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More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard. Digital Editor<doc-sep>Besides loan waiver and MSP+50 per cent as remuneration, the farmers are now demanding fixed income As the 10-day agitation of farmers entered sixth day on Wednesday, they decided to register their protest by giving milk for free at the government hospitals a day after (June 7). Incidentally, today is also the first anniversary of Mandsaur agitation in Madhya Pradesh wherein six protesting farmers were killed as police opened fire. While two of their demands—loan waiver and MSP +50 per cent as remuneration—are long pending, the new demand that they have come up with is fixed or assured income for small and marginal farmers. “Only 6 per cent farmers of the country get MSP. Even the Shanta Kumar Committee confirms this. So, even if the government accedes to their demand of MSP +50 per cent, what about the 94 per cent farmers? It is for them that the principle of assured income stands true,” says agriculture expert Devinder Sharma. A team of ten experts, including him, has worked out that Rs 18,000 should be fixed as assured monthly income to farmers. So, if a farmer gets only Rs 6,000 from his produce, the rest must be paid by the state governments. Sharma said they have also prepared a report for the same and it will be out soon. But, are state governments ready to pay this? “The seventh pay commission will honour 4.5 million employees and 5 million pensioners, which, according to an assessment, would cost Rs 480,000 crore. If you can spend this much on 1 per cent of population, why not on farmers who account for 52 per cent of population,” Sharma asks. The farmers also demand that even those who sell milk, vegetables and fruits must be brought under the ambit of minimum support price umbrella and a law must be made for the same. Meanwhile, the agitating farmers say nobody from the government has approached them for discussion, though their strike has led to spurt in prices of fruits and vegetables. “It is most unfortunate that Prime Minister Narendra Modi or any of his representatives has refused to take cognisance and talk to any of us. Therefore, on June 8, we will petition President Ram Nath Kovind and also give him fresh vegetables and fruits,” says Kakka Ji Sharma, president of Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Mahasangh (RKMM), which claims to be the apex body of 130 farmer organisations. Farmers would go on hunger strike and Bharat Bandh on June 9 and June 10 respectively, according to Sharma. “If the government still does not pay heed to our demands, we will continue the agitation after that as well,” says Rahul Raj, the Uttar Pradesh chief of the organisation. On being asked whether they would continue blocking vegetables, milk and fruits from coming to cities after June 10, he said the format of the agitation will be decided later. The organisation also claimed that their agitation is going on in 22 states, including Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala and Gujarat. A few state chapters of the organisation even gave up the agitation, thus pointing out fissures in the movement. Rebutting the allegation, Kakka ji explained the situation by citing example of Punjab, “Every dairy farmer in Punjab produces 200-300 litres of milk daily. Since it was going waste, it led to some tension among the farmers. We did not want any untoward incident to happen, so we asked them to back off.” Besides four national demands, many state chapters have also come up with state-wise demands. The Madhya Pradesh farmers are demanding that FIR be lodged in the Mandsaur firing incident. They also question why the commission, which was formed to inquire into the incident, has not come out with any report which it was supposed to in three months. “Till date, most of the farmers are participating voluntarily and are not supplying anything to cities. But from June 7, we would even reach out to those farmers who are still supplying and convince them not to do so,” says Sandeep Gidde, representative of RKMM from Maharashtra. Donate Now We are a voice to you; you have been a support to us. Together we build journalism that is independent, credible and fearless. You can further help us by making a donation. This will mean a lot for our ability to bring you news, perspectives and analysis from the ground so that we can make change together. India Environment Portal Resources :<doc-sep>Mumbai: A resurgent Congress in Madhya Pradesh will launch its assembly election campaign 6 June when party president Rahul Gandhi attends a public meeting in Mandsaur to pay tribute to five farmers killed in police firing last year. Congress functionaries in Madhya Pradesh said around 200,000 farmers are likely to attend the meeting. They said farm issues would set the agenda