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Farmers must not pay power bills: Sharad Joshi

BS Commodities Bureau

The farm community should not pay any power bills or repay bank loans since these facilities were not used by them. The power supply was erratic and the dues arrived at were unrealistic, Sharad Joshi, chairman of the WTO task force on agriculture said, while addressing 'Kisan Kumbh', organised by Kisan Coordination Committee.

Saying that this was a bad time for the farmers, he added the government should postpone the collections of power bills and bank loans from them. If the revenue collecting authorities get you arrested, I assure you that I will join you in jail soon after," Joshi said.

Joshi stated that the Indian farmer had nothing to fear from global competition in the wake of WTO and added the farming community in India was capable of dealing with agricultural imports from developed countries.

Asking the government to remove itself from the agricultural scene, Joshi said the farmers did not want any subsidy and should be allowed to decide "what is best for them." "In the globalised trade environment, farmers need knowledge about the market and how to access it at a global level and get the best price for their produce. The new developments in bio-technology need to be evaluated and assessed by the farmers themselves," he added.

Vinayak Wagh, a Shetkari Sanghtana member said that free trade would rid agriculture from the clutches of middlemen and inadequate information about market along with the tightening debt trap had resulted in the suicide of more than 2,000 farmers in Maharashtra. " Let the tiger out of its cage and it will find its prey," he said, referring to market share.

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