Karnataka farmer organisations extend support to Bharath Bandh on December 8
Bengaluru: Thousands of farmers across Karnataka would join 'Bharat bandh' on December 8 to protest against the 3 controversial farm laws and in support of their repeal, Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha president K. Chandrashekar said on Sunday.
"All members of about 300 farmers' organisations will participate in the day-long bandh on Tuesday in cities and towns across the state except in Bengaluru, where it (shutdown) will be observed on Wednesday for logistic reasons," Chandrashekhar told reporters here.
"As all our members will observe Bharat bandh in towns and villages across the state on Tuesday, they will come to Bengaluru on Wednesday to hold a day-long shutdown in protest against the laws and demand their withdrawal," he said.
Extending support to hundreds of farmers in northern states staging protests in Delhi or over 10 days against the laws, Chandrashekar said the ryots in the state were also opposed to the APMC bill and the land reforms bill the BJP government had moved in the state Assembly in September, as these were against farmers' welfare.
A dozen members of the Sangha led by Chandrashekar participated for 3 days last week in the farmers' agitation on the Delhi border with Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
Scores of trade associations and labour organisations, opposition Congress and Janata Dal-Secular are extending support to the 2-day shutdown on December 8 and 9 by the farmers in Karnataka.
Chandrashekar said, "About 50,000 farmers and workers will descend on Bengaluru from across the state on Wednesday in buses, trucks and tractors to lay siege on Vidhan Soudha, as it will be in session for passing the bills."
The farmers plan to court arrest if police prevent them from going to Vidhan Soudha due to prohibitory orders in view of the week-long winter session of the legislature from December 7-15.
"The farmers will hold processions, rallies and public meetings at Freedom Park in the city centre against the anti-farmer laws and bills of the central and state governments," said Karnataka farmer organisations union President K. Shanthakumar.
Accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of ruining the agriculture sector in the country, he said the NDA government had failed to full its assurance of implementing the Swaminathan Committee report.
In a related development, the Karnataka Sugarcane Growers' Associations will stage a demonstration in the city on Monday to express solidarity with farmers in northern states and support their demand to scrap the anti-farmer laws.
Association' state Organising Secretary A. Devaraj condemned the Delhi Police for using water cannons and tear gas on farmers who were protesting peacefully at the inter-state border over a week ago.
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India should create strategic buffers to navigate 'most difficult' energy shock: CEA Nageswaran
New Delhi (PTI): Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran on Saturday said India needs to create strategic buffers in the face of the "most difficult" energy shock that the country is facing amid the West Asia crisis.
Nageswaran also said the rising prices of fertiliser and petroleum products globally due to the crisis will make it challenging to achieve the 4.3 per cent fiscal deficit target for the current fiscal, while below normal monsoon and pass-through of higher energy prices could lead to "potential inflation spike".
He also said India has employment challenge emanating from AI, and there is a need to ensure that IT sector becomes more competitive and not lose jobs to AI, and instead create jobs that use AI within the IT sector or in other services.
Speaking at the ICPP Growth Conference organised by the Ashoka University, Nageswaran said the current account deficit (CAD) in the current fiscal could rise to over 2 per cent of GDP, from less than 1 per cent in FY'26.
"The ... priority for us is to create strategic buffers. This energy shock is the most difficult one compared to any other previous energy shock in terms of energy lost as a percentage of total global energy supply, not just oil, including gas.
"And we also need to use this occasion to think about other areas where we are vulnerable in terms of import dependence, nickel, tin, and copper. We need to build strategic buffers if we have to make a shot at manufacturing and becoming indispensable," Nageswaran said.
Since the beginning of the war in West Asia on February 28, crude oil prices soared to a four-year high of USD 126 per barrel on Thursday, from about USD 73 level before the war.
Stating that geopolitics will compel policymakers to be nimble and flexible and shed old model of thinking, Nageswaran said India is better prepared than many other countries to deal with the crisis because of the fiscal leeway that the country has due to lowering of fiscal deficit ratio to 4.4 per cent of GDP in FY'26.
Nageswaran said the West Asia conflict is more of a price shock than supply shock for India as the government is managing the supply side deftly.
"This particular conflict, which is going to be on a low simmer or a high flame situation, whatever it is, it is going to be there with us in some form or the other because the military conflict may be over, but the strategic conflict is well and truly alive. It will be so for some time," Nageswaran said.
He said the conflict has four channels of shock: price and supply shock, trade impact, sticky logistics costs and remittance shock.
India imports 60 per cent of its LPG usage and of that, 90 per cent flows through the now closed Strait of Hormuz.
Nageswaran said the pass-through of high global energy prices would have to be a "balancing act". He said some pass-through is already happening in commercial LPG, and the levy of export duty on diesel and ATF.
The government has cut excise duty on petrol and diesel to shield customers from the impact of the rise in petroleum prices. "We are coming around to arriving at a certain modus vivendi with respect to burden-sharing between the fiscal policy side, inflation, households and the oil marketing companies. So it has to be a balancing act," Nageswaran said.