for the assembly election, and that the Congress was keen to get a head start on the farm front. Madhya Pradesh goes to polls along with two other Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled states of Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh in October-November. “This would be a reminder to the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh of how it killed innocent farmers on June 6 last year. We expect around 2 lakh farmers to attend the meeting," Jitu Patwari, the working president of Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee, told Mint on the phone. He said the Congress president would also present his vision for “prosperous farming" at the meeting. “Though the context will be Madhya Pradesh elections and farmers’ plight in Madhya Pradesh, Rahul ji would propose a national idea of ‘fixed minimum income per acre’ for farmers. This fixed minimum income can be provided either by the market or by the government. This idea can be implemented by launching it initially across all 350 revenue divisions in the country. The government should prepare division-level plans for agriculture based on the climate conditions and crop patterns in a particular division. This can later be replicated at the tehsil level. The Congress party is confident that this idea, if implemented well, would solve 90% of the problems confronting the farmers," Patwari said. He added that the Congress, if elected to power in Madhya Pradesh, would implement this plan in the state. Last year, a farmers’ protest in Mandsaur turned violent and five farmers died in the police firing that ensued. The Congress party, eyeing a return to power in the state after 15 years, latched on to farmers’ resentment to highlight the ground reality against the government's claims of a consistent 20% per annum growth of agriculture productivity. Another state Congress functionary, who did not want to be named, told Mint that Congress wanted to set the agenda for the 2018 elections by not allowing the BJP get a head start “like in 2014". With party veteran and MP from Chhindwara Kamal Nath being made the state unit chief in April along with an organizational revamp, the Congress is trying to forge unity among all its factions and build a campaign to exploit the sentiment of anti-incumbency against the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government. On 3 June, Nath led a Congress delegation to the Election Commission of India (EC) to complain about 6 million “bogus voters" in Madhya Pradesh. The EC has ordered a probe into voters’ lists in four assembly constituencies. Encouraged by the success of its alliance with the Janata Dal (Secular) in Karnataka, the Congress in Madhya Pradesh is in talks with the Bahujan Samaj Party, Samajwadi Party, and the local Gondwana Party for a pre-poll coalition, Kamal Nath told reporters last week. Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter.<doc-sep>Six farmers were killed in Mandsaur during their agitation for better price for their produce in June last year. One year down the line, the city has continued to draw national attention with a bevy of leaders descending here as it has become a focal point of farmer’s agitation in the state, but the moot cause of farmer’s angst, i.e. depressed prices of farmers’ produce, still persists. “Farmers are still angry. Last year, it was depressed soyabean and onion prices that had agitated the farmers; this year, crashing garlic prices, which are being sold at Rs 2 per kg, is the main reason for farmer’s anger. Nothing has changed for the farmer, and the Bhavantar scheme has helped the trader more than the farmer,” says local journalist Ajay Lodha. Since the Bhavantar scheme was introduced in August 2017, over 6.35 lakh farmers have registered themselves and Rs 1,900 crore has been distributed for farmers till March 2018. The death of six people, four from dominant Patidar community, remains a sore point. The families of the deceased have received compensation of Rs 1 crore, which has been kept in fixed deposit, but their anger still remains. Dinesh Patidar of Barkhedapanth, 10 km away from Mandsaur city, whose son Abhishekh (17) died in the police firing, said, “We are still angry that no action has been taken against the policemen who killed my son,” he said. Not surprisingly, family members of all the six deceased are expected to take part in Rahul Gandhi’s rally in Mandsaur on Wednesday. The anger also persists because of the 1,200 case bonds under Section 107/16 of CrPC in the district and 400 cases registered against villagers for the June 2017 violence. “Some of us had to go to jail, and though police are not acting tough now and we have received bail, we have to go to court for our cases,” said farmers’ leader Amritlal Patidar, against whom there are 23 cases. A timeline of events leading up to and since