Wednesday, January 28, 2009

पी. साईनाथ यांनी पद्मश्री नाकारली
28 Jan 2009, 0928 hrs IST

मटा ऑनलाइन वृत्त। मुंबई



ग्रामीण भागातील समस्यांना वाचा फोडणारे झुंजार पत्रकार पी. साईनाथ यांनी यंदाचा पद्मश्री पुरस्कार नाकारला आहे.

हा पुरस्कार जाहीर करण्यापूवीर् तो स्वीकारणार का अशी विचारणा त्यांना सरकारी अधिकाऱ्यांनी केली होती. पण सरकारी धोरणाची लक्तरे काढणारे साईनाथ यांनी, सरकारचा कोणताही पुरस्कार आपण स्वीकारायचा नाही अशी भूमिका घेतली आहे.

गेल्या दशकभरात देशात सुमारे पावणेदोन लाख शेतकऱ्यांनी, आत्महत्या केली असता, साईनाथ हा पुरस्कार घेणे शक्यच नव्हते असे त्यांच्या निकटलवतीर्यांनी स्पष्ट केले आहे.

विदर्भातील कापूस उत्पादकांनी, कर्जाचा वाढता बोजा आणि कापसाला मिळणारी तुटपुंजी किंमत यामुळे गेल्या पाच वर्षांत सुमारे दहा हजार शेतकऱ्यांनी इहलोकीची यात्रा संपवली आहे. या समस्येचा तपशील जाणून घेण्यासाठी काँग्रेसचे युवा नेते राहुल गांधी यांनीदेखील विदर्भाचा दौरा केला होता. त्यांच्यासोबत साईनाथ होते.

साईनाथ यांनी गेली दोन दशके भारतातील ग्रामीण भागाच्या वेदना जगासमोर आणण्यासाठी आपली लेखणी झिजवली आहे. दुष्काळाचा फायदा सरकारी यंत्रणा आणि इतर काही हितसंबंधी कसे उठवतात याचा तपशील त्यांनी पुस्तकाद्वारे मांडला आहे.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Massive protest of vidarbha cotton farmers on republic day against Maharashtra Govt.’s cotton procurement policy

Nagpur:26th Jan.2009

When nationa was celebrating it’s 59th republic day thousands of vidarbha farmers were protesting against the Maharashtra Govt.’s policy decision to procure the cotton below minimum support price (MSP) that’s Bt.cotton is being procured at the average price Rs.2650 per quintal as against the MSP is Rs.3000/- per quintal. The cotton farmer of vidarbha region known for maximum numbers farm suicides in India are agitating to get legitimate rates to their cotton crop but the state owned agency marketing federation has been using police force to run procurement centers to curb farmers unrest against this unjust earlier all most all cotton procurement centers in the state were closed leaving the farmers saddled with harvested crop waiting to sell the produce and it has resulted in to distress sale of cotton at the much cheaper rates to private traders than MSP and it has made purpose of giving higher MSP of Rs.3000/- per quintal as ridiculous as it failed to benefit vidarbha dying cotton farmer according to the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS).



Hundrers of Cotton farmers in cotton belt of vidarbha gathered in front of sub divisional office of kelapur in yavatmal to lodge the protest on Indian Republic Day 26th Jan.as Betrayal Day and were demonstrating against the policies of Govt. and push the demand to restore the MSP of raw cotton at the rate of Rs.3000 per quintal at all cotton procurement centers

‘there is no buyer to cotton other than Govt. agency and state is not only giving much less rate than MSP but farmers dues are unpaid since 15th of December as National Agricultural Marketing Federation (Nafed), has exhausted its funds earmarked for purchases this year."Farmers are in dire straits as private traders are also not coming forward to purchase because of severe recession in international market leading to big fall in cotton rates.at the start of the season, federation had promised to procure every single boll of cotton offered for purchase. It had also fixed 200 lakh quintals as target for collection. But after collecting less than 80 lakh quintal it has given up. Because Nafed, on whose behalf it is purchasing this year, is cash strapped and reports have appeared in media stating that Nafed has exhausted its allocated funds," VJAS president Kishore Tiwari informed the gathering today.

said Tiwari.

"Obviously, the federation has failed to keep its word and is misleading people saying that due poor quality of cotton they are giving less price than MSP" Tiwari alleged.

