Saturday, October 27, 2007

AS GOVT. APPOINTS 8TH PANEL TO PROBE VIDARBHA FARMERS SUICIDES –SEVEN MORE FARMERS COMMITTED SUICIDE.

VIDARBHA JANANDOLAN SAMITI

11, Trisaran Society, In front of Somalwar School, Khamla, Nagpur – 440 025

Tel No. (0712) 2282457 Mob No. 9422108846 kishortiwari@gmail.com

===================================================================

Ref : VJAS/relief package-07 PRESSS-NOTE 27th October, 2007

AS GOVT. APPOINTS 8TH PANEL TO PROBE VIDARBHA FARMERS SUICIDES –SEVEN MORE FARMERS COMMITTED SUICIDE.

Nagpur-27th ootober,2007

As The state Government has appointed another study panel headed by well-known economist Narendra Jadhav to study reasons of vidarbha farmers suicides and the impact of relief package announced by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last year on farmers suicides in six districts of Vidarbha ,seven more distressed farmers committed suicide in last 48 hours ,they are

1.RAJESH KIRNAPURE IN BHANDARA

2.ARUN GAWAI IN BULDHANA

3.SUBHASHA JADJAV IN AMRAVATI

4.KISAN JADHAV IN YAVATMAL

5.RAMKANT BOBADE IN AMRAVATI

6. DASHRATH SULAKHE IN GONDIA

7.PUNDLIK HIGE IN WARDHA

taking the figure of farm suicides vidarbha suicides in six district of vidarbha is reaching 1000 mark that’s 968,here is official vidarbha farm suicides table

Months-2006

Farm suicides

Months-2007

Farm suicides

july

109

January

99

August

120

February

107

september

156

march

113

october

160

april

97

november

125

may

102

december

127

june

82

july

75

august

95

September

113

october

76

total

797

968

Earlier to the appointment Nerendra Jadhav committee to know the fact finding of vidarbha farm suicides ,Govt. has shown the dust bin to seven details study reports of

1.TATA INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL STUDIES

2.INDIRA GANDHI INSTITUTE OF DEVLOPEMENTAL STUDIES.

3.NATIONAL FARMERS COMMISSION

4.PLANNING COMMISSION

5.YASHDA PUNE

6.GOKHALE INSTITUTE ,PUNE

7.MAHARASHTRA GOVT.MEGA STUDY REPORT

along with 46 universities and institutes reports.

NO ACTION ONLY REPORTS

After Bombay high court pulled Maharashtra Govt. in 2003-04 ,They appointed official tata institute to submit report on vidarbha farmers and TISS has submitted it’s report with recommendations but it was never given serious thoughts and subsequently another high profile institute INDIRA GANDHI INSTITUTE DEV STUDIES was also asked to do the same job and they submitted another detail report and it was also shown the dust bin then Govt. of India that’s prime minister has asked National Commission of Farmers(NCF) chairman Dr.m.s.swaminathan to to tour vidarbha in October -2005 and submit report and he toured and gave his reports was not implemented and in march-2006 team of planning commission headed by smt.adarsh mishra rushed vidarbha and submitted detail report which was completely ignored in between after receiving severe beating from Bombay high court Nagpur bench Maharashtra Govt. has done mega survey of 8560 villages and 2 million farm families and submitted very critical reports of 2 million farming community in deep distress and another 4 million in complete distress ,this is first time ground reality came to light and prime minister rushed to vidarbha june-july-2006 and released relief package rs.3750 crore which has been failed to stop farm suicides of vidarbha .as matter of face saving Maharashtra govt. has done two more studies from pune base high profile institute one is YASHADA and another is GOKHALE institute of management studies but their report were never ever seen by the administration.

“if Govt. is not implementing any recommendation then what is use of asking economist to work on the solutions of agrarian crisis. it’s time buying activity so now further study of VIDARBHA farm suicides is ridiculous” Kishor Tiwari of Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti informed in a press release while reacting on another probe panel on VIDARBHA farm suicide crisis.

