People's Democracy

(Weekly Organ of the Communist Party of India (Marxist)

Vol. XXX

No. 24

June 11, 2006

Himachal Kisan Sabha Holds 12th State Conference 

 

Tikender Singh Panwar 

 

THE 12th state conference of the Himachal Kisan Sabha was held on June 3-4, 2006 at Jhanjheli, about 100 kilometers away from Mandi town. The area of Mandi is known for its valiant struggles launched by Kisan Sabha against the feudal lords. It was called the Mujara movement that was successfully won and thousands of acres of land was distributed to the peasants. Jhanjheli is a small hamlet with a scarce population which is common of all other hilly regions. Despite such odd physical conditions, a huge mobilisation was organised at the beginning of the conference. The rallyists reached the venue of the public meeting right since morning, some walking a distance of more than 10 kilometers. 

PUBLIC MEETING 

The public meeting amongst others was addressed by N K Shukla, joint secretary of the All India Kisan Sabha. He spoke of the anti-peasant policies adopted by the present central government. He stated that the present crisis in agriculture is of unprecedented proportions. The ratio of growth of population and that of food production is in imbalance. This has severely effected the poor people. Stressing on the need for land reforms to meet the present crisis, he lambasted the government for bringing corporate giants in the farming sector. Rakesh Singha, former MLA from Shimla and member of the state secretariat of the Kisan Sabha warned the state government to stop evicting the poor peasants from their land in the garb of eviction of encroachers. He cited figures which amply demonstrate that 80 per cent of the state’s rural population owns less that 0.5 hectare of land, this includes both the agricultural and non- agricultural land. Hence the government must frame a policy whereby land is provided to the landless and the poor peasants. Dr Onkar Shad, state secretary of the organisation spoke of the heroic struggles fought by the kisans of the state under the banner of the Kisan Sabha in different corners of the state. He emphasised the need of the organisation to win all such battles. The others who spoke were Lambar Singh Taggar, secretary of Punjab Kisan Sabha. He stressed the need to understand the present role of the Kisan Sabha under changed circumstances, which undoubtedly are positive for proper intervention. Jagdish, president of the Mandi district committee of the Kisan Sabha and elected member of the zila parishad from the area spoke at length regarding the problems faced by the people of the area. He said that the entire area has been badly effected by hail but till date no survey was held by the government let alone giving compensation. 


The conference elected a presidium consisting of Amar Raghwa, Supahya, Jagdish and Tikender Singh Panwar, a steering committee of Onkar Shad, Jasmat and Kalyan, a resolution committee of Pratap, Chiranjee, Sahib Chand and Narayan, a credential committee of Sanjay Chauhan, Pyare Lal, Kewal and Om Dutta and a minutes committee of Ramesh Verma and Bihari Lal Sewgi. 

N K Shukla inaugurated the conference. In great length he explained the details about the present socio-economic order in the country. He criticised the government for withdrawing from the agriculture sector under the dictates of the international monetary agencies. The government has gone down spending from 15 per cent of the GDP to 6 per cent of the GDP in the agriculture sector and this happened during the BJP regime. He explained in detail the problems faced by the peasantry because of the ruinous policies. 

THE SECRETARY REPORT 

The general secretary of the Himachal Kisan Sabha, Onkar Shad, placed the report. The highlights of the report are as follows: 


  1. Land is a major issue of contradiction in the state. The land holding has decreased severely. More than 80 per cent of the people own less than 0.5 hectare of land. 

  2. Because of the imperialist globalisation policies in the agriculture sector, the contradictions have further increased and have worsened the conditions of the peasantry.

  3. The main question today in the state is not just of getting remunerative prices for the crops but to save the land-forest and water from the imperialist loot. The government has gone ahead with lifting the ceiling on land and making it convenient for the big capital to enter this sector. A few examples: 
    (a) In Kangra, nearly 20,000 acres of land has been handed over to private party for a lease of 99 years on just Re 1/- per bigha (1 hectare = 12 bighas).
    (b) The land is being taken over for the construction of big hydel projects, cement plants, industries and even private universities and colleges, thereby forcing the population to evict. 
    (c) Because of these activities, there are large-scale problems faced by the people and peasantry in particular. The tunnel work being carried out for the projects has dried up the natural water sources and streams used by the local population. The cement plants too have adversely affected the living conditions of the people. The development that is taking place is heavily in favour of the big business houses. 

  4. There are some changes too in the rural economy because of the impact of neo-liberal policies: 

    (a) There is an increase in the expenditure on production. 
    (b) Continuous fall in the prices of crops. Eg. Tomatoes in the state were sold for Re 1 /- a kilo. 
    (c) A fall in the institutional loaning in the rural areas. 
    (d) Increase in poverty and unemployment. 
    (e) Almost the total collapse of the PDS. 