In order to draw the Govt.'s attention to the serious problem of Vidarbha's distressed farmers in cotton belt and seek more funds for Nafed so that procurement is done at MSP to good quality cotton as per guidelines of CACP and federation to pay all dues of farmers ,we are observing protest day informed Mohan Mammidwar loacal activist..

"The farmer who soled cotton 50 days ago to the federation is receiving payment now. This is again a failure on the federation part which had promised to clear dues within a week," mammidwar said.

Cotton farmers urged Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan who has promised to respond to cotton growers crisis to attend the problems of west vidarbha cotton farmers who are till committing suicides daily and apathy of administration is adding fuel on going distress among the dying farmer, Tiwari informed.

.

Please release this pres note

Thanking you,

Yours faithfully, For VIDARBHA JAN ANDOLAN SAMlTI

KISHORE TIWARI

PRESIDENT

kishortiwari@gmail.com

contact-09422108846


Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Debt drives vidarbha farmers to suicide -the national-UAE Reports


Debt drives farmers to suicide

Anuj Chopra, Foreign Correspondent

http://www.thenational.ae/article/20090120/FOREIGN/850376237/-1/NEWS

  • January 20. 2009 12:50AM UAE

Widow Kaushalya Amit Daeshettywar lost her husband after he consumed pesticide last year. Sanjit Das / The National

BAGGI, INDIA // Trapped in a deep mire of debt and faced with a failed crop for the second successive year, Ashok Deshattiwar, a 35-year-old cotton farmer, resorted to a desperate measure to end his misery.

Last month, in the quiet of a chilly night when his family lay asleep, he swallowed a bottle of pesticide, falling dead by the door jamb of his tiny mud-and-clay home in this obscure hamlet in central India.

For his distraught wife and two sons, Mr Deshattiwar left behind an arid patch of unproductive farm land and a mounting debt owed to a sahukar, a local loan shark.
“Cotton yield has been dwindling year after year,” said his widow, Kaushaliya Deshattiwar. “My husband was consumed with hopelessness.”

Since 1997, 182,936 Indian farmers have taken their lives and the numbers continue to rise. According to a recent study by the National Crime Records Bureau, 46 Indian farmers kill themselves every day – that is roughly one suicide every 30 minutes – an alarming statistic in a country where agriculture is the economic mainstay.

An estimated 16,625 farmers across India killed themselves in 2007, nearly one fourth of them in the state of Maharashtra. Farmer suicides are particularly endemic in villages such as Baggi in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, an agrarian belt once renowned as a prosperous “white gold” or cotton-growing region, but now infamous as “suicide country”.

“Farmers across India are in distress and despair,” said Kishor Tiwari, a farmer rights activist, “but Vidarbha is the epicentre of farm suicides”.

Vidarbha cotton farmers’ yearly costs – for genetically modified seeds, pesticides, fertilisers, electricity, water and labour – continue to rise, while the price of cotton has been declining with decreased productivity and quality.

Scant rainfall last year has exacerbated the crisis, giving rise to drought-like conditions, not favourable for the genetically modified seeds, which require twice the amount of water compared to traditional seeds. A dearth of irrigation facilities has made matters worse, farmers complain.

Before Vithal Bhandarwar, a 40-year-old farmer in a village called Kelapur, killed himself in early December, he borrowed heavily from a local money lender at a whopping 50 per cent interest rate to invest in seeds and fertilisers to improve the cotton yield from his 5.75 acre farm.

But his crop was devastated after a bout of red leaf disease, a physiological plant disorder – colloquially called “laliya” – that causes an abnormal red colouration in cotton leaves, turning them dry before the plant wilts away. Cotton diseases are now increasingly common across Vidarbha’s farms, said Mr Tiwari, becoming a serious detriment to farmers’ incomes.

“Laliya is like the HIV virus in human beings,” said Vijay Bhandarwar, 20, who revealed that his father killed himself swallowing the same pesticide he had bought to subdue the red leaf disease. “My father probably realised he would never be able to pay off his debts.”

The absence of a dependable rural credit delivery system, experts said, has left farmers vulnerable to sahukars, who disburse loans easily, without the time consuming paperwork required by banking institutions, but charge exploitative interest rates.

Harashawardhan Patil, a federal minister, recently declared the state was contemplating bringing a stringent federal law to rein in unscrupulous money lenders.

He also announced a loan-waiver package worth 6.2 billion rupees (Dh468.8m) at the end of December. Farmers, according to this scheme, are entitled to get a loan waiver of up to 20,000 rupees. It would benefit four million farmers and stem the grisly spate of suicides, the government claims.