Please arrange to publish this press note

Thanking you,

Yours faithfully,

For VIDARBHA JANANDOLAN SAMITI

KISHORE TIWARI

PRESIDENT.

kishortiwari@gmail.com

contact-09422108846

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

TEN MORE FARMERS SUICIDES IN VIDARBHA IN LAST TWO DAYS:VJAS URGED LOAN WAIVER AND RESTORATION OF COTTON PRICE TO STOP VIDARBHA FARM SUICIDES.

VIDARBHA JANANDOLAN SAMITI

11, Trisaran Society, In front of Somalwar School, Khamla, Nagpur – 440 025

Tel No. (0712) 2282457 Mob No. 9422108846 kishortiwari@gmail.com

===========================================================================

Ref : VJAS/relief package-07 PRESSS-NOTE 24th October, 2007

TEN MORE FARMERS SUICIDES IN VIDARBHA IN LAST TWO DAYS:VJAS URGED LOAN WAIVER AND RESTORATION OF COTTON PRICE TO STOP VIDARBHA FARM SUICIDES.

Nagpur-24th ootober,2007

This year dasara-vijaya dashami festival has been too bad for vidarbha farmers as it was in the year 2005- & 2006 when reports of 10 more farmers suicides reported in last two days ,they are

1.VISHAWAS ERANI OF GRAMTAPOWAN IN WASHIM

2.TAMMIKHAN PATHAN OF KALGAWAN IN AMRAVATI

3.RAGHUNATH VAIWHARE OF PATHARDI IN AKOLA

4.BHIMRAO ADE OF SAKHARA IN YAVATMAL

5.SALIMNKHAN PATHAN OF PANCHGAWAN IN AKOLA

6.DEVRAO WAKADE OF SHEGOAN IN CHANDRAPUR

7.GAJANAN MADANKAR OF TAWAGI IN BHANDARA

8.DILIP VAIDYA OF SAONER IN AMARAVATI

9.MANIK DHANGAR OF DOMRUL IN BULDHANA

10.RAMCHANDRA INGOLE OF ENUKUNI IN NAGPUR

taking the figure of farm suicides vidarbha as per official record is 1740 since prime relief package announcement moreover in 2007 official figure of farm suicides in six district of vidarbha is reaching 1000 mark that’s 942,here is official vidarbha farm suicides table

MONTHS-2006

FARM SUICIDES

MONTHS-2007

FARM SUICIDES

JULY

109

JANUARY

99

AUGUST

120

FEBRUARY

107

SEPTEMBER

156

MARCH

113

OCTOBER

160

APRIL

97

NOVEMBER

125

MAY

102

DECEMBER

127

JUNE

82

JULY

75

AUGUST

95

SEPTEMBER

106

OCTOBER

67

TOTAL

797

942

Presently in Mumbai mantralaya all babus are busy to give fresh recommendations to PMO ,New Delhi so that existing vidarbha relief package is modified as it has been hoax that has triggered more farm suicides rather than stopping it but as per media reports Maharashtra Govt. is once again strongly recommending same interest waiver on the overdue crop loan of cotton farmers of west vidarbha not the pending debt of 3 million distressed farmers ,kishor tiwari of vidarbha jan andolan samiti(VJAS) has termed this move as rehabilitation process dying cooperative banks controlled by politicians in power rather than saving dying west vidarbha cotton farmers ,tiwari added.

VJAS has welcomed union agriculture minister sharad pawar’s complete U turn on farm loan waiver when he declared that it’s only relief that can addaress the vidarbha agrarian crisis but same man has apposed the loan waiver when Indian prime minister was ready to give on 1st july 2006 ,kishor tiwari asked.”it is not too late,loan waiver is part of relief but not the complete solution to vidarbha agrarian crisis the issues releted to the cotton price and sustainable farming along with food crop promotion programme has to be implemented urgently ,kishor tiwari added.

