Uttarakhand farmers oppose retail majors

The entry of Walmart and other big companies into retail sector in India are now being opposed by farmers and other social groups in Uttarakhand in what they describe as an attack on their economic independence.

Sounding a battle cry against big retail chains, Environmentalist Anil P Joshi along, Director of Himalayan environmental studies and conservation organisation (Hesco) an NGO working on traditional crops, would undertake a cycle yatra from Jammu and Kashmir to Uttarakhand beginning from April 7.

The 1,000-km-long yatra, which is being organised with an aim to make rural India economically independent, would start from Parthal village of Jammu region, passing through 500 villages in six states of north India culminating at Dehra Dun on April 22, Joshi said.

Citing the examples of Nandigram, Singur in West Bengal and Pantnagar in Uttarakhand where agriculture lands are being acquired for special economic zones, Joshi called for the need to formulate an agriculture land policy that makes mandatory for the state governments to fix a certain percentage of land for agricultural purposes.

"The new policy should be such that fertile land cannot be acquired for industrial or special economic zone purposes," said Joshi.

Farmers in Udhamsingh Nagar and Haridwar districts have been protesting against the government's move to open up doors for contract farming in the state as they are upset over the state government's reported move to enact the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Act.

Farmers are alleging that the move would open floodgates for companies like Reliance to enter the agriculture sector directly in the state.

Officials said these companies are ready to invest Rs 400 crore in Uttarakhand through different proposals. Both Reliance and ITC have evinced interest in contract farming in the state for which the government has to pass the APMC bill.

Of the two, ITC has got a bulk purchase license from the state government for an estimated 25,000 tonnes of wheat procurement. Reliance Agro is also likely to put up its proposal details for procuring both food grain and horticultural produce soon.

However, officials said the APMC Act is expected to pave the way for the legitimate establishment of private mandis and the bulk purchase licences will allow the corporate houses to buy directly from farmers in the run-up to the setting up of private mandis in the state.