Although this is being cautiously welcomed by farmers, similar financial packages have not ameliorated their suffering in the past. Farmers’ suicides continued unabated even after the federal government announced a 1.075bn rupee package for farmers in Dec 2005. And the suicide rate continued to climb even after Manmohan Singh, the Indian prime minister, earmarked a 3.75bn rupee relief package for Vidarbha’s farmers in July 2006.



But improving their plight requires more than merely doling out cash to farmers, experts said. Measures are needed to make farming profitable and set the rural economy on track.

In April 2007, Green Earth Social Development Consulting, a non-governmental organisation released a report after doing an audit of relief packages offered to Vidarbha’s farmers. If given an option, it found that 40 per cent of farmers said they would like to quit agriculture and take up some other profession.

That is hardly surprising given 8m farmers across India quit farming between 1991 and 2001 alone.

The country has witnessed an unprecedented economic boom since the early 2000s, but it has largely bypassed the farming sector. In the past decade, even as subsidies for corporate farmers rose in the West, said Prof K Nagraj from the Madras Institute of Development Studies, India cut subsidies to its own farmers. The collapse of investment in agriculture, he said, has made farming unprofitable, pushing farmers into a vicious trap of debt.

Agriculture employs two-thirds of India’s 1.15 billion population, but it contributes a minuscule fraction to GDP growth. India’s farm sector grew by just 2.3 per cent over the past three years and grain production remains stagnant. Prof Nagraj said an agrarian crisis is brewing.

“From the mid-90s onwards,” Prof Nagraj said, “prices and farm incomes crashed. As costs rose, so did indebtedness.”

achopra@thenational.ae

Hard Times is an occasional series exploring the ways people around the world cope with the financial crisis.

Friday, January 16, 2009

Vidarbha farm widows on war path :‘ stop atrocities on farm widows’ –P.sainath







Vidarbha farm widows on war path :‘ stop atrocities on farm widows’ –P.sainath

PANDHARKAWADA-16h January 2009

Please allow us live’ was the only appeal made by hundreds of farm widows who gathered at Jeddewar Bhavan ,Pandharkawada the micro rural township of yavatmal district known as epicenter of farm suicides to attend Vidarbha farm widows one day meet organized by VJAS (Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti) on 15th Jan. 2009. P.Sainath , Vijay Janwandhia ,Kirantai Moghe , Sonia Sainath and Shankar Danao attended the meet.

More than 200 farm widows and relatives of farmers who committed suonicide in the on going Agrarian crisis in west vidarbha which has resulted since June 2005 in 5230 farm widows. All widows who spoke in the meet were critical to the state administration apathy creating venerable condition of families as state has rejected more than 90% cases for compensation and these families are facing very complex problems of farming, kids education, daughter’s marriage hence in a resolution meet urged Govt. address the main hardship of these farm widows ,Mohan Jadhav Secretary of VJAS informed today

It is matter of national shame when we look at pathetic condition of farm widows,if administration is not giving any relief, then should at least stop on gong atrocities to these poor women ,P.sainath urged in the meet.

‘farm widows should unite and form political force to get honor and justice’ kirantai moghe appeal the farm widows. Farmers who committed suicides are victims of globalization and state should look after families of these farmers ,vajay jawandhia urged at the occasion .

Farm activist kishor tiwari ,moreshawar watile ,suresh bolenwar,mohan mamidwar among farm wiodws Kalavawari banidhurkar ,sarwasatibai ambarwar,nanda bhandare,kavita kudmethe spoke in the meet.

Please release this pres note

Thanking you,

Yours faithfully, For VIDARBHA JAN ANDOLAN SAMlTI

KISHORE TIWARI

PRESIDENT

kishortiwari@gmail.com

contact-09422108846


Thursday, January 15, 2009

Govt's loan waiver fails to rescue Vidarbha farmers


Govt's loan waiver fails to rescue Vidarbha farmers

NDTV.com


Govt's loan waiver fails to rescue Vidarbha farmers
Yogesh Pawar
Thursday, January 15, 2009 (Mumbai)

The government's approach to the issue of farmer suicides is under the scanner once again. Ironically, this time the authority implementing the Rs 60,000-crore loan-waiver package has found that after loan waiver, the number of suicides have not gone down as much as expected.

The agrarian crisis in Vidarbha's cotton country shows little signs of abating despite what the government has called special efforts.

