What every Indian should know about the World Trade Organization

As the leaders of the world gear up for the 9^th Minesterial of the World Trade Organization (WTO) at Bali, small farmers and peasants across the world await the outcome with heavy hearts. They are convinced that the horror unleashed by the WTO since its inception in 1995 was going to multiply manifold. The extreme apathy of the developed world towards the hunger and suffering of the developing and least developed countries (LDCs) has never been more evident. For the insatiable profit of a few giant multinational corporations (MNCs), the Global North is about to sacrifice the livelihood of every poor family in the South.

The governments of developing countries are being arm-twisted into agreeing to one-sided policies and agreements, fooled by the carrot of development being dangled yet again by the First world. It is now an indisputable fact that poverty and income inequality have only increased since neoliberalistic policies made their way into the Third World. Mainstream media being controlled by politicians and big corporations are determined to keep the public in the dark about the devious WTO policies which have killed more than 3 lakh farmers till date. Hence it is up to civil society and farmers’ groups to prevent the 9^th Ministerial from sounding the death knell to small farmers and the economically weaker sections of society.

The South Indian Coordination Committee of Farmers’ Movements (SICCFM) is spearheading the fight against the WTO’s biased policies, in South India. They arranged a Round Table of all the farmers’ unions in South India and invited representatives from two important organizations, Focus on the Global South, a think-tank in New Delhi working to secure just and equitable policies for the South, and GRAIN, an international farmers’ movement fighting against the atrocities committed by large agribusinesses on small farmers and peasants.

Kannaiyan, secretary of the SICCFM briefing the gathering

Afsar Jafri, Senior Research Associate with Focus on the Global South threw light on a few crucial issues. The WTO’s importance had waned in the first decade of this century because there were nil benefits for developing countries. Since the economic crisis of 2008 which plunged the rich world into depression, their companies are looking towards emerging economies to maintain their exponential rates of growth. There is a new push for free trade agreements which will allow MNCs from a few rich economies to sell their government subsidized products cheaply in the international market. Developing countries and LDCs cannot afford to provide even a fraction of this subsidy to their farmers, leading to higher pricing and hence no buyers of their produce, pushing them into debt. Yet developed countries claim their subsidies are not trade-distorting, and instead want developing countries to reduce their already minimal subsidies and import tariffs, to facilitate dumping.

Afsar Jafri explaining the grave consequences of the 9th Minesterial of the WTO

Why should Indians be especially interested in the 9^th Minesterial at Bali? Certain countries in the WTO, especially USA is threatening to sue India if we implement the National Food Security Act (NFSA). Under existing WTO rules which are inherently in favour of developed countries, India is allowed a de minimus subsidy of 10% of the total value of its food production. With the NFSA, India will cross this limit. In order to allow implementation of the NFSA, the WTO wants India to accede to two conditions: the first is Trade Facilitation i.e. modernization of all our ports to allow for the easy and hassle-free entry of foreign goods. This will cost a substantial sum for which India needs technical and monetary support; the developed countries refuse to give any. The second condition is the Peace Clause. Under this deceptively named clause, India will not be allowed to sue any country if their company violates Indian laws. This clearly negates India’s sovereignty and we must vehemently oppose both these conditions.

The other option the WTO gives India to cut its agricultural subsidy is the reduction in the Minimum Support Price (MSP) given to our farmers. A few countries with vested corporate interests claim it will allow our farmers to sell their produce more cheaply in the international market. In reality, the MSP is in fact minimal and many times, does not even cover the cost of production. It is the minimum guarantee that a farmer can get for investing his life into his crop, withstanding the vagaries of the market and nature. Most importantly, this amount remains a miniscule fraction of the bounty showered by developed countries on their farmers who make up less than 5% of their population. If India agrees to this, it will have to construct a mass grave to accommodate the lakhs of farmers’ bodies which will make their way there. The WTO and its agribusiness giants will then pretend these farmers never existed on the face of this Earth. Indeed, for farmers in developing countries, WTO could stand for World Terror Organization.

