Massive Protest Action of Himachal Peasants' for Protection of Land Rights

HUNDREDS of peasants and agricultural workers under the red flag and banners of Himachal Kisan Sabha and Himachal Apple Growers' Association marched to the Himachal Pradesh Secretariat demanding protection of land rights. They sat on dharna braving heavy rain and hailstorm on May 3-4. It was inaugurated by Rakesh Singha, former general secretary of CPI(M) HP state committee and leader of trade union movement as well as of Apple Growers' Association.

Model Land Leasing Act: Turning the Clock Backwards

WHEN the BJP government announced, in its latest budget, that it is determined to double farmers’ income in next seven years, the nation looked with awe. Critiques pondered over how that could happen in such a short time. The analysts scanned the budget documents to find out the allocations for agrarian infrastructure. But the government silently worked its way to create a new agrarian structure that coerces the small and marginal farmers to part with their precious piece of land and become daily wage labourers in the by-lanes of urban landscape.

Acute Agrarian Distress in Marathwada Region

CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat joined a Kisan Sabha campaign on the issue of acute agrarian distress in the Marathwada region in Maharashtra on April 24-25. She, along with other leaders, visited 15-20 villages and met farmers and MGNREGA workers in Aurangabad, Beed and Jalna districts. She also visited cattle fairs and cattle shelters.

Black-List the Pvt Financial Firm Responsible for TN Farmer’s Death: AIKS

AZHAGAR, a young farmer from Tamilnadu aged only 26 years committed suicide after officials of a private financial firm seized his tractor to recover Rs Two lakh loan from him. The news of the seizure of the tractor had been reported widely on the same day that Vijay Mallya, accused of defrauding banks of over Rs 9000 crore was allowed by the Narendra Modi-led BJP government to flee the country. Azhagar was physically assaulted and insulted by the officials of the private financial firm.

Sericulture Farmers Hold Dharna in Delhi

HUNDREDS of sericulture farmers from Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh assembled in Delhi at Jantar Mantar on February 29 and had a day-long dharna. Sericulture farmers are in an acute crisis due to the BJP government decision to cut import duty of raw silk drastically to just 10 percent. Earlier UPA government had reduced import duty from 33 percent to 5 percent and then due to protests increased to 15 percent. This was reduced to 10 percent. This has led to dumping of cheap silk from China and also illegally through Nepal and other neighbouring countries.

AIKS Calls for Peasant Protest Week from April 8-14

THE union budget 2016-17 is a serious rightward shift to further fortify the domination of monopoly trade and agri-business interests over agro-processing and marketing sector, intensifying the neo-liberal reforms which are the root cause of the current acute crisis in agriculture. The proposals of 100 percent FDI through the FIPB- Foreign Investment Promotion Board route on food products and processing and to start e-platform by amending APMC Act for marketing of agro produce are two obvious examples in support of big capital and MNCs.The farmers are reeling under acute agrarian crisis ma

AIKS State Convention Gives Call for Massive Struggle in March

ON January 28, 2016, the AIKS Maharashtra council held a vibrant state-level convention in Nashik that gave a clarion call for an unprecedented statewide siege (mahapadav) of one lakh peasants from March 29 onwards in Nashik city. It was attended by over 700 leading activists from 21 districts. This struggle call was the culmination of a four-month long AIKS campaign in Maharashtra.

Alternative Agricultural Policies Necessary for Development of Bihar

THE All India Kisan Sabha and the Prantiya Khetihar Mazdoor Union have jointly organised a one-day seminar on alternative agricultural policies for the development of Bihar in the era of neo-liberalism. From all accounts, it was a very rich experience where veterans of peasant movements were joined by Patna-based intellectuals and teachers who were unanimous that the agricultural scenario and the development of Bihar is intrinsically linked with the successful implementation of land reform.

AIAWU Demands Doubling of the Budgetary Outlays for MNREGA

THE All India Agricultural Workers Union (AIAWU), in a statement issued on February 10, has called on the agricultural workers of the country to unite against the attack on their most effective social security law, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.

AIKS Expresses Concern over GM Mustard

THE All India Kisan Sabha in a statement issued on February 4, notes with concern that the minister of environment and forests is pursuing aggressively for commercial release of GM mustard without carrying out stringent bio-safety tests. The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee is meeting on February 5 to take a decision on the matter. It is to be noted that there is no stringent fool-proof regulatory regime to look into transgenics and possible impact on bio-safety and bio-diversity.

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Agrarian Issues