Rollback ‘anti-farmer, anti-labour’ laws, demand protestors in Wyra
Joint Kisan Morcha and Coordination Committee of Labour Unions protest Central govt’s new cods
Khammam: Protesting against what they termed as ‘anti-farmer and anti-labour laws introduced by the Union government,’ members of farmers’ and workers’ unions held a demonstration in Wyra on Monday under the banner of the Joint Kisan Morcha and the Coordination Committee of Labour Unions.
Addressing the protesters, Khammam district secretary of the Rythu Sangham, Bonthu Rambabu, said the BJP-led Central government had failed to ensure remunerative prices for farmers. He alleged that the import of nearly 40 lakh bales of cotton from the United States without any customs duty, combined with stringent procurement norms, had severely affected Indian cotton growers.
Rambabu demanded that the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) relax moisture-content norms to facilitate immediate procurement of cotton from local farmers. He criticised the Centre for scrapping long-established labour laws and replacing them with four new labour codes, calling it “a regressive attempt to weaken the hard-won rights of the working class.”
He stated that by diluting labour protections and supporting corporate interests, the government was pushing workers and common people into deeper economic distress. He urged both the State and Union governments to compensate farmers whose crops were damaged by heavy rains.
The speakers also demanded that the Union government fulfil its written assurances given during the Delhi farmers’ movement and implement the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission, particularly the formula for fixing Minimum Support Price (MSP).
BRITU State leader Maddela Ravi and Rythu Kooli Sangham district leader SK Khaseem called upon farmers, agricultural workers and labourers to unite and protect their rights through collective struggle. They urged the Centre to withdraw laws that allegedly harm poor and marginalised communities and instead ensure legal safeguards for both farmers and workers.
The protest saw participation from Telangana Rythu Sangham Wyra town secretary Chinta Nippu Chalapathi Rao, Paidipalli Sambasiva Rao, Kurakuntla Srinivasa Rao, Sankranti Narsaiah, Sankranti Purushottam, Gollapudi Prakash Rao, Vadlamudi Madhu, Bezawada Veerabhadram, and several others.