Farmers and student activists listen intently

If the threats associated with implementing our NFSA are bad enough, the Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) being discussed on a number of products will ensure the small farmer has nowhere to go but the mass grave. Kartini Samon, a senior activist from GRAIN enlightened the audience at the Round Table about the new FTA between the European Union and India which will allow free entry of European dairy products into India. It is well known that the EU generously subsidizes its dairy industry. With the new FTA, they will flood India with cheap milk and dairy products, cheaper than what our local milk cooperatives are offering.

The EU’s big dairy companies will acquire land, set up their own farms to source their milk. This will affect more than 70 million families in India who practice dairy farming for their livelihoods. The 93,000 local cooperatives which collect milk from small dairy farmers and sell it to towns and cities will become bankrupt with no hope of a bail-out. The milk that we get from our local farmers is not only fresh but also environment friendly due to the very low transport related carbon emissions. With climate change induced cyclones and typhoons wrecking havoc in many parts of the world, these giant MNCs will only exacerbate the crisis.

Since the economic reforms in the early 90s, hundreds of thousands of farmers have committed suicide because of the government’s exclusive preference for industrialization. The upcoming WTO Minesterial conference at Bali could kill many many more. Urban India needs to realize we cannot exist without our farmers who provide our most basic necessity – food. Patriotism goes beyond supporting India in a cricket match. If we do not come out of our cubicles to support our farmers, we will in effect become Resident Non-Indians. Since your voice carries more power than the farmer’s, please raise it against this impending genocide. You will not see these issues highlighted in mainstream media. Care searching on the internet and you will gather that genocide is what it is.

Join the protest by SICCFM in Mangalore on 3^rd Dec 2013 to protect your farmers and the food they grow for you.

-Pannaga Prasad
Media relations
SICCFM

GM crops are no solution to malnutrition!

Biothai | GRAIN  | South Indian Coordination Committee of Farmers Movement (SICCFM) |
Pesticide Action Network Asia Pacific (PAN AP)

Groups in Asia support Filipino farmers' uprooting of Golden Rice

PRESS RELEASE

August 29, 2013

On August 8, 2013 more than 400 farmers, church people, students, academics and consumers uprooted a field trial of genetically modified (GM) rice that was nearly ready for harvest in Pili, Camarines Sur, Philippines. This courageous action undertaken by the Peasant Movement of Bicol and the Sikwal-GMO alliance was necessary to prevent the contamination of Asia's most important food crop by GMOs.

Field trials of Golden Rice, one in Pili and three in other areas of the Philippines, are part of an agenda to push forward the acceptance of GMOs. Golden Rice is being developed by a 'public-private partnership' led by Syngenta, one of the world's largest pesticide and seed corporations and the owner of the patent rights involved, and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). There is also a Golden Rice Network spread out in countries like India, Bangladesh, China, Vietnam and Indonesia.

The GM rice being field tested, known as Golden Rice, is modified with two genes, one from bacteria and one from maize, to produce beta carotene, a source of Vitamin A, in the rice grain. Proponents of Golden Rice say that it could significantly reduce vitamin A deficiency, which can cause severe illness, blindness, and even death. But beta carotene is found abundantly in many plants and fruits that are already cultivated in Asia, such as carrots, pumpkins and sweet potatoes, and there is no need to put farmers and consumers at risk by introducing GMOs when these other sources are available.

This is not the first time that IRRI has tried to introduce a GM rice variety. The institute has been leading efforts to introduce GM rice in Asia for over a decade now. But, in each case, strong public resistance has blocked its efforts. At present, no country in Asia has approved any GM rice variety for human consumption or commercialisation.

IRRI and the other promoters of Golden Rice hope that this variety, advertised as a solution to malnutrition, will break through public opposition to GMOs. In its public responses to the uprooting of the crop, IRRI has emphasised that the trials are part of a public project not a corporate one and has dismissed concerns about the risks involved, saying that the field trials are necessary to test the efficacy of the rice and its agricultural performance.

