People's Voice - February 16-29, 2008

They shouted militantly “Down with the UPA government - murderer of peasants”, “Peasants demand protection of their livelihood”, “We demand – guaranteed procurement at remunerative prices!” to draw attention of the people of Delhi towards the issues and problems of peasants.

On January 31, 2008, hundreds of children marched from Mandi House to Jantar Mantar under the banner of Lok Raj Sangathan to protest against peasants' suicides that have plagued the country due to indebtedness.

Children came from working class colonies in different parts of Delhi. They came from some prominent public schools of Delhi. There were children from Tilak Vihar, popularly known as Widows Colony, because many of the widows of the genocide of 1984 were settled there. Organisations like the Sach Productions, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Ankur, Rajasthan Shikshak Manch, Hind Naujawan Ekta Sabha, Purogami Mahila Sangathan, and Ankur sent delegations of activists, old and young, to actively participate in the rally.

These children came out on the streets on a biting cold day to express their concern for the peasants of different parts of the country who are in the grip of an acute crisis. In particular, they were expressing empathy with children who have been orphaned as a result of disastrous agrarian policies of the government which had led to mass suicides. Ironically, it was a delegation of orphaned children from Punjab, the state regarded as the “success story” of the first Green Revolution that led the way with the banner “NO MORE PEASANT SUICIDES”.

The police stopped the rally much before the intended destination, the Agricultural Ministry. This is where the rally became a mass gathering.

Addressing the gathering, Mujtaba Farooq, representative of the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind said that it is the agriculture policy of the government that is forcing the farmers to commit suicide.

The President of the Lok Raj Sangathan, S. Raghavan pointed out that political parties use the issues and problems of the farmers simply to degrade each other and not as a matter of concern. The government and the opposition are only concerned about the stock market. Through this rally, the working class children of Delhi have warned the government that the people of the country are keeping a close eye on them and they want real solutions to their problems.

Children of peasants from Punjab addressed the rally and said that their fathers had committed suicide due to indebtedness and that they are thousands of children just like them in Punjab.

The leader of the Rajasthan Teachers organization Cmde Hanuman Prasad said that he was extremely happy that children of workers had come forward to show solidarity with the children of farmers and are fighting shoulder to shoulder.

After the protest march a delegation consisting two of the orphaned children, along with the all India Convenor of Lok Raj Sangathan Prakash Rao, went to submit a memorandum to the Honourable Agricultural Minister Shri Sharad Pawar.

Memorandum from Indian peasants: demand for right to livelihood and for cancellation of all debts

(Presented to the Union Minister of Agriculture)

The Ministry of Agriculture should take responsibility to provide secure livelihood to every family affected by peasant suicide, including immediate relief of Rs. 1 crore each.
Cancellation of all debts from all financial institutions including public and private sector banks, agricultural cooperatives, rural banks, etc.
Guaranteed procurement of all agricultural commodities at remunerative prices, to prevent peasants from being driven to distress sale, and which enable their families to live a decent life. It is the duty of the government to ensure that peasants do not become bankrupt.
Instead of announcing piecemeal and temporary measures to address the crisis in agriculture, the government should come up with comprehensive policies to make agriculture viable and sustainable for the peasants. To this end the government should enact legislation to curb acquiring of agricultural land from peasants by private companies, and ban contract farming as well as other practices that endanger their security of land and livelihood.
Ban the import of wheat and other foodgrains forthwith and arrange for state procurement of these commodities from farmers at reasonable prices.
6. Ensure that agricultural workers have the same rights as the organized sector workers and are given at least minimum wages, and other benefits such as security of livelihood, accident insurance, old age pension, etc.
Agriculture should be kept out of WTO and the government should not agree to sign any agreements that harm the interests of peasants.
A complete ban should be imposed on commercial use and distribution of all genetically modified seeds and foods in the country.

Hoping that you will impress upon the government to take immediate action on these issues: