Why India’s Farmers Remain on the Streets: Vijoo Krishnan on the Agrarian Crisis

An  interview with Comrade Dr Vijoo Krishnan, General Secretary of the All India Kisan Sabha and Politburo member of the CPI(M)

India’s agrarian crisis is no longer merely a question of agricultural production. It is deeply connected with the country’s economic policies, land relations, rural employment, food security and the livelihoods of millions of people who depend on agriculture. At a time when Indian farmers are confronting mounting indebtedness, declining incomes, uncertainty over the Minimum Support Price (MSP), landlessness and the growing influence of corporate capital in agriculture, the role of organised farmers’ movements has become particularly significant.

One of the prominent voices in this struggle is Comrade Dr Vijoo Krishnan, General Secretary of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) and a Politburo member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). Hailing from Karivellur in Kannur, Kerala, a region with a rich legacy of peasant struggles, Vijoo Krishnan has built his political life around agrarian questions and the rights of farmers and agricultural workers. An academic by training, he holds an MPhil and a PhD from Jawaharlal Nehru University, specialising in agrarian and economic issues. He was also President of the JNU Students’ Union and later headed the Department of Political Science at St Joseph’s College, Bengaluru, before leaving his academic career to become a full-time political activist.

His political journey has been closely associated with some of the most significant farmers’ struggles in contemporary India. He played an important organisational role in the historic Nashik–Mumbai Kisan Long March of 2018 and the nationwide farmers’ movement against the three controversial farm laws in 2020–21. His work has also focused on land rights, farmers’ indebtedness, the conditions of agricultural workers and the challenges confronting India’s agrarian economy. As the head of one of India’s major farmers’ organisations, he represents a movement with a long history of struggles for land reforms, agricultural rights and social justice.

In this interview, he discusses the present condition of Indian agriculture, the continuing agrarian crisis, the future of the farmers’ movement, the struggle for a legally guaranteed MSP, the relationship between corporate interests and agriculture, and the political and economic challenges facing India’s rural population. He is particularly critical of what he describes as the anti-farmer policies of the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre.

He also explores the changing nature of farmers’ movements, the possibilities of strengthening unity between farmers and agricultural workers, and the future of the Left movement in defending the interests of India’s working people.

Narayana Moorthy: Let us begin with the recent Kisan Long March. It began in Akole, Maharashtra. What were your experiences of leading that march along with Ashok Dhawale and others?

Vijoo Krishnan: As always, it was an extremely inspiring experience, one that renewed our optimism about the potential of such struggles. Farmers, agricultural labourers and Adivasi people marched, some on foot and others in vehicles, carrying red flags. Even before the march could conclude, the Maharashtra government came forward for discussions. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Sunetra Pawar sat down with our delegation for negotiations. Thirty-two of Maharashtra’s 36 districts are reeling under severe drought. Farmers and millions of people dependent on agriculture in these regions are living under extremely distressing conditions, virtually fighting for survival. I believe the Long March, led by the All India Kisan Sabha, succeeded in bringing their problems before the government with the seriousness they deserved and securing some immediate relief. Moreover, as the march became a national issue, we were able to bring the concerns of farmers, agricultural workers and marginalised communities across India to the attention of those in power. The struggle also generated worldwide interest.

I believe that, in the present Indian situation, such struggles will have to become a continuous process. The Kisan Sabha will remain at the forefront while bringing together other farmers’ organisations as well.

Narayana Moorthy: You have organised several Kisan Long Marches in the past, playing a leading role in them. Do you believe those struggles achieved their intended objectives?

Vijoo Krishnan: If they had achieved complete success, we would not have had to organise Long Marches repeatedly. The first Long March I participated in was held in Karnataka during the last week of April 2015. It began in Bagepalli, near Chikkaballapur, and proceeded towards Bengaluru. We covered approximately 100 kilometres on foot before reaching Bengaluru. At that time, severe drought had made life extremely difficult in Kolar, Chikkaballapur and Bengaluru Rural districts. Our principal demand was that uninterrupted drinking water supplies and irrigation facilities should be provided to these regions on an emergency basis. Other demands included granting land rights to farmers who had been cultivating government land (bagair hukum land) for generations, waiving agricultural loans for farmers who had suffered crop losses due to the severe drought, ensuring remunerative minimum support prices for agricultural produce and providing immediate compensation for crop damage. When the march entered Bengaluru city, farmers from other districts also joined us. The march eventually brought together farmers from seven districts: Kolar, Tumakuru, Chikkaballapur, Ramanagara, Mandya, Bengaluru Rural and Bengaluru Urban. A committee headed by Dr G. S. Paramashivayya had already submitted recommendations to the Karnataka government on resolving the water crisis in these seven districts. Farmers from Mysuru, Kalaburagi, Raichur and Ballari also joined the march over the issue of land rights. The Congress government led by Siddaramaiah was in power at the time. We succeeded in securing some important demands.

Narayana Moorthy: And the next Long March was in 2018?