But IRRI is hardly a public institution. Alongside from the funding it receives from governments, IRRI's work is funded by several private entities that are strongly in support of GMOs, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation and transnational agribusiness corporations like Bayer, DuPont and Syngenta. IRRI, which orchestrated the “green revolution” of chemical rice farming in Asia, has moved increasingly into the private sphere in recent years, not only in terms of funding but also through direct partnerships with agribusiness corporations, such as with Golden Rice, and by seeking intellectual property rights (IPRs) over its research. Its new IPR policy expressly states that it may seek IPRs, such as plant breeders' rights and patents, on all of its "intellectual assets" (germ plasm included) and generate revenues from the "management" of these IPRs. IRRI's gene bank holds approximately 80% of the traditional rice varieties that have been collected from farmers' fields across the globe,

The risks posed by field trials of Golden Rice may not mean much to IRRI, but they are enormous for farmers and consumers in the Philippines and throughout Asia. There is no way to ensure that a GMO field trial does not contaminate neighbouring fields. The recent case of an unapproved GM wheat found growing in a farmer's field in the US or the detection of unapproved GM traits in rice from China show how field trials lead to contamination and serious consequences for farmers, consumer and markets. In this case, IRRI, Syngenta and the other Golden Rice promoters are putting the region's most important cultural, food and agricultural crop at risk with 800 square meter open field tests of a variety not approved for human consumption and in an area home to many traditional varieties cultivated by local farmers.

In this respect, we would like to voice our support for the action undertaken by the Peasant Movement of Bicol and Sikwal-GMO, an alliance of farmers, church people, students, academics and consumers based in Bicol who are struggling against GMOs and agrochemical transnational corporations, to uproot the Golden Rice field trials in Pili, Camarines Sur.

We urge an immediate halt to the other three field trials and the further development of Golden Rice in the Philippines or elsewhere. No one is fooled by concerted efforts of IRRI, Syngenta and national agriculture research institutes to develop Golden Rice as a "poster child" for the GM industry and to get GM foods accepted under the guise of a humanitarian mission. Instead, we call on social movements, farmers’ organisations and people's networks across Asia to join us in supporting the rights of the farmers and communities, like those in Bicol, to assert food sovereignty and protect local biodiversity. Local communities have the legitimacy and the right to say no to GE crops like Golden Rice and defend their health, environment, territories and livelihoods.

Signed

Biothai

GRAIN

South Indian Coordination Committee of Farmers Movement (SICCFM)

Pesticide Action Network Asia Pacific (PAN AP)

Contacts:

Biothai: Witoon Lianchamroon, witoon@biothai.net, +66894497330 (Thailand)

GRAIN: Kartini Samon, kartini@grain.org, +6281314761305 (Indonesia)

SICCFM: Kannaiyan Subramaniam, sukannaiyan69@gmail.com, +919444989543 (India)

PAN AP: Sarojeni Rengam, sarojeni.rengam@panap.net, +604657027 (Malaysia)

Karuturi guilty of tax evasion

Global flower industry giant found breaking the law in Kenya

Tax Justice Network ▪ Forum Syd ▪ GRAIN ▪ Anywaa Survival Organisation ▪ South Indian Coordination Committee of Farmers Movements(SICCFM) ▪ Muungano wa Wanavijiji

PRESS RELEASE

Nairobi, 19 April 2013

The Kenyan government has found Karuturi Global Ltd, the world's biggest producer of cut roses, guilty of tax evasion. This is the first time an African government has brought a large multinational company to court for transfer mispricing through a fully public process. A broad alliance of civil society movements and organisations are celebrating the Kenyan government's resolve to stop such behaviour and to do so transparently.

In late 2012, the Kenya Revenue Authority ruled that the Bangalore, India-based multinational used transfer mispricing to avoid paying the government of Kenya nearly US$11 million (EUR8 million) in corporate income tax, part of a larger set of tax disputes with government authorities that amount to a quarter of the firm's 2012 sales. On 4 April 2013, Karuturi appealed the ruling, bringing the proceedings into the public domain.

"Companies like Karuturi are haemorrhaging Africa," says Dr Attiya Waris, a senior lecturer in tax law at the University of Nairobi and Vice-Chairperson of the Tax Justice Network. "Transfer mispricing is robbing Kenyan workers and citizens of access to good public education, health care, transport services and a clean environment, which our government can only provide through proper revenues."

Tax evasion costing developing countries US$1 trillion per year

Karuturi produces 580 million roses per year from its operations in Kenya, Ethiopia and India. (One out of nine roses bought in Europe comes from a Karuturi farm.) The flowers it produces in Kenya are shipped to Europe through a subsidiary in Dubai. By under declaring the value of the merchandise shipped to its warehouse in Dubai, the firm saves costs on its tax bill. This is illegal under Kenyan law.