Presently in stead of giving protection to the cotton crop as it is being given to sugarcane farmers in Maharashtra ,Maharashtra Govt. is planning to promote corporate farming is the cotton belt of west vidarbha ,this is disaster step that to introduce MNC in the agriculture in the name of relief to dying farmers, American MNC’s are mostly responsible for vidarbha agrarian crisis moreover companies like Monsanto are tha main killer of cotton farmers hence we will not allow this large scale auction of farmers land to corporate houses in the name of relief operation, kishor tiwari declared.

After receiving drum beating remark that present methodologies failed to stop on going vidarbha farmers suicides in order to stop farm suicide chief secretary of Maharashtra has asked same corrupt officers to suggest new mythologies in relief package. “it is ridiculous to consult the same non functional culprits for making new changes in relief package to stop vidarbha farmers ,in fact now farmers should be consulted that what are the hardships that should be addressed so that distress is relieved and farm suicides are stopped” kishor tiwari local farm activist urged the mahrashtra chief minister vilasrao deshmukh.

Restoration of advance bonus that price to raw cotton @2700/- per quintal and complete loan waiver are the main issues other than providing food security ,health care, free education and rural employments needs immediate govt. attention,kishor tiwari added.

Please arrange to publish this press note

Thanking you,

Yours faithfully,

For VIDARBHA JANANDOLAN SAMITI

KISHORE TIWARI

PRESIDENT.

kishortiwari@gmail.com

contact-09422108846

Saturday, October 20, 2007

VJAS moves HC to hike cotton MSP-Times reports

The Times of India -Breaking news, views. reviews, cricket from across India



VJAS moves HC to hike cotton MSP
21 Oct 2007, 0209 hrs IST,Vaibhav Ganjapure,TNN

SMS NEWS to 58888 for latest updates
NAGPUR: For probably the first time Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court will hear arguments on an application to hike prices of a crop. The matter is likely to come up before the division bench comprising justices Dilip Sinha and Bhushan Dharmadhikari on Tuesday.

The criminal application was filed by Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti president Kishore Tiwari, who added this issue to his earlier petition filed in public interest, charging the state government of ignoring farmers community that led them to take the extreme step of suicide. Firdos Mirza and Vinod Tiwari are the counsels for the petitioner.

The petitioner claimed that the government failure to increase ‘minimum support prices’ (MSP) of cotton to a substantial level has led cotton-growers to suffer severe losses. Due to the advent of BT cotton variety (H4), farmers have to invest more, as the new variety consumes more water, destroys quality soil and is costly.

The MSP of all major crops including wheat, barley, gram and masoor has been increased substantially. However, the MSP of cotton in 1997-98 - Rs 1,330 for normal cotton and Rs 1,530 for BT cotton - was increased to Rs 1,800 and Rs 2,030 in 2007-08. Percentage-wise, the MSP of cotton has been increased by just 24.63%, while even tobacco has seeb an increase of 37.5% and soyabean a hike of 28.5% in the last decade. If the increase in MSP of the last three years is taken into account, then it is 33.33% for wheat, but only 1.69% for normal cotton and just 2.01% for BT cotton.

According to the petitioner, cotton-growers in Vidarbha are the sufferers of extremely high costs of production as well as non-remunerative support prices fixed by the CACP. As a result, cotton-cultivating farmers have been compelled to commit suicide due to depression and economic crisis. Moreover, agricultur as a profession has become economically unviable.

Friday, October 12, 2007

Farmers� Crisis � Realities of Rural India


Farmers� Crisis � Realities of Rural India

-- Atul Dev

This year the 2nd of October, Mahatma Gandhi�s birthday, saw a unique event around the world when over 1000 people of Indian origin gathered in small groups at 39 locations in the US to draw attention to the plight of and show solidarity with the farmers in their �homeland� by a candle light vigil. They were similarly joined by over 2000 people in similar small groups in 19 locations in urban India, to participate in the appropriately named event � �Our Food, Our Farmers�. This unique style of satyagraha would have delighted Mahatma Gandhi even more than the United Nations� declaring October 2nd as the International Day of Non-Violence. Organised by an international NGO, Association for India�s Development (AID), they expressed their support to the farmers and their displeasure with government policies that have resulted in numerous suicides by farmers in India. The message was straight -- �Thousands of suicides, hundred of millions in distress, the farmers' crisis is unacceptable!�

Punjab, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, amongst others are India�s more prosperous states, with a rich output of food as well as commercial crops, industrially vibrant, politically aware, technologically and financially sound. Yet in their villages the poor farmer or tiller of the land is taking the easy, but unfortunate, way out of a serious crisis.

