New Delhi: Monday, August 2, was another day of the Kisan Sansad or farmers’ parliament. This time, farmers had gathered to discuss the Electricity Bill, 2o20.
The debates also uncovered the tales and travails of privatisation, land grab and false promises on the part of the government. Those congregated were from all over the country, with a majority of them from Karnataka and eastern Uttar Pradesh.
Before the discussion picked up on the Bill, farmers one after other vented out their disappointment and anger as most of their lands were snatched away to make way for power plants. For them, the promise of a six-hour power supply, land grab and Electricity Bill were all connected.
A farmer speaking during Kisan Sansad in New Delhi on August 2. Photo: Indra Shekhar Singh .
Raghvendra Kumar, a Dalit organiser from Ballia and veteran of Karchana Power plant land agitation spoke quite plainly, “The government wants to take our land and hand it over to corporations. It had happened in Dadri, Meja and Karchana (both in Allahabad). They want to export the Karchana model to the rest of the country.”
Both projects in Allahabad, which Raghvendra had resisted, are now under construction. “Money, power and everything else…political parties use all means to help the corporates.”
On the other hand, the concern of Sandeep Dahiya, a retired army man, was quite different. “Farmers of Sonepat don’t even get eight hours of electricity, and never at a time when we need. We are ready to pay the money, but you have to guarantee power supply. We don’t need subsidy, but the corporates also shouldn’t get Rs 45,000 crore loan waivers too,” he said.
However, the discussion primarily revolved around the re-classification of farmers’ domestic power connections into commercial ones. “Once we have two calves, instead of one cow, the Bill wants us to get a commercial connection. This is anti-farmer,” said Onkar Singh, from Hoshiarpur, Punjab.
Also read: Amidst Rain, Kisan Sansad Takes on Contract Farming
As the discussions were still on, at around 1.20 pm, it started to pour. Farmers and security forces, standing guard there, rushed for cover. I found myself sitting between farmers and a few policewomen, all together, as a family, looking at the rain and listening to speakers. Only hot tea and pakoras were missing.
“We are still a socialist and welfare state. So, why does Modi want to destroy our agriculture? If electricity prices go up, the cost of food will also rise. Our meagre incomes won’t double, but further plummet,” said Om Singh, an elderly farmer from Punjab.
But it was Sohan Singh, another farmer from Punjab, who really cut through, “When Bhakra-Nangal Dam was built, whose lands were submerged? Even now when the dam releases water, whose crops get destroyed? All this is being done so that Delhi malls and corporates can have electricity. Meanwhile, farmers are forgotten.”
The interests of farmers have often been sacrificed for one project or another, it was found.
“The new Electricity Bill expedites the sale of the public power grids and public utilities to Modi’s friends. As I speak, hundreds of farmers between Jodhpur and Jaipur await compensation. Our lands were taken to make way for a high voltage power line. With such high voltage passing, no one is allowed to be 100 metres from the power line. We have lost our land and also got no relief,” said Bhagteerth Mal, a farmer from Rajasthan.
Kisan Sansad is in progress on August 2 in New Delhi. Photo: Indra Shekhar Singh.
Farmers also raised the issue of smart prepaid metres, and pointed out other issues concerning the availability of electricity to them. Some wanted subsidy, while others demanded an end to corporate privileges – loan waiver, cheap land acquisition, etc. From Karnataka to Himachal Pradesh, farmers had noted that issues were similar: poor supply, bad infrastructure, rising costs and the threat of privatisation.
“The Modi government, which had earlier accepted the Electricity Bill 2020 to be anti-people and farmer, and promised to withdraw it during negotiations with farmers’ leaders, is now reluctant to do so. Why? This exposes the doublespeak of the government,” said Himanshu Tiwari from Varanasi.
By then, raining had stopped and the sun was showing up. It was humid, and the session almost drew to a close. As I stood up to leave, a security staffer posted there, spoke to me under the condition of anonymity: “After all we are farmers too, but we can’t do anything more as we will lose our jobs. We know that farmers are right.”
Just to probe him a little, I asked whether he would be “ready to fire if ordered”. After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, he said, “Perhaps not”. I walked back home hoping that the farmers’ revolution will be successful.
Indra Shekhar Singh is an independent policy analyst and writer on agriculture and environment. He was earlier director at the National Seed Association of India.