Waris and others estimate that capital flight due to tax evasion is costing developing countries around US$1 trillion per year.

"Companies like Karuturi have to play fair," remarks Stephen Gichohi of Forum Syd whose partner Muungano wa wanavijiji recently discussed the issue with workers from Karuturi Flower Farms in Naivasha, Kenya. “Karuturi farm workers have a range of concerns about spraying equipment, health services, wages and housing and need their conditions improved as soon as possible.”

Grabbing the land

Karuturi is also expanding aggressively into large-scale agriculture, and has acquired long term rights to more than 300,000 hectares of fertile farmland in Ethiopia since 2009. The land was leased from the government, but intense conflict has emerged over the compensation, displacement and relocation of villagers and herders who lived on or grazed the lands.

"We are extremely grateful that the Kenyan authorities have caught this land grabber right in its tracks," says Nyikaw Ochalla of the Anywaa Survival Organisation, a group defending the indigenous Anuak communities badly affected by Karuturi in Gambela, Ethiopia. "This company is criminal, on many counts," continues Ochalla.

"Not only are they fiscal cheats, but Karuturi has been accused of human rights abuses, poor labour practices, threats to the environment and so on," points out Devlin Kuyek of GRAIN, one of the groups following the tax dispute. "Even the World Bank Group did not grant Karuturi the political risk insurance it requested for its Ethiopian operations."

###

For background information, please see "A litany of trouble" outlining the broad set of complaints against Karuturi available at http://farmlandgrab.org/post/view/21937.

For interviews and further information, please contact:

- Dr Attiya Waris, Law School, University of Nairobi, attiya@uonbi.ac.ke, +254771891571 (on the Kenyan tax dispute and the struggle for tax justice across Africa)

- Mr Stephen Gichohi, Forum Syd, Nairobi, stephen.gichohi@forumsyd.org, +254725401366 (on the Karuturi farm workers situation & the campaign against transfer mispricing in Kenya)

- Mr Devlin Kuyek, GRAIN, Montreal, devlin@grain.org, +15145717702 (on Karuturi & global land grabbing)

- Mr Nyikaw Ochalla, Anywaa Survival Organisation, London, ochalla@hotmail.com, +447939389796 (on Karuturi in Ethiopia and the indigenous peoples’ situation)

- Mr S. Kannaiyan, South Indian Coordination Committee of Farmers Movements, India, sukannaiyan69@gmail.com, +919444989543 (on Karuturi’s operations in India and Africa seen from the perspective of  Indian farmers)

Letter to Supreme court appealing to stop GMO field trails

South Indian Coordination Committee of Farmers Movements

636, Ideal Homes Township, Raja Rajeswari Nagar, Bangalore -5600098. Karnataka.

Telephone +91 94444089543 Email: siccfm@gmail.com

Nov 4, 2012

To:

To Whom It May Concern:

Supreme Court of India

In the case of Aruna Rodrigues Vs. Union of India

(Writ Petition (Civil) No. 260 of 2005)

Sub: Requesting the Hon’ble Supreme Court to accept the court-appointed TEC’s

interim report recommendations and order for stopping of all field trials until

conditions met

The South Indian Coordination Committee of Farmers’ Movements(SICCFM) is an alliance of various

farmers movements from the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka. The members are

Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha, Tamila Vivasaigal Sangham, Adivai Gothra Mahasabha

Kerela, Kerela Coconut Farmers Association and many others representing thousands of

members.

Two recent reports – one, of the Technical Expert Committee set up by this Hon’ble Court

with five experts from both the petitioners’ and respondents’ side unanimously signing off on

an interim report for the court, and another, of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on

Agriculture which had parliamentarians cutting across all parties unanimously putting out

their report - have reiterated some main points asking for need assessment and assessment

of alternatives before proceeding with open air trials as laid down also by the Task Force on

Agricultural Biotechnology headed by Dr M S Swaminathan in 2004.

