Social activist Medha Patkar was all ears to the woes of tenant farmers and assured them that she would take their plight to the notice of the State government.
At a public hearing on tenant farmers’ issues, conducted by Rythu Swarajya Vedika (RSV) here on Wednesday, activists demanded that the State government give its full attention to providing Crop Cultivator Rights Cards (CCRC) to tenant farmers. Rights organisation ‘People’s Jury’ also sought that the government see that the benefits of all its schemes were extended to 30 lakh tenant farmers in the State.
The tenant farmers narrated the ordeal in trying to obtain a CCRC, which is a prerequisite for accessing government support systems such as crop loans, crop insurance, disaster relief and even the chance to sell their crop at procurement centres at minimum support price (MSP).
Addressing the gathering, Ms. Patkar expressed the view that the State government should not limit itself to welfare schemes but also provide rights to the people. “Thirty lakh tenant farmers should get all the schemes as a right. By making the owner’s signature a requirement, the Crop Cultivators’ Rights Act has turned into a Landowner’s Rights Act,” she alleged.
“Along with Rythu Swarajya Vedika and other farmers’ organizations, I am ready to discuss the issues of tenant farmers with the Chief Minister. We demand that the Chief Minister take a special initiative to address the issues of tenant farmers,” she said.
Former Minister Vadde Sobhanadreeswara Rao said that the CCRC Act should be amended and the clause making the landowner’s signature compulsory should be removed. “The Revenue Officers at the village-level should confirm the application from the tenant farmers using the system of the village secretariat and Gram Sabha. The government should undertake a large-scale campaign to inform the landlords that the land rights of the landlords are not endangered by CCRC and that the old tenancy law has been repealed in the Assembly. Interest-free crop loans should be given to the actual cultivators including tenants. All the banks should implement the Reserve Bank guidelines for Bhoomiheen Kisan,” he said.
Social activist P.S. Ajay Kumar spoke. RSV leaders Kiran Kumar Vissa and G. Balu were present.
