I am responding to the latest article, “Union Minister is lying by claiming that sugar export subsidy is for the benefit of peasants “ that appeared in MEL on 28/12/2020.
When the farmers are agitating outside Delhi against farm laws, the Central Government has announced subsidy “for sugar farmers” for 2020-2021 which they claim will be directly paid into their accounts.
This is a lie of the Government which thinks it can fool the farmers. As the article says, the sugar cane farmers have been agitating for their rights since many years. On the other hand when sugar mill owners go through a phase of overproduction, then the sugar prices dip. Then these mill owners do not pay the farmers for the cane supplied to them, which pushes the farmers into debt. In this case neither the Central nor the State Governments enforce the payment of dues to the farmers promptly by the mill owners.
Whereas the same capitalist mill owner when he sells the sugar in the national or international market will demand prompt payment for his product. Here we see the same rules do not apply when farmers’ dues are to be cleared by the capitalist.
As the article points out the Central Government has taken various measures to benefit the capitalist mill owners, like assistance to maintain buffer stocks of sugar and assistance to export by announcing subsidy of Rs 3500 Crores.
The soft loans given to them by the banks and the export subsidy they receive from the Central Government are not used by them to clear the farmers’ dues. The main reason for this being there is no law to compel the capitalist to make remunerative and timely payment to the farmers for their produce.
Now the farmers are not fooled by the lies of the government. The decades of neglect of the farm sector has brought them on to the streets to oppose the 3 farm laws. Also the government stands exposed as the government of the capitalist class.
The farmers and workers are uniting to fight for a better tomorrow for all working people.
Sincerely,
Suman
Mumbai