Even as the organisers are deeply moved by the continuing spate of farmer suicides, 836 in Vidarbha alone in 2007, they strongly believe that the underlying causes need to be addressed to find a long term solution. About a couple of months ago, I had the opportunity of hearing journalist P. Sainath, who was awarded the 2007 Magsaysay Award, say at a function in New Delhi: �The tragic farmers' suicides are only a symptom of a much deeper rural distress. This is a result of a decade-long onslaught on the livelihood of millions by wrong policies of the government. The crisis goes way beyond the families ravaged by the suicides.� He was right. In the past few years, over 25,000 farmers have committed suicide. What is even more shocking is that the governments have ignored the repeated cries of distress of the rural masses. Sale of kidneys by farmers, sale of entire land holdings and suicide deaths of farmers are now common.

Government policies in the past 15 years have slowly removed support systems for Indian farmers while promoting unsustainable high cost agricultural practices that farmers cannot afford. All this has resulted in the farmers, particularly the cotton growers of Vidharba in Maharashtra, being unable to sustain themselves with the government laid down minimum support prices which do not cover the real cost of production. The farmers have gone from debt to deeper debt with no waiver in sight. The farmers have been demanding waiver of debts and proactive support to low cost sustainable agriculture inputs as a means to end their plight. The governments, central or state, have not yet responded. The end result is the spate of suicides in the community.

Impracticable policy decisions, lack of access to affordable credit, greedy and corrupt middlemen and indifferent official response are among the factors that have pushed farmers to this breaking point. When Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh visited Vidarbha last July, the farmers there hoped that bad days were coming to an end and their destiny would be changing. They have been disappointed. As the fresh sowing season starts, worrying signs are already evident. On the other hand, the Maharashtra state government claims that the suicides in Vidarbha have declined due to the implementation of special relief packages!

Agriculture in India as well as elsewhere is an uneconomic activity per se. In USA and Europe, it is supported by government subsidies. The US and the European Union are subsidizing their farmers to the tune of $1 billion every single day; we in India are debating to bring agriculture under income tax net! The OECD has estimated that subsidising farmers produces a tax burden of $1,000 a year on each family of the US, the EU and Japan. But taxpayers there do not complain. If the American government can act for its farmers, why are central and state governments in India allowing the farmers to kill themselves in India?

In 1997, India experienced its first bout of farmers suicides. The crisis has stemmed from a number of hardships that have led to the irreversible indebtedness of small and medium farmers from India�s most productive regions. India�s agriculture has taken a downward trend due largely to three main factors -- rising costs of cultivation, plummeting prices of farm produce and lack of credit availability for small farmers. Most of these factors can be attributed to corporate globalisation and unjust free trade policies implemented by the World Trade Organisation (WTO); and official indifference and negligence have had their devastating effect too.

While nature�s unpredictability has been additionally detrimental to the welfare of farmers in some regions, these are challenges that farmers have been able to overcome in the past. Newer types of seeds and farm inputs, promoted by multinationals, have converted a once innovative and knowledgeable community into a community that can no longer work with the soil they know, but is now dependent on costly, artificial inputs with which they are unfamiliar.

In 1998, the World Bank�s structural adjustment policies forced India to open its seed sector to global agri-businesses. As a result of this adjustment, traditional farm saved seeds have been replaced with genetically engineered seeds that are non-renewable, thus requiring repurchase for each growing season. What was once a self-renewing resource has now become a corporate commodity and a costly investment which farmers must make every season. While subsidies may provide limited assistance to some farmers, growers of cotton and chilli do not enjoy any government subsidies. These farmers buy highly priced seeds and pesticides from private suppliers and if the seeds fail to germinate they rarely get compensation.

