Thousands of farmers and workers join the nationwide protest mobilization called by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha and a combination of central trade unions demanding immediate solution to their charter of demands.

Groundxero | Nov. 26, 2024

Thousands of farmers and workers held joint protest demonstrations in over 500 districts across India demanding immediate solution to their charter of demands on 26th November 2024 that marks the momentous occasion of the 4th anniversary of the beginning of the historic struggle of the farmers coordinated with the countrywide general strike of workers against 3 Black Farm laws and four labour codes. These demonstrations were held on issues like MSP Guarantee Act, loan waiver, withdrawal of four labor codes and guarantee of employment and living wages and social security of farmer labourers.

West Bengal

The call for protest mobilasations was given by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha and the Joint Platform of the Central Trade Unions, Independent / Sectoral Federations / Associations. The protest action was based on the 12 focal demands and the charter of demands of workers and farmers adopted on 24th August 2023. The SKM, formed by farmers unions during the 2020-21 struggle against the three farm bills introduced by the Modi government, continues to raise the issue of the government’s failure to fulfill its promises of enacting a law for minimum support prices (MSP) for all farm produce. The focal demands are –

1. MSP@C2+50% with Legally Guaranteed Procurement for all Crops

2. Repeal 4 Labour Codes; No Contractualisation or outsourcing of labour in any form.

3. Implement National Minimum Wage of Rs. 26000/month and pension @Rs.10000pm and Social Security benefits for all workers including organised, unorganized, scheme workers and contract workers and agriculture sector

4. Comprehensive Loan Waiver for farmers and agricultural workers to end Indebtedness and suicides; ensure credit facilities for farmers and workers at low interest rates.

5. No Privatisation of Public Sector Undertakings and Public Services including Defense, Railways, Health, Education, Electricity. Scrap National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP). No prepaid Smart Meters, free power for agricultural pumps, 300 unit of free electricity to domestic users and shops;

6. No Digital Agriculture Mission (DAM), National Cooperation Policy and ICAR Agreements with MNCs that encroach on rights of State Governments and facilitate Corporatisation of Agriculture.

7. End indiscriminate land acquisition, Implement LARR Act 2013 and FRA;

8. Guaranteed employment and Job security for all. 200 days of work and Rs. 600/ day as wage in the MGNREGS. Expand it to urban areas. Immediately withdraw the exclusion of families from MNREGA. Pay the pending wages.

9. Comprehensive Public Sector insurance scheme for Crops and Cattle, Ensure Crop Insurance and all the schemes’ benefits to the Tenant farmers;

10. Arrest price rise. Strengthen PDS. Ensure quality public health care and education to all. Rs 10000/ monthly Pension at the age of 60 years for all. Tax the super-rich for the resources.

11. Strict laws to stop Communal division in the society and ensure their effective implementation. Uphold secularism as envisaged in the constitution.

12. End violence against women and children through gender empowerment and fast track judicial system; end violence, social oppression and caste-communal discrimination against all marginalised sections including Dalits, Tribal People and Minorities.

Kerala

Agricultural workers and tenant farmers also joined the protest demonstrations in districts on 26th November 2024 as called by SKM and JPCTUs/ Independent /Sectoral Federations/ Associations. The joint demand charter adopted on 23rd August 2023 in the ever first all India convention of workers and farmers convened jointly by SKM and JPCTU’s had covered demands of agricultural workers and tenant farmers, including minimum wage, employment for all, 200 days work and Rs 600 daily wage under MNREGA, protection of PDS and control of price rise etc.

A comprehensive demand charter including central legislation for agricultural workers and tenant farmers, end social discrimination and violence, alternative development policy based on developing collectives and cooperatives for agriculture production, procurement, storage, agro-processing and value addition, branded marketing, credit, insurance along with institutional support  from public sector will be developed especially in the grave situation of the acute agrarian crisis and the pauperisation of the peasantry and resultant phenomena of massive rural to urban distress migration.

Philbhit in UP

Punjab

A joint representation from CTUs and SKM was submitted to the President of India through the District Collectors. The memorandum stated:

The working people of India are facing a deep crisis with the NDA3 Govt.’s policies aimed to enrich the Corporates and Super Rich. While cost of cultivation and inflation is rising at higher than 12-15%, every year, the Govt. is increasing MSP by only 2 to 7%. It raised national paddy MSP by only 5.35% to Rs. 2300 per quintal in 2024-25 without applying C2+50% formulae and no guarantee of procurement. Earlier at least in Punjab and Haryana Paddy and Wheat were procured. But the Central Govt. failed to lift the crop procured last year, stalling paddy procurement this year due to lack of space in Mandis. Farmers are forced onto the streets again even to save their meagre MSP, APMC Markets, FCI and PDS supply.

