Mahesh Kumar
All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) has issued a statement stating that the Finance Minister should talk to ‘the real representatives of farmers community’ during the pre-budget discussion, scheduled to be held on June 21, in New Delhi.
In the statement issued on Wednesday (June 19), the farmers’ body has urged the Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman to include the leaders and representatives of Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) and AIKS in a meeting, which is already scheduled with other farmer unions and agricultural economists.
The AIKS statement said, "It has come to our notice that the Finance Minister will personally hold pre-budget consultations with various stakeholders to consider and take suggestions on the Union Budget, 2024-25 and in this process a meeting has been scheduled with farmer unions and agricultural economists on June 21, 2024. Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) has always been giving memorandums to the government on agricultural issues along with proposals to resolve the deepening agrarian crisis."
Raising the issue of non-inclusion of AIKS in the scheduled discussion, the statement said, "It is also well known that the All-India Kisan Sabha, the largest organization of farmers, has always been called to place proposals before the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices to fix Minimum Support Prices on Rabi and Kharif seasons. However, in this case, the BJP-led NDA government and the finance minister have not invited the SKM leadership or the representatives of the Kisan Sabha for the meeting.”
Criticizing the Union government’s decision to keep-out genuine stakeholders out of the discussion, the statement said, “Such an approach of the government makes it clear that the government is deliberately keeping the genuine representatives of the farmers out of the discussion and is indulging in a ridiculous exercise which has no bearing on the genuine representatives of the farmers.”
Taking a potshot at BJP’s poor showing in the recently concluded general elections, the statement said that the government should learn a lesson from the decisive defeat in 159 constituencies. It should give up its arrogance and come for talks with an open mind.
The Kisan Sabha also added that, “In the absence of such a move, the government must be ready to face a mass mobilization of the of farmers across the country very soon.”
In the statement issued on Wednesday (June 19), the farmers’ body has urged the Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman to include the leaders and representatives of Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) and AIKS in a meeting, which is already scheduled with other farmer unions and agricultural economists.
The AIKS statement said, "It has come to our notice that the Finance Minister will personally hold pre-budget consultations with various stakeholders to consider and take suggestions on the Union Budget, 2024-25 and in this process a meeting has been scheduled with farmer unions and agricultural economists on June 21, 2024. Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) has always been giving memorandums to the government on agricultural issues along with proposals to resolve the deepening agrarian crisis."
Raising the issue of non-inclusion of AIKS in the scheduled discussion, the statement said, "It is also well known that the All-India Kisan Sabha, the largest organization of farmers, has always been called to place proposals before the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices to fix Minimum Support Prices on Rabi and Kharif seasons. However, in this case, the BJP-led NDA government and the finance minister have not invited the SKM leadership or the representatives of the Kisan Sabha for the meeting.”
Criticizing the Union government’s decision to keep-out genuine stakeholders out of the discussion, the statement said, “Such an approach of the government makes it clear that the government is deliberately keeping the genuine representatives of the farmers out of the discussion and is indulging in a ridiculous exercise which has no bearing on the genuine representatives of the farmers.”
Taking a potshot at BJP’s poor showing in the recently concluded general elections, the statement said that the government should learn a lesson from the decisive defeat in 159 constituencies. It should give up its arrogance and come for talks with an open mind.
The Kisan Sabha also added that, “In the absence of such a move, the government must be ready to face a mass mobilization of the of farmers across the country very soon.”
Sujata Madhok
The Union Government is again playing divide and rule by inviting some farmer organisations for talks but not major unions like AIKS. This is a shortsighted, misguided policy.