4 days ago
Farmers, workers protest FTAs, warn of corporate takeover of agriculture
Farmer and worker unions on Wednesday staged protests against the Union government's free trade agreements (FTAs), alleging they are damaging India's agricultural sector.
As part of the 'Quit Corporates' call given by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha and the Joint Committee of Central Trade Unions, farmers, labourers, tenant farmers, and agricultural workers assembled here, burning effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and U.S. President Donald Trump.
Speakers compared the India-U.S. FTAs to earlier GATT, Dunkel, and WTO deals, claiming they favour corporate interests at the expense of farmers. They alleged the agreements allow foreign companies to dominate machinery sales and agri produce markets, citing rules such as scrapping 10-year-old tractors as exploitative. Protestors warned that these pacts could devastate farming, transfer land to corporates, and hurt aquaculture through U.S.-imposed tariffs.
Their demands included scrapping Trump-era tariffs, implementing the Swaminathan Commission's MSP recommendations for all crops, waiving loans for farmers, tenants, and agricultural labourers, reversing anti-worker labour laws, and protecting public sector enterprises.
The protest was addressed by Andhra Pradesh Rythu Sangham State joint secretary K. Srinivas, BKMY State vice president Bandi Venkateswara Rao, IFTU district secretary Badda Venkata Rao, Rythu Coolie Sangham leader Sheikh Basha, AIKS general secretary S.K. Ghouse, CITU district president R. Lingaraju, Congress Kisan Cell leader Rajanala Ram Mohan Rao, and AITUC district president Reddy Srinivas Dange.
