Farmers demand land reforms
PLANNING FAILURE: “We sold our wheat because we had no choice. Now the same wheat is becoming expensive in the market while farmers have already absorbed the losses. Better planning could have protected both growers and consumers,” said Muhammad Riaz, a wheat grower from Sheikhupura. PHOTO:FILE
As the people who grow the country's food struggle to secure three nutritious meals a day for themselves, speakers at a conference in Hyderabad on Sunday renewed their call for meaningful agrarian reforms. The conference was held at the Mumtaz Mirza Auditorium and organised by the Sindh Agricultural General Workers Union, an affiliate of the National Trade Union Federation Pakistan (NTUF).
"Those who cultivate land should have the right to live and work on it with dignity and without fear of eviction," the union's leader comrade Sabhagi Bheel entreated. She lamented that the peasants toiled in harsh weather conditions and exposed themselves to serious health risks as well but their paltry incomes have been keeping them deprived of the basic necessities of life. At the same time, the wealth and possessions of the big farmers keeps multiplying endlessly.
She denied that the government's relief packages which are announced in the name of farmers benefited landless peasants because only the big landholders received the lion's share from such initiatives. "There is still no effective system for the registration and recognition of agricultural workers. Consequently, these benefits are largely captured by influential landlords ."
Meanwhile, she pointed out, severe water shortages, declining crop prices, fuel price hikes and the inflationary rates of the agricultural inputs have made farming economically unsustainable for small peasants and tenant farmers. The situation becomes further aggravated by recurring floods, droughts, heatwaves and other climate-triggered disasters which destroy crops, livestock and rural infrastructure. She said women farm workers additionally suffer from low wages and from absence of rights for women workers.
The union's comrade Lal Bux recalled that the Sindh Industrial Relations Act (SIRA), 2013, was enacted 13 years ago with the objective to protect farmers and peasants and to provide them rights. However, he deplored that despite passage of such a long period of time, the farm workers are still to receive any benefit from the act.
The act aimed to register agricultural workers with the Sindh Employees Social Security Institution (SESSI) and the Employees' Old-Age Benefits Institution (EOBI). They were supposed to receive death grants, marriage grants, educational scholarships and other labour welfare benefits. But, the ground situation manifests that an overwhelming majority of peasants are still denied these rights and benefits.
The NTUF's Nasir Mansoor emphasised that the agrarian crisis cannot be overcome without initiating meaningful land reforms under which landless peasants are given land and their other rights. The demands made at the conference included immediate implementation of SIRA 2013, conducting a comprehensive survey of all peasants and women agricultural workers in Sindh and establishment of peasant courts in all districts similar to the labour courts.
The event also called for allocating reserved seats for peasants in the National Assembly and provincial assemblies; issuance of the Hari Card exclusively to genuine agricultural workers; and protection of Sindh's historical water rights under the 1991 Water Accord.