MORE than sixty thousand rubber growers of Tripura, mostly small peasants comprising both tribal and non-tribal population, are preparing for an intensive statewide struggle to overcome the serious crisis in the plantation sector that grew because of the anti-peasant policies being pursued by the central government. A movement programme on a charter of demands -- 13 points for the central government and four points for the state government -- was adopted by the Tripura State Rubber Growers Association, an affiliate organisation of AIKS, in its 3rd Annual Convention held on July 2 in Agartala. The convention was attended by CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Hannan Mollah. As many as 400 delegates covering all the sub-divisions of the state took part in the meet. Addressing the convention, Hannan Mollah said rubber is an important agri-product that fetches no less than 40 billion rupees in the Indian economy. The north-east region of the country has a high potential to extend rubber plantation. Based on rubber, there are ample opportunity towards rural employment and thereby growth of the rural economy. About 90 per cent of rubber growers are small peasants. Like other agriculture sectors, rubber growers of our country have also become victim to deceitful price mechanism. The central government took its hands off every economic sector leaving those to the whims of the corporate giants. This crisis in rubber sector cannot be isolated from the neo-liberal impact that gripped the country, Mollah asserted. Indian rubber growers at present are competing with synthetic rubber and natural rubber imported from Malaysia and Thailand where the rubber growers get government incentives Rs 2.70 lakh and Rs 1.35 lakh per hectare, respectively, whereas Indian Rubber Board provides only Rs 25,000 per hectare to Indian planters. Thus naturally, Indian growers cannot compete with the imported goods. Whereas the indigenous raw rubber sheet was sold at Rs 262 per kg two years back, now its price has declined to Rs 100 per kg, which is below the production cost. Demanding sufficient incentives for rubber growers, Mollah said to avoid loss in rubber production, a planter requires at least Rs 68,000 subsidy per hectare. But the central government is not ready to concede to this demand rather they are more interested to help increase the profit of the corporate sectors. The so-called ‘achhe din’ that has been brought in our country by the BJP-led NDA government has witnessed 26 per cent higher rate of farmers’ suicide than earlier regime. And now they are bent upon to pass the draconian land acquisition bill to forcibly take over farmers’ land with minimum compensation. Only relentless intensive united struggle of all sections who are hit by the neo-liberal onslaughts is the only option to defeat this attack, Hannan Mollah said. The convention was presided over by a three-member presidium comprising Srimanta Dey, Swapan Debbarma and Saikat Ali. AIKS Tripura State Council secretary Narayan Kar, while inaugurating the convention, said that at present about 60,000 peasants and 30,000 tappers are engaged in rubber plantation. Plantation area is fast expanding in the state. The rural economy of the state is largely dependent on rubber price. He explained the plight of the rubber growers in the state at the moment and presented a charter of demands. The demands are: The Centre must raise Price Elasticity Fund to compensate rubber growers and that it must be entrusted to the Rubber Board of India; minimum support price for raw rubber sheet must be fixed at Rs 200 per kg; the Centre must allocate sufficient fund as demanded by the state government for rehabilitation on rubber plantation to the tribal families who were given land under the Forest Rights Act; fertiliser required for raising new rubber plant must be supplied by the Rubber Board to the planters free of cost; the Rubber Board should take utmost care to maintain quality of the plants; Subsidy to the new rubber planters must be increased; ‘khas’ lands where small rubber growers have raised rubber plantation must be alloted to them; and the State Forest Department must liberalise the process for issuing permit for felling and disposing of old rubber trees. Narayan Debnath, outgoing Secretary of the Association, presented the annual report in the convention. Eight delegates representing each of the eight districts discussed on the annual report. The convention decided to organise a mass squatting before the Regional Rubber Board office or in front of the District Magistrate’s Office in the districts on August 5. Thereafter, leaders of the Association will submit deputations to SDMs to press for the demands. A 47-member state committee was formed from the convention. The new State committee elected Srimanta Dey and Sudip Debnath as President and Secretary of the Association, respectively. (END)