Federation of All India Farmer Associations(FAIFA)
Demand Action Against Unfriendly Cash Crop Policies
to Safeguard Farmer Livelihoods
·
Explosive
growth of illicit and smuggled tobacco at 31% annually directly taking away
farmer livelihoods in India
· Challenges
Government decision to cut tobacco cultivation without providing viable
alternative livelihood solutions
·
Demand CBI
enquiry against foreign health activists and their money trail whose hidden
agenda is to benefit foreign growers and business syndicates
·
Made
representations to Ministers of Commerce, Agriculture and Labour. Delegations
planned to Ministers of Finance, Health and the Prime Minister.
|
CUSTOMS SEIZURES OF
SMUGGLED FOREIGN CIGARETTES
As per Ministry of Finance data, custom seizure of
smuggled foreign cigarettes has exploded in the last 2 years in India.
Seizures in the first 4 months of 2015-16 are double the quantity
seized in full 2013-14. At this rate, 50% is the projected growth in
smuggling of foreign cigarettes over previous year.
Extra ordinary high taxes andrules like pictorial
warnings, against reality of ill-equipped ground enforcement machinery and
corruption makes India the most attractive tobacco market for smugglers in
the world.
|
||||||||||||
This is in the wake of extreme self created stress
which has been caused to farmers engaged in tobacco cultivation besides the
adverse climatic debacle which crops like cotton are witnessing.
Tobacco is a specific case in point as it is
immune from climatic variations, still a number of farmershave committed suicides
in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, something which never happened before.
FAIFA members have already met Ministers
Commerce, Agriculture and Labourto demand immediate correction in unfriendly
policies, and are planning delegations to Ministers of Finance, Health and finally
the Prime Minister.
Government instead of providing solutions,
have issued orders to tobacco farmers in Andhra Pradesh to cut tobacco
cultivation by 52 million kgs next year. A sudden call for cutting production
is going to be difficult to absorb for farmers already under debt, as
consumption for FCV tobacco has already been going down over the years.
Issues needing immediate attention
·
FCV Tobacco
is a 100 year old crop in India. It provides livelihood to 45.7 million people
comprising farmers, farm labour, workers, retailers etc in India
·
There is no viable
and sustainable alternative to tobacco crop for farmers. While crop rotation is
done, ultimately farmers are totally dependent on tobaccofor making a living,
as it is the most sturdy and dependable crop which can be grown without
irrigation support and in tough climatic conditions.
·
|
CORRELATION BETWEEN
GROWTH IN
ILLICIT TOBACCO & PICTORIAL WARNINGS
There is a direct correlation between the introduction of
pictorial warnings and growth of illicit tobacco.
In 2007, when pictorial warnings were first introduced,
illicit and contraband cigarettes were 1% of the market. According to a FICCI Study today the
Illicit & contraband cigarettes occupy 21% of the market share, and
result in a revenue loss of more than Rs. 9,000 croreper annum to the
exchequer.
Also, this illicit market is growing at a rate of 31%
every year. It is a matter of time, that half of the cigarette market in
India would be illicit, hurting prospects for local growers.
Illicit cigarettes are cheap, and mostly do not carry
pictorial warnings, making them more attractive. Many large tobacco growing
countries do not have India like stringent pictorial warnings regime,
making their products more attractive for smugglers.
|
·
After the
Modi Government came to power, a sharp increase in the seizures of foreign
cigarettes smuggled into India, suggests a 50% growth in smuggling this year,
and enough proof that India has emerged the world’s most lucrative tobacco
market for smugglers.
·
The state of
Andhra Pradesh has produced 172 million kg of authorized FCV crop in the year
2014-15. In view of a sluggish demand this year, the Tobacco Board has reduced
the FCV crop size for Andhra Pradesh for the year 2015-16, restricting the
total authorized crop size for the next season to 120 Million Kgs compared with
172 Million Kgs this year.
·
This fall in
the authorized crop size will affect the farmers adversely since they have
already made huge investments in tobacco curing barns and other infrastructure
keeping in mind the usual crop size. With the tobacco board reducing the FCV
crop size by 25 -30 % for the next season the farmers will have a difficult
time in sustaining their livelihoods. This will hugely impact at least 25% of
the tobacco farmers and this might lead to more suicides next season.
·
Given that
the Government is mulling the option of increasing pictorial warning from 40%
to 85% without any consultation with farmers groups, along with increased
taxes, will further led to growth of illegal and contraband tobacco in India.
The day is not far when the legal tobacco industry will cease to exist in India.
ShriChangal Reddy, Chairman, Consortium of
Indian Farmer Association, said, “In view of the above facts, we urge the
Government to first conduct research and provide alternative solutions to tobacco
farmers before promoting illicit and foreign tobacco in India, which they do by
de-promoting legal tobacco, and therefore forcing a cut in production for legal
and legitimate farmers.”
ShriGaddeSeshagiriRao, Adarsha Sugarcane
Producers Welfare Association, Andhra Pradesh, said, “Tobacco is a very
important cash crop in India. India is the 2nd largest exporter of
quality tobacco earning Rs. 6000 crore in forex every year. The cut in
production of legal tobacco imposed in Andhra Pradesh is only going to make
farmers lose livelihoods while destroying our export opportunity. We really
want to understand who gains from these measures other than foreign growers and
syndicates”
Shri B V JavareGowda, Federation of Karnataka
Virginia Tobacco Growers Association, Mysore, added, “We urge that the claims
of anti-tobacco lobby should not be blindly followed, as most of the
anti-tobacco lobby is funded by foreign sources. Even those who are not directly
funded, their motives need to be investigated. Foreign powers would like to see
India converting from a tobacco exporter to a net tobacco importer, as India is
the 2nd largest tobacco consuming country in the world after China.
We demand CBI enquiry into the funding trails of these activists”
ShriMuraliBabu, Kondapi Tobacco Growers
Association, AP added, “Despite all the tobacco control measures all these
years, consumption of tobacco has not gone down in Indiaeven slightly. Instead,
only the business of Indian farmer has got destroyed with all gains going to foreign
tobacco producers.We urge Government to save the Indian farmers from further
hardship. We request that farmers should be consulted before framing policies
on tobacco.”
Farmers Appeal & Demands
·
Protect our livelihood till such time
sustainable viable alternatives are provided
·
Policy framework should be equitable,
rational, reasonable and balanced based on scientific data and evidence
·
Consult all stakeholders, particularly us the farmers to frame a well-balanced
tobacco control regulation
·
Investigate the hidden agenda of the
activists. Their source of funds, purpose, utilisation, individual/
institutional wealth prior and post tobacco activism
·
Investigate all the beneficiaries and the
linkages of such individuals and institutions
·
Independently validate all the data,
statistics, studies, claims and assertions
·
A detailed study to be carried out of the
socio-economic impact of the anti-tobacco measures so that a balanced well
calibrated framework can be developed to address our concerns.
The study may
entail the following:
o
Identify alternative, equally remunerative,
sustainable means of livelihood
o
New skill requirement for smooth transition
to such alternatives
o
Time-frame and capital required for such
transition
o
Risk analysis and amelioration in the event
of failure of the alternative measures should be done
·
Conduct a CBI enquiry against anti-tobacco
activists, their hidden agenda, their money trails and why their campaigns are
only benefiting foreign tobacco growers and business syndicates.
For further information, please contact:
VenkateshWarlu
Email: mailtofaifa@gmail.com
Mobile: 8897019097
No comments:
Post a Comment