Vijoo Krishnan: Yes. It was held from 6 to 12 March 2018. Starting from Tapovan in Nashik, the march covered approximately 180 kilometres on foot and concluded at Azad Maidan in Bombay (Mumbai). Along with Adivasi farmers, people from other sections of Adivasi communities also participated. More than 50,000 people took part in the march. Our principal demands included the implementation of the Forest Rights Act, implementation of the Swaminathan Committee recommendations, waiver of agricultural loans and restructuring of river-linking projects. The march also opposed indiscriminate land acquisition. The response and solidarity extended by the people of Maharashtra were beyond words.

On the day the march entered Mumbai, students had examinations. To ensure that they did not face any inconvenience while travelling to their examination centres, farmers continued marching through the night. The participants demonstrated extraordinary commitment, setting aside their physical exhaustion and hardships. With blistered feet and bleeding legs, they marched to create history. There is another important struggle from 2017 that I must mention here. It was the farmers’ protest in Mandsaur, Madhya Pradesh, where six farmers were killed in police firing in June 2017. That incident became a turning point in building nationwide unity among farmers. The leading intervention of the Kisan Sabha played a crucial role in making this possible.

The garlic, onion and soybean farmers of Mandsaur were driven to protest because they were not receiving remunerative prices for their produce. Farmers were receiving just one rupee for a kilogram of garlic. At the same time, Reliance stores in Delhi were selling garlic at Rs 146 per kilogram. The then LDF government in Kerala had fixed a minimum price of Rs 139 per kilogram for garlic. The Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh, which includes Mandsaur and Neemuch districts, is one of India’s major garlic- and onion-producing regions. As prices collapsed, farmers began throwing their produce onto the roads. Many were unable even to harvest their garlic, which rotted in the fields. Some farmers went to the extent of setting fire to their own fields and destroying their crops. From 1 to 10 June, a farmers’ coalition called for a Gaon Bandh (village shutdown) movement across the region.

On 6 June, protesters blockaded the Mandsaur–Mhow highway. It was here that the police opened fire on the protesters. The incident triggered widespread protests across the country. Following these protests, the Madhya Pradesh government announced a scheme called Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana to address and prevent the collapse of agricultural prices. Under this scheme, the government was supposed to directly transfer the difference between the market price and the government-determined price into farmers’ bank accounts. This scheme, however, failed to meet expectations. It was after this incident that around 200 farmers’ organisations across the country came together to establish the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC).

Subsequently, from July to November 2017, the Kisan Mukti Rally was organised across India. Farmers from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, Maharashtra and Gujarat participated in particularly large numbers. On 20 and 21 November 2017, Kisan Parliaments were held at Ramlila Maidan and Parliament Street in Delhi. The demand for special legislation in Parliament to address the problems faced by farmers across the country emerged prominently through the Kisan Mukti Rally.

Narayana Moorthy: The All India Kisan Sabha also organised the Jail Bharo Andolan (Fill the Jails Movement), a civil disobedience movement. What were the circumstances that led to this agitation?

Vijoo Krishnan: The agitation was held on 9 August 2018. As we know, 9 August marks the anniversary of the Quit India Movement launched against British rule. Millions of farmers and agricultural workers participated in the agitation, demanding a waiver of agricultural loans and the announcement of minimum support prices for agricultural produce. They blocked major highways and railway tracks across the country and courted arrest. Through this struggle, we achieved two important things.

First, we succeeded in making the country’s major opposition parties understand the immense distress faced by farmers. Until then, many had supported us only through verbal assurances. Following the agitation, they were compelled to extend their support through concrete political action.

Second, two historic Bills that emerged from the struggles and the Kisan Parliament were subsequently introduced in Parliament: the Debt Relief Bill and the Bill to Guarantee Remunerative Prices for Agricultural Produce. These were significant achievements of the movement.

Narayana Moorthy: The Bill guaranteeing remunerative prices was based on the recommendations of the Swaminathan Committee. However, those recommendations have still not been fully implemented. Why do you think this is the case?

Vijoo Krishnan: Governments have been offering various excuses to avoid implementing these recommendations. They cite inflation, excess agricultural production in the country, market distortions and so on. These are merely pretexts. What successive governments have been trying to do, and continue to do, is ensure that agricultural produce is made available to the corporate market at very low prices. Corporate media organisations in the country are also at the forefront of promoting such arguments. What exactly was the Swaminathan Committee’s recommendation? Its formula was C2 + 50%. In other words, the Minimum Support Price (MSP) should be fixed by adding 50 per cent to the comprehensive cost of cultivation, known as C2, incurred by a farmer in producing a particular crop. The government argues that fixing prices in this manner would lead to inflation, prevent the market from determining prices freely and create complications even in international markets.

These arguments are intended solely to protect the interests of the market, profits and the corporate beneficiaries of the existing economic system. Our government attaches virtually no value to the labour of those who toil on the land and produce the food we consume.