The state of the regulatory regime – its design as well as its functioning – have come under

severe criticism again and again in various inquiries including the public debate around Bt

brinjal on which the Government of India announced a moratorium in February 2010. We

would like to point out that what these various reports and inquiries are pointing out is

nothing new, and improvements are also not being witnessed in the state of affairs.

The learned Bench looking into this matter might be aware that there have been several

instances when field trials took place in violation of the existing statutory Rules and of laid

down biosafety norms. The regulators have been approving open air trials without any

capabilities for monitoring. Lack of monitoring is apparent with Bt cotton after its release too.

It is apparent from various civil society investigations, from the very way in which Bt cotton

spread in India illegally and from contamination incidents elsewhere that field trials which are

deliberate releases of untested and new organisms, pose a grave threat. One such incident

came to light in a Monsanto GM maize trial plot in Karnataka and the regulators undertook

an investigation a full year later, showing the lack of acting even on complaints! Further,

there is no liability regime in place to take care of things when they go wrong during such

field trials. It is also well known, and being pointed out by many farmers’ rights advocates

that no contamination testing has ever taken place in our country after field trials. Going by

contamination incidents elsewhere, even small contamination incidents threaten trade

security for our farmers. There has been a recent EU alert on basmati rice consignments’

contamination, as the learned Bench would be aware.

The petitioners of this PIL were therefore absolutely correct in asking for a moratorium on all

open air releases of GMOs. We write to you to kindly accept

in toto the recommendations of

the Committee that this Hon’ble Court itself had set up and ensure that unneeded GM crops

like Bt crops are not allowed into the country including for field trials and that we do not

willfully jeopardize our valuable diversity in germplasm of several crops for which we are the

Center of Origin and/or Diversity by allowing transgenic versions of those crops. WE should

bear in mind that China had prudently not opted for GM soybean, given that soy diversity is

the wealth of that country.

During the Bt brinjal public debate in the country, it became apparent that our biosafety

assessment is faulty. When international scientists started analyzing the biosafety dossiers

presented to the regulators by the company involved, that too after this Hon’ble Court

ordered for such biosafety data be put out for public scientific scrutiny, it became apparent

that our testing regime is inadequate and lacks independent testing in addition to long term

testing. Further, safety interpretation was being wrongly made from data that was obviously

pointing to health and other problems. All of this was publicly acknowledged when the

moratorium was announced by the government. Nothing has changed subsequently in terms

of improvements being brought about. The TEC is absolutely correct in asking for a reexamination

of all biosafety data for approved as well as in-the-pipeline crops.

We believe that transgenics will affect our diversity and that this is an unneeded, hazardous

technology. We welcome the interim report of the TEC of the Supreme Court. We believe

that given that the Government of India also got to nominate its experts into the TEC, they

should abide by the TEC’s recommendations. We urge the Hon’ble Court to immediately

pass all appropriate orders based on the recommendations of the TEC.

Sincerely,

Chukki Nanjundaswamy

Working President, Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha(KRRS), Karnataka

Convener, South Indian Coordination Committee of Farmers’ Movements

"GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND LEGISLATIONS GOING AGAINST FARMERS"

South Indian Coordination Committee of Farmers Movements (SICCFM)

636, Ideal Homes Township, Raja Rajeswari Nagar, Bangalore -5600098. Karnataka. Telephone +91 94444089543 Email: siccfm@gmail.com

