Singhu Border, 9 July (Sangrami Lehar Bureao)- Samyukt Kisan Morcha has already put out a statement to clarify the full picture about Agriculture Infrastructure Fund under the so-called Atmanirbhar Bharat Package. There is no one lakh crore fund allocated by the government as seems to be the wrong perception being put out by flashing of big numbers; nor is there any appreciable pace in implementation. There is not even 1000 crores of budgetary allocation for AIF. Weakening the mandi system through unneeded anti-farmer laws and then saying that the government will facilitate borrowing by the mandis under AIF is just a jumla. It is a rejigged jumla after the first meeting of the expanded cabinet. Union Agriculture Minister saying that the laws will not be repealed but mandis will be strengthened through AIF, and that farmers should resume talks with the government on issues other than repeal is indeed ironic.
Samyukt Kisan Morcha also notes the PIB press release put out by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution yesterday with regard to procurement by government agencies. We pointed out how this is a well-crafted spin too. The procurement of wheat, while it is record procurement in the country, is only around 39.6% of the total wheat output in the country. In several states, farmers got prices that were lower than the MSP, even though procurement operations propped up the prices to an extent. The Modi government made no mention of the looting of the farmers by market forces, when they are outside the procurement regime coverage.
The government procuring 9.85 lakh metric tonnes of pulses and oilseeds with an MSP value of 5193 crores over 3 seasons has been reported in the PIB press release yesterday. It is unclear what is remarkable about this (schemes exist both in MoCAFPD and MoAFW). What the government always remains silent in reporting is the losses incurred by farmers who have not been able to obtain the MSP in their sales outside the government procurement regime, and the fact that MSP itself is being declared without taking C2 cost as the basis on which to add a margin of 50%. This is where the demand for a legally guaranteed remunerative MSP for all farmers is reiterated.
Today, a large convoy of tractors and other vehicles with thousands of protestors will be leaving Shamli in Uttar Pradesh, led by BKU Tikait, to reach Singhu Border. Similarly, a large contingent of farmers has left from Bajpur and nearby areas in Uttarakhand and is headed to Ghazipur Border.
Reports continue to pour in of protests organised yesterday, from across India. These were protests against the unjust and unaffordable hikes in fuel prices in India in the recent past, and with a demand that the government immediately halve the prices of petrol, diesel and cooking gas. Protests happened in novel ways and it is reported that just in Punjab, these protests were held in more than 1800 locations.
Yesterday, the BJP State President of Haryana Mr Om Prakash Dhankar ran into, and away from protesting farmers on different routes. After having avoided protestors with black flags at Ramayan toll plaza in Hisar, even in internal roads, he had to encounter farmers with black flags. In Ambala, it was the turn of a BJP MLA.