Latest figures show that the number of farmer suicides have not reduced as expected during the period 2007-08, since the loan waiver was announced.

The figures have come from the very agency authorised by the government to implement the loan-waiver package. Its study showed that the single biggest factor driving farmers to suicide continues to be loan burden.

The results of a government survey in May, in which over 12 lakh farmers from nearly 18 lakh respondents, spoke of distress due to indebtedness.

Experts studying this issue say they are not surprised by the findings at all.

"Not all the funds meant for farmers is necessarily going to Vidarbha alone. Also even in that case those getting access to the waiver or the benefits are not necessarily the most needy," said Dr S Parsuram, director, TISS.

Much criticism has come the government's way in the past over its handling of farmer suicides. But these latest statistics many are hoping will lead to a hardthink, on change of intervention strategies or at least in the way they are implemented.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

...And farmer suicide continues in vidarbha

merinews.com
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...And farmer suicide continues in vidarbha

http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=156235



14 January 2009, Wednesday

BILL BRYSON once said that there are only three things that can kill a farmer: lightning, rolling over in a tractor, and old age. He would have not mentioned only these three things, had he been to Vidarbha in Maharshtra.
Vidarbha has been in limelight for some time because of the farmer suicides in recent years ostensibly because of the falling minimum support price for cotton. The problem that Vidarbha farmers are facing is really complex and is precisely because of the lopsided policies of WTO and developed nation which has made cotton of Vidarbha uncompetitive in world markets.

India is a land where more than 60 per cent of population is into the farming but unfortunately the globalisation and better economy has failed to boost agriculture in the country. Last year, P Chidambaram in the Union budget announced Rs 72,000 crores relief package for the farmers but the recent figures clearly states the ineffectiveness of the same.
Figures available with the Vasantrao Naik Sheti Swawalamban Mission, the authority implementing the loan-waiver package, show 1,139 farmers killed themselves in Vidarbha’s six most suicide-prone districts in 2008 — a mere 107 less than in 2007, when 1,246 farmers committed suicide.
Every passing day there is news of more farmers committing suicides. The main reasons for the failure of the loan waiver scheme are that:

  • Only a handful of farmers have received the money to date
  • Because local banks are yet to receive the bulk of funds
  • Even worse, many here didn’t qualify the for waiver
  • The average land holding is above the 2 hectare cut off

What farmers need for their survival is income, and not so much debt relief; in other words, the country needs agricultural renewal and productivity improvement.

A farmer is being neglected in his own country. There is no body which can understand or is really interested to understand the problems of a farmer. Annadaata is starving and we are looking on callously.

We haven’t bothered to stand up for the cause of our fellow country men. Why? Why is it that the voices of our farmers are being over heard by all the bodies? What are we waiting for?

As a common citizen I know that we only feel the pinch of the situation when we start to get affected by the same. Probably, we are waiting for the time when farmers will pick up guns and explode bombs to make deaf people/government hear their voices. We have discussed about cross border terrorism so much but in process we have forgotten the ‘economic terrorism’, where the victims are farmers and only farmers!

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Despite loan-waiver, not much change in Vidarbha farm suicide stats-Vivek Deshpande -Indianexpress


Despite loan-waiver, not much change in Vidarbha farm suicide stats-Vivek Deshpande -Indianexpress


Vivek Deshpande Posted: Jan 10, 2009 at 0215 hrs IST
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/despite-loanwaiver-not-much-change-in-vidarbha-suicide-stats/409040/

Nagpur: The Government’s massive loan-waiver scheme does not seem to have had the desired impact in Vidarbha’s suicide belt. Figures available with the Vasantrao Naik Sheti Swawalamban Mission, the authority implementing the loan-waiver package, show 1,139 farmers killed themselves in Vidarbha’s six most suicide-prone districts in 2008 — a mere 107 less than in 2007, when 1,246 farmers committed suicide.

The inadequate impact of the waiver becomes more apparent by the fact that 1,448 farmers killed themselves in these districts in 2006: thus, the year-to-year fall in numbers was bigger during 2006-2007 (202), when there was no scheme, than during 2007-2008.

The loan-waiver was announced in Budget 2008. The six districts of Buldana, Akola, Washim, Amravati, Yavatmal and Wardha have seen massive agrarian distress.

The suicide spiral isn’t much different even in the March-December periods of 2007 and 2008, the ‘loan-burdened’ and ‘loan-free’ periods respectively. In these months, the corresponding figures — 1,039 and 961, with a difference of just 78 — tell the story.

