'India's farmers will be unable to compete with the US, given the subsidies that the latter provides its farmers.'
Outfits related to labour and agriculture critical of policies, say their voices are not being heard. Archis Mohan reports.
An increase in the farmer income support scheme PM Kisan Nidhi, the introduction of a 'robot tax' to fund reskilling of people who lose their jobs to artificial intelligence (AI), and a reduced income-tax (I-T) to bring relief to the middle classes - these are some of the items in the Budget wish list submitted by Sangh Parivar affiliates to Finance Minister (FM) Nirmala Sitharaman. Representatives of the affiliates of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), such as the farmer organisation Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS); trade union Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS); Laghu Udyog Bharati, which works for micro and small industries; and Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM), which works on economic and policy issues, met the FM and other officials over the last couple of weeks as part of the pre-Budget consultations.
An First Information Report (FIR) has been registered against Vishwa Vokkaliga Mahasamastana Math seer Kumara Chandrashekaranatha Swamiji for his remarks on voting power to Muslims. The seer made the controversial statement during a protest meeting against notices issued by Karnataka's Waqf board, urging everyone to unite to protect farmers and their land. He later expressed regret, calling his statement a "slip of tongue".
The deal fell through over unresolved disagreements over contentious issues, mainly on agriculture and automotive sector tariffs.
Farmers from different parts of Uttar Pradesh demanding adequate compensation for their lands acquired by the government marched towards Delhi on Monday but were stopped at the Noida-Delhi border where they sat on a dharna.
The 63-year old, who was convalescing after a minor surgery recently, fell down in the bathroom in the afternoon and was taken to the Deendayal Hospital in Pune, where he breathed his last at 1630 IST.
Over 25 crore workers across India are set to strike against new labour codes and privatisation, potentially disrupting banking, postal, and other essential services.
Eight people were killed -- four farmers allegedly run over and four people in a convoy of BJP workers who were lynched -- on Sunday as violence erupted during a farmers' protest in Lakhimpur Kheri district in Uttar Pradesh.
Rice exporters have requested the Centre for a flat export duty of $80 per tonne for parboiled rice instead of the current 20 per cent duty to smoothen trade, a top official of the rice exporters' umbrella body said on Sunday. The Indian Rice Exporters Federation (IREF) has also requested the government to reconsider its export ban on white rice which was imposed in July and reduction in the minimum export price for basmati rice to $850 per tonne to prevent negative impacts on both export volumes and farmers. On Friday, the government had extended the 20 per cent duty on parboiled rice exports until March 24.
Sangh affiliates believe the government's apparent anti-poor message led to their loss
RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale met with the leadership of the UP BJP, including Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Deputy Chief Ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak, state BJP President Bhupendra Chaudhary and state BJP General Secretary (Organisation) Dharmapal.
The ongoing Gujarat cotton farmers' agitation demanding better minimum support price took a new turn on Wednesday, after a 21-year-old farmer died due to self-immolation at the district's Vinchhiya marketing yard, because of not getting a good price for his cotton.
'If a company contracts to buy its produce after three or four months, is there any loss in it?'
Electoral politics is going to be an important part of farmer protests going forward.
The groups, including those associated with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's parent organisation the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, have also threatened a big nationwide agitation if growth of illegal GM crops isn't checked.
With support from other farmer organisations and activists, including RSS-affiliate Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, the potato growers have not only sought compensation but also called for boycott of the food giant's products.
Centre's move to form a 29-member panel on making the minimum support price (MSP) mechanism effective and keeping three positions vacant in it for SKM representatives has triggered strong disapproval from it.
The Uttar Pradesh government grappled on Monday with the aftermath of violence during a farmers protest in Lakhimpur Kheri, lodging a case against Union minister Ajay Mishra's son, promising a probe by a retired high court judge and stopping opposition leaders from reaching the trouble spot.
BIf you know this BJP, it will now go forward to Jharkhand and Maharashtra as if June 2024 never happened, notes Shekhar Gupta.
However, the national party count has gone down to six from 14 in over seven decades.
This comes despite sharp criticism received from various RSS affiliated organisations
'The PM cannot give a single reason why farmers should trust him.'
'The disquiet in the Sangh is, of course, over demonetisation.' 'But more than that, it is about the growing centralisation in the running of the government and party,'
Bharat Krishak Samaj demanded that the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana should be replaced with a new crop insurance and compensation scheme.
The group of six students, including girls, had arrived there to render support to the farmers by singing and playing 'dafli' (tambourine), they said. When the farmer leaders objected to their presence at the site, police sent the students back, Deputy Superintendent of Police Anshu Jain told PTI.
'Congress leaders are ready to lose the election and not form the government, but are never ready to share seats with others.'
The Opposition has alleged that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh runs the Narendra Modi government.
BMS, a union affiliated to RSS, plans rally at Delhi's Ramlila Ground on Nov 17; SJM to protest on Oct 29.
Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has held a series of meetings with MPs and Union ministers from Punjab and Haryana and surrounding states, and virtual interactions with state agricultural ministers of all BJP-led National Democratic Alliance ruled states where he briefed them about the merits of the two bills, the sources said.
The Enforcement Directorate had last week arrested Chhagan Bhujbal's associate and chartered accountant Sunil Naik in connection with the case.
BKS and BMS leaders have told the BJP leadership that it is staring at a build-up of anti-government propaganda in the run-up to polls in five states.
Many non-NDA parties have extended support to the nationwide 10-hour strike on Monday called by farmers protesting against the three agri laws under the aegis of Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM).
Saini, 54, a low profile OBC leader, rose through the ranks in the party and was unanimously elected as the leader of the state BJP's legislature group at a meeting held in Chandigarh on Tuesday.
The decision marks first successful policy intervention.
Farmers from Uttar Pradesh and neighbouring states on Tuesday offered 'antim ardas' -- the final prayers in the Sikh tradition -- for the protesters killed in the recent violence in Lakhimpur Kheri, with their leaders vowing to intensify the agitation against the Centre's new agri laws.
Farmers protesting the Centre's new agri laws will observe 'Sadbhavna Diwas' on Mahatma Gandhi's death anniversary on January 30 and hold a day-long fast, farm leaders said on Friday, and asserted that their agitation will gain strength as farmers in large numbers will join them in the days ahead.
As cracks began to appear in their ongoing agitation against the agri laws, farmer unions on Wednesday cancelled their planned march to Parliament on February 1 when the Budget would be presented.
To tide over the difficulties due to incessant shutdowns, several farmers in Maharashtra have turned into aggregators and started selling their produce without the help of mandis or agents. They have started contracting with bulk consumers like hypermarkets and co-operative housing societies to sell their produce directly.
BMS, BKS and SJM are trying to forge common cause with outfits on the other side of the ideological divide over the government's policies they are not in agreement with.
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