One Year of Modi Government and the Agrarian Crises

Pranjal - Hello and welcome to Newsclick. Today we have with us Vijoo Krishnan, who is Jt Secretary of All India Kisan Sabha. We are going to discuss about past one year about Modi Govt and the agrarian distress that this country has seen.

Hello Vijoo, Modi had promised various things in their Manifesto and promised various agrarian reforms that will bring in that will benefit the farmers. But it looks like nothing has happened in the ground. So whats the entire thing he had talked about and what he did not deliver?

Vijoo Krishnan - The govt has gone back on each one of the promises that it made. Another promise it had made was about a national land use policy, which would ensure that base lands would be developed and also that the food security concerns of the nation would be protected. We all know what the govt has done about the land acquisition act. It has literally lead to an act which would promote corporate land grab at the expense of farmers. Despite widespread protests, the govt is trying to go through and impose this particular land acquisition ordinance in the country. We also see what the Govt is talking, especially what Mr Modi speaks and what is actually being done on the ground is that there is no connect between two. For instance, on WTO negotiations, our position was the interest of the farmers would be  protected, the food security concerns of the country would be protected. This was the public posturing at the WTO. But in the country, the Govt issued a notice to all states saying that, any state which is providing a bonus over and above the minimum support prize, the govt or Food Corporation of India would not take up procurement from those states. Even some states like Chhattisgarh, which is a BJP ruled state, which was providing some bonus. They are at the receiving end of such and it is not that it is not being countered. The people are coming out in protest against these policies.

Pranjal - Vijoo, you have been traveling so far since you have covered a lot of areas so what is the position of farmer suicide, I mean the govt had promised a lot on it that it will reduce but whats the situation today?

Vijoo - The govt promises during the elections did lead the farmers and the rural poor going in a big way and supporting the BJP in the elections and in no little way contributed to their victory but today the government's own account mention that there has been increase in the rate of suicides by the farmers. It is happening even in areas where earlier such a phenomena was unheard or unseen. For instance I was just returned after a two day visit to the villages of Haryana. In the last one month, over 60 farmers have been committed suicide and this is a scenario showcase that the green revolution area and also rise bowl of India and different kinds of thing but these areas are also witnessing farmers suicide in the big way.

Pranjal - What can you trace as the background of all these agrarian distress that we have seen not only in past one year but since last two decades we have seen a series of agrarian distress in the country?

Vijoo - Actually if you have to go to the root of this crisis, we have to speak about the neo-liberal economic policies and the farmer suicides have almost simultaneously with the implementation of neo-liberal policies. We have seen in the last two decades that more than 3 lakh farmers have been committed suicides at the rate of 1 farmer committing suicides every half an hour. Unfortunately all the ruling class parties, whether it is the BJP, the Congress, or even parties like Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi, all miss this very important point. Each one of them are trying to grab the mantle of being farmer friendly or portraying themselves as son of the soil but they are just not able to address this particular issue that it is the neo-liberal policies; the withdrawal of the state from investment in agriculture and rural development and also the gradual dismantling of the support systems were existing that is leading to acute crisis in the agrarian sector. The BJP and Narendra Modi's campaign had been heavily financed by the corporate sector and today is the actually the payback time for Narendra Modi and that is exactly what we are seeing, unfolding in our country as far as the agrarian policies are concerned, as far as the reforms so called reforms in labour are concerned. Each of these sector, it is to promote corporate profiteering that this Govt is functioning and that has lead to this U-turn on whatever has been said in their manifesto.

Pranjal - We have seen on this land acquisition ordinance act which has brought by the Modi govt, there has been wide protest, people are on the street. So what is the way ahead for the farmers and whats the role of left organisations like All India Kisan Sabha in it?

Vijoo - The land acquisition ordinance, the blatant manner in which this govt is trying to push through, despite wide spread opposition to it has in effect managed to unify and build broad based, issue based unity around this particular matter. And going ahead from there we have also been able to take up the issue, not just the question of land acquisition or protest against land acquisition ordinance alone but we are also managed to link the important question of land rights. We have come up with the slogan of ' Bhoo adhikaran nahi Bhoo adhikar chaahiye ' and wide ranging - different sections - of people, different organisations, people's movements, different organisation of peasantry coming together to take up this cause. In fact just after the land acquisition ordinance was passed, across the country we first burnt the copies of the ordinance. More than 300 districts we had a massive protest, in Delhi on 24th February and again on May 5th we had a massive protest. This was also simultaneously we found, there was different protest across the country in different state centres, state capital as well as district head quarters. We also have taken up a signature campaign where we are going to reach out to 5 crore people across the country as part of this campaign against land acquisition ordinance. The left and organisations like Kisan Sabha have taken upon themselves to unite the broadest possible sections and even in case the Modi govt manages to push through this Draconian land acquisition ordinance, we are going to at every single point of injustice and indiscriminate land acquisitions, we will build the broader possible unity and resist such efforts on the ground.

Pranjal - Thank you Vijoo for giving us your time. We would like to end around the note that struggle is the way ahead.

Thank you for watching Newsclick.

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