The same is true for the July-December periods of the two years — which merit comparison because the loan-waiver actually took effect in this period of 2008. For these months, the figures stood at 642 (2007) and 560 (2008), showing a decline of 82.

Thus, in both the post-waiver announcement and waiver-effective periods, there has been little effect on the rates of suicide in these districts.

Significantly, of the about 18 lakh farmers in these districts, 9.55 lakh — more than 50 per cent — have benefited from the loan-waiver. About 6.25 lakh received full waivers and about 3.3 lakh received partial waivers, the relief amount coming to Rs 1,294 crore.

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

Thursday, January 8, 2009

12 more farmer suicides in Vidarbha -Pradip Kumar Maitra, Hindustan Times


Pradip Kumar Maitra, Hindustan Times
Nagpur, January 09, 2009
The relief packages seem to have done a little when it comes to the farmers of Vidarbha, particularly the cotton growers.

Despite another relief package of Rs 6,208 crore announced by CM Ashok Chavan on the concluding day of the Winter Session, 12 more farmers ended their lives in last seven days.

Earlier, the state and prime minister had provided two separate relief packages of Rs 1,050 crore and Rs 3,750 crore respectively in 2006 to bail out Vidarbha farmers. However, the farmers’ suicide continued unabated in Vidarbha and around 2,000 more farmers have killed themselves because of crop failure and debts after both the packages were announced.

Kishore Tiwari of Vidarbha Janandolan Samiti, which is documenting the farmers’ suicide, alleged that most of the latest victims took the extreme step because they could not sell their raw cotton due to the closure of several centres by the state cotton marketing cooperative federation.

Vidarbha farmers Dying Facts

1.Cotton procurement centres closed, farmers in dire straits-Times of India

Ramu Bhagwat | TNN
http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=TkdUT0kvMjAwOS8wMS8wOCNBcjAwNjAx&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom
Nagpur: A large number of cotton procurement centres in the state have been closed leaving the farmers saddled with harvested crop waiting to sell the produce. According to the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti, the collection centres were closed as the National Agricultural Marketing Federation (Nafed), has exhausted its funds earmarked for purchases this year.
Samiti president Kishore Tiwari told TOI on Wednesday that Pandharkawda and many other centres in Yavatmal were shut for last three weeks. "Farmers are in dire straits as private traders are also not coming forward to purchase because of severe recession in international market leading to big fall in cotton rates," said Tiwari. On Thursday, Samiti will demonstrate before the closed procurement centres in the region.
"At the start of the season, federation had promised to procure every single boll of cotton offered for purchase. It had also fixed 200 lakh quintals as target for collection. But after collecting less than 70 lakh quintal it has given up. Because Nafed, on whose behalf it is purchasing this year, is cash strapped and reports have appeared in media stating that Nafed has exhausted its allocated funds," said Tiwari.
"Obviously, the federation has failed to keep its word and is misleading people saying that procurement has been suspended as no space was available to stock cotton," Tiwari alleged.
He said the state should draw the Centre's attention to the serious problem of Vidarbha's distressed farmers in cotton belt and seek more funds for Nafed so that procurement resumes. VJAS has also alleged that the federation is behind schedule by over a month in paying dues to farmers.
"The farmer who soled cotton 40 days ago to the federation is receiving payment now. This is again a failure on the federation part which had promised to clear dues within a week," added Tiwari.
=========================================================================================
2.Cotton growers stage road blockade
http://www.indopia.in/India-usa-uk-news/latest-news/470232/National/1/20/1
Yavatmal , Jan 6 The cotton growers of Pusad tehsil staged a road blockade when the Federation&aposs procurement centre denied the entry of cotton laden carts into the Ginning and Pressing factory premises.

The road blockade, which continued for two hours, disrupted the vehicular movements on the route yesterday. The issue was resolved after police intervened and Federtion allowed farmers to park their carts in the factory premises. It may be recalled that a weeks ago, the irate cotton growers have locked the employees and officers of the APMC and staged a dharna in front of the office when the latter refused to distribute the priority token to waiting farmers. NAFED and CCI have started procurement from November 3 last but stopped the process abruptly from December 27 citing the qunatity of cotton as more than the working capacity of men and machinery available at all centres. Priority tokens were distributed to cotton growers with an intension to reduce the last minute rush. However, the cotton growers are found flocking at each centre despite giving prior notice not to bring cotton till further orders or notification. PTI
3. .10 debt-ridden farmers commit suicide in Vidarbha: Vidarbha Jan
Andolan Samiti (VJAS),-
--- UNI


Nagpur, Jan 7 : As many as ten debt-ridden farmers committed suicide
in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra in the first five days of the new
year, activists said today.

