CHANDIGARH: Raising concerns over the India-US trade deal, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of various farmer unions, warned that the country will witness a repeat of the farmers' protest of 2020-21 if any agricultural or dairy product is included in the agreement.
"There are around eight lakh farmers in the US who are also very heavily subsidized, while in India there are crores of farmers and we have been demanding a guaranteed law for Minimum Support Price (MSP). If US produce is pushed in the country, our farmers will be finished for good," said senior SKM leader and president of the All Indian Kisan Federation Prem Singh Bhangu.
"Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal’s claim that India’s sensitive sectors of agriculture and dairy have been excluded is contradictory to the claim made by US Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins. According to Rollins, under the deal, the US will export more American farm products to India’s massive market, helping reduce the US’s 1.3 billion dollar agricultural trade deficit with India. The Commerce Minister did not deny the claim of Rollins. Goyal’s statement is unscrupulous and aimed to misguide the people especially the farmers and hence he has no moral authority to continue in the constitutional position," the SKM stated.
The SKM further said, "The Union government did not implement the written assurance dated December 9, 2021 to the SKM on MSP@C2+50 per cent with guaranteed procurement, the comprehensive loan waiver, and no privatization of the electricity sector among others."
Harinder Singh Lakhowal, president of BKU (Lakhowal Group), said, "Till we read the fine print of what is in the US-India trade deal, one cannot say anything. If this deal affects farmers, dairy and fishery sectors, we will have no option but to launch an agitation like we did in 2020-21. Then we will compel the central government to take a U-turn on this deal."
Another farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher of the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha (KMM) said, "US Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins has claimed that the US will export more American farm products to India. PM Modi had earlier said that the Union government will not open the farming and dairy sectors but now it seems that the Centre has allowed the US in these sectors." He said that on Thursday, the KMM will hold a one-day protest in front of the house of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann in Sangrur and also in front of the houses of six ministers and 21 MLAs. "We demand that the AAP government should protest against the deal and pass a resolution in the state assembly against it," he added.
Meanwhile, AAP Punjab Chief Spokesperson Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal said it is shocking that on an issue concerning India’s future and the livelihood of over 80 crore people, the details are not being shared by the Prime Minister in Parliament, but are instead being revealed through Trump’s tweets. "Who is Trump to the people of India? He may be Mr Modi’s "friend", but why is he announcing India’s policies on social media while the Prime Minister maintains silence? What deal has been struck behind closed doors, and why is it being hidden from the nation?" the AAP leader asked.
Dhaliwal demanded that PM Modi immediately disclose the full agreement, including all terms and conditions, in the Lok Sabha and to the people of India.