PRESS RELEASE
"GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND LEGISLATIONS GOING AGAINST FARMERS" ‘Land Acquisition Bill and FDI in Retail not acceptable’: South Indian Farmers’ Leaders New Delhi, October 5th 2012: South Indian farmer’s movements, under the banner of South Indian Coordination Committee of Farmers’ Movements (SICCFM) have come all the way to Delhi to criticize the anti-people approach of the LARR bill as well as the undemocratic approval of FDI in retail by the UPA. "The UPA government is proving itself to be a dangerous anti-people and corrupt government. After shocking the country with the largest corruption scams in India's history, they are trying to grab our farm land to give to corporations for private profit. Land is not a commodity, it is our identity and we need it for our livelihood and to feed the nation. We farmers have an inalienable right to land. The bill should be focused on people’s real development and not for profiteering by a few," said Chamarasa Patil, the president of Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS).
SICCFM is criticizing the LARR bill, now called ‘The Right to Fair Compensation, Resettlement, Rehabilitation and Transparency in Land Acquisition’ Bill 2012 because it has not addressed fundamental questions about lands' critical role in food security, rural regeneration and livelihood security of millions. Furthermore the government’s total disregard to the parliamentary standing committee recommendations is disgraceful. The standing committee had clearly reflected the major concerns of the people in its report. When the industry did not like it, the GOI went ahead and diluted the bill and handed it over to a group of ministers.
The fundamental principle of the bill is flawed. It is mainly focused on urbanization, industrialization and ‘infrastructure development’ rather than food and livelihood security of the masses. By using the language of fair compensation they are overshadowing the real purpose of the bill which is to divert people’s land to private industries. "The wording of the bill is such that "infrastructure development" in the name of "public purpose" can mean anything notified by the government. For example, it can include projects like golf courses, elite residential housing, expensive private hospitals. In which way are these going to help the poor who are giving up their most vital resource? This type of so called development is for elite consumerism and not for the masses of India. Our local gram panchayats should decide whether a project is for real public purpose or not" said Nandini Jairam, women’s leader of KRRS. SICCFM has been asking for a national debate on what constitutes ‘public purpose’ in the law. Any land acquisition by the state for any private entity, including under PPP projects is unacceptable and does not constitute public purpose. Already lakhs of hectares of farmland have been converted to non-agricultural uses, and this is a dangerous trend. We need to conserve farmland for future generations.
Furthermore, the government has already acquired thousands of hectares that are lying idle all over the country. "The government needs to first bring out a white paper to show what is the status of past land acquisitions and farm land conversion to industry before blindly making laws to hand over land to industry. We also need a full, real picture of compensation and R&R related to past land acquisitions. Lakhs of people have not still received compensation or R&R or promised jobs. Until all these issues are resolved, we demand that all land acquisition should be suspended immediately," said KS Puttanaiah of Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS).
South Indian Coordination Committee of Farmers Movements (SICCFM) 636, Ideal Homes Township, Raja Rajeswari Nagar, Bangalore -5600098. Karnataka. Telephone +91 94444089543 Email: siccfm@gmail.com Speaking on the issue of FDI in multi-brand retail, Nagendra of KRRS said, "The Government has already not kept the promises it had made when 100% FDI in single brand retail was allowed. Then they had said that there will be 30% mandatory procurement from small/village/cottage industry. Now they are conveniently saying that procurement from village industry should be just ‘preferable’, ‘where feasible’. Similarly any protection mechanisms for farmers will become diluted in the case of FDI in multibrand retail also."
Analysis from elsewhere clearly shows that big retail chains like WalMart and Carrefour operate through market concentration and monopolies. In the US, small or medium farmers cannot sell their produce to a grocery store because the chain stores have central procurement only from farms of thousands of acres. Big retail chains also practice many unfair practices such as maintaining exclusive supply list of farmers or removing them from the list at their whim. Whereas the Indian retail business today has no such domination by powerful players.
Big retail will not create much employment either. Indian retail sector employs 40 million people and is estimated at 400$ billion while Wal-Mart, with a similar turnover of $420 billion, employs only 2.1 million people. It is the Indian retail sector which is a much bigger employer. Evidence shows that farmers’ incomes would suffer too. Out of the food dollar, farmers in the US now receive only 4% while in 1950 it was 70%. Also big retail does not buy, or pay over the counter at current prices. They buy the nation’s next harvest in futures market and fix farm prices. They also import cheap goods, pulling prices down and destroying local production like they have done in the US.
"The real aim of Wal-mart and other retail giants is to control most of the supply chain, so that it will wipe out whatever little power the farmers have now. This is what the MNCs and US want and this is what the Indian government is delivering. If the government is really serious about helping farmers, they need to strengthen farmers' bargaining capacity in the marketplace," said Chukki Nanjundaswamy of KRRS.
"In a nutshell, there is nothing of benefit to the majority of the farmers of this country and we demand that the government retract this notification immediately", said Kannaiyan Subramaniam, Coordinator of SICCFM.
SICCFM shared a detailed note on both FDI and LARR bill and called upon all Parliamentarians to engage with the issue in greater detail and uphold the interests of farming communities across the country. For more information, contact: Kannaiyan Subramaniam: 09444989543; Email: sukannaiyan69@gmail.com

South Indian Coordination Committee of Farmers Movements

(SICCFM)

636, Ideal Homes Township,

Raja Rajeswari Nagar, Bangalore -5600098. Karnataka.