Narayana Moorthy: This brings us to the issue of farmers’ suicides.

Vijoo Krishnan: More than five lakh farmers, agricultural workers and daily-wage workers have died by suicide since 2014, according to official government figures released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). The reality is much worse, and the number of suicides could well exceed a million. Government statistics, however, do not include a large number of landless farmers, tenant farmers, women farmers and tribal farmers. Many states manipulate the data or deny such suicides altogether. The Kisan Sabha is currently making efforts to raise awareness among farmers and agricultural workers to prevent suicides. However, awareness campaigns alone cannot resolve this crisis. We must be able to protect them and convince them that the State will stand by them and provide assistance during every crisis.

The government must enact laws that protect farmers’ interests and ensure that these laws are implemented within a stipulated timeframe and without corruption. It is the food producers who are being driven to suicide. This is unacceptable in a democratic society. Farmers’ suicides are highest in Maharashtra, followed by Karnataka.

Narayana Moorthy: Climate change is like a sword hanging over the heads of farmers. However, millions of farmers in our country are not equipped to deal with the hardships caused by it. How does your organisation view this issue?

Vijoo Krishnan: This is an extremely important issue. We constantly explain to farmers how phenomena such as El Niño affect agricultural production and their livelihoods. However, it is the government and its institutions that must take the initiative and act decisively. It is unfortunate that neither the Central Government nor the state governments in this country have clear plans or programmes to address the challenges posed by climate change, which affects millions of people. That, however, is the reality.

Climate change requires scientifically informed changes in everything, from the seeds used for sowing to the fertilisers applied to crops. This calls for proper research. Unfortunately, research in these areas in India remains extremely limited.

Official figures suggest that the Central and state governments are allocating funds to meet farmers’ insurance requirements. Under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), Rs 57,000 crore has reportedly gone to insurance companies. However, farmers have not received the benefits to which they were entitled.

Even after the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) pointed out these serious shortcomings in its report, neither the Central Government nor the state governments have taken any meaningful action. In Churu district of Rajasthan, the Kisan Sabha directly intervened to help farmers whose crops had been destroyed due to climate-related conditions. We managed to secure insurance compensation amounting to Rs 4,325 crore for them. Farmers are entitled to insurance coverage under several circumstances. These include situations where climate-related conditions prevent them from sowing seeds, damage caused by pest attacks or drought, and the destruction of harvested crops left to dry in the fields due to unexpected rain or strong winds. Damage caused by landslides, hailstorms and the inundation of agricultural land is also covered. Farmers pay a small premium to avail themselves of this insurance protection. The insurance companies have effectively appropriated the premiums collected from farmers, together with the contributions made by the Central and state governments towards those premiums. After deducting their administrative expenses, the remaining amount becomes profit for these companies. In the neoliberal economic system, those in power do not even consider such practices wrong. It is the farming community that ultimately bears the consequences.

Narayana Moorthy: The All India Kisan Sabha is an organisation that has been actively involved in numerous struggles. Your national conference is scheduled to be held shortly at Nalgonda in Telangana. What is the present organisational strength of the Kisan Sabha?

Vijoo Krishnan: We are actively functioning in more than 400 districts across the country. We have a membership of 15.8 million (1.58 crore). Our proactive interventions on issues affecting farmers are the reason they have placed their trust in us. After the Left lost power in the 2018 Tripura Assembly elections, the Right-wing parties and the Congress claimed that the Left had lost its relevance in India. A section of the media echoed the same argument. However, it was after that period that the organisational strength of the Kisan Sabha witnessed substantial growth. You must have seen the massive participation in the rally held in Agartala in connection with the Tripura state conference.

One of the most encouraging recent developments is the growing participation of young people in our organisation.

They are not necessarily farmers themselves. But they are people who love agriculture and stand in solidarity with farmers.

They have chosen the Kisan Sabha as an organisation through which they can work for the progress and welfare of the country’s food producers.Among those joining us are even highly educated professionals. In states such as Uttar Pradesh, our activities have helped mobilise opposition to the anti-farmer attitude of the BJP and reduce its influence in the agricultural sector during elections. Working together with other farmers’ organisations, we have been able to challenge the BJP’s influence in North India. In the last parliamentary elections, the BJP and its allies lost 159 seats in agricultural regions. We have played a definite role in these developments.

Narayana Moorthy: What has been the attitude of mainstream political parties towards farmers’ organisations?

Vijoo Krishnan: They still have a long way to go in coming closer to our activities and struggles. Most political parties in our country continue to follow neoliberal economic policies. This places certain limitations on their ability to support the farmers’ movement. As I said earlier, what we need from them is not merely verbal support but active solidarity on the ground. Parties should come forward to reverse the neoliberal economic policies and free-trade policies that have caused the agrarian crisis. The Indian National Congress, as the principal opposition party, must make necessary corrections to its agricultural policies. Parties such as the Samajwadi Party must also come forward to spell out their policies and work for the benefit of farmers. That is what the country expects from them today.