Seven months after kisan protest ended, farmers are far from happy

It was termed the longest-ever farmers’ demonstration, lasting as it did an entire year. The agitation, which even led to the siege of the national capital, received international attention, and was held to protest against three new farm laws.

In November 2021, the Centre had to backtrack and revoke the pieces of legislation it had brought in as a part of its “farm reforms” agenda. Following the withdrawal, the tillers and their families squatting on Delhi’s borders slowly returned home.

Seven months after the siege was lifted, are the farmers gearing up for another march towards Delhi?

Tractor-ready

This is what Rakesh Tikait, leader of one faction of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), has indicated. He has issued a call to his followers to keep the tractors ready to roll towards Delhi. The poster boy of the agitation has said that the “fight continues” to save their land “against big corporates”.

“The movement is not over. The siege was withdrawn after the three laws were rolled back. The government promised us a lot, but nothing has happened. Our protests will continue,” he asserted.

However, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) – a joint platform of unions coordinating the protests – of which BKU too is part, has not yet declared another “Delhi chalo”. Hannan Mollah, a senior leader of the SKM, said that Tikait’s statement is a “personal” one and that “individual organisations can schedule their own programmes.

“SKM has no such march on its schedule,” he added. On the other hand, some of the SKM members want to escalate protests to the “2020-21 levels”.

Also read: Protesting Punjab farmers on the road again; want AAP govt to meet their demands

A wary SKM leadership

The SKM leadership is wary of an aggressive campaign, fearing law-and-order problems. They fear that violence may lead the farmers’ agitation to lose the sympathy it now enjoys. The fracas during a tractor march on the streets of Delhi on January 26, 2021 did not augur well for them.

Soon after the Republic Day violence, rumours were rife that the local administration would remove the protestors squatting in Ghaziabad on the Uttar Pradesh border. The crowd had thinned as most farmers were on their way back after the tractor march. But the video of a sobbing Tikait requesting support from his followers went viral. The vehicles turned back towards Delhi. The blockade continued.

The BKU and SKM today

Though the 53-year-old Tikait remains the face of BKU, it is led by his elder brother Naresh Tikait. And, over a dozen other family members are also involved in the organisation at various levels.

Since its inception in 1987, the BKU has split or regrouped a few times. In May, some office bearers parted ways along with their followers, forming a splinter “apolitical” group. Though the outfit led by the Tikaits is not affiliated to any political party, it sought a mandate against the BJP in the recent Punjab Assembly elections. Rakesh Tikait himself has unsuccessfully contested polls in the past.

Similarly, SKM calls itself non-political. Though its leaders have campaigned against the BJP and several Opposition leaders share the dais with them at public functions, party flags and political slogans are not allowed in their vicinity.

On occasions, SKM has not only chided but even suspended members who have reneged against such rules. But its recent statement said: “Most of the farmers’ organisations that had been suspended from the SKM at the time of Punjab elections have returned to the Morcha”. The SKM says that after the laws were scrapped, the agriculture secretary had written to them with an assurance that they would comply with their demands.

Also read: Farmers agree to end protest after meeting with CM Mann: Sources

Protest against ‘betrayal’

The farmers group is now organising what it calls “Protest Against Betrayal” in 500 districts, seeking legal guarantees for MSP through legislation and to press for other pending demands. Also, on July 31, a chakka jam will be held across the country.

Between August 7 and 14, SKM will organise “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan” conventions across the country against the government’s newly-introduced Agnipath scheme. Under this scheme, soldiers are to be recruited in short service without post-retirement benefits except an ‘exit corpus’ of ₹11.71 lakh each.

Beginning August 18, a 75-hour mass dharna will be held at Lakhimpur Kheri demanding the sacking of Ajay Mishra Teni, the SKM added. Eight people, including four farmers, were killed in Lakhimpur Kheri in October last year. A car mowed down farmers who were protesting Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya’s visit to the area. There were reports of gunfire as well. The car allegedly belonged to Union Minister Ajay Mishra’s son Ashish, who is an accused in the case.

“The government has reneged on its promises,” reiterated Hannan Mollah, general secretary of All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS). “They (the Centre) had committed in writing that a committee will be set up on MSP (minimum support price), but there is no sign of it,” he added.

Also read: SKM accuses govt of not keeping promises, plans nationwide protests

The MSP matter

MSP for certain crops are announced by the government around their sowing season at the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP). It is a guarantee for farmers that they will get a minimum fixed price for their crop. However, it is limited to certain crops and a few states.

Farmer unions have demanded that it should be made mandatory by law and that the price be revised as per the recommendation of the Swaminathan Committee. Union leaders refer to the report prepared by the National Commission for Farmers, constituted in 2004, under the chairmanship of agricultural scientist MS Swaminathan. They quote its recommendation that farmers should be given MSP under the C2+50 per cent formula.

A1, A2, B1, B2, C1 and C2 are used to calculate the amount that a farmer can earn depending on the method used to calculate cost of production. A1 stands for all actual expenses whether in cash or kind. A2 includes A1 plus rent paid for leased-in-land, while B1 comprises A1 and the interest on the value of owned capital assets (excluding land).

B2 includes B1 and the rental value of owned land and rent paid for leased-in-land while C1 includes cost B1 and the imputed value of family labour. C2 is a more comprehensive cost that stands for B2 and imputed value of FL.

In June, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved an increase in MSP for all mandated kharif crops for marketing season 2022-23. It claimed that the “increase was in line with the Union Budget 2018-19 announcement of fixing the MSP at a level of at least 50 per cent over the All-India weighted average cost of production”.

Also read: Centre hikes MSP for kharif crops by 4-9% for 2022-23; paddy up by Rs 100/qtl

According to the protesters, it is 50 per cent over the input cost plus rent paid for leased-in-land plus FL. With MSP of common grade paddy at ₹2,040 per quintal, it barely meets input cost, they said. Hannan Mollah claimed that it is around ₹250 less than what a grower spends per quintal.

Intent behind MSP panel

The government also announced it is ready to form an MSP panel and has asked farm leaders to name their members. But the latter refused, saying the government’s “intent was not clear”.

In this context, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar had announced in Parliament that the government would form a committee as promised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in November 2021, as soon as they received names of representatives from SKM.

Reacting to this, Mollah said that they will soon issue a letter urging the government not to mislead people. “Such a committee cannot be constituted over a telephone call. We have written to the Centre – once in March, again in April – asking for the terms of reference of the committee, requesting to make it time-bound and seeking other details. There has been no response…,” alleged the septuagenarian Marxist leader.

The differences between the government and the farmers are mounting once again. Even as protesting farmers are gearing up for another round of demonstration, many are sceptical about the outcome since they fear the movement may have lost steam.