…

Perpetual deficit in farming causes higher debts and more eviction from agriculture. The acute agrarian crisis forces rural youth in lakhs to migrate to towns and inflate the reserve army of labour. This has a grave impact on workers in Industrial and service sectors. The 4 labour codes –being imposed by the Central Govt. – annuls any guarantee on minimum wages, secured employment, social security, proper working time and right to unionise. Privatisation, Contractualisation and no recruitment policies push the existing workers and job seeking youth to virtual slavery. Trade Unions are on a struggle path also to protect basic right to form Trade Union; for revival of Old Pension Scheme, retirement rights, food and health security, effective legal machinery for redressal of complaints, etc. We believe that Building worker-farmer unity and strengthening it for liberating peasantry from pauperisation and agrarian crisis and for workers to win their rights has become utmost important in the national interest.

The SKM accused the Modi Govt. of violating the written agreement of 9th December 2021 with the farmer unions. SKM said that the government is continuously trying to polarise working people along communal lines and instigate violence to divert attention from the real livelihood issues. SKM claims there is a direct link between the distress in farming, rising unemployment, and the greater exploitation of the working classes across the industrial and urban areas. The government is introducing corporatization in farming by forcing farmers to digitize their land and crops through methods such as the Digital Agricultural Mission, which was announced during the last union budget, formation of a union cooperative ministry in violation of India’s federal character, and the imposition of centralized taxations such as GST at a time when it is letting them exploit the workers by abolishing the hard won rights of unionization and collective bargaining.

Both the platforms of the workers and farmers had conducted campaigns including vehicle jatha, cycle jatha, padayatra, door to door leaflet distribution in villages and towns from 7th to 25th November. The platforms stressed that the task of building and strengthening worker-farmer unity is of utmost importance for liberating peasantry from the agrarian crisis and for workers to win their struggles. They appealed to all sections — workers, farmers, women, students, youth, marginalized sections, cultural activists, progressive individuals, to join the protest action in large numbers.

Copy of the memorandum submitted to the President of India

A joint representation from CTUs and SKM to President of India through District Collectors.

26th November 2024

Smt. Droupadi Murmu

President of India

Rashtrapati Bhawan,

New Delhi.

Respected Madam,

We the workers and farmers are jointly in protest today all over India to highlight our issues and to demand redressal. We are sending this representation to you with hope that you would kindly intervene in favour of these two major productive forces of the country. We have chosen 26th November as the protest day through mobilisation as because this is the day when trade unions had observed Nationwide strike to protest against the anti-worker four labour codes and the farmers had begun their historic March towards Parliament against three farm laws in 2020.

We would like to place some facts before you about the pathetic situation as mentioned below and seek your intervention.

The working people of India are facing a deep crisis with the NDA3 Govt.’s policies aimed to enrich the Corporates and Super Rich. While cost of cultivation and inflation is rising at higher than 12-15%, every year, the Govt. is increasing MSP by only 2 to 7%. It raised national paddy MSP by only 5.35% to Rs. 2300 per quintal in 2024-25 without applying C2+50% formulae and no guarantee of procurement. Earlier at least in Punjab and Haryana Paddy and Wheat were procured. But the Central Govt. failed to lift the crop procured last year, stalling paddy procurement this year due to lack of space in Mandis. Farmers are forced onto the streets again even to save their meagre MSP, APMC Markets, FCI and PDS supply.

To further aid MNCs, the Govt. is imposing digitization of land and crops, through Digital Agriculture Mission-DAM- as announced in the Union Budget 2024-25. Plans are afoot to promote contract farming and change cropping patterns from growing food grains to commercial crops, helpful to corporate market supplies.  GST imposed in 2017 and the Union Cooperative Ministry formed in 2019 were an invasion of the State Govt.’s powers and trimmed their taxation rights. The National Cooperation Policy announced in the Budget 2024-25 is aimed at facilitating corporate takeover of post-harvest operations and divert cooperative sector credit to corporates.  Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has signed many agreements with MNC’s. In the public sector, the FCI storage, Central Warehouse Corporation and the APMC market yards all are being rented out to corporate companies like Adani and Ambani.

Perpetual deficit in farming causes higher debts and more eviction from agriculture. The acute agrarian crisis forces rural youth in lakhs to migrate to towns and inflate the reserve army of labour. This has a grave impact on workers in Industrial and service sectors. The 4 labour codes –being imposed by the Central Govt. – annuls any guarantee on minimum wages, secured employment, social security, proper working time and right to unionise. Privatisation, Contractualisation and no recruitment policies push the existing workers and job seeking youth to virtual slavery. Trade Unions are on a struggle path also to protect basic right to form Trade Union; for revival of Old Pension Scheme, retirement rights, food and health security, effective legal machinery for redressal of complaints, etc. We believe that Building worker-farmer unity and strengthening it for liberating peasantry from pauperisation and agrarian crisis and for workers to win their rights has become utmost important in the national interest.