Telephone +91 94444089543

Email: siccfm@gmail.com

13^th September, 2012.

Land is Life.

South Indian farmer’s response to the Land acquisition bill( LARR bill 2012)

At this point, people’s movements of SICCFM are not willing to enter into discussions on the details of compensation and rehabilitation packages because we do not agree with the fundamental premise of this bill.  This bill seeks to handover our farmlands to private corporations in the name of “public purpose”. The wording of this bill is so deceptive that almost anything could be construed as a public good and it falsely seems like farmers have become partners in India's corporate development.

But as farmers and poor rural people we ask - what purpose will be served to our communities and our development by a private hospital or university which we cannot afford, a luxury hotel, a golf course or a formula one race track, a multi-lane highway where a company will collect toll tax for 36 years while we have no roads in our villages, or a mine that kills our forests and destroys our health? Most importantly, we ourselves have the right and ability to decide what is good for our development and demand that our own local institutions – gram sabhas give their full consent and decide whether a project constitutes our development and public purpose. We cannot accept some random figure of 80% consent or “consultation” as an excuse for democracy.

Just because corporations are complaining about higher costs to their projects does not in anyway mean that the bill is automatically good for the farmers. In fact the cost of such a bill will be even steeper for India's rural communities and our nation’s ability to feed itself.  At this time our nation is reeling under coalgate scam, 2G spectrum scam, paid media scam and under no circumstances can we be fooled once again to let the government act as our trustee or custodian because history and facts have proven otherwise.

Moreover the government has already acquired thousands of acres of lands that are lying idle all across the country. The government has all kinds of land banks everywhere. These lands were taken from farmers previously and now have not been used or illegally converted to some other use. In many cases farmers are yet to see any compensation. Rehabilitation has not been received by millions of Indians displaced by corporate development. Why then are we making a law to carry out further acquisitions? What about using the land already taken and fulfilling people’s dues from the past first?

Lastly, what is the use of such a bill when it is planning to exempt 13 out of 16 laws that acquire lands such as SEZ act and mining act? This trend of farm land grabbing and diversion of water to industry is legally ongoing all over the country. This is having a direct bearing on our ability to produce food. In the case of just one project, the Yamuna expressway alone we will lose the ability to produce 100,000 tonnes of food grain a year.  Thousands of acres are earmarked to be acquired in all the fertile food producing states of India.  When 50% of our children are malnutritioned and our hunger levels are worse than the poorest countries of Sub Saharan Africa, our government should be acquiring land for food security and not rampant industrialization.

Given this situation we do not agree to give our lands unless it is for real public purpose decided by us. Here are our current demands:-

1.     Suspend all ongoing land acquisitions

2.     Bring out a white paper of all the past land acquisitions nationally and what is being done with that land

3.     We demand a national level debate on “public purpose”

4.     A complete ban on acquisition for private corporations

These demands were formed on 9^th Sep in Bangalore where SICCFM has held an open discussion on the Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation & Resettlement bill (LA&RR bill) along with many farmers’ organizations and allies.

Signed by:

Karnataka Rajya Ryota Sangh( KRRS) (Karanataka).

Thamizhaga Vivasayigal Sangam( Tamil Nadu),

Uzhavar Ulaippalar Katchi(Tamil Nadu),

Uzhavar Periyakkam(Tamil Nadu),

Katchi Sarpartra Thamizhaga Vivasayigal Sangam(Tamil Nadu),

Kongunadu Vivasayigal Sangam( Tamil Nadu),

Kerala Coconut Farmers Association (KCFA)( Kerala)

Adivasi Gothra Maha Sabha(Kerala),

For further details
S.Kannaiyan.
+919444989543
sukannaiyan69@gmail.com

Indian Coordination Committee of Farmers’ Movement

                                    Road No. 2, A – 33, Mahipalpur Extension, New Delhi – 110 037, India                               

Tel: 011 - 26783000, 26784000; Fax: 011-26785001; Email: yudhvir55@yahoo.com

Farmers Movements on the Land Acquisition, Resettlement and Rehabilitation Bill (LARR) 2012