    The land holding of small(1.40 hectare) and marginal (0.40 hectare) kisans comprises of nearly 85.58 population of the peasantry and share nearly 47.11 per cent land. Out of all the land nearly 82 per cent is dependent on rain and the women’s share in agriculture is nearly 85 per cent. The government has changed the character of the land in various instances. It has converted the wasteland into that of forest, because of which severe hardships are being faced by the peasantry. It can be said that the largest landholder is the forest department. Now, with the nationalisation of the forests, no activity can be carried out in such an area. Even grazing of animals is not allowed. It is in such a background that the Kisan sabha is organising its activities.

 

ORGANISATION

The Kisan Sabha is having a membership of 20,473 members and is present in 8 districts out of 12 of the state. The report laid stress for the regular functioning of the state centre. Focus was also laid on the memberhsip campaign. It came to the fore that big mobilisations and regular interventions have been made, but there is slackness in the state in converting them into membership. 

A total of 13 delegates took part in the discussions for two and half hours. The delegates were unanimous in their understanding regarding the strengthening of organisation. A large number focussed on regular membership. It was felt that regular contact with the village unit should be strengthened and if the unit does not function then it has to be reorganised. 

RESOLUTIONS 

 

The conference passed the following resolutions 

 

  1. Effect of new economic policies on agriculture. 

  2. Crop insurance scheme - It was stressed that since the region has largescale variation in climatic conditions, like drought and hail both damaging the crop, crop insurance scheme should be introduced. 

  3. To check the growth and menace of wild animals like monkeys, wild boar etc., which are a menace to the crops and the peasantry. Because of stringent laws killing of such animals are not allowed. The conference passed a resolution asking the government to reverse the decision of the NDA government that banned the export of monkeys. Surprisingly the monkey export earned a revenue of nearly Rs 12 lakh per monkey. 

  4. For remunerative prices for agricultural and horticultural produce. 

  5. On strengthening the PDS and universalising the same. 

  6. Resolution on the problems faced by dalits and women and struggle against the same.

  7. Against price rise.

  8. On the struggle in Vaknaghat in Solan district and Rampur in Shimla district - The JP industries known for its notoriety in construction business has also opened a private IT university in Vaknaghat, the first of its kind in the state and probably in the country. Thanks to the then BJP government that passed an Act in the state assembly legitimising the institution, when even the parliament refused to do so for the private universities and termed them as deemed ones. The JP group is planning to lift almost 5 lakh litres of water daily from a nearby stream called Sari. It is this stream that feeds a huge population and even irrigates land downstream. This shall severely effect the neighbouring population. Even the MES water lift plant that feeds the military cantonments of Kasauli, Dagshai and Subathu would be severely effected. The Kisan Sabha has launched a massive campaign against this plan and has decided to even break the pipes of the JP industries if it dares to go ahead. Similarly a struggle is on in Rampur. A hydel project under the name of Rampur project is being constructed downstream the prestigious Nathpa Jahkri power project. Since there will be an underground tunnel, the entire land above the proposed tunnel will be robbed of its natural water streams. As it is the area has very less water. The Kisan Sabha and the DYFI stopped the project work indefinitely.

 

CREDENTIAL REPORT 

 

Sanjay Chauhan placed the credential committee report. A total of 101 delegates from 8 districts participated in the conference. Among them 96 were men and only 5 were women. The delegation was quite young as 57 were below the age of 40 years. The social composition was - dalits 15, tribal 6 and OBC 7. The class in which the delegates were born is as follows: agricultural workers - 2, poor peasant - 64, middle peasant - 2, rich peasant - 1 and landlord - 1. Out of all, one delegate was a former MLA, two were presently members of the zila parishad, one was a block samiti member, and five were elected presidents of the panchayats. 

The conference also adopted the changes in the constitution of the state Kisan Sabha. The minor changes include: 
Name would now be Himachal Kisan Sabha instead of Himachal Rajya Kisan Sabha. 
The 3-tier system of organisation has been amended with a two tier of a committee of the state and a secretariat of office bearers and members of the secretariat. The state committee was further authorised to look into any new amendments sent by the members in future. 

NEW COMMITTEE 

The conference unanimouly elected a committee of 33 members with a few vacancies. The president is Tikender Singh Panwar and the general secretary is Onkar Shad. Supahya, Jagdish, Narayan, Sahib Chand are the vice presidents. The joint secretaries are Jasmat, Kalyan Dhiman, Chiranjee and Pyare Lal. Sanjay Chauhan is the finance secretary and Rakesh Singha, Amar Singh Raghwa and Om Dutta are secretariat members. The other committee members include Pratap Tahkur, Bihari Sewgi, Ramesh Verma, Kewal Kumar, Satpal, Om Dutta, Ajit Kumar, Mohar Singh and Mehar Chand Sharma.