THOUSANDS of agricultural workers marched from Bangalore City Railway Station to Freedom Park and staged a dharna on February 10 demanding proper implementation of MGNREGA, budgetary allocation for a welfare fund for agricultural workers, allocation of house sites to agricultural workers, and regularisation of unauthorised cultivation of government lands by the landless poor.

THE All India Agricultural Workers Union (AIAWU) demanded an immediate amendment to the Capital Region Development Authority (CREDA) which was constituted through an Act during the last week of December 2014 in order to facilitate the pooling of land required for construction of a new capital for the residual Andhra Pradesh. Addressing a press conference at Guntur, after interacting with a cross section of people in different villages, AIAWU CWC member Veeraiah Konduri condemned the TDP government’s going back on the promises.

ALL India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) notes with great concern the horrific rise in the incidents of farmers' suicides in the country. Farmer suicide is a post-liberalisation phenomenon. It started and has intensified since 1995. Neo-liberal economic policies pursued by successive governments led to devastating changes in the country’s agricultural policy. As a result, public investment in agriculture gradually declined. Newly-adopted fertiliser policy caused the closure of public sector manufacturers and dependence on import which resulted in continuous increase in its prices.

The following is the press statement issued by the AIKS on January 15.THE All India Kisan Sabha condemns the BJP-led NDA government’s proposal to drastically reduce the food grain buffer stocks to be maintained with the Food Corporation of India. The buffer stocks were to be raised by 60 per cent to meet the requirements of the Food Security Act. However, the BJP-led NDA government is reportedly proposing to raise it only by 50 per cent. We demand that the government desist from this retrograde move as it will have adverse consequences on the food security of the nation.

AROUND 5,000 peasants led by the Maharashtra State Kisan Sabha (AIKS) marched to the Nagpur session of the state assembly on December 16, 2014 on burning peasant issues like severe drought, peasant suicides, debt relief, remunerative prices for agricultural produce, implementation of the Forest Rights Act, etc. It was the first and the largest peasant demonstration on the assembly after the BJP-led state government assumed power a month ago. Hence the AIKS action got good publicity in both print and electronic media.