Farmers meet at Sardarbaug
Posted in Blog
The farmers of Ahmedabad, Surendranagar and Bhavnagar, whose crop dried up due to the poor monsoons this year gathered at Sardarbaug on Saturday, 3 October 2009. They carried a bundle of dry paddy crop, both as a proof to express their dire situation and anger, and as a torch to make their demands. The Gujarat Samachar and DNA covered the gathering / protest, which were published on 4 October 2009.
We urged the farmers to not depend on the state and central governments, but to raise their voices and fight for their rights. On one hand the Modi Government is boasting of a Vibrant Gujarat, but at the same time, the condition of the farmers in the state is deteriorating. Dozens of farmers have committed suicide in the last four years and the toll may increase due to the bad weather conditions this year. However the government has not done anything to curb this problem.
The paddy, castor oil and jowar crop has dried up due to the poor monsoon and insufficient irrigation as the farmers received the requisite three phase electricity only for eight hours per day. This is not to mention the cost of labour and seeds.
They are unable to find any other work in the villages to sustain themselves. One farmer alleged that milk in the village is sold at the price of packaged water in Ahmedabad! Similarly they have yet to be compensated for the previous year, when their lands were washed away by the floods. The farmers feel that an injustice is being done towards them.
We, along with the Gujarat Farmers Association, have submitted an application to the zilla collector with the following demands:
· The families, of farmers who committed suicide, should be compensated with a sum of Rs. 5 lakhs and the farmer’s widow and children should be provided with an adequate pension to be able to sustain themselves
· All the farmers whose crop has failed due to the poor monsoons this year should be compensated with an amount of Rs. 30,000 per hectare
· All the farmers should be provided with electricity throughout the day to irrigate their lands
· All the farmers affected by natural calamities should be compensated with interest, as per the guidelines of the Calamity Committee. Further, they should be assisted with obtaining new loans from banks.
· There has been a misappropriation of funds by the administrators in different state organizations. There should a CBI inquiry of these organizations and the amount should be returned to the farmers.
P.S. The pollution level in South Gujarat has increased due to the rapid industrialization and fishermen have to go far out into the sea to catch their fish as a result of which they have been caught by the Pakistani armed forces.
