Pilibhit: Farmers are set to organise protests at each district headquarter across the country, against the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) pact, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi is about to sign in Thailand today. The pact is between 10 member states of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and six other countries, namely India, China, Japan, , Australia and New Zealand. The protests are being held under the aegis of All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC), an umbrella organization of 209 farmer bodies from across the country.
AIKSCC leaders said the RCEP agreement, that envisages reduction or complete elimination of tariff and non-tariff barriers on imports and exports, will corrode the future of agriculture in the country, as it will flood Indian markets with low-priced imported agricultural and dairy products, which will create perilous conditions by forcing down the remunerative price of indigenous agricultural and dairy products.
As part of the protest agenda, released by AIKSCC national convener V M Singh, farmers will take out protest marches in their respective districts and set copies of the RCEP ablaze. Taking to TOI over the phone, Singh said the PM had kept the entire country in the dark about RECP, and didn’t even let Parliament know he is about to sign the accord. He added that if the PM had been interested in heeding advice regarding the accord, he would have discussed its salient features with the chief ministers at least, to get their consensus, if not with farmer leaders.
He also said Australia and New Zealand had surplus milk and would not lose the opportunity to export this in powder form to India at a rate cheaper than what is available in India. “Because farmers in these countries get handsome government subsidy per acre, their agriculture and dairy sectors won’t face any ordeal, even if they cut down prices of their products under a planned strategy to capture the Indian market, but it will certainly ruin Indian agriculture,” Singh pointed out.
He alleged the PM seemed to be concerned about safeguarding interests of foreign farmers, but not Indian ones. Referring to reports by Niti Aayog, Singh said India’s trade deficit with the countries that are part of the accord, went up to US $105 billion in 2018-19, compared to US $54 billion in 2013-14.
The drastic reduction or elimination of import and export duties under RCEP would further add to this, completely paralysing Indian agriculture, leaving the country feeding on imported grains and agricultural products in the near future, he said. “We’ve decided to reject RCEP outright, and to oppose it collectively with all our strength to protect Indian agriculture and farmers,” he said.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com