According to Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS), a voluntary
organisation working among farmers in the region, those who ended
their lives included two each from Yavatmal, Amravati, Wardha and
Nagpur districts, and one each from Chandrapur and Buldhana districts.

The suicides took place immediately after the state government
announced a Rs 6,208 crore loan waiver and loan repayment discount
package for farmers, a VJAS press release said.

Over 5,000 debt-ridden farmers had committed suicide in Vidarbha in
the last three years, it added.

--- UNI

Saturday, January 3, 2009

NO TAKERS FOR WHITE GOLD -cotton cultivators slam federation for closing centres -Times of India


NO TAKERS FOR WHITE GOLD

cotton cultivators slam federation for closing centres
Cotton growers of Yavatmal district have rapped the cotton marketing federation for closing its centres indefinitely and warned of intensifying their agitation from January 8.
According to farm activist Mohan Jadhav, the federation had announced that it would procure the last bale of the cotton at the rate of Rs. 3,000 per quintal but failed to do so. On the contrary, the federation pulled down the shutters of its procurement centres indefinitely and even deployed police to stop farmers and their carts from coming to the centres on National Highway No. 7 near Pandharkawda.
“We would launch an indefinite agitation from January 8 with the sole demand ‘Kapus Ghya chukara dhya’ (take cotton and give payment),” said Jadhav.
The Federation has closed down all the centres under its
Wani Zone and has even failed to pay for the cotton procured so far. The federation is now saying that the funds available with the NAFED have exhausted and hence they will be unable to make payment till the necessary arrangements were made.
“If the federation fails to restart the procurement before January 8, the cotton growers will reach the centres with cotton-laden carts and tractors and will demand procurement and payment instantly,” informed the coordinator of the agitation Suresh Belanwar. TNN
NO TAKERS FOR WHITE GOLD

cotton procurements centers closed in vidarbha :Distress sale forcing farmer to commit suicide

All cotton procurements centers closed in vidarbha :Distress sale forcing farmer to commit suicide


Farmers to start agitation from 8th January for reopening to NAFED and CCI procurement centers





Nagpur- Dated-3rd January 2009

As even Maharashtra Govt. has assured that NAFED or CCI will buy all cotton from vidarbha growers till the last bole but the ground reality is not in line with announcement as almost all procurement centers in the cotton belt of vidarbha is now closed and most of farmers are forced to sale in distress in much more lower price than MSP .

First two days of 2009 has reported four farm suicides and victims are cotton growers of suicide prone district of prime minister relief package

1.DATTAJI PAWAR OF YAVATMAL

2.NARENDRA GADGE OF WARDHA

3.VITHAL GADLINGE OF AMARAVATI

4.SAHEBRAO GAWANDE OF AMRAVATI

Kishor Tiwari of Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti informed in a press release today.

.

.

Farmers to start agitation from 8th January for reopening to NAFED and CCI procurement centres

In last fortnight the cotton procurement centers through out west vidarbha have been closed on technical ground and private traders have started cotton procurement below the minimum support price MSP and farmers are forced to sale the cotton at throw away price in distress sale and cotton growers are at huge losses resulting more farm suicides in vidarbha ,tiwari feared .

"If Govt. failed to procure the farmers cotton at MSP then it's move to raise the MSP would be ridiculous and will create more complications to the existing agrarian crisis ,hence VJAS have been demanding immediate opening of all procurements centers and in order to press our demand ,we are starting agtation from 8th janauary .

farmers who wants to sale their cotton will bring it to nearest closed procurement centre and will start agitation to demand open the centre and procurement by NAFED or CCI .

There are media reports that NAFED and CCI have buying aggressively in other states like A.P.,M.P. and Punjab but even after continuous farm suicides of vidarbha cotton farmers ,they have closed procurement ,kishor tiwari said.

VJAS has also demanded central intervention in order solve cotton farmers crisis in vidarbha ,tiwari added. .

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please release this pres note

Thanking you,

Yours faithfully,

For VIDARBHA JAN ANDOLAN SAMITI

KISHORE TIWARI

PRESIDENT

kishortiwari@gmail.com

contact-09422108846