The MoRD may have accepted some suggestions from the people and the Parliamentary Standing Committee (PSC) report which we support and contributed to, but we are still fundamentally opposed to the spirit of the LARR bill in its current form. It is using the language of transparency and compensation to allow the government to take people's land in the name of public purpose and then hand it over to private industries. We understand that the PM has referred the LARR bill to a Group of Ministers after opposition from key ministers who want to push for land acquisition for private parties. Also media sources have revealed  the MoRDs intention to make the bill "more investor-friendly". It is shameful that the government is trying to appease the industry and permanently establish itself as the land broker for corporate players. What is needed today is a land law that is pro peoples development, improves food security and prevents climate change.

We cannot accept the falsity that corporate profit is good for the masses of India. Corporate profit is not public purpose. Projects that are geared towards elite consumerism – even if PPP ventures are not “public purpose”. Steel plants, formula one race tracks and elite housing complexes are not public purpose but highly profitable ventures. Multi lane highways are not benefiting us- why are no roads being built in the villages instead?  We stress that local government – gram sabhas and basti sabhas should give full consent to decide if a certain project is public purpose or not- merely consulting them is not enough.

As farmers we ask- who will feed the nation?  Are we planning to kill our farmers or turn them into unemployed or laborers and then import food from corporations abroad? Is it sensible for our country to set up policies that will undercut our own ability to feed ourselves? Why are we still a nation with the most shameful hunger and farmer suicide statistics? It makes no rational sense to allow government acquisition of any kind of agricultural land for industrial purposes. Millions of acres of agricultural land are also acquired and converted to industrial purposes under up to 13 other acts that are exempt from the provisions of LARR. Such type of land acquisition is a threat to our national food security. All such acts such as SEZ's, mining, railways and others should be brought under this one act. It is pitiful that the government is showing such desperation to industrialize and not the same urgency to feed our people and stop farmer suicides. We strongly demand implementation of the recommendation of the parliamentary standing committee to not acquire any type of agricultural land (single or multi cropped).

Although proper compensation is a very important issue for us, so is proper rehabilitation. Waving money at farmers and then destroying their livelihoods is not acceptable. Proper rehabilitation which means an alternate sustainable livelihood and land for land must be provided. This too must be monitored and implemented by the gram and basti panchayat.  Also those who have already suffered due to previous displacements and not yet received rehabilitation must  receive it. The new law should apply to them all. We also demand that all ongoing acquisitions be stopped unless and until the new law that reflects peoples true development needs comes into being.

We cannot accept the violent method in which governments have responded to our genuine protests. We condemn the recent arrests of hundreds of farmers by the MP government in Anantapur who were legitimately trying to protect their livelihoods and lands. Instead of entering into serious dialogues the government just lathi charged and jailed us.

We would like to state that we are not against industrialization as many have tried to portray us as backward and anti development. We are not against a development or industrialization which will provide sustainable livelihoods to our people, which will give us education, health and food in our communities or roads in our villages. But we are definitely against such a development model which prescribes rampant industrialization without considering the well being of the masses and in fact causes inequality, dispossession and climate change. We cannot discuss any land law without discussing its impact on overall development – they both go hand in hand.

We will be organizing a meet of many farmers organizations in Bangalore on 9 September to further analyze this act and discuss our future course of action.

Our demands:

• We demand a national debate on public purpose.
• We support a new legislation to replace the colonial land acquisition act. But, we cannot accept a bill which will be an effective tool to grab farmers land for private profit and urbanization. We demand a ban on acquisition for private projects.

Signed by:

Bhartiya Kisan Union

Vijay Jawandhia, Shetkari Sangh, Maharashtra

Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS) ,

Kerala Coconut Farmers Association( KCFA), Kerela

Tamil Nadu Farmers Association, Tamil Nadu

South Indian Coordination Committee of Farmers Movements (SICCFM)

For more information please contact:- S Kannaiyan, SICCFM: +91 9444989543 

 Dharmendra, BKU: +91 9219691168 (bku.tikait@gmail.com) ;