Farmers Protest against ASEAN Agreement

Farmers Protest against ASEAN Agreement

Activists belonging to different associations and organizations organized a protest in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office on Oct 2. They were agitating against the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) agreement, recently signed by the union government. 

According to the agreement, tariff concession would be provided for nearly 4,000 commodities, of which 489 are agricultural goods. Such an agreement would have an adverse effect on India’s agricultural sector. As a result of this, a large number of agricultural commodities would be imported into India, owing to which the domestic market for these products would collapse. 

So far, Indian farmers had continued working in their fields despite the fact that they were hardly getting any profit. Now, owing to the ASEAN agreement, they wouldn’t be able to eke out a decent livelihood. 

The associations that participated in this protest were National Fish Workers’ Forum (NFF), Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha (KPRS), Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS), and Coastal Karnataka Country Boat Fishermen’s Federation. The general secretary of NFF, Mr. Vasudeva Boloor, addressed the gathering.