THE BJP led central government has announced the minimum support prices for the Kharif Marketing Season 2019-20. In a situation when farmers across the country are in acute distress due to severe drought, the prices announced only add salt to injury. It has announced a meagre 3.7 per cent hike in the prices of paddy despite the fact that costs of production over the year have drastically increased. This will only mean an increase of Rs 65/quintal.

ON June 12, a team of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), visited the second most drought-hit district in the country after Jaisalmer in Rajasthan-Ananthapuram in Andhra Pradesh. Ananthapuram has been reeling under chronic and severe drought for over one decade. This district has seen thousands of farmer suicides in the last two decades and massive migration of lakhs of people due to lack of work, food and water.

Below we publish the statement issued by the All India Kisan Sabha on May 3PEPSICO’S expression of intent to withdraw lawsuit against farmers is a significant victory in the struggle for protecting farmers’ seed freedoms. However, nothing concrete has been done by them yet in that direction. AIKS demands that the company come clear and walk the talk or brace for more intense protests. The Gujarat state government should also come clear on what are the negotiations that it is having with the company.

NEARLY a year after the first Kisan Long March from March 6 to 12, 2018, the AIKS Maharashtra state council held at Nashik on February 4, 2019, took the major decision of launching a second massive Kisan Long March in defence of the rights of the peasantry. This long march, which will begin from Nashik on February 20, the martyrdom anniversary of Comrade Govind Pansare, will culminate in Mumbai on February 27, the martyrdom anniversary of Chandrashekhar Azad.

A DELEGATION comprising Jitendra Chaudhary MP, K K Ragesh MP and other leaders of the AIKS met Suresh Prabhu, union minister for commerce and industry on February 10. He assured immediate intervention on the pressing issues of coffee growers in the country. The minister conveyed that a meeting of officers of coffee board, ministry officials and leaders of the small coffee growers sub committee affiliated to AIKS will be convened at the earliest. Highly volatile world market is the most important factor that goes against the interests of small growers.