Ballary Rally , Dharna :
Stop Resorting to Suicide ! Let ’ s Fight , Till Farm Debts are Written-off !!
In the wake of spike in farmer suicides due to debts , Karnataka Rajya Raita Sangha and Hasirusena ( affiliated to AIKMKS ) has organised a dharna today ( 18-4-2022 ) in front of the headquarters of Karnataka Gramin Bank at Bellary . Farmers in various districts of Karnataka have been suffering severe losses due to years of low support prices and continuous increase in input costs . Farmers in some districts lost entire crop due to heavy rains in November , 2021 . It is a heart wrenching fact that some of farmers resorting to suicides during these tough times . KRRS organised this program to boost the morale of the farmers and to educate that these issues can be resolved through organised struggles .
The following demands are made through the Dharna :
• Waive-off debts if peasants are not in a position to repay .
• Stop charging ( interest on interest ) compound interest on loans .
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The government is not supplying coal properly . Due to this , full capacity of plant of 1,600 megawatts ( 2 units ) aren ’ t being generated . Substandard coal is supplied by the agencies to SDSTPS . The third generation unit is ready for another more 800 megawatts of power , but government is not operating it . The state government is not paying the dues to AP Genco and Discoms . The above government policies are the factors for the losses of SDSTPS . But thermal Power stations under public sector are branded as mad dogs , before killing them .
In the forward to 2 nd edition of ‘ India Mortgaged ’ by Tarimela Nagi Reddy — Com . P . Jaswantha Rao pointed out ” In their drive to reach commanding positions , the imperialists are not confined to private sector . Their financial institutions are making a concerted drive to capture the public sector . The
May - 2022
• Interest should not exceed the principal under any circumstances .
• The bank should not recover as loan repayment , any amount deposited by government under any scheme .
• New debts should be sanctioned immediately .
Unlike other banks like SBI , Gramin Banks have been foreclosing on the assets of the farmers and the farmers are forced to pay interest of up to Rs . 5 lakh per lakh with compound interest . Against this inhuman banking practice , farmers conducted this dharna withstanding the hot summer weather and sat infront of the Gramin Bank headquarters in Bellary . Bank officials came to the farmers in the sit-in and agreed on some of the demands . They admitted that it was wrong to confiscate the disability and old age pension deposits and other government schemes deposits and agreed to repay those amounts from their branches which
World Bank issues every year it ’ s socalled studies on various sectors . Some three years back its report blamed the State Electricity Boards for their mismanagement and prescribed privatisation as a remedy .” ( 1993 )
Rulers of India surrendered to the imperialists and big bourgeoisie . had done so . They informed that complete loan waiver is only in the hands of the Government . KRRS president R . Madhava Reddy said that the farmers were not alone and that they along with other unions would fight till the loans are completely waived-off .
Before staging the dharna , farmers held a protest rally with bullock carts and tractors in the streets of Bellary town . Prior to the program , campaigns were held for 15 days to sensitize the farmers ; they covered 80 villages of Karnataka and distributed thousands of pamphlets throughout . KRRS gave a call to all the farmers to struggle unitedly and get debts waived-off instead of
resorting to suicide . R . Madhava Reddy
State President , Karnataka Rajya Raita Sangha and
Hasirusena ( Affiliated to AIKMKS )
They are entrusting public sector totally to the corporates and Multinational companies . People should fight against the privatisation of public sector . The agitation opposing the privatisation of SDSTPS completed hundred days and continued .
Note :
An article published on page 19 of the April 2022 issue , entitled “ An Alternative Note of D . V . Rao [ CCM , then CPI ( M )] in the Burdwan Plenum presented by C . P . Reddy ”, was misidentified . So please understand the title as follows .
“ In 1968 CPI ( M ) Burdwan Plenum D . V . Rao wrote an alternative document to then CPI ( M ) Madurai document and it was presented by C . P . Reddy . We appealed this document Note was written by the ‘ Liberation ’ editorial board . Please excuse us to this grave mistake . However , the comments made on the D . V . Rao ’ s document in this ‘ Liberation ’ note are not acceptable to everyone and we feel this note is more subjective rather than objective analysis .
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