the  West Bengal state unit of  All India Agricultural Workers Union  (AIAWU) has decided to reach  to  more than 11,000 villages throughout  the state within a fortnight, taking the call of jail bharo programme on August 9, called by the  AIKS  on the plight of the farmers.  Trade Unions have decided to join in the struggle and preparations have already started. Gate meetings in front of factories, street corner meetings in working class areas are being organised. Mass organisations in the state like SFI, DYFI and AIDWA  have also joined the call of the AIKS.

Though there are about 37,000 villages in the state, with rapid urbanisation in many of the villages, agrarian work has taken a back seat.  In many other villages, sustained terror conditions have made it impossible for any agricultural worker to approach others, without being mauled by the TMC hooligans. Amiyo Patra, state secretary of AIAWU, has said that at this stage only the villages with higher intensity of agricultural workers have been selected to take forward the call of jail bharo programme.

Agricultural labourers and farmers are suffering as most of the TMC village level leaders have turned into middlemen for channelising procurement into the markets. So much so that in the suburban districts of Nadia to Bhangar, a kilogram of ridge gourd  for  which the producers are being paid Rs 8, is being  sold at an average of Rs 40-45  in the markets of the state. Same is the condition with bitter gourd, banana, tomato, rice etc.  Even the minimum support price to be paid by the state government is not available to the farmers as the kisan credit cards through which the MSP is disbursed  and debit cards of the  bank accounts  of the peasantry are forcibly taken over by the  middlemen, most of whom are local TMC leaders of the village. As a result, many peasants are unaware about the transactions in their bank accounts. Though thousands of rupees are transacted, yet there is no reflection in the income of the peasants who, then, are unable to pay the debts incurred for the cultivation. 

AIKS has undertaken the campaign of signature collection on peasants demands in the villages. AIKS leaders and activists are busy in door-to- door campaign. Though it is now a rainy season in Bengal, AIKS has reached to thousands of villagers and has talked to them. In some villages, camps for signature collection were organised.