the Mandsaur agitation: June 1, 2017: Farmers start agitation for better price for their produce. June 2-3, 2017: Reports of farmers spilling milk, destroying vegetables come in from various part of the state. June 4, 2017: Reports of vehicle burning from Ratlam. Police do not take action against farmers. June 5, 2017: Farmers and traders clash in Pipliyamandi. Farmers burns half a dozen shops. June 6, 2017: Protest in Bai Chaupati, Pipliamandi turns violent and two farmers are shot dead by CRPF. Mob gheraos police station and three more agitators are killed in police firing. One killed in Daloda, Mandsaur in police lathi charge, curfew imposed for six days. June 8, 2017: Rahul Gandhi stopped from entering Mandsaur, arrested and released June 9, 2017: Justice JK Jain commission appointed, which completed its term in May 11, 2018. Report awaited. June 13, 2017: Jyotiraditya Scindia stopped from entering Mandsaur to meet family of victims. May 2, 2018: Farmers’ organisation announces statewide strike from June 1-10. Government starts case bonds on villagers. Over 7,000 notices issued by local administration and thousands of farmers filled up the bonds. June 1, 2018: Farmers start Gaon Bandh amid strict police vigil. June2-5, 2018: Strike gathers momentum as most grain mandis in Malwa region remain closed, supply of milk and vegetables drop considerably leading to spike in prices. June 6, 2018: Rahul Gandhi’s rally scheduled in Pipliayamandi, near Mandsaur, to pay homage to the farmers killed last year.<doc-sep>
Rahul Gandhi promises farmers loan waiver with 10 days of winning the election, accuses BJP of being anti-farmer. Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday virtually launched his party’s campaign for the Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, scheduled for around November, by promising loan waiver to farmers within 10 days if the Congress is voted to power. To mark the first anniversary of the farmers’ protest at Mandsaur that killed six people in police firing, Mr. Gandhi addressed a Kisan Samriddhi Sankalp [Farmer Prosperity Resolve] rally at the Piplia Mandi ground in Mandsaur, where he accused the BJP governments across the country of being “anti-farmer.” “From this stage, I want to tell the farmers of Mandsaur and across the country... Kamal Nathji and Scindiaji (Jyotiraditya) are here. The day the Congress comes to power... I guarantee that farmers’ loan will be waived within 10 days. It won’t take even 12 days,” said Mr. Gandhi amid loud cheers from the crowd. “In the entire county, farmers are demanding their rights, yelling and committing suicide, but the Modi government and the BJP government in the States have little space for them,” the Congress chief said in a reference to the on-going strike by farmers. He accused the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government of “usurping 15% from a farmer’s earnings.” Justice for firing victims He promised “justice for the victims of police firing” within 10 days by seeking accountability of officials who ordered the police to open fire on farmers last year. Before the rally, he met the families who had lost their loved ones in the firing. The Congress chief launched an attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, claiming that he was not ready to listen to the plight of the farmers while he was willing to write off ₹2.5 lakh crore in bank dues of 15 top industrialists. “I met the Prime Minister only once and told him that crores of farmers have sent me here. They want me to bring their voices to you, talk about their problems. But he only had this [paused for about 10 seconds to imply Mr. Modi’s silence] to offer. Narendra Modi ji didn’t offer one word for the farmer,” he alleged. In contrast, he argued, the UPA government had waived ₹70,000 crore in farm loans. Loss of jobs Mr. Gandhi took a dig at BJP’s pre-election promise of putting ₹15 lakhs in every Indian’s bank account by asking the crowd if they had received even one rupees from PM Modi. “If you want to listen to lies, then you are wasting your time here,” he said. Mr. Gandhi asserted that his party sought to transform the lives of the people in MP by improving agriculture, setting up food processing units in every district and creating jobs for the youth. Pointing out that right now everything was ‘Made in China’ and India was losing jobs, he said: “I have a dream that five years from now, when I come here, the phone I use is Made in Mandsaur.” In the faction-ridden Madhya Pradesh Congress, Mr Gandhi talked about fighting elections as a team, took care to name both Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia and had a clear message: “My message to the leaders is that they hit the streets and connect with the people on the ground. Those who connect with the matti [soil] of Madhya Pradesh will form the government.”