Farmer bodies, trade unions launch ‘Corporates Quit India’ movement
Tribune News Service
Rohtak, August 9
On a call of ‘Corporates Quit India’ given by the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha and trade unions, different organisations of farmers and workers staged a protest demonstration and burnt an effigy of corporates at Chhotu Ram Chowk in Rohtak on Friday.
Kisan Sabha district secretary Balwan Singh said the slogan of ‘Quit India’ was given on August 9 during India’s freedom movement, following which the British had to leave India.
“However, the pro-corporate and anti-people policies adopted by the Indian governments after independence are the same as those of the British. Hence, the ‘Corporate Quit India’ movement has been launched on the same pattern and same date,” he said.
Addressing the protesters before the demonstration, Kisan Sabha vice-president Inderjit Singh stated that the policies of the Modi government were also aimed at giving profit to the corporates instead of benefiting the farmers.
“The multinational corporations are making huge profits by selling agricultural equipment, seeds, fertilisers, insecticides and crop insurance, while the government has imposed GST on farm machinery,” he lamented.
The farmers’ leader pointed out that on July 15, the Union Government’s apex agricultural institution — Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) — had signed a research-related MoU with a private company, Syngenta Foundation India.
“Prior to this, it has signed agreements with multinational companies like Bayer and Amazon, which are allowing private research in the field of agriculture. The government is not helping its own research institutes and agricultural universities,” he stated.
Activists of the Kisan Sabha, CITU and BKU participated in the demonstration.
Presiding over a review meeting of the District-Level Monitoring Committee under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) on Thursday, Rohtak Deputy Commissioner Ajay Kumar directed the representatives of the insurance companies to ensure the payment of pending compensation to the affected farmers as early as possible. He directed the representatives of the insurance companies to establish offices at district and block levels for the convenience of the farmers.
