Farmers Movement Archive

Farmers need to form own independent commission: Sainath

Jalandhar Hailing the farmers’ stir against the three Central farm laws, noted journalist P Sainath has called for the creation of an independent National Farmers’ Commission, controlled by farmers, to resolve the agrarian crisis and work for the betterment of farmers. “Farmers’ protest has impacted politics, as it has become an issue in the every election across the country; it has given a new direction to politics. The legalisation of MSP (Minimum Support Price) doesn’t mean guarantee of procurement, but government should give guarantee of procurement of the crop on MSP,” added Sainath, speaking at the closing session of Ghadri Babeyan Da Mela (Ghadrites) at the Desh Bhagat Yaadgar Hall in Jalandhar on Monday. During his address, he also hailed the farm protest for being peaceful. “It has been the biggest peaceful protest across the world in the past five years. Sixteen years after it was tabled in Parliament, the Swaminathan Commission has not been implemented as it was pro-farmer and prepared in consultation with real farmers.” “Farmers should form their own commission at the national level, comprising farmers and farm labourers from every sector of farming. The commission will study the issues or problems of farming sector of the country and counter the government’s studies, even in courts,” he said, adding that it will add new energy among farmers. He added that the government will not be able to shut the independent commission of farmers, which could be extended to the state, district or block level. He claimed that farm suicide numbers were going up, but they (the government) were tinkering with the calculation of these figures by recreating new categories. “After 2015, it is not possible to compare with the earlier data as there is change of the methodology,” he added. Sainath underlined farmers’ ventures should be in the hands of farmers, not of corporations. It could be made much more profitable by the implementation of the Swaminathan Commission recommendation.

Hindustan Times

02-11-2021

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