Shadow Correspondent
Jammu, Aug 09:
On the Joint call of Centre of India Trade Union (CITU) and All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) for Jail Bharo Andolan, Jammu & Kashmir Kisan Tehrik and trade unions affiliated with State CITU held a protest demonstration in support of their demands like complete farm loan waiver, loan at minimum interest @ 4%, implementation of recommendations of M.S Swaminathan Report, legal provision guarantying minimum support price, provision of pension to farmers and Agricultural laborers upto Rs. 5000/- pm, Rs. 18000/- minimum wages for all workers, contain price rise, against pro- employer labour reforms and disinvestment of PSU, against contract system. A large number of farmers and workers across the Jammu Region attended the protest shouting slogans against the government and courted arrests.
While addressing the farmers and workers G.N Malik, General Secretary, Jammu & Kisan Tehrik said that rise of 42% in the number of farmers’ suicide during 2014-15, one in every 30 minutes, and the large number of hunger deaths in different parts of the country, instead of implementing its poll promise of minimum support price as per Swaminathan Committee recommendations, the BJP government meets farmers’ demands of MSP and loan waiver with bullets and killing as was witnessed in Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh. He further said that at the same time, bad loans of willful corporate defaulters amounting to more than Rs. 1.91 lakh crores were written off during three financial year of Modi regime, FDI and corporatization of agriculture through contract forming are being pursued with insurance companies profiteering in the name of crop insurance, large scale displacement and dispossessing of rural poor is taking place through forcible land acquisition without proper rehabilitation and resettlement.
He strongly demanded implementation of Swaminathan Report, complete waiver of farm loans, grant loan on minimum interest rate of 4%, and pension @ Rs.5000/- pm.
Om Parkash, General Secretary state CITU while addressing said that in spite of the massive struggles against many of the governments’ move like pro employer labour law reforms, anti national privatization of strategic public sector including the defense and railways, budgets cuts on social sector allocations, rampant commercialization of health and education sector. He said workers and peasants will launch a series of struggles with the slogan ” either the government changes its policies or people will change the government”.
Other spoke on this occasion were Kishore Kumar, Sewa Ram Bhagat, Banarsi Dass, Muzafar Wani, Jia Lal, Ramesh Bhatt, Bikal Vaid etc.
