New Delhi, Nov 20: After
their repeated requests to prevent peasant suicide and look for solutions to
their problems fell on deaf ears, thousands of ryots from all over the country
congregated in the national capital on Monday, beginning their two-day
agitation to press for their two main demands - 'better prices for their
produce and complete freedom from debt'.
During the protest, called by
the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC), farmers from
around 180 peasant organisations from over 20 states in the country, also
started a protest march from Ram Leela ground to Parliament Street.
Participating in 'Kisan Mukti Sansad,' the agitating ryots demanded the government
to ensure that peasants are freed from all kinds of debts and that they get
remunerative prices for their yield, as recommended by the Swaminathan
Committee. A draft ‘bill’ encompassing the two demands will be
introduced and passed after a debate by the farmers’ parliament. According
to All India Kisan Sabha President Ashok Dhawale, 'Our main demand will be full
remunerative prices as a legal entitlement with correct cost estimations and at
least a 50 per cent profit margin over the cost of production. 'We will also demand freedom from debt, including an
immediate comprehensive loan waiver, as well as statutory institutional
mechanism to address the farmers' debt on an ongoing basis,' he said.
'Even though Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his Lok Sabha poll campaign,
had promised that if elected, farmers would get good prices for their crops and
he would implement the Swaminathan Commission recommendations, nothing has been
done so far,' Mr Dhawale added. According to the AIKSCC, 'a steady rise in input costs, like
fuel, pesticides and fertilisers and even water, and slashing of subsidies by
the government' were some of the key factors behind cost versus income
imbalance, presently being faced by the peasants. UNI
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