Most importantly, agriculture must return to a farmer-friendly policy rather than its current bias towards corporations. It is only when this ideal is achieved that farmers will regain control of their own lives, financially and mentally. Humiliation resulting from harassment by moneylenders is the main reason for farmers� suicides.

Nearly half of Indian farmers are crippled by debt. Average debt of an Indian farmer household is Rs 12,585. Small farmers in all regions of the country owe lakhs of rupees because institutional loans, which have fixed interest ceilings of no more than 14 percent, only provide for about 10 percent of their credit needs. The other 90 percent of small to marginal farmer loans come from private moneylenders who are infamous for constantly harassing their �clients� in order to enjoy heavy profits of the 24-60 percent interest that they charge on their loans. When their crops fail time after time regardless of the money the farmers have invested in fertilizers, pesticides and bore wells, there is no profit to be seen and no conceivable way to repay their lenders.

It is therefore not surprising that loans taken from private moneylenders are the most difficult for farmers to pay. While some states have attempted to ban exorbitant interest rates implemented by private moneylenders, their effectiveness is questionable. This will continue as long as farmers depend on private loans where there are no written agreements regarding interest ceilings. When the harassment persists, many farmers become emotionally fatigued and consequently end their lives in the hope that the meager relief package provided by the government will give their family hope of a better future. Currently, many states offer financial relief packages only to the families of deceased farmers who were unable to manage payments on their bank loans while alive!

Although India has been a frontline crusader in the global battle to protect the livelihoods of small farmers, its government�s response on a domestic level has unfortunately been a different story. Thus, instead of changing agricultural policies, officials have made unhelpful recommendations suggesting that farmers boost their self-reliance and self-respect. Instead of addressing the root of the problem, the government attributes the cause of farmers� suicides to peripheral problems. Continued ignoring of these facts will only result in failure to prevent a wave of suicides next growing season.

(Atul Dev is a New Delhi based senior freelance journalist. He can be contacted at: atuldev@airtelbroadband.in)

Copyright � 2005 Mauritius Times.

All rights reserved. Website designed and maintained by the Staff of Mauritius Times.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

S.F. Bay Area Residents Hold Vigil for Farmer Suicides

S.F. Bay Area Residents Hold Vigil for Farmer Suicides


By KETAKI GOKHALE
India-West Staff Reporter
BERKELEY, Calif. — A cluster of candles flickered Oct. 2 in Sproul Plaza here on the UC Berkeley campus, as students, university professors, local residents and Silicon Valley professionals mourned the thousands of Indian farmers who have committed suicide in the past decade, and expressed sympathy for farmers ever-burdened by debt. The gathering was part of a “global vigil” organized by the Association for India’s Development, in honor of Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday and the U.N.-declared International Day of Non-violence.
The Indian Ministry of Agriculture estimates that 100,000 farmers committed suicide between 1993 and 2003. One of the hardest hit regions is Vidarbha, the northeastern region of Maharashtra, where 836 farmers, plagued by debt and poor crops, have committed suicide this year.
Experts suggest that the leading causes of farmer suicide are the lack of access to low-interest loans and the disastrous effects of chemical farming on soil and water quality. Industrial agriculture and the control of seed supply by multinational corporations has led to drastic increases in the price of fertilizers, pesticides and seeds, further deepening debt for many.
Some have suggested that globalization has played a role in the plight of Indian farmers, too — forcing small Indian farmers to compete with imports produced with heavy subsidies from foreign countries. “Our decisions right here affect farmers over there,” reflected Naveena Khanna, one of the attendees at the demonstration.
Event organizers had propped several large placards, bearing the names of all those who have committed suicide this year in Maharashtra, against a low wall. “This list is just the reported deaths,” said Berkeley resident Preeti Shekar. “Women are not considered farmers, so they’re not included here. We should remember those people, too.”
“The impact of globalization,” she said, “needs to be challenged at every level.”
Another local activist, Anirvan Chatterjee, said that Berkeley residents are uniquely positioned and can have an impact on the fate of India’s farmers. “The city of Berkeley is at the epicenter of the food justice movement,” he said. “We think of this as an India-specific issue, but there are ways of connecting it to what’s going on here.”
More than 3,000 people worldwide participated in the vigil, including several hundred participants in California.
“People who support globalization are very good at communicating their point of view,” said one man at the vigil. “There are people like us, too, who don’t agree with it, but believe in global cooperation. We need to think about how to communicate our views — and this is the sort of place where that can begin.”
:by indiawest