Privatisation of all strategic production including defence and basic, crucial services including railways, electricity and other transport will totally jeopardise the self-reliance of the country and is affecting the income of the government.

Govt. has reduced food subsidy by Rs. 60,470 Cr. (from Rs 2 72 802 Cr. to Rs 2, 12, 332 Cr.) and fertilizer subsidy by Rs. 62,445 Cr. (from Rs 2.51,339 Cr. to Rs 1, 88,894 Cr.) in the last three consecutive years. The PDS has been crashed through a cash transfer scheme in many states as per the WTO diktats. Cash transfer is very meagre; food in the market is much costlier. Food deprivation of workers and poor people is rising. 36% children under 5 years are underweight, 21% suffer wasting, while 38% are stunted due to lack of food. 57% women 67% children are anemic. But the government is cutting down the budget allocation to the basic services schemes like ICDS, MDM and privatizing them.

Farm land is being forcefully acquired in the name of industrialization, but actually it is for entertainment facilities for the super-rich, commercial use, tourism, real estate, etc. with the Govt. shamelessly refusing to implement LARR Act.2013 and the Forest Rights Act-FRA.

Corporates extract high revenue for electricity through smart meters, high recharge tariff of mobile networks, rising toll charges, high cooking gas, diesel and petrol prices and expansion of GST. On the contrary, working people – farmers, industrial and agricultural workers- and the middle classes sustain the debt burden. Landless are forced to take SHG loans on high interest rates to survive. The contract labour wages are very low in rural India. Whereas the Govt. has waived more than Rs 16.5 lac Cr. debts of Corporate Houses, but refused to free farmers and agriculture workers from indebtedness.

The Government has violated the written agreement of 9th December 2021 with the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM).

In this background the first ever all India worker-farmer convention at Talkatora Stadium on 24th August 2023 had adopted a charter of demands and called for continuous struggles. The Mahapadav in November 2023, General strike and Grameen Bandh on 16th February 2024 and the campaign that followed to expose and oppose the anti-worker, anti-farmer policies of the Government are the examples for our consistent protest drawing attention of the Government but to no avail. Despite the protests on these demands time and again the Government has failed to respond.

Hence this decision of massive mobilization of farmers, rural poor and industrial workers on 26th November in districts all over India to mark the momentous occasion of 4th anniversary of the grand struggle against 3 Black Farm laws and countrywide general strike of workers to once again raise our common demands. The protest action is based on the 12 focal demands and the charter of demands adopted by the first ever All India Convention of workers and farmers at Talkatora Stadium New Delhi on 24th August 2023. 

We place before you the demand charter of our agitation seeking your kind intervention to impress upon the NDA Government to address these issues in earnest in the interest of workers and farmers and at large in the interest of our country

12 Point Focal Demands are:

1. MSP@C2+50% with Legally Guaranteed Procurement for all Crops
2. Repeal 4 Labour Codes; No Contractualisation or outsourcing of labour in any form.
3. Implement National Minimum Wage of Rs. 26000/month and pension @Rs.10000pm and Social Security benefits for all workers including organised, unorganized, scheme workers and contract workers and agriculture sector
4. Comprehensive Loan Waiver for farmers and agricultural workers to end Indebtedness and suicides; Ensure credit facilities for farmers and workers at low interest rates.
5. No Privatisation of Public Sector Undertakings and Public Services including Defense, Railways, Health, Education, Electricity. Scrap National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP). No prepaid Smart Meters, free power for agricultural pumps, 300 unit of free electricity to domestic users and shops;
6. No Digital Agriculture Mission (DAM), National Cooperation Policy and ICAR Agreements with MNCs that encroach on rights of State Governments and facilitate Corporatisation of Agriculture.
7. End indiscriminate land acquisition, Implement LARR Act 2013 and FRA;
8. Guaranteed employment and Job security for all. 200 days of work and Rs. 600/ day as wage in the MGNREGS. Expand it to urban areas. Immediately withdraw the exclusion of families from MNREGA. Pay the pending wages.
9. Comprehensive Public Sector insurance scheme for Crops and Cattle, Ensure Crop Insurance and all the schemes’ benefits to the Tenant farmers;
10. Arrest price rise. Strengthen PDS. Ensure quality public health care and education to all. Rs.10000/ monthly Pension at the age of 60 years for all. Tax the super-rich for the resources.
11. Strict laws to stop Communal division in the society and ensure their effective implementation. Uphold secularism as envisaged in the constitution.
12. End violence against women and children through gender empowerment and fast track judicial system; End violence, social oppression and caste-communal discrimination against all marginalised sections including Dalits, Tribal People and Minorities.

With expectations from your good self to take our representation in urgency in favour of Justice and Equality as enshrined in the   Constitution of India.

Thanking you and with regards,

Yours Sincerely,

 Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) & Joint Platform of Central Trade Unions(CTUs) and Independent Sectoral Federations/Associations