Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, July 14
Farmers across the ideological spectrum, including RSS affiliate Swadeshi Jagaran Manch, have decided to put up a collective fight to ensure that “seed freedom in India” is not violated in any way and the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights (PPV&FR) Act and Authority is strengthened.
Participating in a people’s conference organised by the Alliance for Sustainable and Holistic Agriculture (ASHA), farmer leaders vowed they would not allow another “PepsiCo India vs Farmers episode” or any violation of farmers’ rights in future.
Promising to work collectively to get farmers’ rights reiterated in PPV&FR Act, they said they would work to create awareness among their members. Farmers’ rights provisions, if and where needed, should be tightened so that unambiguous interpretation is possible and such incidents do not happen again, they said.
“Legal, IPR experts and farmer leaders re-examined the PepsiCo India legal cases against nine potato farmers of Gujarat to formulate an action plan to prevent any recurrences in future,” said Kavitha Kuruganti of ASHA.
She said there could not be any compromise on farmers’ seed rights through any new seeds-related legislations. “Farmers’ seed freedom should be built in practical ways too by reviving agro-diversity and recognising the role of women farmers in upholding seed sovereignty of farming communities. This will also require support for market creation for farmers and other extant varieties,” Kuruganti said.
Many also felt that PepsiCo India should pay compensation to the Gujarat potato farmers for the harassment and intimidation they were subjected to, Kuruganti said, quoting the participants.
Collectively, the participants agreed that spreading awareness should be the responsibility of the PPV&FR Authority to ensure that this episode did not recur. This should cover the judiciary, legal fraternity, state government agriculture departments, researchers and plant breeders, registrants in the plant varieties registry, seed traders and others.
Want immunity against legal action
- Among other demands, farmers want a provision to be included in law that no legal proceedings be initiated against them without authorisation by the PPV&FR Authority
- Suo motu powers be vested with the authority to support farmers
- The authority should also be empowered with adequate manpower and other resources
- States must ensure rights of farmers are not misinterpreted
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