Saturday, October 6, 2007

Govt relief has failed to prevent suicides: HC

Govt relief has failed to prevent suicides: HC

State Gets 4 Weeks’ Time To Evolve Alternative Steps To Handle Crisis

Vaibhav Ganjapure | TNN


Nagpur: In a major embarrassment to the state government over the contentious issue of farmers’ suicide, the Nagpur bench of Bombay high court on Thursday came down heavily on the government saying that existing schemes, including the special relief package, had actually “failed to stem the farmers’ suicide”.
Expressing disappointment over the government’s attitude, a division bench comprising justices Dilip Sinha and Bhushan Dharmadhikari also asked the government to take the issue “seriously” and evolve alternate methods to provide a long lasting solution. The court gave the government
four weeks’ time for it.
Stressing on the need for change in crop pattern to prevent occurrences of crop failure, the court suggested that the government undertake proper planning for implementation of the relief package and rope in management experts to do the same.
In its interim order, the court said, “No doubt true efforts are being made by the state government to tackle the issue of suicide by cotton-growing farmers in the six districts of Vidarbha. However, waiver of loans and evolving of methodology and schemes by itself, in our view, would not provide a long lasting solution to eradicate the serious issue.”
The court added: “We’ve in
formed additional government pleader Bharti Dangre about other methods that the state government is expected to look into for the purpose of providing long lasting benefits to the farmers. We don’t want to mention in this order those aspects at this stage since the APP (Dangre) has sought time to discuss those issues with the government and has assured this court that on next date of hearing, additional affidavit, if necessary would be filed in respect of the same. Looking at the seriousness of the issue involved, it will be appropriate to grant four weeks’ time to the state government for this purpose.”
Earlier, Firdos Mirza, counsel for petitioner Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti president Kishor Tiwari, pointed out to the court that under the package, the cottongrowers are going to get a meagre amount of just Rs 902 per person out of total package of Rs 3,750 crore, as per the affidavit submitted by the government to the court.
Giving details, Mirza said out of total expenditure of Rs 1,808
crore, the waiver towards interest is Rs 825 crore, Rs 810 crore were spent on irrigation projects and Rs 62 crore given for watershed development. The total expenditure comes out to be Rs 1,697 crore. If this amount is taken out of total expenditure, only Rs 111 crore remains to be spent on 12,05,282 cotton-growers which comes to just Rs 902 per farmer.
Mirza also informed that on state government’s website, over 3,000 farmers are mentioned to be in distress, but what steps the government has taken to bring them to normalcy was not mentioned. Moreover, he claimed that those reaping benefits of relief packages were not actual farmers, but someone else.
During an earlier hearing on the petition blaming the government for spate of farmers suicides, the state government had filed an affidavit wherein it informed that
only 48% of prime minister’s special package for farmers was implemented in its first year, while the remaining 52% would be implemented in next two years.
The affidavit also informed that the state government’s package was of Rs 1,075 crore of which Rs 1076.9 crore were allocated so far and Rs 930.29 crore were actually spent i.e. 86% of state government’s package was implemented.
The affidavit informed that in 2005-06, 6.59 lakh farmers were distributed Kisan Credit Cards (KCC), while in 2006-07, another 3.80 lakh were added to this figure totalling 10.39 lakh farmers.
The affidavit further mentioned that that government is making all-round efforts to bring in new technology like organic farming, joint farming, seed replacement technique to increase the annual yield of crops.
vaibhav.ganjapure@timesgroup.com

