Farmers’ Union in India demand exclusion of farming from WTO

On the occassion of conclusion of the three-day national level thought camp of Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) in Haridwar on Sunday, the farmers body passed a nine-demand resolution addressed to Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi and handed it over to the District Magistrate there to send it to the PM.

BKU demands included the implementation of Swaminathan Recommendations, provision for price of agricultural produce with 50% profit,consitution of Farmers Income Commission, clearance of payments due to cane farmers and exclusion of agriculture from WTO.

The National Commission on Farmers, chaired by Prof. M. S. Swaminathan, submitted five reports through the period December 2004 – October 2006. Following from the first four, the final report focused on causes of famer distresses and the rise in farmer suicides, and recommends addressing them through a holistic national policy for farmers.

National President of BKU, Mr. Naresh Tikait also added that BKU has brought the rising instances of farmer suicides to the government’s notice several times, but no steps have been taken to look into the causes and improve the situation. Other leaders of BKU who spoke at the event drew attention to the rising debts of farmers and depleting ground water tables furthering increasing the costs of production.

The article is an abriged version of a news item that appeared on BKU’s Facebook Page.

Image Cerdit: AFP/Sanjay Kanojia as cited here