|
10 What should be the object of Kisan Unions?
What is
my "Punjab Kisan Forum" doing?
The purpose of the Kisan Union should not be
personal gain for its leader. Current
movements and struggles are not a matter of
time. The demand raised by Bhupinder Singh Mann
about 20 years ago is the demand of the hour.
The demand to keep or increase the support price
is only a local demand of Punjab and Haryana.
This cannot become an Indian peasant struggle.
But the demand made by Mann Sahib for free trade
of foodgrains will become the demand of the
whole of India. The Government of India can be
compelled to accept this demand.
S Mann is now the President of the Indian Farmers
Consortium. Their demand is the demand of
farmers all over India. The World Trade
Organization supports this demand. UNO supports
it. 164 countries have joined it. These include
the United States, Canada, and almost all
countries in Europe. India is a member, but
hasitate to adopt the norms due to fear of
unskilled agitatators..
We must put pressure on the Government of India
to allow open international trade in food grains.
The Government of India has taken a good step by
making the purchase and sale of land produce
interstate. All goods coming to Punjab became
cheaper. Farmers and farm laborers will not take
the price of wheat. The cost of other items in
each kitchen is many times higher than the cost
of flour. Even if
the support price does not remain the same, a
farmer with two or three acres will not incur
any loss. But the landlord who owns hundreds of
acres will definitely lose.
Free word trade, like India, which is
lagging behind in the agricultural sector, can
be a real boon to the country. But Rajewal
Sahib, Lakhowal Sahib, are blindly opposing it.
They are misleading the farmers by giving false
statistics. Everything argues that it is failed in
the United States many years ago. If every
effort is failing in America, then how America
has become the richest country in the world.
With free trade in agricultural produce,
Punjab will truly become California. The land of
Punjab is more fertile than the land of
California. There is a shortage of improved seeds,
advanced farming machinery, irrigation
means, quality pesticides. All this will be
available with free trade, at one third of the
price, from now on, and will be available in good
quality. Wheat cultivation will provide three to
four times the total income. I do not
argue, I want to open the eyes of the farmer by
putting the reality in front of him.
Wheat is not grown in large quantities in
Yemen, Oman, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Doha, Qatar,
Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan,
Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, etc. Everyone in the
world wants to eat wheat. But wheat is not
available in every country. The retail market
price of wheat in these countries is more than
double that of Punjab. Moldova, Ukraine has some
wheat but no basmati. Consumption of basmati is
higher than that of wheat. Basmati is grown in
northern Punjab.
The actual prices are much higher than
the prices quoted on the internet. Labor is very
expensive in USA, Canada and Europe. Therefore,
farming is not profitable. Their focus is on
industry. These countries are far away from
them. Transportation is also a loss-making deal
due to its high cost. But these countries are the
neighboring countries of Punjab. There is no
impediment in sending wheat from Punjab to these
countries. In my opinion, the Punjab farmer will
be transformed within a year. The business of
the shopkeeper will increase. Wages will rise.
Punjab can be equal to California in just two to
four years.
Upcoming items include fruits,
vegetables, nuts, branded whiskey made from
hops, packaged foods made from agricultural
produce, at half price. But it is not known what
feed has given to Rajewal Sahib, Lakhowal Sahib,
that they are blindly opposing free agriculture
trade. Last year, when a meeting of the World
Trade Organization was about to take place, they
went to Delhi and said that India would not attend
the free trade meeting. Not participating in
free trade. In fact, they want farmers to be poor, hungry, naked and in debt. They continue to plunder the farmers in the name of dharnas and sell the farmers to political parties to get the chairmanship and Rajya Sabha membership. God bless. Open the eyes of the farmers. |