Friday, October 5, 2007

dr.M.S.Swaminathan meets with Vidarbha Farm Widows



Dr.m.s.swaminathan who has submitted his reports as chairman of Nnational Commission for Farmer today visited pandharkawada and discussed the problems of farm widows .meeting was organized specially tounderstand the problems faced by farm widows as MS SWAMINATHAN REASERCH FOUNDATION has opened the center for empowerment of and training of farm widows of vidarbha agrarian crisis.smt.meena swaminathan wife dr.m.s swaminathan informed the widows that this project will look in to aspects of right of land,sustainable farming and credit facility by uniting the widows in small group.yavatmal district has got more than 1000 farm widows in the recent agrarian crisis.
this meeting was arranged the kishor tiwari of vidarbha jan andolan samiti(VJAS) who is working for rehabilitation of vidarbha farm widows."we want to save these helpless farm widows who are victims of wrong policies of govt."tiwari informed today.
earlier pandharkawada municipal council facilitated dr.m.s. swaminathan and given him "vidarbha mitra" award to honor him as he has been given "lal bahadur shastri award" by indian govt. and niminated to rajya sabha as member of parliament by the hand of anil tiwari president of pandharkawada municipal council .senior farm activist vijay jawandhia presided over the function." dr.m.s. swaminathan is true friend of vidarbha as he is fighting for cause of vidarbha cotton farmers"vijay jawandhia informed of this function.
the award "vidarbha mitra" is more important to me than all awards i received by me earlier.in fact ,I am disturbed by the ongoing farm suicide of vidarbha farmers .let us stop this sad part of history ,m.s.swaminathan informed .

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Young professionals in US bring Agri-issues under spotlight

Young professionals in US bring Agri-issues under spotlight


More than 3000 young professional NRIs in 58 locations across US and other countries including India, participated in a global vigil for farmers.

"The tragic farmers' suicides are, finally, an extreme symptom of a much deeper rural distress - the result of a decade-long onslaught on the livelihoods of millions. The crisis now goes way beyond the families ravaged by the suicides” says senior journalist P Sainath, who was also awarded the 2007 Magsaysay Award.

Just in Vidarbha, 836 farmers had committed suicide in 2007. Undoubtedly it is a wake-up call after years of neglect the farmers have been facing.

Remarkably, these vigils drew thousands from urban India and NRI community who are typically very distant from the realities confronting rural India, and they spoke out in a strong voice: "Thousands of suicides, hundred millions in distress – the farmers' crisis is unacceptable!"

“I strongly believe that this new energy in the Agri campaign among students and Young Professionals will certainly help farmers' cause to some level” said Somu Kumar, a young professional settled in US.

Policies which are deepening the crisis for farmers were in the spotlight, in response to the call for this coordinated global vigil by Association for India's Development (AID).

In New Delhi, 2 days of street plays Connaught Place, Dilli Haat and other popular locations were followed by a Photo Exhibition. Delhi events were joined by farmers from Mehndiganj village in Varanasi (UP), Vidarbha, Tamil Nadu and AP.

The vigil at Hyderabad saw the participation of about 40 organizations. "We are all with you!" was the simple message to the farmers from a large crowd of IT professionals and students.

18 districts in India witnessed considerable mobilization of young professionals voicing support for farmers’ causes.

In the US, candlelight vigils were held in 39 locations including cities such as Seattle, San Diego, Bay Area, New York and Washington DC, as well as university campuses such as such as Cornell, Texas, Maryland, and West Virginia.

The government policies in the past fifteen years have consistently removed support structures for Indian farmers while promoting unsustainable, high-input agriculture which farmers, especially in dry areas, cannot afford to practice.

There is a need for strengthening the minimum support price system to cover the real cost of production, waiver of debt and proactive support to low-input sustainable agriculture especially in rain-fed areas.

Developed countries like US have heavily subsidized their agriculture. It is estimated that nearly 25,000 cotton growers in America receive $3.2 billion subsidy per year, which affects the cotton prices world over.

If the American government can act for its farmers, why is the Indian government allowing our farmers to kill themselves?

for more information, please go to:
www.aidindia.org