27th May 2024,

New Delhi

Highlighting the serious challenges facing livelihood issues due to the corporate policies being vigorously pursued in the last ten years by the BJP led NDA Government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) has appealed to workers and farmers to ensure change in government as well as in policies to end agrarian crisis that has devastated the life of the working people in the country.

SKM said the acute agrarian crisis is causing unemployment, deep indebtedness, poverty, rural to urban migration and destruction of small and medium industries. 23.5 crore people (as per the 2011 census) – 17% of the 140 crore population – are migrant workers in Modi Raj due to rural distress and agrarian crisis, said the SKM statement.

The statement by the joint platform of farmers unions’ pointed out that BJP has completely abandoned its ‘swadeshi economic policy’ and surrendered to the imperialist dictates of WTO to open up the Indian economy to foreign capital. As a part of this process, the Modi government has dismantled the public sector, disinvested and sold out the shares cheaply to private monopolies and facilitated liberalization of imports of agricultural commodities through many free trade agreements, said the statement.

SKM said the 3 Farm Acts were brought by the BJP government to open up Indian economy to Multinational Corporations. 736 farmers became martyrs in 13 month long historic farmers struggle to repeal those Acts, but the Prime Minister Modi did not implement agreement signed on 9th December 2021 with SKM for MSP@C2+50% and comprehensive loan waiver to farmers.

The statement said:

The international finance capital has exerted relentless pressure to open up the financial sector giving priority to the bank and insurance sector. The bulk of the credit from the public financial institutions was cornered by the corporate houses. The taxation policies were designed to transfer the resources from the people to the narrow stratum of the big capitalist class. The growth of monopolies like Ambani and Adani and increasing penetration of foreign finance capital became a marked feature of the Modi Raj.

The farmers’ body accused the BJP and Prime Minister Modi for acting as agents of the corporate forces – both domestic as well as foreign. It said “the path of liberalization policies has benefitted the corporate sector, especially big business,” while “the common people, workers, farmers and middle class were put to ruthless exploitation in the name of facilitating ‘development’.”

SKM said that the Constitution of the Republic of India had laid down a set of directive policies that includes adequate means of livelihood for every citizen and the right to work, an economic system which does not result in the concentration of wealth, right to free and compulsory education for children, living wage for workers and equal pay for equal work for men and women. It charged the Modi government’s policies for contradicting these principles resulting in the top 1% of the population – of wealthy billionaires and rich sections – owning 40.5% of the total wealth of India while the bottom 50% of the people that mostly consist of workers and peasants owning merely 3%.

SKM has expressed its full confidence in the people of India and their democratic and political understanding of the serious challenges of livelihood issues due to the corporate policies being vigorously pursued in the last ten years by the BJP led NDA Government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. SKM appeals to workers and farmers to ensure change in government as well as in policies for development of the people – not of the corporate houses, to end the acute agrarian crisis that has devastated the life of the working people.

The joint platform of farmers unions’ concluded by appealing workers and farmers to punish BJP for corporatisation of agriculture, wealth inequality and unemployment.